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Marian Sutro #2
Provazochodkyně
Zatímco spojenecké jednotky na jaře roku 1945 utahují smyčku kolem Berlína, vynořuje se z trosek a rozvalin Německa na scénu tohoto románu osamělá postava. Je to Marian Sutrová, se kterou její britští velitelé ztratili kontakt na podzim 1943, kdy v Paříži padla do rukou gestapa. Nyní je jednou z mála přeživších agentů Velitelství zvláštních operací. Statečně čelila zatčení, brutálním výslechům i hrůzám pobytu v koncentračním táboře Ravensbrück, ale jakou cenu za to musela zaplatit? Vrací se do Anglie, kterou sotva poznává, učí se žít v poválečném světě, kterému nerozumí, a hledá nějaký záchytný bod, s jehož pomocí by mohla začít budovat svůj nový život. Rodina a přátelé jsou jí nablízku a mladý důstojník RAF se snaží probudit v ní chuť k normálnímu životu, k lásce a citům, ale vzpomínky a prožitky nepřestávají Marian pronásledovat. Za války se naučila, jak splynout s davem v ulicích Paříže, jak zabíjet a přežít mučení a věznění – nyní se musí přizpůsobit znovu, musí se naučit, jak žít v podivné realitě poválečné Anglie.
Jakkoli se Marian snaží znovu vybudovat svůj život a setřást ze sebe minulost agentky a hrdinky odboje, vzpomínky na mučení, nešťastnou lásku a zradu nedokáže zapudit – podobně jakou touhu po dobrodružství. Když ji její bývalý řídící důstojník láká zpět do temného světa špionáže, těžko odolává vnitřní potřebě sloužit vyšším cílům. Marian se dostává do tíživého soukolí politiky studené války a nakonec je nucena riskovat všechno - aby ochránila ty, které miluje, aby pomohla věci, které věří, a, ze všeho nejvíc, aby dala průchod svým touhám.
Provazochodkyně přináší napínavou a velmi propracovanou sondu do složitých motivů idealismu a odvahy těch, kteří nepřestali bojovat ani poté, co druhá světová válka dávno skončila. Je to ale také příběh neobyčejné ženy: ženy, která neváhá vraždit, která dokáže přežít, hrdinky i zrádkyně.
Jakkoli se Marian snaží znovu vybudovat svůj život a setřást ze sebe minulost agentky a hrdinky odboje, vzpomínky na mučení, nešťastnou lásku a zradu nedokáže zapudit – podobně jakou touhu po dobrodružství. Když ji její bývalý řídící důstojník láká zpět do temného světa špionáže, těžko odolává vnitřní potřebě sloužit vyšším cílům. Marian se dostává do tíživého soukolí politiky studené války a nakonec je nucena riskovat všechno - aby ochránila ty, které miluje, aby pomohla věci, které věří, a, ze všeho nejvíc, aby dala průchod svým touhám.
Provazochodkyně přináší napínavou a velmi propracovanou sondu do složitých motivů idealismu a odvahy těch, kteří nepřestali bojovat ani poté, co druhá světová válka dávno skončila. Je to ale také příběh neobyčejné ženy: ženy, která neváhá vraždit, která dokáže přežít, hrdinky i zrádkyně.
468 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2015
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1770 people want to read
About the author
Simon Mawer
39 books341 followersSimon Mawer was a British author who lived in Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 324 reviews
January 17, 2016
I closed the back cover of Tightrope, set the book on the table beside me, and switched on the radio. NPR was just beginning a segment on Russia's quiet but steady build up of a missile defense system, and its not so quiet military intervention in Syria, its aggression in Crimea. An interview with General Frank Gorenc, commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe and Africa, revealed the extent to which the United States is wringing its hands over Russia's beefing up of its military. "De-conflicting" is the term the General used. Is that an actual word?
De-confliction (see what I did there?) is what some Cold War spies had in mind when they became double agents, trading secrets on a moral high ground. They reasoned that if enemy countries had equal access to the most terrible things science and engineering could manufacture, a balance of power would be achieved, a peace wrung out of duplicity.
It's fine not to have read Trapeze the prequel to Tightrope, but really, you should. For it is there we first meet Marian Sutro, a young—very young—French-English girl recruited as an English spy during WWII. She parachutes into France at the height of the war and, well, read the novel. It's excellent.
In Tightrope, we meet Marian two years after that moonlit drop into a war zone. She is still quite young in years, but in spirit she is weary, nearly broken by torture and captivity. Tightrope moves at a ponderous pace, mirroring Marian's burden of grief, guilt, and the surreal return to the land of the living. Threading flashbacks and flash-forwards into the narrative, Mawer does a masterful job of adding dimensions of tension to the plot and emotional depth to his characters. There is awkwardness in the perspective interruption of a childhood admirer of Marian's, who steps in to provide background and exposition in odd and cloying segments. I'd rather have been left alone with Marian. But it does not detract significantly from the powerful, tender, graceful and aching character study of Marian Sutro.
The initial turgidity also reflects the dullness of England after the war—the excitement and urgency of the battle is over, replaced by the belt-tightening of life on rations, the chin down, bear-up of cleaning and restoring battered and bombed city streets.
