PDF The Spy Who Loved The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville Clare Mulley Books

Product details Paperback 480 pages Publisher St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition (May 27, 2014) Language English ISBN-10 1250049768

The Spy Who Loved The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville Clare Mulley Books Reviews

• The story itself is fascinating, but in the first half of the book the writing is stiff and clumsy.
  
  Ms. Mulley does way too much "telling" and not enough "showing." Facts, characters, and events are piled up one on top of another. Too many pages are devoted to cataloging Christine's movements and a discussion of assignments Christine almost got, but didn't. It's difficult to keep track of the many people who came in and out of Christine's life.
  
  Repeatedly, the reader is told that Christine was charming and magnetic, but her personality doesn't come through. I couldn't connect with her.
  
  Two kinds of footnotes punctuate the text with alarming frequency. The numbered footnotes designate the original source and can be safely ignored by non-scholars. Others elaborate on a point or give additional information. This second category of footnote impedes the flow. Many don't need to be footnotes at all. One example "Peter Wilkinson's decision was supported by George Taylor." This sentence could easily have been incorporated into the text.
  
  The book catches fire in the second half and becomes a real cliff hanger. From this point on, the story earns its accolades as "stunning" and "engrossing." It's an almost unbelievable tale of a charismatic, courageous, complicated woman. Three stars.
• I read this book several months ago and found it to be one of the best books I have ever read. some of the reviews here give it less than a fair amount of stars, but it seems that the low number of stars are coming from experts that are more interested in critiquing than enjoying the content. I think I fell in love with Kristine while reading the book. Who could help it. A truly outstanding woman. Thank you Claire for writing it.
  I wrote a book myself recently, and I hope that only those that read for enjoyment ever get to see it. you can check it out by name "I'm not Kidding" is the title.
• "The Spy who loved The secrets and lives of Christine Granville" by Clare Mulley. A great story of a woman of great courage and fortitude. But, I am not sure how true some of it is, maybe because I am born cynic and know from experience things often get embellished upon in the retelling.
  I have read quite a bit about the Second World War but none quite like this one. It's interesting in the aspect it tells of how the everyday person lived and dealt with having their country invaded and turned into a killing field. It tells the story of those who choose to fight for the allies undercover. I had never heard of the woman until I decided to buy and read this book. It attracted me because it was in a different vein from most war stories. It is well researched and informative. I got online and looked her up, just to see what was said about her. It is a good read. I enjoyed the story and gave the read a unique glimpse into the era and the people who lived it.
• 'Christine Granville' was one of those people who find their calling in a time of trial. She was a patriotic Pole, willing to help the British after her country fell, brave beyond description, in a time when a woman was expected to manage no more than a desk and a typewriter. She made her war so much more. And, the war made her. Afterward, she was unwilling and unable to make a normal life and met a tragic end. One third of the way through the book, when Christine is, ahem, screwing her way around Cairo, waiting for assignment in the field, the book does drag. Carry on, she did, in much more than sexual adventure. The people who knew her best are gone now, the book suffers from that, no first hand accounts from her most intimate friends. But, when I read of the former lovers, acquaintances and superiors who made it their job after her death to protect her reputation it shed much light on her character and the extraordinary person she was.
  
  I am a fan of Alan Furst's books about World War II in occupied Europe. Here is some of the history behind his stories. As some have said here, the writing is stilted but, it's not written that badly and the story is worth reading.
• All stories about WWII European spies are interesting to me. This one was initially fascinating but quickly became tedious and labored. The life of Christine Granville, apparently a seductress of Polish aristocracy and Jewish to boot, has all the necessary elements of a great read. A beautiful woman of great courage taking on life threatening tasks for the liberation of her tragic homeland, never far from the grasp of the Nazis - those are enough to deliver an exciting read. Alas, not this time. Occasionally, but only occasionally, Ms. Mulley demonstrates a literary flair in dealing with this delicious subject matter. Far too often we are fed the numbing account of Christine's boredom, frustration and a litany of what Christine wouldn't do. Of course, there is an attempt to liven the pages with Christine's generous and seemingly casual use of sex to ward off boredom, secure loyalty and insure devotion. That Ms. Granville ended badly became merciful when pages and pages of dreary repetition got me to that point. This book should have had a real editor.
• For those of us who had had one great event to remember which was our personal Continental Divide can relate to Christine
  Her patriotism is unequaled even though originally fueled by the need to be accepted by other Poles who snubbed her . I found her total abandon to experience all sensations without care as to consequences enviable. Only such a war could give cover for her recklessness and unabashed daring . I am happy that she " loved and lived" . After the war , after such "monumental experiences" how could she have lived on domesticated and ordinary ? and for what ? her country, family lost , and having to deal with the ravages of aging ! it is hard to be a survivor and not to feel guilty for having made it and live with people like some of her negative critics who lived sheltered lives and could never understand what it was like to live under communist oppression ,prison, loneliness. Thank you Clare Mulley for your inspiring story.