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For those readers accustomed to legal fireworks ignited by Scott Turow in such works as PRESUMED INNOCENT or BURDEN OF PROOF, ORDINARY HEROES may prove a surprise since although law plays a part in the narrative, the emphasis is on war. The book opens with a letter, written in March 1944, from Lance Lieutenant David Dubin to his fiancee, Grace Morton. Stewart Dubinsky, son of David and his wife Gilda, is packing away his dead father's possessions in 2003 when he reads the letter and, impelled by a natural curiosity about his antecedents, seeks more information. His mother refuses to disclose any knowledge she may have, Stewart's sister respects their mother's wishes and withholds her assistance. Stewart, a journalist, employs all his professional training and considerable guile and deceit to discover more, horrified when he finds his father faced a court-martial during the war. Stewart tracks down Barrington Leach, a nonagenarian, who defended David and persuades him, by fair means and foul, to divulge his knowledge of the affair. Documents that Leach holds narrate how David was sent to investigate the activities of Major Robert Martin who was immersed in covert operations but who was accused of disobeying orders. The investigation involved lawyer Dubin, by then a captain, in the real war as opposed to the paper pushing which had previously frustrated his soldierly ambitions. He was teamed up with Staff Sergeant Gideon Bidwell, a man at first unwilling to be friendly but eventually Dubin's closest ally in the conflicts that ensued. Turow explains that the novel was inspired by his own father's history but emphasises that he has incorporated many stories of many men into the history he attributes to David Dubin. Turow deals with family secrets and the rights, or otherwise, of children to know and understand their heritage as opposed to the rights of the parents to keep their own secrets. He explores the foundations of faith and rebellion, exposing the futility of rebellion based on false premises. The author maintains remarkable tension in sustained war scenes and supplies minute detail that must have come as a result of meticulous research into World War II . For those readers who wish an easily digested account of the history of the war as seen through the eyes of soldiers, this narrative is invaluable. The plotting and characterisation of the story are excellently constructed. The motives of the characters are plausibly built and interest is sustained at a high pitch. I have only one criticism: I wish someone would tell Turow that 'momentarily' means 'briefly' and not 'soon'!
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, November 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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