Now that Marian has returned, desperately seeking anonymity, avoiding any claim of heroism, she is bereft of purpose, at times sustained, at times nearly crushed under the weight of wartime memories. She takes an innocuous job at a library, marries a solid former pilot-now-tire-salesman, and fails at settling into a normal life. Haunted by her tortures and deeds, she casts about for a reason to keep on, to look forward instead of behind.
In steps MI6 to fill the void. Marian is re-recruited as a spy. This time the enemy is behind the Iron Curtain and the crisis is one of proportions hard to grasp: total nuclear annihilation.
The cat-and-mouse plot moves forward like a slow-moving river with deadly currents hidden beneath murky waters, but what is most fascinating is the cat-and-mouse game Marian plays with her own soul. In Trapeze she was an ingénue. In Tightrope she is a cool seductress, at ease with slipping in and out of character, down side streets, into the night.
It is fascinating to read historical fiction about the infancy of the Cold War some thirty years after its limping, anti-climactic conclusion, knowing that here we are, still looking askance at Russia with Syria and the Crimea caught between the rocks and hard places of rattling sabers, Putin slapping his bare chest, and the machinations of diplomacy.
Simon Mawer reminds us that behind the engine of intrigue are human beings, motivated by and acting on entirely human impulses.
De-confliction (see what I did there?) is what some Cold War spies had in mind when they became double agents, trading secrets on a moral high ground. They reasoned that if enemy countries had equal access to the most terrible things science and engineering could manufacture, a balance of power would be achieved, a peace wrung out of duplicity.
It's fine not to have read Trapeze the prequel to Tightrope, but really, you should. For it is there we first meet Marian Sutro, a young—very young—French-English girl recruited as an English spy during WWII. She parachutes into France at the height of the war and, well, read the novel. It's excellent.
In Tightrope, we meet Marian two years after that moonlit drop into a war zone. She is still quite young in years, but in spirit she is weary, nearly broken by torture and captivity. Tightrope moves at a ponderous pace, mirroring Marian's burden of grief, guilt, and the surreal return to the land of the living. Threading flashbacks and flash-forwards into the narrative, Mawer does a masterful job of adding dimensions of tension to the plot and emotional depth to his characters. There is awkwardness in the perspective interruption of a childhood admirer of Marian's, who steps in to provide background and exposition in odd and cloying segments. I'd rather have been left alone with Marian. But it does not detract significantly from the powerful, tender, graceful and aching character study of Marian Sutro.
The initial turgidity also reflects the dullness of England after the war—the excitement and urgency of the battle is over, replaced by the belt-tightening of life on rations, the chin down, bear-up of cleaning and restoring battered and bombed city streets.
Now that Marian has returned, desperately seeking anonymity, avoiding any claim of heroism, she is bereft of purpose, at times sustained, at times nearly crushed under the weight of wartime memories. She takes an innocuous job at a library, marries a solid former pilot-now-tire-salesman, and fails at settling into a normal life. Haunted by her tortures and deeds, she casts about for a reason to keep on, to look forward instead of behind.
In steps MI6 to fill the void. Marian is re-recruited as a spy. This time the enemy is behind the Iron Curtain and the crisis is one of proportions hard to grasp: total nuclear annihilation.
The cat-and-mouse plot moves forward like a slow-moving river with deadly currents hidden beneath murky waters, but what is most fascinating is the cat-and-mouse game Marian plays with her own soul. In Trapeze she was an ingénue. In Tightrope she is a cool seductress, at ease with slipping in and out of character, down side streets, into the night.
It is fascinating to read historical fiction about the infancy of the Cold War some thirty years after its limping, anti-climactic conclusion, knowing that here we are, still looking askance at Russia with Syria and the Crimea caught between the rocks and hard places of rattling sabers, Putin slapping his bare chest, and the machinations of diplomacy.
Simon Mawer reminds us that behind the engine of intrigue are human beings, motivated by and acting on entirely human impulses.
August 29, 2022
4.5 stars
This novel gets off to a slow start but is well worth the wait. The exquisite writing and the ever-interesting character of Marion Sutro kept me engaged from start to finish. The novel begins with Marion at home in London with her parents after having escaped from Ravensbruck. Her disorientation and PTSD during this time and her uncomfortable attempts to interact with people in "normal life" are very well drawn. Most uncomfortable for Marion is the fact that she is treated as a hero and is often celebrated and asked to describe her war time exploits. As difficult as it is for her to talk about these times ("words cannot describe it") she occasionally does so and we learn slowly and in bits and pieces about her training, her work in France, her capture and imprisonment, her torture as well as her stay in and escape from Ravensbruck. Simon Mawer's portrayal of Marion's inner life throughout this time (and the rest of the book) is one of the best I have read in either fiction or non-fiction about a camp survivor's experience returning to civilian/post-war life.
Eventually the Cold War starts and Marion is drawn back in to the life of an operative. This part is unique because it shows the personal side to the nuclear arms race. One of the most interesting parts for me was seeing how a person could have given the Russians classified information about the atom and hydrogen bombs. The rationale was that if each side is equal in nuclear power then nuclear weapons will not be used at all.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kate Reading. She was absolutely superb. This audiobook is free for Audible members.
