Listened to this due to liking the author's novel "The Romantic". This is a story set in Britain before and during WWII. Ava Dell..... (Russian name) is recruited to be a spy and tutored by Lucas Roma. Her escapade are sometimes a bit over the top. The story is told in alternating sections in the 1940's and later in the 1970's when she is writing about her life to her daughter who knows nothing of any of that. Ruth, the daughter, is a single mom who believes her mother is being paranoid but as the mother's story unfolds begins to understand her and to realize her need for revenge on the man who betrayed her. ( )

2.5 Stars

Well for a book about a spy not much spy-y type of stuff actually happened.

It was quite well written and I liked the characters but it was more of a reminiscing type yarn than clandestine spy thriller. I'm stoked I finished it because it was a book club book and I pretty much never get around to reading them because of my other job related reading. Just okay for me. ( )

A well written and well paced frame story. Eva is plucked from her family in Paris in 1939 to be trained by British spymaster Romer and is involved in several operations between 1939 and 1941. Things go wrong (of course) and almost 40 years later Eva's daughter, Ruth, finally learns about her mother's past. This book is not really about spy missions per se, it's more about what being a spy does to you and the way you think. It is a little similar to LeCarre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, in that way (not as good, but still, that would be hard to beat).

Eva's narrative (told in third person) is more compelling than Ruth's, though I believe the Ruth section is a little more subtle than it seemed at first. At first I felt disappointed that not much really happened in the "present," but then I realized that is because the author is teasing us. He makes references to political events in Germany and Iran that may be connected with certain characters in Ruth's life, and you think they are going to come to some kind of dramatic head. But they don't (unless you count Ruth's five-year-old son throwing an egg at the bodyguard of the sister of the Shah of Iran, which was pretty funny). So Boyd causes us to become paranoid about these characters, little by little, in the same way that we see Eva changed herself to inhabit the spy's mindset. Neatly done.

This is my second book by Boyd. He's a really strong writer and someone whose works I'll probably slowly work my way through. I don't see much of a through-line or recognizable authorial style so far in the two books I've read, other than really, really good characterization and extremely readable prose. Which is enough! ( )

3.5 stars
I don’t usually read spy novels so perhaps I’m biased, but I thought this storyline was original and refreshing. The two strong women as protagonists and the alternating narratives between those two - Ruth (daughter, set in 1976) and Sally (mother, set in 1940) - worked really well for me. Though Sally’s (or Eva’s) story contained some cliches, I thought it to be believable for the most part. Boyd’s writing didn’t particularly impress me, but it was an enjoyable read. ( )

Quite an intriguing page turner. Boyd Writes brilliantly. ( )