Maurice Dekobra (1885–1973)

I was slogging my way through a couple of books that didn't fully have my attention when I rebelled, and scoured my shelves for something more engaging. I don't think I've read a "spy novel" since college (or maybe high school), but I trust Neversink Library, so I ended up opening The Madonna of the Sleeping Cars.

As usual, I was not disappointed. Well, I was a little disappointed that "The Madonna" didn't turn out to be the spy, nor even really the star of her own book, but what the book is instead was delightful and compulsively readable.

Then again, despite the fact that the narrator of the story is Prince Gerard Seliman (yes, I'm too lazy to figure out how to do the accent right now), Lady Diana's (The Madonna of the Sleeping Cars) secretary, Gerard seems a bit hapless, an old fashioned gentleman at the whims of the actual actors of the story -- all women: Lady Diana herself, a ruined capitalist in search of a new fortune, Madame Mouravieff, the terrifyingly ruthless agent of the relatively new Soviet regime, and finally, his estranged wife, Princess Seliman, flitting around on a yacht, nursing her broken heart.

Seliman may not be a spy, but there is at least one spy (another woman!) in this novel of subterfuge, cynical grabs at power, prison, executions, and a good deal of international travel.

This book was one of the biggest bestsellers of all time, and despite the sometimes old-fashioned writing, it's still easy to see why.… (more)

This book reminded me a bit of _Travels With My Aunt_ by Graham Greene – it is written with a similar type of light-hearted spunk. I am sure it was considered rather racy when it was first published in 1927, but it still sizzles with slinky rich women and power-crazed female villains. Our heroic narrator, a Prince Seliman, has a sense of humor, is courageous and is suitably noble. A gentleman throughout, Seliman makes us admire and adore the decadent Lady Diana almost as much as everyone else does. This is a romp into a forgotten era that still manages to be an engagingly-paced thriller.… (more)