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The Spy
The Spy
Nov 23, 2025 3:03 PM

Author:Paulo Coelho

The Spy

'Beautifully written and gripping'. Sunday Mirror

When Mata Hari arrived in Paris she was penniless.

Soon she was feted as the most elegant woman in the city.

A dancer who shocked and delighted audiences, as a confidante and courtesan she bewitched the era’s richest and most powerful men.

But as paranoia consumed a country at war, Mata Hari’s lifestyle brought her under suspicion. In 1917 she was arrested in her hotel room on the Champs Elysees and accused of espionage.

Told in Mata Hari's voice through her final letter, The Spy is the unforgettable story of a woman who dared to break the conventions of her time, and paid the price.

Reviews

The fascinating story of her life is . . . beautifully written and gripping.

—— Sunday Mirror

Coelho, whose books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, has taken the Mata Hara story and fashioned it into a short dynamo of a novel.

—— Los Angeles Times

A striking novel. . . . By the end, readers will believe they've read [Mata Hari's] actual letters.

—— Publisher's Weekly

Spiritualists and wanderlusts will eagerly devour . . . [Coelho's] search for all things meaningful.

—— Washington Post

'Pratchett ... is the missing link between Douglas Adams and J.K. Rowling. To non-initiates his work is gobbledygook, but dig deeper and you find the wit and imaginationthat have gained him a fanatical readership - among them is A.S. Byatt.'

—— FT MAGAZINE

Lashings of excitement, colour and subtlety

—— The Times

Vivid, engaging, densely plotted - are almost certainly destined to be counted among the classics of popular fiction

—— New York Times

Another stunning excavator of human heat and light, Yrsa Daley-Ward goes straight to the messy beating heart of animal attraction with bone, mesmerizing poems that strip bare the pain and beauty of negotiating longing, sex and love

—— Huffington Post

Beautiful ... Moving ... Touching

—— Sarah Brett, BBC Radio 5 Live

...so detailed and vivid you can practically feel the chill numbing your fingers. Beautifully written and richly textured, it’s a beguiling read.

—— SFX Magazine

Arden’s debut is an earthy, beautifully written love letter to Russian folklore, with an irresistible heroine ... [an] exciting fairy tale that will enchant readers from the first page

—— Publisher's Weekly

Enthralling and enchanting – I literally couldn’t put it down. A wondrous book!

—— Tamora Pierce , bestselling author of the Song of the Lionness Quartet

The Bear and the Nightingale is a marvelous trip into an ancient Russia where magic is a part of everyday life

—— Todd McCaffrey , author of The Dragon Books

beautifully wrought fairytale for adults...

—— Writing Magazine

Fairy tale lovers, if you’re going to read one fantasy book this winter, let this be it.... beautiful debut

—— www.bookish.com

An enchanting yet haunting Russian fairytale which inspires courage in a time of darkness

—— The Observer

Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy isn't just good - it's hug-to-your-chest, straight-to-the-favourites-shelf, reread-immediately good, and each book just gets better

—— Laini Taylor

A historical fantasy perfect for those who love ancient stories and tradition

—— Good Housekeeping

A powerful read

—— Stylist

A funny, emotional, brilliantly observed story

—— Bella Magazine

It's one of those rare books with almost universal appeal: it will make you laugh, cry and break your heart

—— The Bookseller

It wreaks emotional havoc . . . To finish it with a firm resolve to be a better person - well, you can't ask much more of any book than that

—— Independent

When the kids have finished with this, the adults will want to read it. Everybody should

—— Financial Times

A bold tale of slavery for a new 'Roots' generation

—— Washington Post

Rich, epic. . . Each chapter is tightly plotted, and there are suspenseful, even spectacular climaxes

—— New York Magazine

Rarely does a grand, sweeping epic plumb interior lives so thoroughly. Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing is a marvel

—— Shelf Awareness

Terrific

—— Ann Patchett

Spectacular

—— Taiye Selasi

Homegoing is stunning - a truly heartbreaking work of literary genius

—— Bustle

This is, hand on heart, a completely brilliant novel...a brilliant debut. If this isn't shortlisted for some prizes next year, I'll be disappointed

