WARLIGHT by Michael Ondaatje

The dust jacket of this book is so appropriate, as everything seems to take place in the dark or under a cloud of mystery, and the foggy London setting further amplifies the mood of the novel.  Teenagers Nathaniel, the narrator, and his sister Rachel find themselves in the care of a stranger, whom they privately call The Moth, shortly after WWII, when their parents supposedly move to Asia.  Their father is a Unilever executive who remains nebulous for the duration of the novel, and I really would have liked a little more explication of his role.  Nathaniel becomes an assistant of sorts to The Moth’s friend with an equally shady nickname—The Darter.  The Darter smuggles Greyhound dogs for the purpose of racing fraud, and Nathaniel delights in accompanying him on river runs to fetch these dogs.  Not everything is as it seems, however, and the book unfolds with a meandering timeline. The shadowy essence of the book becomes even more acute when we learn that Nathaniel’s mother was a British intelligence operative during the war, and I loved how the nickname of The Moth, chosen by the kids, seems so appropriate for an undercover contact.  Although she is absent until deep in the novel. their mother’s covert life is what really drives the storyline, although Nathaniel encounters a few other surprises by the end of the book.  Above all, Ondaatje does a remarkable job of making readers feel as though they are witnessing these lives and events firsthand and yet through a smokescreen.