The Spy

In my opinion...

I love Paulo Coelho books and have read many of them. I find his use of language and deep spiritual thinking both uplifting and inspiring.

Apparently many of his works are based on personal experience, so the story of Mata Hari is really quite different.

As I started to read this short novel, I realised that I had often heard references to Mata Hari, but had no clear concept of who she was, just someone rather exotic and quite immoral. During the course of this story, I found I warmed to her character & feistiness.

I liked the way that the novel is written in the form of letters, and as Mata Hari herself is the first narrator, it felt as though I was gaining some insight into her life.

The whole story was interesting, but there wasn’t the depth you find in Coelho’s other writings., however,I definitely felt that I learned a little about this intriguing lady, and hated the injustice of a system where she became the victim of male scheming

Want to know more?

HER ONLY CRIME WAS TO BE AN INDEPENDENT WOMAN When Mata Hari arrived in Paris she was penniless. Within months she was the most celebrated woman in the city. As a dancer, she shocked and delighted audiences; as a courtesan, she bewitched the era’s richest and most powerful men. But as paranoia consumed a country at war, Mata Hari’s lifestyle brought her under suspicion. In 1917, she was arrested in her hotel room on the Champs Elysees, and accused of espionage. Told in Mata Hari’s voice through her final letter, The Spy is the unforgettable story of a woman who dared to defy convention and who paid the ultimate price.

I was drinking...

At this time of year, it had to be Beaujolais Nouveau- and very enjoyable it was too

My rating...