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Book Review of The Spy

The Spy
jjares avatar reviewed on + 3275 more book reviews


This is a different kind of story; it starts with Mata Hari's firing-squad death. At the time she begins, she's sure that she will be saved from prison before being shot. Mata Hara is definitely narcissistic ('I was able to change strip-tease into art.') Everyone 'loved' her. Everybody 'copied' her and of course, they are 'poor imitations.' She was also a drama queen ('Tears did not come from my eyes, but from a deeper part of me').

This book is blessedly short because this story was just pitiful. However, it was interesting to watch a male author try to express the emotional drama of a woman very taken with herself. The person I can think best exemplifies Mata Hari would be Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard.