Eye of the Needle
Encyclopedia
Eye of the Needle is a spy thriller novel written by British
author Ken Follett
. It was originally published in 1978 by the Penguin Group
titled Storm Island. This novel was Follett's first successful, bestselling effort as a novelist, and it earned him the 1979 Edgar Award
for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America
. The title is an allusion to the "eye of a needle
" aphorism
.
The book was made into a motion picture
in 1981 with a screenplay
adapted by Stanley Mann
and directed by Richard Marquand
.
was an Allied counter-intelligence operation run during World War II
. Its goal was to convince the German military that D-Day
landings were to occur at Calais
and not Normandy
. As a part of Fortitude the fictitious First United States Army Group (FUSAG) was created. FUSAG used fake tanks, buildings and radio traffic to create an illusion of an army being formed to land at Calais.
In 1940 Henry Faber is a German spy working at a London railway depot, collecting information on troop movements. Faber is halfway through radioing this information to Berlin when his landlady stumbles into his room. She recognizes Faber as a spy and runs for help but Faber kills her with his stiletto. He then resumes his transmission. His repeated use of this stiletto leads to his nickname 'Die Nadel' ('The Needle').
The book then introduces David, a trainee RAF pilot, and his bride Lucy. On their honeymoon David and Lucy are involved in a car crash. David loses the use of both his legs. Unable to fly in the Battle of Britain
David grows embittered as he and Lucy retire to the isolated Storm Island off the coast of Scotland.
Meanwhile British Intelligence has executed or recruited all German spies. Faber is the only successful one still at large. A history professor, Godliman, and a widowed ex-policeman, Bloggs, are employed by MI5
to catch him. They start with the interrupted broadcast and his codename Die Nadel. They connect the landlady’s murder to Faber by him having used his ‘needle’ during the transmission. They then interview Faber’s fellow tenants from 1940. One identifies Faber from a photo of him as a young army officer.
Faber is told by Berlin to investigate whether the FUSAG is real or not. Faber discovers the army is a fake. He takes photos of an army base constructed only to look real from the air. Faber realizes that Normandy is where D-Day is going to occur. Several soldiers try to arrest Faber, but he kills them with his stiletto. He then heads to Aberdeen
, Scotland
, where a U-Boat
will take him and his photos back to Germany.
Godliman and Bloggs track Faber by the murdered soldiers. MI5 then realizes what Faber is trying to achieve. There follows a long chase across Northern England and Scotland with both Hitler
and Churchill
getting personally involved. Faber escapes many times but his repeated killings allow MI5 to track him to Aberdeen.
Exhausted Faber finally sets out on a small trawler to meet the U-Boat. Unused to the open sea he gets shipwrecked on Storm Island. He collapses in front of the lonely house where David and Lucy live. He is tended to by Lucy. Stuck in a loveless marriage to the crippled David she begins a physical relationship with Faber. David soon discovers both Lucy's infidelity and Faber’s FUSAG photos. David can’t decide what angers him more so he tries to kill Faber. After a struggle Faber kills David by rolling him and his Jeep off a cliff. Faber tells Lucy it was another accident.
Faber realizes he may be caught so he decides to radio the information about FUSAG directly to the U-Boat. Lucy, who doesn’t believe his story, stops him by sabotaging the radio. Faber discovers this but having fallen in love with Lucy he can’t kill her. As Faber heads down the cliff to the waiting U-Boat Lucy throws a rock at him, striking Faber who loses his balance and falls to his death. The RAF then appears sinking the U-Boat. Bloggs later comforts the widowed Lucy eventually marrying her and having children.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Ken Follett
Ken Follett
Ken Follett is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels. He has sold more than 100 million copies of his works. Four of his books have reached the number 1 ranking on the New York Times best-seller list: The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, and World Without End.-Early...
. It was originally published in 1978 by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
titled Storm Island. This novel was Follett's first successful, bestselling effort as a novelist, and it earned him the 1979 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
. The title is an allusion to the "eye of a needle
Eye of a needle
The eye of a needle is the section of a sewing needle formed into a loop for pulling thread, located at the end opposite the point. These loops are often shaped like an oval or an "eye", hence the metaphor.-Judaism:...
" aphorism
Aphorism
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form.The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates...
.
