[.ca] Femme Fatale

Emme Fatatle:
A good biography of one of the 20th. Centuries most interesting spys/nonspy...Professor Shipman writes a no hold barred tale of Mata Hari...The book is really two stories. The first is how Margaretha Zelle born of Dutch parents became Mata Hari...Margaretha Zelle was a woman of enormous talents in language who mastered besides her native Dutch, German, French, English and Spanish along with with the languages of the Dutch East Indies where she pent her years as a young woman married to a Dutch Colonial Officer...Marrage, an abusive husband and the hard colonial life were not for her and after a few years she divorced here husband and returned to Holland...This was the begaining of her transformation from a wife and mother to a performer and a high priced courtesan...The second story was how she got involved in espionage and spying or not...Professor Shipman lays out the "factual information" we have on Mata Hari and then leaves it to the reader to determine if Mata Hari was a spy or because of her notarity and the fact that she had been a paid mistress of some many powerful men it was best to silence her...The reader has to determine if she was an agent for the Germans, French, both or some other country, the facts are not clear...If you like an honest well scribed book then you will enjoy Femme Fatle, but don't expect the author to spoon feed you any speculative ending.

Wonderful!:
I read for escape, and when I can also learn something along the way then it's even better. Shipman gives us a wonderfully written and fast-paced exciting book. You really feel sympathy for Mata Hari and pain at the horrible traps she walked into. What a wonderful snap-shot of that time in European history. I truly enjoyed every word in this book and highly recommend it.

Mata Hari, Spy or Dupe?:
Book goes quite in depth with Gerta's early life in the Dutch East Indies with her husband, but it helps to understand her personality. This poor wretch is branded only as a spy by the French who wanted to spy on the Germans and being refused, trumped up charges against her. Seems she was only an exotic dancer that enjoyed men in and out of uniform. Good read, only boring at times. Recommended.

seems neat to me:
So, I purchased this book at the behest of some NPR reporter or another, and I did so with my friend Amy in mind. Although not an avid reader, I will try to coax her into this book with the promise of great scandal. Months from now, I envision myself demanding the return of this book so I can read it (as I am sure she will have not) and I will enjoy it thoroughly. Up to this point though, I cannot attest to it's content. The cover is very lovely, though.

No mystery here:
I thought that this was a beautifully written book which was obviously thoughtfully researched. The story of Mata Hari is inherently fascinating, but I appreciated Shipman's decision to balance the different stages of her life, while weaving the interelationships between them. I do have one major criticism however. I did not know the complete story of Mata Hari before starting the book. The author obviously assumes that every reader already knows the end, since she spoils the suspense by referring to events that haven't happened yet throughout the book. Her decision to do this did not add value to the framing of the story and it detracted from my enjoyment.