This novel gets off to a slow start but is well worth the wait. The exquisite writing and the ever-interesting character of Marion Sutro kept me engaged from start to finish. The novel begins with Marion at home in London with her parents after having escaped from Ravensbruck. Her disorientation and PTSD during this time and her uncomfortable attempts to interact with people in "normal life" are very well drawn. Most uncomfortable for Marion is the fact that she is treated as a hero and is often celebrated and asked to describe her war time exploits. As difficult as it is for her to talk about these times ("words cannot describe it") she occasionally does so and we learn slowly and in bits and pieces about her training, her work in France, her capture and imprisonment, her torture as well as her stay in and escape from Ravensbruck. Simon Mawer's portrayal of Marion's inner life throughout this time (and the rest of the book) is one of the best I have read in either fiction or non-fiction about a camp survivor's experience returning to civilian/post-war life.
Eventually the Cold War starts and Marion is drawn back in to the life of an operative. This part is unique because it shows the personal side to the nuclear arms race. One of the most interesting parts for me was seeing how a person could have given the Russians classified information about the atom and hydrogen bombs. The rationale was that if each side is equal in nuclear power then nuclear weapons will not be used at all.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kate Reading. She was absolutely superb. This audiobook is free for Audible members.
October 20, 2016
This is the sequel to The Girl Who Fell From The Sky (also known as Trapeze), which was a literary thriller that told the story of Marian Sutro, a young SOE agent in Nazi-occupied France. This book continues the story, starting with her capture and survival in a German camp. The first part of the story is probably the most fully realised, dealing with her return to England and the difficulties in readjusting to the mundane reality of life at home.
She gets drawn into working as a secret agent, working for both the British and the Russians - this allows Mawer to explore the nuances of the post-war nuclear arms race, while toying with spy thriller genre writing. For me the whole thing worked surprisingly well - if anything this one is better than the first book.
She gets drawn into working as a secret agent, working for both the British and the Russians - this allows Mawer to explore the nuances of the post-war nuclear arms race, while toying with spy thriller genre writing. For me the whole thing worked surprisingly well - if anything this one is better than the first book.
May 25, 2015
“To Live Happily, Live Hidden.”
This novel sees the return of Marian Sutro, who first appeared in, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky.” Having survived the war, Marian returns to an England where people are more concerned with shortages and getting back to normal, than with those returning. Although Marian returns to her family, she feels distanced from them. To some she is a heroine – the recipient of medals and a source of vicarious excitement – but she prefers to retain a distance from the award ceremonies and public acclaim. The author wonderfully shows how Marian is living two different lives and torn between them; both trying to cope with her new life in a new world, but also feeling that she needs to give evidence at war crimes trials.
When the atomic bomb finally ends the war in the Pacific, Marian is shocked. Characters that appeared in the first novel also appear here – including Marian’s brother Ned and Clement Pelletier – and their research into the new weapons which herald the new age of nuclear weapons. Approached by Major Fawley, Marian has to admit that she is bored and unable to let go of her old life. As the Cold War begins, Marian finds herself both being seduced and the seducer. In this book we hear both what happened to her when she was arrested and her continued life in espionage. If you enjoyed, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky,” then you will certainly like this. It is an atmospheric, and realistic, continuation of Marian’s story. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
This novel sees the return of Marian Sutro, who first appeared in, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky.” Having survived the war, Marian returns to an England where people are more concerned with shortages and getting back to normal, than with those returning. Although Marian returns to her family, she feels distanced from them. To some she is a heroine – the recipient of medals and a source of vicarious excitement – but she prefers to retain a distance from the award ceremonies and public acclaim. The author wonderfully shows how Marian is living two different lives and torn between them; both trying to cope with her new life in a new world, but also feeling that she needs to give evidence at war crimes trials.
When the atomic bomb finally ends the war in the Pacific, Marian is shocked. Characters that appeared in the first novel also appear here – including Marian’s brother Ned and Clement Pelletier – and their research into the new weapons which herald the new age of nuclear weapons. Approached by Major Fawley, Marian has to admit that she is bored and unable to let go of her old life. As the Cold War begins, Marian finds herself both being seduced and the seducer. In this book we hear both what happened to her when she was arrested and her continued life in espionage. If you enjoyed, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky,” then you will certainly like this. It is an atmospheric, and realistic, continuation of Marian’s story. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
September 4, 2015
BABT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b066vd5wDescription: A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
1/10: Sam visits Marian Sutro and starts recording her life in espionage 2/10: With the war in Europe finally over, Marian is contacted by her previous spy handler. 3/10: Marian goes on a date with an RAF officer and an atomic bomb is dropped for the first time. 4/10: Marian is called to Hamburg to testify against the Germans who worked in Ravensbruck. 5/10: Marian discovers a disturbing truth about Ned. Major Fawley attempts to recruit her. 6/10: Marian runs into an old friend in Paris. Her personal life is getting more complicated. 7/10: Absolom and Marian get closer but who is usinng who. And who else knows about them. 8/10: Marian feels vulnerable without Absolom then she recieves some unexpected news. 9/0: Marian encounters a man from her past with disasterous consequences. 10/10: Sam, now a young man, helps Marian put her final plan into action.This is a good step up from Mawer's previous entries
2* The Glass Room
3* Mendel's Dwarf
3* The Gospel of Judas
3.5* Tightrope
August 21, 2019
A Superior Sequel
I don't know that it is necessary to have read Simon Mawer's 2012 novel Trapeze before attempting this sequel. All the important facts will be revealed in the first few chapters, though obliquely, so that readers may wonder if they are missing something by starting in the middle. But I still don't advise the sensible approach of reading the pair in sequence. Trapeze was a rather ordinary book—I gave it only three stars—and may not give you much appetite for its sequel. Which would be a pity, since Tightrope is really quite special—five stars easily. All the same, if you do decide to start the story at the beginning, stop reading now; while I am careful not to give away anything important in Tightrope, it is impossible to discuss it without giving spoilers for Trapeze.
