An unusual kind of espionage story, very well written and more intelligent than the stuff you usually get with such stories. ( )

This wasn't quite what I expected from reading the blurb. It was well written and the plot was one that I would usually enjoy, but for some reason it didn't engage me as much as I thought it would. Perhaps I would have liked it more had it been a straight narrative rather than flitting between Eva's past and her current life, but I'm not sure. It was certainly an interesting aspect of the war brought to life in fiction. ( )

Boyd has written an exceptional spy mystery. He uses a woman's voice that resonates with authenticity. ( )

gewöhnlich ... : ... und damit eine außergewöhnliche enttäuschung!

denn der klappentext ließ mir das wasser im munde zusammen laufen: von perfekter englischer klassik war da die rede; von einem james bond mit dem ästhetischen sesorium eines marcel proust... das klingt doch super!

auch die ersten seiten waren schön und irgendwie flauschig.
zitat: "...diese fahrt machte ich mindestens zweimal die woche, und jedes mal war es so, als würde ich in eine versunkene welt eintauchen, ins herz des alten englands - ein grünes, vergessenes shangri-la, wo alles älter, modriger und baufälliger war als anderswo." auch das klingt doch toll!
doch mit jeder weiteren seite kam die ernüchterung und ging die poesie.

um fair zu bleiben: dieser roman ist bisweilen ganz unterhaltsam - aber er ist eben nichts dessen, was der klappentext verheißt. keine klassik. nicht perfekt. ja, kaum englisch (in der anmutung)! und er ist weder in sprachlicher, noch in intelektueller, noch in emotionaler hinsicht irgend beeindruckend - geschweige denn in sachen spannung. alles ist zu vorhersehbar, zu beliebig.

das ganze buch über hatte ich die leise hoffnung, dass noch ein großer knaller käme, ein "turning point" (und der allein hätte die vielen in keiner hinsicht beeindruckenden passagen dieses buches gerechtfertigt) aber er kam nicht.

schade.

This is a well-written espionage mystery - our current protagonist, single mother Ruth Gilmartin, slowly learns the truth about her mother. Her mother Sally, seemingly a mild-mannered widow tending to her cottage garden, was actually a British spy of Russian descent, during World War II. Her mother involves her in one last mission . . .

I really enjoyed this - well-paced, tautly writtten - it seemed to cover so much territory in a relatively short novel, yet not skimping on atmosphere or characterization. The parts relating to Eva's (a.k.a. Sally Gilmartin's) recruitment, training and finally deployment were at times riveting; especially La Cruces. The events of the daughter's life, while still quite readable, were not nearly as good, and at times, I was really wanting it to switch back to the "spy" story.

Overall, quite good and recommended if you are in the mood for a quickly read, yet fairly literary thriller. So much in the mystery/thriller genre is so blandly and crappily written - this was refreshing. I thought it was loads better than the supposed classic of the espionage genre 'The Spy who came in from the Cold', which I had just read. ( )