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A review by heidirgorecki
The Missionary's Wife: A Romance and Spy Story Based on Actual Events by Jonathan Barclay
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The only reason I picked this up was because I needed to read a book set in Venezuela for a reading challenge, and my available alternatives to borrow were on the history of Hugo Chavez. Maybe I should have picked that instead.
For starters, the info on this felt more like clickbait than the actual subject presented by the time I was halfway thru. It’s not about how a missionary wife was an OSS spy and how she helped the war efforts with her skill. It was actually about how she decided to have an affair with a then-Nazi, and friend of her husband while her husband was away working as an OSS spy.
The affair was often in romanticized detail (keep in mind this is about his mother. Ew), all while both the author and the cheating wife excuse the morality of this choice as ok and just something that was part of the situation they were in, or even manipulated CS Lewis’ writing to imply sexual boundaries are self-imposed. And then the husband knows about the affair and does nothing. Just lets his wife have at it and pretends it isn’t happening even with the guy sitting in the room. Insane.
The writing was bizarre. It is classified as a fiction book but half of it was actually nonfiction - the author stepping in to give backstory on the events or setting, or talking about his mother’s journal or opinions on her life. The dialogue in the fictionalized parts was forced and awkward and sometimes the flow of the plot made no sense.
I can’t believe I took this much time on this book to write a review but maybe it’ll help some other unsuspecting person like myself. All I left with was that Alexis was spoiled, selfish, and a disloyal and betraying spouse who did whatever made her happy, and I have zero respect for her.
For starters, the info on this felt more like clickbait than the actual subject presented by the time I was halfway thru. It’s not about how a missionary wife was an OSS spy and how she helped the war efforts with her skill. It was actually about how she decided to have an affair with a then-Nazi, and friend of her husband while her husband was away working as an OSS spy.
The affair was often in romanticized detail (keep in mind this is about his mother. Ew), all while both the author and the cheating wife excuse the morality of this choice as ok and just something that was part of the situation they were in, or even manipulated CS Lewis’ writing to imply sexual boundaries are self-imposed. And then the husband knows about the affair and does nothing. Just lets his wife have at it and pretends it isn’t happening even with the guy sitting in the room. Insane.
The writing was bizarre. It is classified as a fiction book but half of it was actually nonfiction - the author stepping in to give backstory on the events or setting, or talking about his mother’s journal or opinions on her life. The dialogue in the fictionalized parts was forced and awkward and sometimes the flow of the plot made no sense.
I can’t believe I took this much time on this book to write a review but maybe it’ll help some other unsuspecting person like myself. All I left with was that Alexis was spoiled, selfish, and a disloyal and betraying spouse who did whatever made her happy, and I have zero respect for her.