What makes this sequel special is that the author takes the risk of writing a book in which nothing especially exciting happens at all, at least until the end, and most of the interest comes in the process of dealing with ordinary life. So the entire focus is on Marian, as she recovers her physical health, copes shakily with what we would now recognize as PTSD, learns how to live again and love again, and eventually take up clandestine work once more. This novel is all interior life, and infinitely the stronger for it.
Marian's shaky reentry into postwar life is paralleled by that of her country, dealing with shortages, socialism, the feeling of being sidelined on the world stage, and the fears engendered by the imbalance of power caused by America's invention of the atom and hydrogen bombs. For the first time, I began to understand why people like Klaus Fuchs, Bruno Pontecorvo, and the Rosenbergs might have given secrets to the Russians: not so that a foreign country might defeat one's own, but so that neither side would use nuclear weapons at all. Marian and her brother Ned find themselves drawn into these waters, in the new Cold War world where you had to discover the rules as you go along. Further complicated in Marian's case by the fact that her sexuality was so often part of the equation (as indeed you sort of expect with Mawer). But I will leave other readers to find all this out for themselves. They won't be disappointed.
I don't know that it is necessary to have read Simon Mawer's 2012 novel Trapeze before attempting this sequel. All the important facts will be revealed in the first few chapters, though obliquely, so that readers may wonder if they are missing something by starting in the middle. But I still don't advise the sensible approach of reading the pair in sequence. Trapeze was a rather ordinary book—I gave it only three stars—and may not give you much appetite for its sequel. Which would be a pity, since Tightrope is really quite special—five stars easily. All the same, if you do decide to start the story at the beginning, stop reading now; while I am careful not to give away anything important in Tightrope, it is impossible to discuss it without giving spoilers for Trapeze.
What makes this sequel special is that the author takes the risk of writing a book in which nothing especially exciting happens at all, at least until the end, and most of the interest comes in the process of dealing with ordinary life. So the entire focus is on Marian, as she recovers her physical health, copes shakily with what we would now recognize as PTSD, learns how to live again and love again, and eventually take up clandestine work once more. This novel is all interior life, and infinitely the stronger for it.
Marian's shaky reentry into postwar life is paralleled by that of her country, dealing with shortages, socialism, the feeling of being sidelined on the world stage, and the fears engendered by the imbalance of power caused by America's invention of the atom and hydrogen bombs. For the first time, I began to understand why people like Klaus Fuchs, Bruno Pontecorvo, and the Rosenbergs might have given secrets to the Russians: not so that a foreign country might defeat one's own, but so that neither side would use nuclear weapons at all. Marian and her brother Ned find themselves drawn into these waters, in the new Cold War world where you had to discover the rules as you go along. Further complicated in Marian's case by the fact that her sexuality was so often part of the equation (as indeed you sort of expect with Mawer). But I will leave other readers to find all this out for themselves. They won't be disappointed.
September 13, 2019
I really enjoyed this sequel to The Girl who fell from the Sky (otherwise published as Trapeze), my Goodreads review of which is elusive as it seems to be attached to only one edition.
We left Marion Sutro in the hands of the Gestapo and the sequel follows her from her arrival back in the UK towards the end of the war. She has been tortured, held in prison and then in Ravensbruck. To say too much is to spoil the whole book. Suffice to say that her life does not settle down afterwards and she is further involved in espionage for the next few years.
Mawer, as always, has spent a lot of time in research. The Nazi trials in Hamburg and the development of the atom and hydrogen bombs are particularly interesting. As with the first book, the middle section was in danger of losing my interest but not for long as intrigue upon intrigue, and a couple of unexpected twists, led to an exciting ending. 5 stars because I enjoyed it more than the first book. It’s not perfect but it’s very entertaining.
We left Marion Sutro in the hands of the Gestapo and the sequel follows her from her arrival back in the UK towards the end of the war. She has been tortured, held in prison and then in Ravensbruck. To say too much is to spoil the whole book. Suffice to say that her life does not settle down afterwards and she is further involved in espionage for the next few years.
Mawer, as always, has spent a lot of time in research. The Nazi trials in Hamburg and the development of the atom and hydrogen bombs are particularly interesting. As with the first book, the middle section was in danger of losing my interest but not for long as intrigue upon intrigue, and a couple of unexpected twists, led to an exciting ending. 5 stars because I enjoyed it more than the first book. It’s not perfect but it’s very entertaining.
November 27, 2015
I had listened to Trapeze on tape a few years ago and really enjoyed it. But I found this book to be too repetitious, rehashing a lot of what went on in the first book. It just didn't draw me in or make me want to continue.
Sorry to say that I abandoned this one.
Sorry to say that I abandoned this one.
