About this title: In this absorbing historical thriller . . . Sally Gilmartin, born Eva Delectorskaya, a Russian emigree recruited into the British Secret Service in 1939, reveals her clandestine past in an autobiography that she gives to her daughter, Ruth, a graduate student and single mother living a dull civilian life in Oxford in 1976.--"The New Yorker."
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: first U.S. edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 10/2006
ISBN-13:9781596912366ISBN:1596912367
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 324 p. read more
Edition: 1st US Ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9781596912366ISBN:1596912367
Description: Very good in good dust jacket. Pages in nearly like new condition. DJ shows some slight wear. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 324 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780747589372ISBN:0747589372
Description: Acceptable. MAY HAVE COVER WEAR, SPINE CREASES, HIGHLIGHTING, UNDERLINING & PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE. FASTER SERVICE FROM US! ! ! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Edition: 1st
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Date Published: 2006-10-03
ISBN-13:9781596912366ISBN:1596912367
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2007-01-02
ISBN-13:9780747586203ISBN:0747586209
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
"I loved the older story line and how the book has two narrators. However, this is not great literature. I didn't think the writing was particularly great. Skipping sentences and, in a few cases, paragraphs because the descriptions get dull and excessive is never a good sign. It seems like he was struggling with the more modern story--many aspects did nothing for me. Mr Boyd's writing is good enough, it just needs to be tightened. He seemed to struggle with the last two chapters, bringing the story to a close. That said, I thought it was generally enjoyable."
"Interesting. I've never read Boyd before, so this was fun: a new author. I'm not sure I'll read him again, however... What does that say?
I gave this 3 stars b/c I did enjoy the book and I didn't "get the ending" until the end. I learned a great deal about espionage by the Brits in the USA before Pearl Harbor. I liked Eva, Ruth's mother, during the war bit.
But there were a few things I really disliked about the book, too: 1) EMOTION. There was none. I missed it. Very weird. and 2) It's hard for me to read a book written by a man from the stand-point of a woman. Some men can do it (and, of course, vice versa), but in this instance... Boyd wrote too much like, well, a guy."
"I enjoyed this psychological thriller about a woman who was recruited as a British spy in the years leading up to WWII. It includes some interesting history about the efforts to create disinformation campaign to encourage the U.S. to become involved in the war. The novel moves between Eva's (Sally's) story and that of her daughter who knows nothing of her mother's past at the outset, and it plays with the interesting concerns about the effect of having been a spy on Sally's ability to live the rest of her life and on her relationship with her daughter."
"Interesting take on a WW II spy novel. Want to give 3 1/2 stars due to melodrama. But overall well done. Sixty three year old Sallie Gilmartin of Oxford in 1976 is really Eva Delectorskaya, a British spy during World War II sent to force US entrance into the war. It's a sad, cold story of betrayal and how Sallie involves her daughter Ruth, an ESL teacher and history student in Oxford, in setting a trap for the spy who ran and betrayed her during the war. A la LeCarre, spies are not like you and me."
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