The Key to Rebecca
OCLC 27187464 | | |
The Key to Rebecca is a novel by the British author
Creation, basis and development
While undertaking research for his best-selling novel
Many plot elements in the novel are based on actual historical details. The real-life Eppler, like Follett's fictional Alex Wolff, had grown up in Egypt after his mother had remarried to a wealthy Egyptian, and thus had a mixed German and Arab cultural heritage, greatly facilitating his ability to penetrate British-ruled Egypt. Like Follett's spy, Eppler was based at a houseboat on the river
Sadat plays an important role in the plot, and the scene of his arrest by the British is largely derived from Sadat's own autobiography – though the British officer who actually arrested him was not Follett's protagonist, Major William Vandam, a completely fictional character. When seeing Sadat already beginning to think of making the most of his arrest and "preparing to play martyr", Vandam thinks "He is very adaptable, he should be a politician"; the reader, obviously, is well aware that Sadat is the future President of Egypt.
However, Wolff is a far more formidable character than the actual Eppler, who "deliberately sabotaged his own radio, because he wanted to enjoy himself and live with a Jewish prostitute".[5] In contrast, Follett's Wolff – though having a sensual and pleasure-loving side – is completely dedicated to his mission, driven by a curious mixture of German nationalism, Egyptian patriotism and an overwhelming personal ambition. Like the German spy Faber in Follett's earlier Eye of the Needle, he is supremely intelligent, competent and resourceful, and utterly ruthless – ever ready to kill anyone perceived as threatening him, and preferring to do it silently with a knife. However, towards the end of the book, Wolff displays an increasing sadistic streak absent from Follett's earlier spy.
Among other things, Wolff is credited with having crossed the Sahara into Egypt by himself on camel, rather than being ferried there, as was the actual Eppler. To enable Wolff to carry out such an epic feat, Follett provides him with a Bedouin background. Thus Wolff is thoroughly conversant with three distinct cultures; German, the Egyptian urban elites and the desert-dwelling tribes – the last two as distant from each other as they are from the first.
Another major departure is to make Wolff's espionage of far greater strategic significance than Eppler's ever was, making the very outcome of the war – or at least of the North African campaign – hinge on it, and fictionally crediting some of Rommel's main battle victories to information provided by Wolff, having gained access to secret battle plans carried by a
A departure from cryptologic sense occurs in Follett's title conceit: the "key" or code sequence used to render the Axis spy's messages unreadable by the Allies without it. The author has it as a written down device, available for capture by the wily Major Vandam, but the actual code key imagined by Follett is so simple that a real agent would have simply memorised it, not had it written down for anyone to get hold of.
The quote from
Reviewer Mary Klein noted that "Not only is the code used in the book based on du Maurier's Rebecca, but the book's plot line of romance between Elene Fontana and Major Vandam has some similarity with the plot of the original Rebecca. In both, a Plebeian girl falls in love with a member of the British ruling class, but feels overwhelmed and overshadowed by the memory of his aristocratic first wife – and in both cases, eventually turns out to be a much better mate than that first wife".[6]
Reception and success
The Key to Rebecca was an immediate best-seller, becoming a main selection of the
Film adaptation
In 1985, The Key to Rebecca was adapted into a film, directed by David Hemmings and starring David Soul as Alex Wolff and Cliff Robertson as Maj. William Vandam.[7] It was filmed in Tunisia and was shot as a two-part, four-hour television film; syndicated as part of the Operation Prime Time package, the first part was broadcast in New York City on WPIX on 29 April 1985, with the second part on 9 May 1985. (Dates varied by station.)[7] Produced by Taft Entertainment in association with Castle Combe Productions, it was later shown in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and several other countries in which the novel had been popular.[7][8]
Similar themes in other books
Len Deighton's novel City of Gold is set in the same time and place and with a similar theme – the British worried about a spy in Cairo sending information to Rommel. However, in Deighton's depiction, it is ultimately discovered that there had been no spy, and information went to the Germans due to faulty radio security. Like Follett's story, Deighton's is also based on historical fact.
Another novel covering this period and events is the 2014 novel by Juliana Maio, City of the Sun. Because of her Egyptian Jewish heritage, Maio, who was born in Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo, relies on family accounts to give us the slightly different perspective of the Jewish community in Cairo during this time, while based on the same historical facts.
References
- ^ "Fantastic Fiction.com The Key to Rebecca".
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87972-798-7.
- ^ Eppler, John W., Görz, Heinz: Rommel ruft Kairo: Aus dem Tagebuch eines Spions. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1959
- ^ a b "The Key to Rebecca". Retrieved 28 January 2009.
- ^ Sadat, Anwar Revolt on the Nile. The emphasis on the prostitutes being Jewish is in Sadat's book.
- ^ Mary C. Klein, "How Convincing Are the Love Themes in Thrillers, Detective Fiction and Science Fiction?" in Barbara Edwards (ed.), "Round Table on Developing Trends and Themes in the Popular Culture of the Later Twentieth Century".
- ^ a b c John Corry (29 April 1985). "Cliff Robertson in 'The Key To Rebecca', a two-part movie". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
- Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
