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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Set in 1936 in England and Germany as rumours of a second world war begin to surge, The Spy’s Wife is an engaging historical novel from consummate storyteller Fiona McIntosh.
Young widow Evie Armstrong is running a small cafe at the Levisham railway station in northern England where her father serves as station master when a handsome traveller attracts her interest. Within weeks Evie and Roger, a widowed engineer from London, profess their love for one another, but when Roger (aka Max) reveals a secret he has been keeping from her, and then is arrested, accused of being a spy for Germany, Evie will be forced to make a dangerous decision to save his life.
Shifting from a rural hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales to the bustling city of Munich, McIntosh merges historical fact with fiction to present an absorbing story of love, betrayal, espionage and sacrifice.
The Spy’s Wife capitalises on the recent interest in the role of women as spies during WWII, but McIntosh cleverly approaches it from a new angle. Having convinced MI6 to release Max and allow them both to travel to Germany as spies for England, Evie needs to muster courage, cunning and resourcefulness as she pretends to be Max’s empty headed new bride while gathering the intelligence that will free them. It’s not only their own lives at stake, Max’s young son by his late Jewish wife is essentially being held as a hostage by one of Hitler’s true believers, and she wants Max for herself. There are plenty of tense moments as Evie and Max, viewed with some suspicion by friends and colleagues, take big risks to gather information about Hitler’s plans for war.
Evie is an appealing heroine, naive and vulnerable but also brave and determined. Trusting Max, with both her heart and her life, is a gamble few would voluntarily take. Once in Germany, with no real experience of subterfuge Evie finds her position increasingly stressful and I really felt for her as she realised just how grim a fate she would meet if she was caught.
Despite the limitations placed on McIntosh’s usual research strategies due to the global pandemic lockdown, the details of the era, and the settings feel authentic. Though I was vaguely aware the VW beetle was designed to meet Hitler’s demand for a ‘people’s car’, I wasn’t aware Porsche was responsible for its production. I found the information about the company’s involvement in the war to be an interesting element of the novel.
Written to McIntosh’s usual high standard, The Spy’s Wife is a captivating read with a stunning conclusion.
Young widow Evie Armstrong is running a small cafe at the Levisham railway station in northern England where her father serves as station master when a handsome traveller attracts her interest. Within weeks Evie and Roger, a widowed engineer from London, profess their love for one another, but when Roger (aka Max) reveals a secret he has been keeping from her, and then is arrested, accused of being a spy for Germany, Evie will be forced to make a dangerous decision to save his life.
Shifting from a rural hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales to the bustling city of Munich, McIntosh merges historical fact with fiction to present an absorbing story of love, betrayal, espionage and sacrifice.
The Spy’s Wife capitalises on the recent interest in the role of women as spies during WWII, but McIntosh cleverly approaches it from a new angle. Having convinced MI6 to release Max and allow them both to travel to Germany as spies for England, Evie needs to muster courage, cunning and resourcefulness as she pretends to be Max’s empty headed new bride while gathering the intelligence that will free them. It’s not only their own lives at stake, Max’s young son by his late Jewish wife is essentially being held as a hostage by one of Hitler’s true believers, and she wants Max for herself. There are plenty of tense moments as Evie and Max, viewed with some suspicion by friends and colleagues, take big risks to gather information about Hitler’s plans for war.
Evie is an appealing heroine, naive and vulnerable but also brave and determined. Trusting Max, with both her heart and her life, is a gamble few would voluntarily take. Once in Germany, with no real experience of subterfuge Evie finds her position increasingly stressful and I really felt for her as she realised just how grim a fate she would meet if she was caught.
Despite the limitations placed on McIntosh’s usual research strategies due to the global pandemic lockdown, the details of the era, and the settings feel authentic. Though I was vaguely aware the VW beetle was designed to meet Hitler’s demand for a ‘people’s car’, I wasn’t aware Porsche was responsible for its production. I found the information about the company’s involvement in the war to be an interesting element of the novel.
Written to McIntosh’s usual high standard, The Spy’s Wife is a captivating read with a stunning conclusion.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Widowed Evie Armstrong lives in a sleepy Yorkshire town, the daughter of the stationmaster. Each week she and her sister Rosie look out for the handsome stranger who travels from the south.
While Rosie, a bratty flirt, has her eyes on Roger, it’s Evie he falls madly in love with and soon the pair are engaged. She cannot believe she has a second chance at a family.
But Whitehall has concerns of a German spy in the area and Roger is arrested, leading Evie straight into the den of high-powered Nazi party members in Munich.
THE SPY’S WIFE is full of mystery and is surprisingly tense for a historical fiction novel. There were many moments when I thought Evie would be found out - and the jig of being a dutiful, air-headed wife would be up.
White a lot less confronting than most WW2 novels, THE SPY’S WIFE has a paternal focus at the heart of the story. I also really liked learning more about Porsche’s involvement in the German war effort, and found the engineering chat interesting - but that’s all thanks to my partner’s occupation…
THE SPY’S WIFE is a well paced, exploration of how parents will stop at nothing for the safety of their children. Even if that means infiltrating the Nazi occupation.