At the start of Michael Frayn’s novel “Spies,” aging narrator Stephen Wheatley is troubled by a familiar odor among the blooming spring flowers.

“Liguster ... And yet it’s whispering to me of something secret, of some dark and unsettling thing at the back of my mind, of something I don’t quite like to think about...I wake up in the night with the word nagging at me ...”

His past keeps pulling at him, until he finds himself in the small England town where he grew up during World War II, thinking back to a childhood game that turned into something much more.

“Spies” is the Monday Book Club’s November selection, and it is the last on the list for 2005. The Book Club will meet at 6 p.m. Nov. 28 at Taylor Books to discuss the novel. Book Club meetings will resume in January.

Frayn

Frayn’s 2002 novel — his 10th — is the story of what happens when a child’s game goes too far.

When Wheatley’s best friend, Kevin, announces that he believes his mother is a German spy, the boys embark on a mission to find out her secrets. It begins innocently enough — they rummage through her things, read her journal, follow her around town as she runs errands. Soon, they discover that she is really ...

... Sorry, kill the dramatic background music. There will be no spoilers here! But suffice to say that the truth is more than the boys have bargained for.

“Spies” is only the latest selection in Frayn’s critically acclaimed body of work. His novel “Headlong” was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize and one of his many plays, “Copenhagen,” won three Tony awards.

Critics often remark on Frayn’s ability to impart a realistic and lyrical sense of place to his work, and “Spies” certainly upholds this tradition.

Monday Book Talk discussion leader Carol Campbell is interested in discussing the narrative perspective of the two boys and how this shapes the novel. Children’s perspectives also played a large role in the Book Club’s October selection, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and the discussion will be a good forum for comparing the two.

To contact Regina C. Davis, use e-mail or call 348-7936.