Friday, February 7, 2014

Mr. Churchill's Secretary

Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal, 373 pages



Mr. Churchill's Secretary is the first book in a series about a young woman by the name of Maggie Hope. An English citizen raised in the United States, Maggie finds herself in London at the beginning of WWII in order to settle her grandmother's estate. In order to help with the war effort, she lands a job as one of Winston Churchill's typists.

Reading the author's notes in the book, the actual work conditions as a typist for the late prime minister as described in the book are factual. MacNeal read typists' biographies and was actually in contact with one of the typists before she died. Besides the working conditions and the over-arching situation of WWII, that's about where the historical facts end.

However, it is an absolutely delightful novel. The character of Maggie Hope becomes the character of James Bond, only with estrogen! Even though you will find this in the fiction section, I really think it has all of the elements of a good mystery. I also found that, everytime I thought that the book was about to end, another twist was added that made me want to turn each tantalizing page until the end. I spent many late nights with this book!

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