Scan barcode
kdrhoton's review against another edition
2.0
Oof. What should have been a really interesting story was turned into a complete bore. There are two reasons for this: 1.) the author essentially copy and pasted this story from previously published and unpublished books, so it kind of felt like reading a book report, and 2.) the author left out just about anything that would humanize Betty and instead decided to focus on her bedroom exploits.
Don't get me wrong. I understand that her sexual escapades played a big part in her role within the world of intelligence and that, ultimately, Betty Pack was a pretty selfish person who thought solely of what would please her. I don't think any writer could have turned her into a wholly sympathetic character. However, she was an intelligent woman with more to offer than can be found in this book. This story probably would've been better off left in the hands of a writer (preferably female-identifying) who would've had a bit more interest in the reasoning behind her actions rather than a guy who pretty much just chalked it up to "girls just wanna have fun".
Don't get me wrong. I understand that her sexual escapades played a big part in her role within the world of intelligence and that, ultimately, Betty Pack was a pretty selfish person who thought solely of what would please her. I don't think any writer could have turned her into a wholly sympathetic character. However, she was an intelligent woman with more to offer than can be found in this book. This story probably would've been better off left in the hands of a writer (preferably female-identifying) who would've had a bit more interest in the reasoning behind her actions rather than a guy who pretty much just chalked it up to "girls just wanna have fun".
enidsorko's review against another edition
1.0
This had promise, but I could not take the breezy writing style, and I did not like the way the author seemed to find all the ways Betty betrayed people as charming, or just the way she was. I made it to page 150, about 1/3 of the way through, and I am giving up- there are too many books out there I want to get to to waste any more of my reading time on this.
janp's review
1.0
The subtitle of this book is 'A World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure and Betrayal'. According to Kindle, I read 1% of this book before I decided I could not continue. It's a story within a story about the life of an American woman who marries an Englishman at age 19 and travel with him to his diplomatic assignment for the Brits. Even though I only got this far she has had countless lovers (including a Catholic priest), given away one of her two children (but thought about giving the other way away), and in general thinks no rules or morals apply to her. She may have been a wonderful spy for her adopted country but she is not someone I can admire or care to waste my time reading about. Too many books, too little time.
michaelkerr's review
4.0
3.5 Stars. Betty Pack, the lovely debutante daughter of a social-climbing American family, found herself at the right place at the right time. Possessing very modern attitudes toward sex, and not particularly capable of establishing deep connections, she found herself in "trouble" and married a convenient father-figure, who happened to be a British diplomat. As this was at the dawn of World War II, she soon found herself in a place where she could pass on intelligence to MI6, and have numerous affairs and adventures along the way. Her remarkable activities touched on a number of huge events during the war, a la Forest Gump, and it's all the more incredible for being true.
cspiwak's review
3.0
This was well written, but I had a hard time sympathizing with the protagonist. I know it is non-fiction, bu t the author opened with her cheating on her husband, with no patriotic motivation and entrapping a guy to cover her pregnancy. . Then there is the way she treats her children. Interesting as a possible explanation for what motivates such people
More...