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fieryfred's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Christine Granville was an incredible wartime heroine who met a tragic end. I knew nothing about her remarkable life before reading this, and little about the terrible events in Poland in WW2. An extremely informative book though perhaps not as exciting as it should be considering the subject matter!
dhh08's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Genocide, Antisemitism, Racism, Sexism, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Infidelity, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Torture, Gore, War, and Violence
susannavs's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting woman, with a sad end. I wasn't *that* impressed with the writing style, but the subject was interesting enough to keep going.
christinajleaf's review
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I thought this was a fascinating story and told in an engaging way. I did struggle at times with the number of people introduced. I was also frustrated at the two
included appendices. Do we really need an examination of why she didn’t have children? Isn’t her accomplishments enough? And the other seems almost sympathetic at times to her murderer.
included appendices. Do we really need an examination of why she didn’t have children? Isn’t her accomplishments enough? And the other seems almost sympathetic at times to her murderer.
siria's review
3.0
Christina Granville—the nom de guerre of Krystyna Skarbek, the daughter of a shiftless Polish count and his Jewish heiress wife—was one of the most storied and decorated members of the British Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) during the Second World War. As an S.O.E. agent, she carried out a number of daring missions across Europe, most famously the rescue of two British agents in France mere hours before they were scheduled to be executed by the Gestapo. Christina's war was an adventurous one, but her post-war life was bleak: unable to return to her beloved Poland, penniless, discriminated against in the U.K. because of her nationality, ethnicity, and gender, and often it seems unable to get out of her own way. She was ultimately murdered, still only in her mid-40s, by an obsessed co-worker.
Christina's is an interesting life, but not one that I think Clare Mulley fully does justice. There's no getting around the relative lack of sources—Christina doesn't seem to have been given much to writing or to reflection, and many papers about her were accidentally or deliberately destroyed—but even taking that into account I didn't feel as if Mulley ever got a proper handle on her subject. The portrait she provides of Christina is out of focus and sometimes at odds with itself (we're often told she's an introverted loner but often encounter her at parties and celebrations, and she had multiple relationships), and the structure isn't as good as it could be. I'm glad that Christina's story has been told, though, and that Mulley made a diligent attempt to separate fact from myth (it's unlikely, for instance, that Ian Fleming had an affair with her and used her as the model for Vesper Lynd).
Christina's is an interesting life, but not one that I think Clare Mulley fully does justice. There's no getting around the relative lack of sources—Christina doesn't seem to have been given much to writing or to reflection, and many papers about her were accidentally or deliberately destroyed—but even taking that into account I didn't feel as if Mulley ever got a proper handle on her subject. The portrait she provides of Christina is out of focus and sometimes at odds with itself (we're often told she's an introverted loner but often encounter her at parties and celebrations, and she had multiple relationships), and the structure isn't as good as it could be. I'm glad that Christina's story has been told, though, and that Mulley made a diligent attempt to separate fact from myth (it's unlikely, for instance, that Ian Fleming had an affair with her and used her as the model for Vesper Lynd).
ellamarieedel's review
4.0
[3.5] – Closer to 4 stars
I really enjoyed this book and its subject. Christine is a fascinating and complex woman, and I thought the author did a really good job with capturing who she was. I was hoping for more on the SOE with this book; it mostly considered Christine's work separately from the SOE. That said, I still found her account really interesting and her exploits during the war thrilling. Overall, I enjoyed this book and its subject and thought the author did a good job.
I really enjoyed this book and its subject. Christine is a fascinating and complex woman, and I thought the author did a really good job with capturing who she was. I was hoping for more on the SOE with this book; it mostly considered Christine's work separately from the SOE. That said, I still found her account really interesting and her exploits during the war thrilling. Overall, I enjoyed this book and its subject and thought the author did a good job.
whatvictoriaread's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
klg30's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this book but it dragged on and on in so many parts. I kept having to put it down and give it a rest. It was great reading about Christine and her career, and definitely felt her anger at a lot of men trying to decide for her what she would do. The author would go on random tangents for paragraphs about another person that did not really add to Christine’s story at all. There were entire pages of WWII history and battles that yes described the war that she fought but again wasn’t adding to her story (or could have been greatly condensed.)