The Secret Purposes (2004)

by David Baddiel

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THE SECRET PURPOSES, David Baddiel's third novel, takes us into a little-known and still somewhat submerged area of British history: the internment of German Jewish refugees on the Isle of Man during the Second World War. Isaac Fabian, on the run with his young family from Nazism in East Prussia, comes to Britain assuming he has found asylum, but instead finds himself drowning in the morass of ignorance, half-truth, prejudice, and suspicion that makes up government attitudes to German Jews in 1940. One woman, June Murray, a translator from the Ministry of Information, stands out - and when she comes to the island on a personal mission to uncover solid evidence of Nazi atrocities, her meeting with Isaac will have far-reaching consequences for both of them. A haunting and beautifully written tale of love, displacement and survival, THE SECRET PURPOSES profoundly questions the way that truth - both personal and political - emerges from the tangle of history.… (more)

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En 1939, Isaac Fabian fuit Königsberg et l'Allemagne nazie pour trouver asile à Cambridge. Mais la logique absurde de la guerre n'a pas encore dit son dernier mot ! Citoyen allemand et sympathisant communiste, il est aussitôt considéré comme traître potentiel et envoyé sur l'île de Man, un camp d'internement où sont parqués des prisonniers ennemis, mais aussi des milliers d'exilés juifs allemands. Au coeur de cette ironie amère, la séduisante June, une traductrice du ministère de l'Information, qui parvient à le détourner de sa mélancolie. Un roman saisissant qui met en lumière un épisode honteux de l'histoire britannique, mais qui laisse aussi subtilement place à l'amour et à la foi en l'humanité. Biographie de l'auteur Cocréateur de trois des émissions loufoques les plus populaires sur la BBC, David Baddiel est aussi un romancier reconnu et un critique respecté. Il est l'auteur de deux autres romans : Au lit ! et L'Amour, si ça veut dire quelque chose.

PierreYvesMERCIER | Feb 19, 2012 |

Having just visited the Isle of Man, I enjoyed this novel about a hidden part of WW2 history. It is a serious novel about truth in war and how much did British government suspect about what was happening to the Jews. But there is a hysterically funny section about rabbis and beans which had me snorting with laughter. Although the internees resent their imprisonment and its interminable boredom, to the reader their lives seem boring but safe when you know with hindsight what is happening to Jews in Europe. The British are portrayed with a paradoxical mix of low level racism combined with indifferent tolerance. (

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infjsarah | Aug 15, 2010 |

Recommended some time ago by bopeepsheep in the 'I promise to read the first book that is recommended to me' meme on livejournal. It's taken me a couple of years, but I finally bought a copy and got round to it. A little dark, and a little sad. The story of a jewish refugee to England during the Second World War, his time in an internment camp on the Isle of Man, his family and the young civil servant trying to reveal the truth about the atrocities going on in the concentration camps. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, but enjoyable. (

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lnr_blair | Jul 7, 2009 |

Isaac Fabien, escapes persecution in Konigsberg, but after a brief time in Cambridge is interred in the Isle of Man. Here he meets June Murray a Minsistry of Information translator who is determined to find evidence of Nazi atrocities against the Jews.

A very readable story about love, loyalty and coping under terrible strain. The underlying theme is truth - how is it discovered, interpreted and communicated, on both a personal and political level. (

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ascapola | Apr 13, 2008 |

An account of Jews who were interned on the Isle of Wight during the Second World War. A very easy read and did not ram any messages down your throat. The issues were there like the holocaust, einsatzgruppen and Britain's knowledge of them but they were part of the story and more powerful as a result! (

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louiseog | Apr 4, 2007 |

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Canonical title

The Secret Purposes

Original title

The Secret Purposes

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2004

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Dedication

To my grandparents, Otti and Ernst, survivors;
and to my great-uncle, Arno

First words

It always pleased the Reverend Isidor Fabian that he had only to step out of his synagogue on the Lindenstrasse and there it was, the first of the seven bridges.

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THE SECRET PURPOSES, David Baddiel's third novel, takes us into a little-known and still somewhat submerged area of British history: the internment of German Jewish refugees on the Isle of Man during the Second World War. Isaac Fabian, on the run with his young family from Nazism in East Prussia, comes to Britain assuming he has found asylum, but instead finds himself drowning in the morass of ignorance, half-truth, prejudice, and suspicion that makes up government attitudes to German Jews in 1940. One woman, June Murray, a translator from the Ministry of Information, stands out - and when she comes to the island on a personal mission to uncover solid evidence of Nazi atrocities, her meeting with Isaac will have far-reaching consequences for both of them. A haunting and beautifully written tale of love, displacement and survival, THE SECRET PURPOSES profoundly questions the way that truth - both personal and political - emerges from the tangle of history.

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