October 23, 2015
The cloistered world of spies has long been a hot-seller of fiction and literature. Some authors concentrate on a twisty plot, others on the enigmatic personality of a spy. In TIGHT ROPE, the follow-up to TRAPEZE, Simon Mawer does both with equal ability. Although primarily character-driven, with the life of British spy Marian Sutro at the center, Mawer does a satisfying job of creating a taut atmosphere, and he does so with lean, precise prose and the heady atmosphere of the Cold War. He also delves into Marian’s work in WW II, as he goes back and forth in time. As the book opens in the early millennium, Marian is a woman in her eighties, being interviewed by a man from her past. He wants to tie up loose ends. It’s obvious that he was once enchanted by this woman, and played a small but peripheral part of her past, but there were holes, or lacunae, he wanted to fill in. This is Marian’s story, and the gentleman, her scribe.
Marian was half-British, half-French, a perfect contender for parachuting into German-occupied France during WW II. She was adept at the rigors of fieldwork--killing; masking; carrying messages; and the use of explosives. At times, I felt like I was in a movie. A good movie, but nothing too original, plot-wise. Yet, it led me along because Mawer is an expert in pacing and character, and just when I think I’ll predict what is ahead (and sometimes I do), I find that I am intrigued by Marian and her disquiet. Marian was sensible and pragmatic at times, but occasionally quixotic. She had multiple lovers, and an early marriage to a PR pilot. She talks about the horrifying torture she received at the hands of the Germans with as equal intensity as her ardor for particular men that she met in the course of her work. She was captured by the Germans after being betrayed by an associate. She wasn’t certain who it was.
At the age of 23, when the war was over, Marian’s adjustment to quotidian life became a struggle. She lived with her brother, a scientist, who she realized was in the wrong place at the wrong time, being pulled in to espionage on the fringes. Marian became a part of Cold War espionage, which pulled her in various directions at once. The lives of spies, and the masks of subterfuge, are riveting at times. Double agents, triple agents, keeping it straight, and trying not to get killed or tortured in the process, keeps the atmosphere both chilling and hot. Marian Sutro is a sympathetic character, closed off from people around her, yet with a flinty kind of passion, too, mixed with her duty she felt to protect the ones she loved.
It’s difficult to give this a 5 star, however, because I’ve read some of the best of the best spy novels, HARLOT’S GHOST being the undisputed champion (by American Norman Mailer). Nothing seems to compare with the layers of the psyche (in this case, American) that created and sustained the CIA, and a more believable story, altogether. The posing, which is elementary to the fieldwork, is more convincing. It's not just "what" they did, but the core of the human character that shifts reflexively. Banville and DeLillo have also written outstanding spy novels. Mawer’s is more of a mainstream crowd-pleaser, one that could find its way into cinema. And, certainly more weighty than a Bond movie.
“It felt like walking a tightrope, feeling the balance, knowing that a slight shift to either side might be fatal.”
Marian was half-British, half-French, a perfect contender for parachuting into German-occupied France during WW II. She was adept at the rigors of fieldwork--killing; masking; carrying messages; and the use of explosives. At times, I felt like I was in a movie. A good movie, but nothing too original, plot-wise. Yet, it led me along because Mawer is an expert in pacing and character, and just when I think I’ll predict what is ahead (and sometimes I do), I find that I am intrigued by Marian and her disquiet. Marian was sensible and pragmatic at times, but occasionally quixotic. She had multiple lovers, and an early marriage to a PR pilot. She talks about the horrifying torture she received at the hands of the Germans with as equal intensity as her ardor for particular men that she met in the course of her work. She was captured by the Germans after being betrayed by an associate. She wasn’t certain who it was.
At the age of 23, when the war was over, Marian’s adjustment to quotidian life became a struggle. She lived with her brother, a scientist, who she realized was in the wrong place at the wrong time, being pulled in to espionage on the fringes. Marian became a part of Cold War espionage, which pulled her in various directions at once. The lives of spies, and the masks of subterfuge, are riveting at times. Double agents, triple agents, keeping it straight, and trying not to get killed or tortured in the process, keeps the atmosphere both chilling and hot. Marian Sutro is a sympathetic character, closed off from people around her, yet with a flinty kind of passion, too, mixed with her duty she felt to protect the ones she loved.
It’s difficult to give this a 5 star, however, because I’ve read some of the best of the best spy novels, HARLOT’S GHOST being the undisputed champion (by American Norman Mailer). Nothing seems to compare with the layers of the psyche (in this case, American) that created and sustained the CIA, and a more believable story, altogether. The posing, which is elementary to the fieldwork, is more convincing. It's not just "what" they did, but the core of the human character that shifts reflexively. Banville and DeLillo have also written outstanding spy novels. Mawer’s is more of a mainstream crowd-pleaser, one that could find its way into cinema. And, certainly more weighty than a Bond movie.
“It felt like walking a tightrope, feeling the balance, knowing that a slight shift to either side might be fatal.”
March 28, 2018
Based on the book description, I was anticipating an enthralling Cold War spy story in the manner of John Le Carré and I certainly got that in the final third of the book. What I wasn’t expecting was such a devastating portrait of the lasting impact of their experiences on those who, like Marian, performed undercover roles in the Second World War.
