Princess Elizabeth's Spy
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3.2 • 6 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. Now, as World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited, strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. Yet castle life quickly proves more dangerous—and deadly—than Maggie ever expected. The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Early in WWII, after the Battle of Britain, fears of a German invasion of England remain high in MacNeal's enjoyable sequel to Mr. Churchill's Secretary. American expat Maggie Hope, formerly the prime minister's secretary, is training in Scotland to become a spy for MI5. Dismissive of so-called "women's work," Maggie reluctantly accepts her first assignment to go undercover at Windsor Castle as math tutor to the 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth. After the initial, somewhat slow scene-setting chapters, which depict scheming Nazis as well as the dubious loyalty of the duke and duchess of Windsor, the plot picks up momentum with false starts, double agents, and red herrings. MacNeal provides a vivid view of life both above and below stairs at Windsor Castle. Excerpts from actual news broadcasts and speeches by the future Elizabeth II and Churchill add historical authenticity.
Customer Reviews
Bored of sloppy research into British lives in the 1930s and 40s
Quite a good story but I’m beginning to get bored of yet another American writer writing about English life and not doing their research properly. To an English woman, it jars badly and detracts from the story. Please please please get someone English to proof read it. I know the heroine was brought up in America but the stupid little mistakes of using American works and phrases in error don’t help to create any sort of credibility. The reference to hunting was also laughable. For the record, we don’t hunt in the UK with guns so if they’re dressed to ride horses, they wouldn’t be carrying guns. When guns are involved, the characters would be going shooting or going to a shoot. I know this is different in the US but you need to get it right in a book set in the UK in this era.
Mills and Boon fantasy
Thin on plot, lacking any historical accuracy or research, I hoped each page would improve. Sadly this is a fiction with only the vaguest connection to reality and as such lacks any realism, jeopardy or interest. It’s like reading Harry Potter but replacing fictional names with historical ones, and doing a disservice to them by inserting them into this Mills and Boon meets espionage fantasy. Disappointing to say the least.
Really just England !
The last time I checked their was a lot more to the UK than just England get it right or don’t bother