PUTNAM COUNTY
For some Americans, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor did not settle the question of whether the United States should enter World War II against all the Axis powers. They saw no reason for American blood to be shed in a second European war, even against Nazi Germany, and resorted to familiar prejudices and hateful scapegoating to pursue their isolationist aims.
This is the backdrop for The Rumor Game, Thomas Mullen’s new novel, which he will discuss on March 5 in an appearance at the Georgia Writers Museum (GWM, 109 S. Jefferson Ave.) in Eatonton.
The Atlanta-based writer, well-known for historical crime stories such as Dark Town and Midnight Atlanta, set his latest book in Boston, where he has family roots, during the early stages of World War II.
In The Rumor Game, journalist Anne Lemire writes a column for a Boston newspaper called “The Rumor Clinic,” a sort of precursor of Snopes.com that debunks untruths sweeping the city. Lemire’s work brings her into contact with Devon Mulvey, an FBI agent investigating espionage and sabotage at munitions plants and other war industries.
She’s Jewish, one of the few women in the local papers not covering society news. He’s Irish American, one of the few Catholics at the bureau.
They become unlikely allies, both having experienced bigotry against religious and ethnic minorities.
The Rumor Game covers a lot of ground. Set against a clannish Irish enclave that would seem familiar to anyone who remembers “Mystic River,” the story involves murders, adultery, antisemitism, crooked cops, the mob, Nazi sympathizers, stolen weapons, and corrupt political and religious leaders.
Everyone has mixed motives and seems suspicious and untrustworthy. The war is overseas, but the home front is a battleground too.
We tend to remember World War II as a golden time of national unity and purpose. But this galloping and well-told tale, grounded in history, shows it was just as divided and contentious as any other chapter from our back pages.
Mullen will be GWM’s Meet the Author presenter on Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. with doors open a half hour earlier. Tickets are $40 each and can be purchased at GWM or online at georgiawritersmuseum.com.
You can also purchase an advance copy of The Rumor Game and Mullen will be signing books following his presentation.
Jim Auchmutey spent 29 years as a reporter and editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, twice winning the Cox Newspaper chain’s Writer of the Year award. His most recent book is Smokelore, also available at GWM, which provides “a short history of barbecue in America.”