APRIL READING: MR CHURCHILL'S SECRETARY by Susan Elia MacNeal

APRIL READING: Mr Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

What a scary, terrifying and highly charged time it would have been to be living in London during the years of WWII.  Even more so if you were one of the privileged few working in the office of PM Winston Churchill. The great man is a background figure in this story, but his courage, determination and charisma are a constant presence in the lives of those who work underground at 10 Downing Street, as well as their families and friends.

Young Maggie Hope finds herself, quite unexpectedly, working in the typing pool. Maggie has been living in London for a year or so, much longer than originally anticipated. English born, but US raised, her recently deceased grandmother has left her a house in London which Maggie resolves to sell, before returning to Boston and continuing her studies in maths and related subjects. For like her father before her, Maggie is a mathematical genius. The outbreak of war lights a patriotic flame within Maggie and she decides to stay in London, in the house with a number of girlfriends who have also decided to stay working in London for the foreseeable future.

Maggie is not at all happy to find herself a lowly typist in the typing pool, knowing that she has much more to offer the PM's office. But in the totally male dominated world of the British public service, unfortunately the woman's place is in the typing pool so Maggie just has to suck it up. It isn't long, however, before Maggie finds that her skills are put to much more useful ends, and she quickly finds herself involved in unravelling some very heinous plots.

This story fits into the genre of thriller rather than historical fiction with its myriad characters, different story strands, red herrings galore, betrayals, twists and turns. Nevertheless, there is plenty here to appeal to the history buff about life in war time London - the bombings, air raid shelters, the atmosphere on the streets, the tension and fear that everyone was living their daily lives under, rationing, the frantic need to take pleasure and have fun when you can. Plus a fair dose of Churchill's marvellous oratory to put the fire in the belly.

Despite its shortcomings as a work of literature, I really quite enjoyed this. It is easy to read, bit of a page turner, some good if somewhat unrealistic twists. Maggie is feisty, intelligent, stands up for herself, self-reflects. We feel her frustration, her fear, and patriotism. I imagine there were many young women living in London at this time whose daily lives were very similar to Maggie's, even if they weren't 10 feet underground.

This novel is the first in a series called the Maggie Hope Mystery Series. The fourth one is being published May 2013. They are all set in war time London and involve Maggie using her maths and espionage skills to solve the mystery.