Will I love Precipice?

In PRECIPICE, it’s the summer of 1914, and the “guns of August” are only weeks away. In the middle of the unfolding crisis, the married Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, pursues a distracting love affair with Venetia Stanley, a woman half his age. He writes to her obsessively, often two and three times a day. Sometimes, he dashes off notes during cabinet meetings, sharing sensitive government intelligence about the looming war with Germany. Enter Scotland Yard, which stumbles on the correspondence and assigns a young detective sergeant to monitor the affair and read the letters before they’re delivered.
Two of the… show more.

Summer 1914. A world on the precipice of cataclysmic war.

Twenty-six-year-old Venetia Stanley—aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless—is part of a group of upper-crust bohemians and socialites known as “The Coterie.” Her secret is that she is engaged in a clandestine love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state. Often, he writes in the midst of Cabinet discussions of the most momentous and serious kind. His country is about to go to war and Asquith is writing assiduously to Venetia. What… show more.

Precipice is another great historical novel by Robert Harris. In this novel, he presents fascinating real-life characters, weaving them into a story based on a period of history often neglect in fiction. When I first read the novel, I couldn't believe it was true - that politicians can take such huge risks both with their own careers and national secrets. I had to turn to the back of the book to check that these were real characters. They are a gift to a writer and as always, Harris turns a real historical event into a great story.

A fascinating story about the love affair between Britain's Prime minister and a younger woman in the build up to WWI. What was even more incredible is the letters the author uses from the Prime minister to his lover are real!