The book was made into a motion picture
Eye of the Needle (film)
Eye of the Needle is a 1981 film directed by Richard Marquand, based on the novel of the same title by Ken Follett, and starring Donald Sutherland...
in 1981 with a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
adapted by Stanley Mann
Stanley Mann
Stanley Mann is a Canadian-born film and television writer. He began his writing career in 1951, and was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the 1965 film The Collector, based on the John Fowles novel of the same title. In 1957 he penned an adaptation of Death of a Salesman for television...
and directed by Richard Marquand
Richard Marquand
Richard Marquand was a Welsh film director best known for directing the 1983 blockbuster Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi.-Early life:...
.
Plot introduction
Operation FortitudeOperation Fortitude
Operation Fortitude was the codename for a World War II military deception employed by the Allied nations as part of an overall deception strategy during the build up to the 1944 Normandy Landings...
was an Allied counter-intelligence operation run during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Its goal was to convince the German military that D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
landings were to occur at Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
and not Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. As a part of Fortitude the fictitious First United States Army Group (FUSAG) was created. FUSAG used fake tanks, buildings and radio traffic to create an illusion of an army being formed to land at Calais.
In 1940 Henry Faber is a German spy working at a London railway depot, collecting information on troop movements. Faber is halfway through radioing this information to Berlin when his landlady stumbles into his room. She recognizes Faber as a spy and runs for help but Faber kills her with his stiletto. He then resumes his transmission. His repeated use of this stiletto leads to his nickname 'Die Nadel' ('The Needle').
The book then introduces David, a trainee RAF pilot, and his bride Lucy. On their honeymoon David and Lucy are involved in a car crash. David loses the use of both his legs. Unable to fly in the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
David grows embittered as he and Lucy retire to the isolated Storm Island off the coast of Scotland.
Meanwhile British Intelligence has executed or recruited all German spies. Faber is the only successful one still at large. A history professor, Godliman, and a widowed ex-policeman, Bloggs, are employed by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
to catch him. They start with the interrupted broadcast and his codename Die Nadel. They connect the landlady’s murder to Faber by him having used his ‘needle’ during the transmission. They then interview Faber’s fellow tenants from 1940. One identifies Faber from a photo of him as a young army officer.
Faber is told by Berlin to investigate whether the FUSAG is real or not. Faber discovers the army is a fake. He takes photos of an army base constructed only to look real from the air. Faber realizes that Normandy is where D-Day is going to occur. Several soldiers try to arrest Faber, but he kills them with his stiletto. He then heads to Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, where a U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
will take him and his photos back to Germany.
Godliman and Bloggs track Faber by the murdered soldiers. MI5 then realizes what Faber is trying to achieve. There follows a long chase across Northern England and Scotland with both Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
getting personally involved. Faber escapes many times but his repeated killings allow MI5 to track him to Aberdeen.
Exhausted Faber finally sets out on a small trawler to meet the U-Boat. Unused to the open sea he gets shipwrecked on Storm Island. He collapses in front of the lonely house where David and Lucy live. He is tended to by Lucy. Stuck in a loveless marriage to the crippled David she begins a physical relationship with Faber. David soon discovers both Lucy's infidelity and Faber’s FUSAG photos. David can’t decide what angers him more so he tries to kill Faber. After a struggle Faber kills David by rolling him and his Jeep off a cliff. Faber tells Lucy it was another accident.
Faber realizes he may be caught so he decides to radio the information about FUSAG directly to the U-Boat. Lucy, who doesn’t believe his story, stops him by sabotaging the radio. Faber discovers this but having fallen in love with Lucy he can’t kill her. As Faber heads down the cliff to the waiting U-Boat Lucy throws a rock at him, striking Faber who loses his balance and falls to his death. The RAF then appears sinking the U-Boat. Bloggs later comforts the widowed Lucy eventually marrying her and having children.
List of characters
- Henry Faber - "Die Nadel", German spy
- David Rose - young R.A.F.Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
fighter pilot - Lucy Rose - David Rose's wife
- Billy Parkin - young Army soldier who identified Faber
- Percival Godliman - MI5MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
agent - Frederick Bloggs - MI5 agent
See also
- Operation FortitudeOperation FortitudeOperation Fortitude was the codename for a World War II military deception employed by the Allied nations as part of an overall deception strategy during the build up to the 1944 Normandy Landings...
- First United States Army Group (fictional)
External links
- Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle - official site
- Ken Follett discusses Eye of the Needle on the BBC World Book ClubWorld Book ClubWorld Book Club is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her books, often the most well-known one, with the public...