The Soldier’s Art by Anthony Powell

The eighth novel in the twelve novel series titled A Dance to the Music of Time.

The war is going badly. France has fallen. Germany has attacked Russia. So we’re in mid-1941.

Nicholas Jenkins is an officer working under Kenneth Widmerpool at an army facility in Northern Ireland. The base suffers German air raid attacks but otherwise Jenkins sees no action. Widmerpool’s title is DAAG, but I was never clear what that stands for or what work he does: something bureaucratic. Widermerpool feuds with others, particularly Sunny Farebrother who is his counterpart at some other part of the organization. Widmerpool schemes to get his own people placed in various positions, particularly something called the Recce unit. (The military acronyms and ranks continue to baffle me and I didn’t bother to look them up). Bithel is around doing his work with the Mobile Laundry unit, but hapless, as before, and Widmerpool is looking for a reason to get rid of him. Widmerpool is also working to investigate a man named Diplock who he suspects of embezzling. Widmerpool thinks when he uncovers the truth it will put him one over on the guy that’s defending Diplock. Jenkins isn’t happy working for Widmerpool but goes along.

In chapter one, Jenkins comes under the notice of a General, Liddament, who discovers that Jenkins is able to read French. The General gives Jenkins the name of a man, Finn, to look up in London when Jenkins is on leave, but is vague about the reason. Also in chapter one, Charles Stringham turns up as the waiter assigned to Jenkins’ Mess. Stringham is still off the drink, but seems rudderless. Jenkins wishes there was something better for his friend than being a waiter and says so to Widmerpool, but Widmerpool seems not to care.

Chapter two is the apotheosis (at least so far) of Powell’s over-reliance on fantastical coincidences. The chapter is almost mystical in how far one’s imagination must stretch to contain all that happens within the realm of realism.

The chapter begins with Jenkins on leave in London. He’s made arrangements to have dinner with Hugh Moreland, on Moreland’s invitation. But he also receives an urgent request from Chips Lovell to meet when he’s next in London. He calls Lovell. Jenkins feels it would be awkward for Lovell and Moreland to dine together because Moreland used to be in love with Priscilla Tolland who is now married to Lovell. Lovell can’t do dinner that night anyway but Lovell, still, is eager to meet Jenkins, so they arrange to have drinks together at the restaurant where Jenkins will meet Moreland for dinner later.

With dinner plans made, there’s a scene at the military office of the man, Finn, whose phone number Jenkins has from the General. Finn is recruiting for a position working with the Vichy government and needs someone who can read and write French. It turns out Jenkins’ French isn’t good enough so he doesn’t get the job.

That evening at the restaurant, Lovell tells Jenkins that Priscilla has embarked on an affair with Odo Stevens. He knows that it was Jenkins that brought Stevens and Priscilla together (in The Valley of Bones) and wishes to quiz Jenkins about the kind of man is Stevens. Jenkins tells him what he knows. Lovell, with Jenkins’ encouragement, hopes to save his marriage. He knows that Bijou Ardglass has invited Priscilla to a party at a club called Madrid that evening celebrating Bijou’s 40th birthday. Priscilla is staying at Molly Jeavons’ house, Bijou’s sister-in-law. Lovell will be at the party, too, which is why he couldn’t do dinner, but Priscilla doesn’t know Lovell will be there. She thinks Lovell is stationed outside of London. The Madrid club is where Lovell and Priscilla celebrated their engagement, so Lovell thinks the romantic association will bring Priscilla back to the marriage.

Before Lovell leaves, Moreland shows up. It isn’t as awkward as Jenkins feared. When Moreland learns that Lovell is going on to the Madrid it comes out that Max Pilgrim, the campy Music Hall singer who’s now become a nostalgia act, is playing there that night, and, coincidentally, Max is now a lodger, Moreland says, at “our” building.

After Lovell leaves, Moreland reveals that “our” means he and Audrey Maclintick, the widow of the music critic who killed himself in Casanova’s Chinese Restaurant. After breaking up with Priscilla, Moreland had married Matilda, then she left him for Magnus Donners. His relationship with Audrey Maclintick seems completely unlikely given what we know about the two of them, but Powell seems determined to keep his characters circulating, however unlikely the pairings. In any case, Audrey shows up and joins the two men for dinner.

