“Mr. Churchill’s Secretary” - Susan Elia MacNeal

 

(Maggie Hope book 1)

🗃 MCS brings us back to WWII-era London. Neville Chamberlain had just been succeeded by Winston Churchill; his argument that appeasement (poor peace rather than a miserable war) had failed spectacularly.

🗃This book is exciting because it introduces us a plucky Anglo-American mathematician-turned-spy who is subjected to all the gender double standards of the era. Though eminently qualified, she does not secure a coveted position as a private secretary to Mr. Churchill, and is relegated to the typists pool.

🗃 In places, MCS read like a high-octane spy thriller, and it reminded me of Agatha Christie’s “N or M” due to the frantic urgency of internal threats (Fifth Column and IRA) during WWII. As with that book, a murder sets of the chain of events.

🗃This is the first WWII-era novel I’ve read that focuses on the activities of the IRA during this time period. Not only did I enjoy the tension of the espionage elements, but it was obvious that MacNeal has done her homework with this one. The depth of detail about Churchill, the War Cabinet, and his relationship with his pool of typists, was extraordinary. The portrayal felt authentic. The details she sprinkles throughout the narrative (Nina Ricci’s Joy, Elizabeth Arden makeup), the meals they cobble together despite rationing, and parties held under threat of attack, brings the period of the Bore War alive in the daily lives of young professionals.

🗃 Learning about the career goals, the engagements, the quarrels, of the female flatmates, and the young male private secretaries to Churchill, you find that you care about this disparate group of friends. The flatmates represent a new breed of woman born out of the labor shortage. MacNeal draws an acute atmosphere of young people growing up while fighting Nazis.

🗃 Without spoilers, I did have one glaring plot question” when things had gotten desperate, why was Maggie the logical choice and not Edmund? Having finished the novel, it seemed like a monumental lapse in judgement on the part of MI5. I mean, I thought Maggie was great - analytical and brainy - but she had zero training for spy work, and certainly lacked the temperament.