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The Spy Who Loved

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The Spy Who Loved

By: Clare Mulley
Narrated by: Maggie Mash
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About this listen

In June 1952, a woman was murdered by an obsessive colleague in a hotel in South Kensington. Her name was Christine Granville. That she died young was perhaps unsurprising, but that she had survived the Second World War was remarkable. She was one of Britain’s most daring and highly decorated secret agents, and the intelligence she gathered was a significant contribution to the Allied war effort.

©2012 Clare Mulley (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd Espionage Historical Military Military & War Politicians Politics & Activism True Crime Women World World War II War Exciting Scary Inspiring Imperialism

Critic reviews

"Engrossing…as thrilling as any fiction" ( Mail on Sunday)
"Compulsively readable... Clare Mulley…has written a thrilling book, and paid overdue homage to a difficult woman who seized life with both hands" ( Sunday Telegraph)
"A stunning biographical achievement." (Alison Weir)
All stars
Most relevant
This is the story of one of the bravest, most amazing women in history. It is a story that needs to be known and has, for too long, been neglected. And the story is told beautifully. Clare Murray gets deep into the personality of a mysterious woman and brings the reader with her. It is a masterpiece of story telling. The choice of Maggie Mash to read the book was inspired. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

A captivating story beautifully told

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This was enthralling from start to
finish. Helpful to get an insight at the end of the author's sources and research strategy. Despite this book being so long, I never lost interest. No boring bits in Christine's life!
I also thought the narrator was excellent. Normally I need my hearing aids for audio books, but not this time. Every word as clear as a bell. Not once did she falter over those difficult foreign names... As for the 'accents' which other reviewers have criticised they didn't bother me at all. It was at least clear that this bit was a quote and not part of the general narrative.

Fascinating

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Loved it all. Very interesting and entertaining. Totally new to me. I do not like books about war but this was excellent in every way.

Fast moving

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A very brave woman,buried in st Mary’s church nw10..with her long term partner,and SOE agent

Fantastic book,about Christine Granville SOE

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This tells the story of a Polish born woman with a Jewish mother finds herself entangled in dangerous courrier work during the Second World War and it also recounts her somewhat chaotic love life. The story is interesting in itself and when the narrator contents herself to read the biography in her normal voice it is an enjoyable listen and she reads well. Unfortunately she finds it necessary to 'enliven' the direct quotes from various sources with a number of grating imitations of Polish, French and other accents which are very inaccurate and her impersonations of gruff male voices are extremely irritating to say the least. Whenever she attempts to characterise the female lead she also uses a sort of high pitched whine which makes listening unbearable.
I think narrators should retain a neutral tone when reading biographies. Had this narrator done so the book would have been a five star rating for me.

Marred by the narration

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