Mawer goes too far in his efforts to make his heroine un-heroic.
I can understand where he'c coming from: how boring and old school would it be to write a novel in which his heroine is a flawless angel? Clever, patriotic, her motives the purest, her spine, like her dedication to her mission, like forged steel. Instead we get Marian: petulant, cranky, and a bit of a liar, even to herself. She mocks a fellow volunteer because the other woman only want to go to France as a secret agent because she's homesick. But Marian only want to go back to France because she has the hots for some guy she had a crush on as a teenager. Oh, and she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Swell, this is going to end well ...
But it could have done -- ended well for us, as readers, I mean. Not Marian. (No spoilers, but I think you can guess.) Watching someone with borderline narcissistic tendencies train to be a spy? Gradually discovering that some of the traits that make her a narcissist are the traits that will make her a good spy That could have been a lot of fun.
But no -- I'm afraid the whole thing is terribly boring, as Mawer seems to unerringly concentrate on Marian's boring Bad Traits (Her besottedness with her inappropriate crush in Paris? Her on/off relationship with the NOT CUTE AT ALL French agent she is paired with on her mission? Her aimless wandering from safe house to safe house, like a girl on Spring Break who has mislaid the address of her Airbnb? All VERY BORING.) I'm afraid Mawer has the wrong idea about what makes a Bad Girl -- and what makes a Good Spy.
I can understand where he'c coming from: how boring and old school would it be to write a novel in which his heroine is a flawless angel? Clever, patriotic, her motives the purest, her spine, like her dedication to her mission, like forged steel. Instead we get Marian: petulant, cranky, and a bit of a liar, even to herself. She mocks a fellow volunteer because the other woman only want to go to France as a secret agent because she's homesick. But Marian only want to go back to France because she has the hots for some guy she had a crush on as a teenager. Oh, and she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Swell, this is going to end well ...
But it could have done -- ended well for us, as readers, I mean. Not Marian. (No spoilers, but I think you can guess.) Watching someone with borderline narcissistic tendencies train to be a spy? Gradually discovering that some of the traits that make her a narcissist are the traits that will make her a good spy That could have been a lot of fun.
But no -- I'm afraid the whole thing is terribly boring, as Mawer seems to unerringly concentrate on Marian's boring Bad Traits (Her besottedness with her inappropriate crush in Paris? Her on/off relationship with the NOT CUTE AT ALL French agent she is paired with on her mission? Her aimless wandering from safe house to safe house, like a girl on Spring Break who has mislaid the address of her Airbnb? All VERY BORING.) I'm afraid Mawer has the wrong idea about what makes a Bad Girl -- and what makes a Good Spy.
