Fabulous reads – She defied convention to her death
Book review - The Spy by Paulo Coelho.
The Spy, Paulo Coelho, Penguin Random House
BRAZILIAN author Paulo Coelho is best-selling author of The Alchemist, one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time.
In his new book, The Spy, he brings to life one of history’s most enigmatic women: Mata Hari.
The book begins dramatically with Mata Hari’s execution by firing squad. She was arrested in her hotel room on the Champs Elysees in 1917 and accused of espionage. And what intrigued me most was her quiet acceptance of her fate and the fact that her former rich and powerful lovers did not manage to save her, and the dignity she portrayed to the last second of her life.
“I am a woman who was born at the wrong time and nothing can be done to fix this. I don’t know if the future will remember me, but if it does, may it never see me as a victim, but as someone who moved forward with courage, fearlessly paying the price she had to pay.”
She was one of those women who can’t help but make their mark in the world whether for good or ill.
In Mata Hari’s case, it was defying convention and being an independent woman, a dancer who both shocked and delighted her audiences and a bewitching courtesan.
When Mata Hari, born Margaretha Zelle, arrived in Paris she was penniless, but not for long as she soon had the rich and powerful men eating out of her hand.
Until the war, and her reckless and lavish lifestyle caused suspicion and she was accused of espionage.
The story is told in her voice through her final letter but the ending is written from her attorney’s point of view.
An interesting and fast-paced read.