Our narrator is Sam, who first encounters Marian when he is a child (as a friend of his mother), later when he is an impressionable teenager and finally when he is an adult but still slightly in thrall to her. Marian’s story, as presented to the reader, is part her testimony, part Sam’s first-hand experience, part evidence he has gleaned from official files and part his recreation of how he imagines events may have taken place. The reader is never entirely sure which. Of course, part of Marian’s undercover role involved presenting herself as someone she wasn’t, living an acquired identity, never really being herself. ‘That was the problem with words – they nailed the thought down, made it explicit, fixed it, crucified it on the cross of exact meaning. But life has no exact meanings, only shades of meaning, hints, versions and contradictions, s confusion of loves and hates, of motives and desires.’ What is the true story?
The author convincingly portrays Marian’s difficulty in adjusting to ‘normal’ life and overcoming the psychological, physical and emotional scars she bears as a result of her terrible experiences: arrest, interrogation, torture and, ultimately, confinement in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Marian feels a sense of dislocation from other people. ‘It was just indifference, a sensation of estrangement from the ordinary matters of human contact. Conversation with anyone felt like trying to talk to people in a foreign language when you only have a fraction of the vocabulary at your disposal and half the grammar.’ It is as if a yawning gulf separates her from the rest of humanity: ‘And she felt something strange, the sensation of uniqueness. It wasn’t a good feeling, just one of separation’.
It’s not just Marian who has been changed by the war. The author gives us an evocative and comprehensive picture of the impact of the war on people, places, geopolitics, political and philosophical argument, technology and much else. Even small things, like the way people interact:
‘“Where are you from, then?” the barman asked.
No stranger ever asked a question like that last time she was in the city. Questions drew you into other people’s stories, got you involved, got you into trouble. Now no one cared.’
Marian and her brother, Ned, are appalled by the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the prospect of the United States developing the technology still further. In particular, Marian is plagued by guilt that her actions during the war might unwittingly contribute to a repetition of the horrors she has already witnessed, but multiplied a hundredfold. This guilt propels Marian down a path of secrets, lies and betrayal that will require the use of all the skills and tradecraft she acquired in preparation for her wartime exploits. Like how to fashion a weapon out of what’s to hand, how to tell if you’re being followed and how to shake off your followers. It will put her in danger and make her question who, if anyone, she can trust so that carefully planning each small move, each sentence uttered, becomes critical.
‘She waited a moment, looking at him. And then she made her move. It felt like walking a tightrope, feeling the balance, knowing that a slight shift either side might be fatal. She reached her foot forward and poised to transfer her weight onto it, feeling the rope wobbling. No safety net.’
I loved Tightrope. I was completely drawn into Marian’s story although the romantic in me would have liked a slightly different outcome for her and the man who becomes such an important part of her life. However, the path the author chose for her was admittedly more true to her character. I haven’t read the first book in the series, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky (published under the title Trapeze in the United States), so I don’t have the benefit of knowing how much of this book repeats events from the earlier one. What I do know is that Tightrope works brilliantly as a standalone read and from the very beginning I got that comforting feeling that I was in the hands of a skilled writer and accomplished storyteller.
Our narrator is Sam, who first encounters Marian when he is a child (as a friend of his mother), later when he is an impressionable teenager and finally when he is an adult but still slightly in thrall to her. Marian’s story, as presented to the reader, is part her testimony, part Sam’s first-hand experience, part evidence he has gleaned from official files and part his recreation of how he imagines events may have taken place. The reader is never entirely sure which. Of course, part of Marian’s undercover role involved presenting herself as someone she wasn’t, living an acquired identity, never really being herself. ‘That was the problem with words – they nailed the thought down, made it explicit, fixed it, crucified it on the cross of exact meaning. But life has no exact meanings, only shades of meaning, hints, versions and contradictions, s confusion of loves and hates, of motives and desires.’ What is the true story?
The author convincingly portrays Marian’s difficulty in adjusting to ‘normal’ life and overcoming the psychological, physical and emotional scars she bears as a result of her terrible experiences: arrest, interrogation, torture and, ultimately, confinement in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Marian feels a sense of dislocation from other people. ‘It was just indifference, a sensation of estrangement from the ordinary matters of human contact. Conversation with anyone felt like trying to talk to people in a foreign language when you only have a fraction of the vocabulary at your disposal and half the grammar.’ It is as if a yawning gulf separates her from the rest of humanity: ‘And she felt something strange, the sensation of uniqueness. It wasn’t a good feeling, just one of separation’.
It’s not just Marian who has been changed by the war. The author gives us an evocative and comprehensive picture of the impact of the war on people, places, geopolitics, political and philosophical argument, technology and much else. Even small things, like the way people interact:
‘“Where are you from, then?” the barman asked.
No stranger ever asked a question like that last time she was in the city. Questions drew you into other people’s stories, got you involved, got you into trouble. Now no one cared.’
Marian and her brother, Ned, are appalled by the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the prospect of the United States developing the technology still further. In particular, Marian is plagued by guilt that her actions during the war might unwittingly contribute to a repetition of the horrors she has already witnessed, but multiplied a hundredfold. This guilt propels Marian down a path of secrets, lies and betrayal that will require the use of all the skills and tradecraft she acquired in preparation for her wartime exploits. Like how to fashion a weapon out of what’s to hand, how to tell if you’re being followed and how to shake off your followers. It will put her in danger and make her question who, if anyone, she can trust so that carefully planning each small move, each sentence uttered, becomes critical.
