Women Spies

A Novel of Remembrance of Mata Hari, Mary Bowser, Noor Inayat Khan, Nancy Wake, and the Other Strong Women of History

By: Jack Johnson

Narrated by: Kenneth Maxon

Women Spies: A Novel of Remembrance of Mata Hari, Mary Bowser, Noor Inayat Khan, Nancy Wake and other Strong Women of History is a historical fiction that uses the "grandmother's chair" method to recount the very real histories of famous and infamous female spies down through the ages. The story begins with Lannie (a fictitious character) watching a mysterious neighbor moving in next door. Her grandmother (also fictitious) collects stories about spies. As Lannie learns about famous female spies, so does the listener. The fictitious background is used as a vehicle for discussing each of the featured women, presenting various views, some of them opposing, that affect our perception of these women today. A Forbes Magazine article commented that women have always been uniquely suited to spying because they understand subtle messages delivered through body language, and because they understand how people interact. The article goes on to say that women are good at multitasking, as a rule, since it is often required for successfully running a home. These are just a few of the traits needed to be a successful spy. The book also touches on spies for the other side, and has a running thread of plot that focuses around the fictional characters.

©2016 Jack Johnson (P)2016 Jack Johnson

Oops we downloaded a vanity project

Badly written and in need of an editor. Incoherent plot interspersed with excerpts from Wikipedia articles about female spies, with a Mary Sue main character. Key events are never explained, and the actual connection between the novel plot and the spies whose histories are included is tenuous at best. Laughed out loud repeatedly at the absurd plotting of the final chapters.

A serious subject with a child like attitude

I really struggled with the performance and the story. It's a myriad of short stories about heroic women. However, it's read in a man's grandma voice with over inflected, weak transitions. There's an overall story amongst the short ones that seems absolutely ridiculous. It gets extremely serious but overall attitude is blase. I feel like a subject this serious shouldn't be read like a story to child.