Then, across the room, Jenkins sees Priscilla with Odo Stevens. Stevens sees Jenkins, waves hello and comes over. Priscilla comes along and they all sit at one table.

So here we have Moreland with his new lover, Audrey, seated across a table from his former lover, Priscilla. Priscilla is seated with her new lover, Stevens, across the table from her brother-in-law, Jenkins, who had just been meeting with her husband. Jenkins shares soto voce to Priscilla that Lovell is in town and is hoping to meet up with her at the Madrid, later that evening.

During dinner Priscilla becomes agitated when she thinks she hears a siren warning of an imminent attack. No one else hears the siren over the noise of the restaurant and the traffic of the city so they dismiss her concern. But she grows ever more upset, partly from fear, but probably also from the stress of the social situation. She insists on leaving. Stevens offers to accompany her home but she’s determined to go alone and Stevens needs to take a train that evening to get back to his military duties. Priscilla leaves hurriedly. The others continue talking briefly until a man from Stevens’ unit comes by the table, recognizes Stevens and the two of them go together to catch the train.

Moreland and Audrey invite Jenkins back to their place for another drink. It’s dark because of the black out. Just as they’re putting the key in their door they hear, distinctly now, an air raid siren. But the all clear follows soon after. When they get up to their flat Audrey and Moreland wake up Max Pilgrim, their lodger, to come say hello. He joins them looking pale and with his hand bandaged. Max tells the story of an air attack earlier that evening. Priscilla had been right. The site was the Madrid club. The table of Bijou Ardglass’ birthday party was the direct hit. Bijou is dead. So is Chips Lovell. Max was across the room and received only the minor injury on his hand.

Jenkins feels he must call Priscilla and give her the news. He attempts to call Molly Jeavons, where Priscilla is staying but can’t get through. The operator can’t place the call, either. So Jenkins decides he must go there personally. He leaves the apartment and walks. He takes a bus part way and then walks some more. When he arrives at the street of the Jeavons’ home he sees emergency crews and, coming closer, realizes they are in front of the Jeavons’ address. The air raid siren he had heard as he arrived at Moreland’s and Audrey’s home had marked a second bombing. Priscilla is also dead, as is Molly Jeavons.

Jenkins goes into the house. Only the back half has been damaged. He meets Eleanor Walpole-Wilson (Norah Tollands’, lover) who has been staying there. Norah is up north working as a military driver. Jenkins tells Eleanor that Chips and Bijou are also dead and the two of them plan how they will share the news with the rest of the Tolland family.

Chapter three has Jenkins back at the military base in Northern Ireland. All the drama of chapter two is forgotten. It’s bizarre (is it English?) that there are zero emotional consequences of so much tragedy nor any reflection on the uncanny coincidence of both husband and wife and two sisters-in-law being killed in the same night in separate bombings. Jenkins barely mentions it again and seems entirely unaffected.

Instead, this final chapter merely gives the conclusions to the stories set up in chapter one. Widmerpool has moved Stringham out of the Mess position into the mobile laundry, but it turns out not to be a magnanimous act when Jenkins learns that Widmerpool knows that the mobile laundry is about to be sent to the far east. Widermpool finds his reason to rid the army of Bithel when Bithel is discovered drunk. Sunny Fareborther gets his revenge on Widmerpool by revealing Widmerpool’s scheming to the General. Diplock, it turns out, really had been embezzling, but manages to desert to neutral territory in the south of Ireland before he can be brought up on charges. Widmerpool looks like he’ll get a new position in the Cabinet Offices. There’s a place for Jenkins in the War Office. In the very last sentence we learn that Barnby’s plane has been shot down while he was on a reconnaissance flight.

Every novel has so far been four chapters or sometimes five. This one is three, but is still about the same length as the others.

I was looking forward to the war chapters because I thought it might give some excitement to the story and some relief from the social complications that were the entire substance of the first six novels. But life on an army base is even duller and the complications are much the same quality, just different characters. I have to confess I’m not enjoying this. But after reading eight of the twelve it seems silly to give up now. I’ll sacrifice another month or two to finish the project and then when I’m done I can at least know that I’ve really read the whole thing.