2016 Reading Challenge: "A book where the protagonist has the same profession as you"

Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was an enjoyable book. Nothing spectacular though. Like others who have reviewed this book, there were things I really liked about it and things that left me just ho-hum.

I liked the characterizations, the world building (as much as there is world building in a book set in human history), the dramatization of what it was like to be in England during the Blitz.

The action, what there was of it, was rather eh. I never found myself on the edge of my seat, desperately waiting to find out what happens next. I don't know if it was the author's writing style, the reader's performance or if in reality, the action really was just eh.

Some of the relationships in the book were great. I liked how Maggie, the main character, interacts with her male friends and colleagues, David and John... right up until suddenly John is becoming a love interest. It felt forced. But the siblingesque relationship between Maggie and David was wonderful. I also liked the relationships Maggie had with the women she shared a house with.

I guess, given the time period and nature of the book, I was really hoping that Maggie would turn out to be more Agent Peggy Carter. And it felt like that is what she was meant to be, but most of the time I just didn't buy her in the role.

As for looking for the rest of the books in the series, if I see the next one at the library, I might pick it up, but I'm not going to actively seek it out.




View all my reviews