Anything, ANYTHING to do with WWII fiction gets my attention. So imagine my interest when I saw the cover of Mr. Churchill's Secretary, by Susan Elia Macneal. A prim, pearl-earringed woman with her hair in an elegant chignon set in profile against the London night sky, with RAF fighters soaring overhead. Wow, I said to myself, this is my kind of book.
Which it was. Maggie Hope, an American-raised Brit, returns to her homeland to settle family business and stays on as Britain enters the war. She's a math wizard who defers her graduate education at MIT to go across the pond (really?) and finds herself adapting to the tea, the chintz and her new roommates. She's got friends in high places and by the first chapter lands a job at 10 Downing Street as one of Churchill's secretaries.
Who cares that she's a math whiz and could do more? Chain her to a typewriter. She's a woman. I saw that old chestnut of a storyline coming and started to doubt.
But it was early and I kept reading, or as Churchill would say, KPO. Keep Plodding On.
Macneal did an admirable job of recreating London, life inside the PM's War Rooms and the German's daily air raids known as The Blitz. She even threw in some IRA terrorism involving a few of Maggie's coworkers and friends.
Maggie eventually triumphs--using her math and codebreaking skills--and breaks out of the steno pool long enough to perform some heroic acts to save herself, her family, her friends and her nation. It unfolded a bit too predictably for me. I felt like I knew what was coming, but I couldn't put the book down until I knew for sure.
This is a mixed review. I loved the setting and the historical details, but it lacked the depth and details of other WWII storytellers. I recommend the book to readers who enjoy a WWII yarn that features the best of the British, keep-a-stiff-upper-lip sensibility during their darkest hour. Those scenes were vividly recreated. If you like wartime suspense, in lighter doses, this would also satisfy.
Just don't expect Ken Follett or Len Deighton-quality intensity.
The Push from the Book: See Above. KPO. That was a new Churchill-ism for me. Keep Plodding On. We all have our battles. Each day. Never give up. The book gave me a catchy new phrase, and I love the fact that it's Churchill's words.