‘She waited a moment, looking at him. And then she made her move. It felt like walking a tightrope, feeling the balance, knowing that a slight shift either side might be fatal. She reached her foot forward and poised to transfer her weight onto it, feeling the rope wobbling. No safety net.’
I loved Tightrope. I was completely drawn into Marian’s story although the romantic in me would have liked a slightly different outcome for her and the man who becomes such an important part of her life. However, the path the author chose for her was admittedly more true to her character. I haven’t read the first book in the series, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky (published under the title Trapeze in the United States), so I don’t have the benefit of knowing how much of this book repeats events from the earlier one. What I do know is that Tightrope works brilliantly as a standalone read and from the very beginning I got that comforting feeling that I was in the hands of a skilled writer and accomplished storyteller.
March 28, 2016
I was first introduced to Simon Mawer through an interview with Diane Rehm about his book The Glass Room, which was also nominated for The Man Booker Prize. This book has become one of my all time favorites! I picked up Trapeze a few years later and it sat on my TBR stack for quite some time. In October last year I went to the Boston Book Festival and Simon Mawer was there talking about his latest book Tightrope, which I learned was a sequel to Trapeze. I decided to buy this book, since his talk was so captivating. Earlier this month I decided to finally read Trapeze. I was blown away!
So glad I waited to read Trapeze because the ending was so dramatic that I right away picked up the sequel! Marian Sutro is a great character, she is so complex , I will not give away any of the plot here.
I recommend reading Trapeze first and have Tightrope ready to read! You will not be sorry. Sometimes I have to wonder how books like these two mentioned go unnoticed with little buzz and some books the get all the hype/buzz in most cases let me down.
So glad I waited to read Trapeze because the ending was so dramatic that I right away picked up the sequel! Marian Sutro is a great character, she is so complex , I will not give away any of the plot here.
I recommend reading Trapeze first and have Tightrope ready to read! You will not be sorry. Sometimes I have to wonder how books like these two mentioned go unnoticed with little buzz and some books the get all the hype/buzz in most cases let me down.
August 22, 2017
Cold war espionage novels are not my usual cup of tea, but I was drawn to Tightrope having thoroughly enjoyed Trapeze, its predecessor. That book described the WWII experiences of Marian Sutro who is trained as a resistance fighter and ended ambiguously. This book takes up her story and follows it during the cold war, shifting in time and point of view between present and post war Britain. It's amazing to note that Simon Mawer was born in 1948 and didn't personally experience that time, so well does he bring it to life. Marian is a complex character, well suited for the material.
December 27, 2019
This book was maddening. The first 300 pages (this is a sequel to Trapeze, which must be read first) rambled on interminably — developing character in a way that seemed quite unnecessary. But then when the plot finally kicked in in earnest, it made it all worthwhile.
September 5, 2015
From BBC Radio 4 - Book at Bedtime:
A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
Episode Two.
With the war in Europe finally over, Marian is contacted by her previous spy handler. Eleven-year-old Sam meets Marian for the first time when his family visits her parents.
Episode Three.
Marian goes on a date with an RAF officer. The atomic bomb is dropped for the first time. Marian and her scientist brother Ned are horrified at the implications of this act.
Episode Four.
Marian is called to Hamburg to testify against the Germans who worked in Ravensbrück concentration camp. Afterwards, she meets an intriguing Russian officer and his friend.
Episode Five.
Marian discovers a disturbing truth about her brother Ned. Meanwhile, Major Fawley attempts to recruit her back into the secret service.
Episode Six.
Marian runs into an old friend in Paris. The atomic age is advancing and Marian's personal and professional life is getting increasingly complicated.
Episode Seven.
Marian and Absolon get closer - but who is using who? And who else knows about them?
Episode Eight.
Marian feels vulnerable without Absolon and unsure about who to trust. Then she receives some unexpected news.
Episode Nine.
Marian encounters a man from her past with disastrous consequences. She receives news that forces her to take action and make a plan.
Episode Ten.
Sam, now a young man, helps Marian put her final plan into action. Back to the present and she tells him what happened with the rest of her life.
Reader: Peter Firth
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b066vd5w
A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
Episode Two.
With the war in Europe finally over, Marian is contacted by her previous spy handler. Eleven-year-old Sam meets Marian for the first time when his family visits her parents.
Episode Three.
Marian goes on a date with an RAF officer. The atomic bomb is dropped for the first time. Marian and her scientist brother Ned are horrified at the implications of this act.
Episode Four.
Marian is called to Hamburg to testify against the Germans who worked in Ravensbrück concentration camp. Afterwards, she meets an intriguing Russian officer and his friend.
Episode Five.
Marian discovers a disturbing truth about her brother Ned. Meanwhile, Major Fawley attempts to recruit her back into the secret service.
Episode Six.
Marian runs into an old friend in Paris. The atomic age is advancing and Marian's personal and professional life is getting increasingly complicated.
Episode Seven.
Marian and Absolon get closer - but who is using who? And who else knows about them?
Episode Eight.
Marian feels vulnerable without Absolon and unsure about who to trust. Then she receives some unexpected news.
Episode Nine.
Marian encounters a man from her past with disastrous consequences. She receives news that forces her to take action and make a plan.
Episode Ten.
Sam, now a young man, helps Marian put her final plan into action. Back to the present and she tells him what happened with the rest of her life.
