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The Spy Who Loved

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About this listen

In June 1952, a woman was murdered by an obsessive colleague in a hotel in South Kensington. Her name was Christine Granville. That she died young was perhaps unsurprising, but that she had survived the Second World War was remarkable. She was one of Britain’s most daring and highly decorated secret agents, and the intelligence she gathered was a significant contribution to the Allied war effort.

©2012 Clare Mulley (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd Espionage Historical Military Military & War Politicians Politics & Activism True Crime Women World World War II War Exciting Scary Inspiring Imperialism

Critic reviews

"Engrossing…as thrilling as any fiction" ( Mail on Sunday)
"Compulsively readable... Clare Mulley…has written a thrilling book, and paid overdue homage to a difficult woman who seized life with both hands" ( Sunday Telegraph)
"A stunning biographical achievement." (Alison Weir)
All stars
Most relevant
This tells the story of a Polish born woman with a Jewish mother finds herself entangled in dangerous courrier work during the Second World War and it also recounts her somewhat chaotic love life. The story is interesting in itself and when the narrator contents herself to read the biography in her normal voice it is an enjoyable listen and she reads well. Unfortunately she finds it necessary to 'enliven' the direct quotes from various sources with a number of grating imitations of Polish, French and other accents which are very inaccurate and her impersonations of gruff male voices are extremely irritating to say the least. Whenever she attempts to characterise the female lead she also uses a sort of high pitched whine which makes listening unbearable.
I think narrators should retain a neutral tone when reading biographies. Had this narrator done so the book would have been a five star rating for me.

Marred by the narration

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An insight into SOE activities during the Second World War through a Polish female agent working for the British. The author conveys a sense of Krystyna's own story-telling with a twist of incredulity. Stories in big landscapes of brave men and women when Europe was unstable. A good story, well written, performed with verve, enjoyable for the context - for the descriptions of Poland and life in Cairo. Highly recommended.

Enthralling story

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Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration became rather annoying and hard to follow due to Maggie Mash's insistence of using accents for reported speech from eye witnesses. Had she simply continued to read in her own voice, without the pauses that came before and after each 'voice', the story would have flowed much better.

Any additional comments?

Christine Granville, born Countess Kyrstyna Skarbek, was a Polish agent of the Special Operations Executive during World War II, and reportedly, "Churchill's favourite spy". A woman of extraordinary dedication, bravery and resourcefulness, she is a true heroine of the period, even if she may have been, ultimately, a little unbalanced.


I almost put this book down unfinished, but I am so glad that I didn't. I must have been about half way through before I finally engaged with her story and found myself really interested in what would happen next. The author seems to have had a rather academic approach to this book and, for me, there was too much background and heavy detail which made it seem as though Mulley was determined to ensure all of her careful and thorough research was included, at the expense of pace and suspense. On many occasions I became confused with the names of the many people involved in Christine's life and found myself jumping backwards and forwards trying put everything straight in my mind.

Christine poses in the wreckage of a bridge she and the French resistance had just blown up in southern France. © Imperial War Museum

It wasn't until I reached Christine's work as an SOE agent in occupied France, that the story came alive for me. Her work with the Maquis is the stuff of legend and this is where I found myself becoming engrossed, unwilling to put the book down, wanting to know what would happen next. The risks that she took on behalf of others are astounding and show how fiercely determined and addicted to danger she was. That she achieved what she did as a woman in what was most definitely a man's world is almost unbelievable and there are many, many men who owed their lives to her tenacity and her actions.


Members of the Maquis and British officers in the Queyras Valley. Left to right: Gilbert Galletti, Captain Patrick O'Regan, Captain John Roper, Christine Granville (Countess Krystyna Skarbek) and Captain Leonard Hamilton (Blanchaert). © Imperial War Museum


I found it unthinkably sad that after all her efforts during the war, Christine Granville was effectively cast aside by both the British government and indeed the very country she had worked for when the war came to an end. The bureaucracy that she had to content with in order to gain her certificate of naturalisation and subsequently her British Citizenship was appalling. The difficulties she had finding employment in post-war England due to her nationality and gender were unforgivable.

Christine came across at times as a spoilt child who always wanted, and indeed expected, to get her own way. She was a ferociously driven and independent individual. She was admired by men, who saw her grace and beauty, but less so by women who saw her as 'nothing special'. Indeed, many men felt more than simple admiration for Christine and it would appear that she was never lacking a romantic liaison or a bedfellow when she felt the need for one. And I suppose this is where the title for her biography came from. "The Spy Who Loved" is an unfortunate label for this remarkable woman. It sensationalises one element of her obviously very complex character - her promiscuousness. For a woman who was willing to sacrifice everything for the war effort, to support the allies and ultimately to see her country free, it seems grossly unfair that it is this element that has been showcased, presumably in order to sell the book telling her amazing story.

It is tragic that her death, almost innevitably at the hands of a reportedly jilted lover, in a hotel lobby in 1952 meant that she did not live to see her beloved homeland, Poland, become a free country.

A tedious narration of an enthralling tale

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A great book not badly read but could have done without the comic accents which were quite off putting and of questionable appropriateness.

An excellent book

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This story needs to be told and heard but at times - indeed, most of the time - the welter of detail (much of it repeated) gets in the way of the narrative flow.
This is not helped by the somewhat jarring 'funny foreigner' voices that the reader adopts, often prefaced by a meaningful pause that is the audio equivalent of the 'air quotes' with fingers.
I kept with it all the way to the, somewhat elongated, closing chapters and remain fascinated by Christine/Cristina and her remrkable life (and death) but never quite escaped the feeling that it needed 'a bloody good edit'.

A Curate's Egg

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