Amid the theatre of war
The Double Life of Eve Sinclair
by C.C. Humphreys
Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2026
$25.00 / 9780385701075
Reviewed by Trish Bowering
*
In the waning years of World War II, on the slope of a shallow river gorge beside a bridge, a woman lies still and silent, pressed to the ground in the brush as two young German soldiers walk within feet of her. If they look up, they’ll see the explosives she’s wired to the bridge, and if they look down at the riverbank they’ll see the German soldier she’s just killed to keep him from sounding an alert. Just when she thinks she’s in the clear to blow the railway bridge that will keep critical materials from reaching the Nazi war machine, saving countless lives, she hears the sound of school children crossing the adjacent pedestrian bridge; they’ll be killed if she derails the train. A classic, heartbreaking trolley problem.
So begins the prologue of C.C. Humphreys’ new WWII historical novel The Double Life of Eve Sinclair, and it hooked me from the start. Propelling me into this action-packed tale of a wealthy, privileged Canadian woman set to marry the future Canadian ambassador to Sweden, this story features well-drawn characters, interesting history, and plot twists that kept me turning the pages.
It’s 1939, and Montreal socialite Eve Sinclair is 19 years old, engaged to the handsome, upwardly mobile Richard Spence, and looking forward to her move to Sweden after they marry. Her father, Jock “Bootstraps” Sinclair, is a rich Scottish immigrant mining tycoon and her mother Marlene is related to Swedish aristocracy. Eve has enjoyed a sheltered upbringing, attended finishing school in Europe, and isn’t interested in politics, including the rumours of war echoing across the Atlantic.
I welcomed the Canadian roots of this novel. The first scenes showcase Montreal in the late 1930s, and Humphreys’ descriptions brought the city to life. The details that he included prompted a bit of my own research, something I love when reading about different time periods. Before she marries, Eve cheers at a parade celebrating a royal visit as the cars make their way down Saint-Hubert in 1939: “His Majesty King George VI, in a naval uniform, with medals bedazzling his chest, circled one wrist, head and hand slowly turning, acknowledging the acclamation to either side. Beside him his consort, Queen Elizabeth, in a beautiful black lambswool coat and with an ostrich feather in her velvet hat, did the same.”
I was able to find pictures online of this royal visit, and also enjoyed looking up some of the other details in the book. After Eve and Richard marry, for example, they travel to Europe on the Empress of Britain ocean liner. After dinner one evening, Eve and her new acquaintance Henrik—one of her father’s employees who is returning to his native Sweden—head to the Cathay Lounge for drinks and dancing. It was “decorated like a palace of the East, with Chinese motifs and patterns running over the dark walls and huge lacquered vases placed all around, some of which had been converted into lamps that cast a reddish glow through their shades.” One can find pictures of this lounge online, as well as other photos of the ship, and its history: the liner, operated by Canadian Pacific Steamships, was actually put into service in WWII and later torpedoed, sinking in 1940.
Once Eve and Richard arrive in Sweden to take on the ambassadorship, the war accelerates, though Eve is somewhat cushioned from its horrors by living in neutral territory. This particular view of the beginning of the war years shows the history from northern Europe. Sweden is “neutral,” but the story examines how neutrality is still a way of taking a stance.
After some truly Machiavellian manipulation and betrayal that blindsided this reader, Eve finds an abrupt and rude awakening to the realities of the war. It’s a conflict she can no longer turn away from, after she meets young Norwegian soldier Erik Strom. They find themselves carried on a current of war to Portugal, and then to England, where Eve enrols in the Special Operations Executive. Based in Britain, the SOE specialized in spies and sabotage in Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII and was ahead of its time in utilizing women for active roles in the field.
Though violence is an ever-present danger, the main characters also have a lot of privilege and in some ways would have the choice to insulate themselves from the hazards of the war. I liked how both Eve and Erik chose to take up the battle as they were able, joining the allied forces in ways that they could make a difference. In this novel, the violence sometimes shows up on the page but the narrative largely avoids gritty, realistic depictions of the realities of wartime atrocity and trauma.
I enjoyed the characters in the story of this longtime (albeit former) Salt Spring Island author (Someday I’ll Find You), as they remained in focus against the backdrop of this tumultuous chapter of modern history. There’s even a cameo appearance by Ian Fleming! But at its essence, this novel is one of Eve’s transformation from a naive, privileged young woman raised to be the wife of a powerful man to a woman who is formidable in her own right. She’s smart and principled, and ever so gradually realizes her own worth, taking up space in a dangerous world. I admired her moxie.
As she and Erik prepare for a dangerous heist, Eve muses “…I’ve also had a glimpse of that other life, a life of…of freedom. Where I can make my own choices. Where the people around me can as well. Where someone isn’t holding a gun to their heads. Or firing it…. And I can’t go back to any of the lives I led unless I try to make a difference first.”
As the novel circled back around to Eve’s trolley problem dilemma, as she crouched at the riverbank in Norway under the explosive-laden bridge, I’d journeyed with her through five years of war and had so much more insight into the experience she brought to the decision. The action didn’t let up until the last page. With a descriptive historical setting, an intriguing plot full of suspense and action, and a bit of romance to boot, The Double Life of Eve Sinclair is historical fiction well worth a read.
*
Trish Bowering lives in Vancouver, where she is immersed in reading, writing, and vegetable gardening. She has an undergraduate degree from UVic, and obtained her MD from UBC. Now retired from her practice, she focuses on her love of all things literary. She blogs at TrishTalksBooks.com and reviews on Instagram@trishtalksbooks. [Editor’s note: Trish was interviewed as part of our series. She has reviewed recent books by Marcus Kliewer, Liz Johnston, Jannell Lo, Ahmad Saber, Aaron Cully Drake, Patricia Finn, Steve Burgess, Vikram Vij with Jennifer Muttoo, and DL Acken with Aurelia Louvet for BCR.]
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The British Columbia Review
Interim Editors: Trevor Marc Hughes (nonfiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction and poetry)
Publisher: Richard Mackie
Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an online book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.
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