—— Stylist's pick of the best new books for 2017

Encompassing events major and minor, but skilfully skipping the civil war, it humanises big issues by giving us unforgettable characters. It could not be more relevant or needed

—— Damian Barr , Observer Books of the Year

Gyasi imbues indigenous life with richness and dignity, in a style that owes something - though by no means everything - to Chinua Achebe...it serves as the engine for a powerful message

—— Daily Telegraph

A future classic and a novel that you'll want to pass on to everyone you know...the real deal...2017 is set to be the year of Homegoing

—— Stylist

While the issues she wrestles with are heavy, her writing is a joy....Now, more than ever, we need books like this one

—— Red

Hugely courageous and really important

—— Sathnam Sanghera

Homegoing is remarkable...the writing at the end of the book is every bit as vital as that at the start...she has produced a contemporary classic - one you'll actually want to read

—— Daily Mail

An epic debut novel

—— Good Housekeeping

Intriguing debut...a noble enterprise

—— Mail on Sunday

Brilliant

—— Sunday Telegraph

Vivid and ambitious debut

—— Sunday Express

Toni Morrison's Beloved spoke to a generation. Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing will do the same for a new one. In a word, it's brilliant. And not just "for a debut"

—— The Pool

The powerful narrative of Yaa Gyasi's accomplished first novel do more than reveal the history that still troubles the United States. They make that history immediate

—— Harper's Bazaar

A fascinating view of the history of slavery...Gyasi gives voice to suppressed stories, and that feels hugely important....it certainly deserves our attention

—— Sunday Times

A searing indictment of racism and a very impressive debut

—— Sunday Express

Ambitious, superbly written, important - don't miss this one

—— Woman & Home

It is written with such maturity and beauty, that it is hard to believe it is Gyasi's first published work...Gyasi has created a masterpiece which is educational, highly ambitious and extremely touching. Her writing style is raw and intense and leaves one desperate to see what work she will produce in the future

—— Press Association

Extraordinary

—— Glamour

The hype is justified

—— Emerald Street

This unputdownable tale spans three continents and seven generations to tell the story of a family and of America itself

—— Reader's Digest

A bold and ambitious debut...full of fire and youthful confidence

—— Daily Express

Here is a book to help us remember. It is well worth its weight

—— Guardian

Hands down the best book I've read in months...I can't wait to see what Yaa Gyasi does next

—— Grazia

Gyasi has created a masterpiece which is educational, highly ambitious and extremely touching

—— The i

Through her words we come to understand parts of history that are sometimes ignored

—— Pride

An epic saga

—— Scotsman

A wonderfully evocative and compassionate novel - one that shows deftness, depth and maturity. Homegoing is a gift to its readers and a treasure to cherish

—— Petina Gappah , Financial Times

The structure is fantastically strong, but it would have been nothing without Gyasi's ability to bring each character alive. At every turn she resists cliché and dogma ... she deftly weaves in just enough historical information without sacrificing its complexity ... Homegoing has something better than perfection, and that is a touch of magic... [Gyasi is] the right artist at the right time

—— Alice O'Keefe , New Statesman

Gyasi's debut novel has a distinctive strength and courage ... a descendent of Alex Haley's Roots and Toni Morrison's Beloved, an extended response to Joyce Carol Oates's Last Hundred Years trilogy

—— Times Literary Supplement

A confident, vivid, engrossingtale [that] winds towards a moving conclusion

—— Radio Times

Gyasi's widescreen view of history powerfully drives home her view that we are all responsible for ourselves and for each other ... a highly compassionate feat of storytelling

—— Metro

Entwining history, politics and personal events, this is an ambitious novel that is, and will continue to be, highly culturally relevant

—— Big Issue

Astoundingly ambitious

—— New Books

Ambition and talent don't always go hand-in-hand; here they unquestionably do

—— Daily Mail

Tracing the descendants of two women across seven generations, this unflinching debut from Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi examines the lingering effects of slavery from the 18th-century Gold Coast to the US at the turn of the 21st century

—— Financial Times

Ambitious, multi-generational saga of the effects of the slave trade

—— Guardian Books of the Year
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