The Truth Lies in Gomel

By : W. Glyn Jones

Three international spy novels about the breakdown of the communist countries

Leif Davidsen has been a journalist in the Soviet Union, and in this capacity he has witnessed the disintegration of the communist regime. He has now transformed his experiences into a series of novels on the borderline between the thriller and the spy novel: Den russiske sangerinde (1988) (The Russian Singer), Den sidste spion (1992) (The Last Spy) and Den troskyldige russer (1993) (The Gullible Russian).
Strictly speaking, only one of them, Den sidste spion falls within the spy category, but the distinction is at times a nice one.

All three novels have as their main characters a man who is reluctant to be in the position in which he finds himself - in the first a first secretary at the Moscow Embassy is trying to solve a murder at the time when Gorbachov came to power. The second centres on a retired spy brought back to tidy up some unfinished business at the time of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, while the third depicts an Armenian-born Dane´s experiences on a visit to Armenia and Russia.

Authentic backgrounds
Authenticity is still more striking in Den russiske sangerinde, a novel which on publication was remarkably up-to-date with its portrayal of corruption and decay in the then collapsing Soviet Union. Davidsen knows his Russia, both the place and the people. In this fast-moving drama centred on a junior diplomat´s attempt to solve the mystery or the death of one of the embassy secretaries, found dead in a flat together with a Moscow prostitute, the spotlight changes from petty jealousies in the Danish Embassy to considerably more dangerous rivalries in Soviet society, from the activities of dissident intellectuals to the attempts of the less intellectual free-thinking Russians who want to enjoy at least some of the blessings of Western civilisation. Not all Soviet citizens, however, are potential dissidents, and even the enigmatic Basov is loyal to his communist ideals and unflinching in his support for Gorbachov. The other principal communist representative, Colonel Gabrilov, is a far more forbidding character, though he sees through the corruption surrounding him; he holds the answer to the riddle, talks to Jack Anderson - and is removed from the KGB for his pains and subsequently murdered as are others who know too much. Through this oppressive, claustrophobic society Jack Anderson weaves his way, meeting and falling in love with Lilli, the singer sister of the prostitute murder victim, ruining his diplomatic career as a result. Four years after being sent back to Denmark, he is asked for help by the Basov whom he suspects of having betrayed him and Lilli in the first place. He returns to Moscow and solves the mystery - for which he is rewarded by being allowed to take his Lilli back to Denmark.

Contemporary drama
Den sidste spion is not a sequel in a literal sense, though historically it takes place at the next stage in the break-up of the Soviet Union. Leif Davidsen paints a much broader canvas, starting in Afghanistan, switching to Warsaw, Thailand, Copenhagen, Bonn, Prague, back to Copenhagen, and then to Gomel in Byelorussia for the dramatic climax. The themes are similar to earlier ones: interservice rivalry and corruption in high places in the dying Soviet Union, the emergence of the Russian mafia, general demoralisation. Even Denmark is not free from this: there is a mole in the security service, and Tom Gubrowski´s ultimate goal is to discover who he is. His identity is finally confirmed in Gomel, in a railway truck conveying secret papers from the now defunct GDR. This novel is based on an intricate network of threads and themes which are finally all brought together as the puzzle is solved. It is all told with a clear awareness of underlying moral problems and the traumas suffered by those most profoundly affected by the events described: the East German Erika now the widow of the head of the Danish secret service, the Russian officer Sergej traumatised by his Afghan experiences, his Armenian girlfriend Zojka pursued by her experiences of the Baku massacre. There is a sort of happy ending to this book, but Tom Gubrowski, who has once tried to get out of it all by settling in Thailand, can only achieve this by escaping into a new family life.

The Gullible Russian
The action in Den troskyldige russer is almost as diffuse, and the various strands are just as skillfully brought together. The narrator is the successful and rich Armenian-Danish businessman Felix Terjosan Jensen, who has salved his conscience by delivering a consignment of aid to his suffering former countrymen. He experiences the brutality of war in Nagorno-Karabakh, is almost killed, but manages to escape with the aid of bribery. He lands in Mineralnye Vody, staying for a time at the ironically named Hotel Paradise, where he meets a trio arriving-from Siberia. One of these, Andreas, is the gullible Russian, an atomic physicist whom Felix cynically and tragically tries to sell to Iraq in order to save his own skin. There is the same background of corruption and latent evil as was seen in the earlier two Russian novels, but this time there is scope for the Russian mafia and the manipulations of profiteers and exploiters, an eerie array of poverty and suffering, riches and ruthlessness.

All the international novels show a dramatic action alternating with slower, more reflective passages. They are international in outlook, the work of a clear-sighted and suitably sceptical author who has succeeded in evolving complicated plots and keeping them under strict control. They provide entertainment and excitement, and perhaps more importantly, they also provide plenty of food for thought.

This article first appeared in Danish Literary Magazine no. 5, 1993