I recently read Winter
of the World, a very long and detailed account of World War II written as a
novel by Ken Follett. It was an extremely good book, but quite dark and
detailed in its examination of this yucky war.
But because of my recent reading of this novel, I was
somewhat apprehensive about reading Mr.
Churchill’s Secretary, though I was intrigued by its description, and the
fact that it was the first in a series. My apprehension was proven unnecessary.
Mr. Churchill’s
Secretary isn’t a comedy; however, it is a novel about one of the more
interesting facets of the war, and told through fairly light-hearted
characters. I had read and heard before about the fact that spies abounded
during WWII, and in fact there were posters posted during this period reminding
people that any Tom, Dick, or Harriet could be a spy. But this was sort of an easier demonstration of this phenomenon.
Jen texted me one night and said, “I like this book. There
are spies EVERYWHERE.” And so it was. I found myself trying to figure out who
was the spy and who wasn’t. I was convinced throughout that John was going to
end up being the spy, and was relieved when that wasn’t so. I also suspected
Chuck and the twins. Must say I never suspected Paige.
I thought this book definitely had first-bookitis. Some of
the plot themes were kind of predictable. For example, the three friends –
Paige, Sarah, and Maggie – were blonde, brunette, and redhead – kind of like a
Barbie Doll collection. Still, I gave Macneal the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps
she was going for cheesy, sort of like a Dashiell Hammett mystery. She even
featured martinis prominently in the book. And I loved all of her descriptions
of clothes and hairstyles. It gave me a strong sense of time and place.
But, I found it confusing that Maggie got her job as
Churchill’s secretary because Mrs. Tinsley got sick. Then, Mrs. Tinsley never
came back?????? She was mentioned at the end of the book, but why didn’t she get
her job back as his secretary?
I liked the presentation of Maggie as an
independent-thinking woman who was ahead of the game when it came to women’s
liberation.
It was somewhat unbelieveable to me that Maggie’s family and
friends kept the fact that her father was alive a secret for so long. Why?
Reality suspension I guess.
I also really liked the use of real characters mixed with
fictional characters. I of course liked Churchill, but I also enjoyed the
references to some of our most highly-respected people and their acceptance of
Nazism, at least initially (e.g., Joe Kennedy). It’s interesting to note that
there are two sides to most stories. While there is nothing good to say about
the Nazis as they played out, it is interesting to be reminded about the
economic conditions that made Hitler even remotely make sense to anyone.
Finally, I think it gave a good perspective about what war
looks like from different perspectives. The Irish characters were only
concerned about Ireland, and so they supported the Nazis as a way of getting to
the British, for example. War stinks, but everyone has a different perspective
about it. Still, I can’t imagine living the way people had to during the war,
never knowing when the bombs were going to drop.
A good read overall.
