The Reflecting Man - Volume Five

By DKR Boyd

As 1939 begins, our loquacious and unreliable narrator, Kurtis De’ath, learns that the British monarchy has numerous, nasty skeletons in its closet which its ‘fixers’ will do anything to protect. The detention of Erl Echland prompts Kurtis to delve more deeply into the Windsors and Erl’s 1936 diary. And what’s in that folder which ‘Quiet’ Schmidt passed along in Berlin to Herr Death and which could bring down the Crown? Cue the amiable, Chamberlain supporter Chips Channon for assistance. Meanwhile, Chamberlain weakens and Sir Joe Ball sees his own fate hanging in the balance. Brendan Bracken champions a new breed of media as radio accelerates the news and he spearsheads the return of Winston Churchill to the Cabinet. In Germany, Rudolf Hess is after Ulrich Roller, threatening him with SS guard duty in Sachsenhausen, and necessitating Kurtis’ most intricate plan yet; one designed to use Martin Bormann to get rid of Hess forever. Margaret and William Joyce are desperate to leave Britain and, for his own reasons, Kurtis assists. As the prospect of a second Great War looms, the full power of the British government is making itself known. Mere days before Poland is invaded, our Herr Death is busy in Bayreuth, Munich, and Berlin as the window for peace between Germany and England closes. A last minute peace plan from an American General Motors executive in financial cahoots with Göring provides damning information about Germany’s perilous financial position. Faced with the inevitable, there are choices to be made as Erl, Ulrich, Unity Mitford all face personal crises and the hard reality sets in. Our narrator—is it possible?—is not ready for what’s coming.

Set in multiple locales in Canada, America, France, Germany, and England, before and during the Second World War, this is the fifth and final volume of The Reflecting Man, the antic, ribald journey of a loquacious and unreliable narrator, Kurtis De’ath, from the Maritimes in Canada, whose unusual talents lead him into the innermost circles of Hitler’s Third Reich and Churchill’s British government. Kurtis’ journey through the roots and branches of actual historical figures and events is, at its heart, in meticulous detail, an examination of how Europe went to war in 1939. The Reflecting Man is himself a reflection of his times. The novel is widely and deeply researched, employing hundreds of non-fiction accounts, journals, and diaries of actual participants and observers of the darkening clouds over Europe and the descent into war.