Signed, Mata Hari: A Novel
by Yannick Murphy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Yannick MurphyEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-11-14
ISBN: 031611264X
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Reviews of Signed, Mata Hari: A Novel
Book Review: Beautifully written novel about a female spy
Summary: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (12/07)
Mata Hari was one of the most well-known exotic dancers of all times, yet her true fame came after the accusations that she was spying for Germans during the First World War. A fascinating person in real life, she takes on added dimensions in the beautifully written novel "Signed, Mata Hari" by Yannick Murphy. This exquisite novel portrays Mata Hari as a daughter, a lover, a wife, a friend, a mother and more, but first and foremost as a woman.
The novel's setting is a jail in Paris, France; that's where Mata Hari awaits her trial. Charge: spying. Penalty: death by a firing squad, if found guilty. While in prison, Mata Hari tells stories and writes letters to her estranged daughter, Non. It is through those stories, letters and conversations with a nun, Sister Leonide, that we get acquainted with Mata Hari, whose real name was Margaretha Zelle. From the lean years of her youth and the exotic, if not exactly happy years as a young wife of a Dutch naval officer, living in Java - and to her years as a famous performer with invented and wondrously embroidered past, associating with many men from different sides, Mata Hari is revealed as an intricately complex personality, perennially searching for happiness and fulfillment.
The novel does not provide an answer to the oftentimes asked question about her guilt, but it reveals a secret that Mata Hari carried hidden for many years and which could have sparked some of the events that sent her on the downwards spiral that ended with her execution.
I read "Signed, Mata Hari" in one sitting. I picked it up to relax and escape for a couple of minutes, but there was no way to put it down. Ms. Murphy created a series of very complex characters in a setting that immediately draw me in. Her writing is magical - once she draws you within, the tangled web keeps you safely inside. Engaging story, lush descriptions, emotionally charged content - overall a fantastic read.
Summary of Signed, Mata Hari: A Novel
In the cold October of 1917 Margaretha Zelle, better known as Mata Hari, sits in a prison cell inFrom a bleak childhood in the
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