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jaygabler's review
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Thank you Crown Publishing for the free book. This biography of a WWII Soviet spy is fascinating for:
🕵🏻♀️ The human story of a woman caught up in the winds of war
🕵🏻♀️ The details of mid-century spycraft
🕵🏻♀️ The evocation of a world of shifting alliances and good intentions gone awry
🕵🏻♀️ The human story of a woman caught up in the winds of war
🕵🏻♀️ The details of mid-century spycraft
🕵🏻♀️ The evocation of a world of shifting alliances and good intentions gone awry
vendea's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a little bit to get into, but I felt like once this started rolling it just picked up speed.
I appreciate that the author did not push upon me a necessity to sympathize with Ursula as I hold a deep and abiding contempt for serial adulteresses (and adulterers, for that matter). Nevertheless, the author did an excellent job of making her an interesting character.
There's a wry, sardonic streak of humor underlying most of the writing, which I greatly appreciated.
I would rate this higher than D-Day girls on my list of WWII spy nonfiction, and probably also higher than Code Name Liese.
I appreciate that the author did not push upon me a necessity to sympathize with Ursula as I hold a deep and abiding contempt for serial adulteresses (and adulterers, for that matter). Nevertheless, the author did an excellent job of making her an interesting character.
There's a wry, sardonic streak of humor underlying most of the writing, which I greatly appreciated.
I would rate this higher than D-Day girls on my list of WWII spy nonfiction, and probably also higher than Code Name Liese.
schurcher's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
matilda_h25's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
4.75
oceanwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I somewhat blindly picked this book up after reading Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre. Though it was quite interesting, the subject, Ursula Kaczynski codenamed ‘Sonya’, covered so much of the WWII-era Europe that I struggled to keep track of it all.
To her neighbors, Ursula seemed like a typical housewife. In actuality, she was an intelligence officer working for the Soviet Union. Though several agencies went after her, ultimately, it was her gentle appearance that kept her from danger. That’s not to say there were never any close calls. Her career as a spy and her life in general are what the book explores in detail.
Listening to the first few chapters, I honestly didn’t know what I was getting myself into given the way the atmosphere was being built. Once Ursula’s story found its footing I was more interested, though I still found the (written) narration chaotic. I didn’t get as much out of it as I’d hoped because of this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and War
Moderate: Torture and Antisemitism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, and Abortion
mary00's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a bit to really get into this one, but once I did it was fascinating.
The life of Ursula Kuczynski seems like it belongs in a movie or the pages of a novel, but in fact she lived a life of intrigue and secrets, a life beyond what most can imagine.
I never thought I would find myself feeling sympathy and understanding for a communist spy, yet here we are. I certainly would never make many of the choices she did, but can understand why she did what she did.
The life of Ursula Kuczynski seems like it belongs in a movie or the pages of a novel, but in fact she lived a life of intrigue and secrets, a life beyond what most can imagine.
I never thought I would find myself feeling sympathy and understanding for a communist spy, yet here we are. I certainly would never make many of the choices she did, but can understand why she did what she did.
mark_sinton's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
lowells's review against another edition
5.0
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