judyward's review against another edition
4.0
Was Hilda a spy for the Soviet Union who returned to Russia before she could be unmasked and arrested or did she simply die in an auto accident? Eight year old Anna and her older brother, Peter, are told that their mother is dead, but there is no funeral, their father (who had a secret job during World War II in England and who met their mother in Berlin after the war) took them to the sea to stay immediately after their mother's death, and when they returned to their home all traces of their mother have been removed. Unable to understand what has happened or to have any closure, Anna and Peter, especially Peter, conjecture that their mother was a Cold War spy and begin to collect evidence. Undoubtedly their suspicions were aroused because there had been a major arrest of two Soviet spies in England on the same day as Hilda's death. The arrested spies had posed as a happily married couple living in rural England and they had been broadcasting and receiving information to and from Russia from a transmitter concealed in their home. Maybe their mother was still alive and living back in East Germany or the Soviet Union. This book focuses on grief, loss, and the inaccuracy of childhood memories as Anna and Peter begin to put together recollections of their mother, snatches of conversation they overheard, the realization that their mother was raised in a German village that was now inside the boundary of the Soviet Union, and supicions of people and circumstances in their English village to convince themselves that if they figure out what really happened they will find their mother again.
ainiali's review against another edition
3.0
People does not change because you knew something else about them. They still looked the same. Only, if you thought of it, the way you saw them changed. There was the person you saw, who was always the same, and then there was the other person you found out they were inside. Like Russian dolls. Or spies. Like Helen Kroger and Leontina Cohen.
When you read the title of a book, don't expect more than it is. For this particular one, as per its name, it is just a game.
Out of the blue, just right her mother death, her dad took Anna & her older brother, Peter to an island for a trip. She was just 8 years old at the time. Peter was sceptical with everything that is happening. He was fascinated with the spy that he wondered if their mother was one since she's a German. It was during the Cold War & everything seems possible.
The story was told from Anna POV & it was quite slow moving. We got to see how she grew up with his brother obsession about war, espionage & everything related. However, there was an incident that led Anna asked herself whether her brother was right all along.
There are a few other characters that add spice & colours to overall story such as Susan, her friend & neighbour with her parents who were basically family to them
I read this book without checking the rating on Goodreads so that I could get through it without prejudice and it work!
I really pity Anna. She was left with confusions for a child to deal with, up till she can't differentiate what is imagination & what is real.
I learned quite a lot from reading this. It's a good experience but a few issues got the stars out of the rating.
montims's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting - I wish I had found out at the end if her mother really had been a spy / really had died, but I found the different tales and flashbacks intriguing and believable.
A very readable book.
ETA - listening to Diana Quick read this on Radio 4 - very nice.
A very readable book.
ETA - listening to Diana Quick read this on Radio 4 - very nice.
jrbee's review
I've given up. So far it's about a young girl who's having a normal life, gong on holiday etc and vaguely toying with the idea of her mother being a spy, although her brother's more taken with the thought than she is.
There's another spy story woven into it, seemingly unrelated so far, but having skipped ahead in shear desperation for plot progression I really can't see it going anywhere.
There's another spy story woven into it, seemingly unrelated so far, but having skipped ahead in shear desperation for plot progression I really can't see it going anywhere.
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