Reader: Peter Firth
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b066vd5w
August 22, 2019
In ‘The Girl who fell from the Sky’ we meet Marian Sutro as a petrified young woman, naive in the ways of the world, and starting her daunting mission into Occupied France, all alone with just her instincts and some rudimentary training behind her. By the time we meet her in ‘Tightrope’ she is a hard bitten, experienced and a mature woman, who knows her own mind, and is determined that she will be in control of her destiny. And so, Simon Mawer, creates a heroine who seems to thrive in the secret world of espionage, and who is quite at home with pretence and duplicity, and living in the clandestine world of secrecy.
Marian Sutro is a wonderfully convincing creation and an irrepressible and enigmatic character: charismatic, opinionated, beautiful, intelligent, sensual, care free, and single minded. A lady of strong emotions and divided loyalties. Recruited by both SOE and then the post war security services, Marian has little time for bureaucrats and bores, and finds the world of espionage to be quite her metier. Through bitter experience adrenalin has become her oxygen and now she cannot survive without it.
Simon Mawer is one of my favourite authors because his books contain a compelling story line, with great characterisation and close attention to period detail, so they are atmospheric and make a convincing and compelling read.
Marian Sutro is a wonderfully convincing creation and an irrepressible and enigmatic character: charismatic, opinionated, beautiful, intelligent, sensual, care free, and single minded. A lady of strong emotions and divided loyalties. Recruited by both SOE and then the post war security services, Marian has little time for bureaucrats and bores, and finds the world of espionage to be quite her metier. Through bitter experience adrenalin has become her oxygen and now she cannot survive without it.
Simon Mawer is one of my favourite authors because his books contain a compelling story line, with great characterisation and close attention to period detail, so they are atmospheric and make a convincing and compelling read.
January 19, 2021
This novel follows the life of Marian Sutro, the heroine of Trapeze, as she returns to England after having been dropped into occupied France as a spy, captured and sent to Ravensbruk. She continues in and out of the British spy world, and there are some interesting WWII and Cold War aspects to this novel, including the development of the atom bomb. However, for me the story was one of the challenges and conflicts of life after having been captured and tortured by the Nazis and imprisoned in Ravensbruk. How does a young woman who has experienced all this return to live in a "normal" world? Can her parents (with whom she lives) ever possibly understand her? Does she want - - and can she maintain - - a romantic relationship? Can she hold a "normal" job? All these are questions that are not usually dealt with in WWII novels. There are numerous descriptions of concentration camp atrocities and Nazi torture, but very few novels deal with the lives of the few lucky people who survived these horrendous events. I thought this novel dealt with these issues very well, and I recommend it (but you would definitely want to read Trapeze first!).
July 22, 2024
Pedestrian and meandering
February 20, 2016
It’s only a day or two since I read Simon Mawer’s The Girl Who Fell from the Sky (see my review) but I liked it so much I went straight to the newly published sequel Tightrope and finished it this morning.
The novel opens many years after the end of the war when Marion Sutro is an elderly woman meeting up again with Sam Wareham, twenty years her junior and still somewhat star-struck by this enigmatic heroine of WW2. This opening enables Mawer to fill in the backstory so that Tightrope can be read independently of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky which covers her exploits for the British in Occupied France. The action of the novel then returns to the last year of the war after Marion has escaped from Nazi captivity in Ravensbrück and her journey of physical and mental recovery from torture and trauma.
This novel is not as engaging a thriller as its predecessor, but it’s actually a more thought-provoking book. I was reminded of the TV series The Bletchley Circle which conveyed so poignantly the way that women who had played important roles in the war were unceremoniously dumped back into the kitchen in the post-war period. The TV series ramps up the irony that the society which had assumed that their intellectual skills were no longer needed, turns out to need their analytical and code-breaking skills to hunt down a serial killer. In the novel, Marion, now she’s safely back in England but still suffering post-traumatic stress, is expected to restore her appearance, to find herself a young man, and to marry and have children.
But despite her horrific experiences at the hands of the Nazis, Marion still has some unfinished business, and she’s still subject to the lure of doing something exciting and important with her life. And as the war in Europe ends, the American betrayal of their allies* over the development of the atom bomb gains in significance. The real-life pacificist and philosopher Bertrand Russell makes an appearance at the fictional Franco-British Pacific Union (‘pacific’ as in ‘peace’), where Marion works, and shocks his listeners when he proposes that – since the Russians won’t agree to any world government to control nuclear weapons unless they run it – there are only three alternatives: an immediate pre-emptive strike on Russia which the US would win; a war between the two superpowers once Russia had acquired her own atom bomb which would cause catastrophic destruction even if the West won; or to do nothing and allow Russian domination of Europe which would be the end of European civilisation. Russell says that each alternative is worse than its predecessor, i.e. he seems to be suggesting that the US should take the initiative and destroy the Soviets as a power by using A-bombs on major Russian cities like Moscow and St Petersburg (then called Leningrad).
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/07/18/ti...
The novel opens many years after the end of the war when Marion Sutro is an elderly woman meeting up again with Sam Wareham, twenty years her junior and still somewhat star-struck by this enigmatic heroine of WW2. This opening enables Mawer to fill in the backstory so that Tightrope can be read independently of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky which covers her exploits for the British in Occupied France. The action of the novel then returns to the last year of the war after Marion has escaped from Nazi captivity in Ravensbrück and her journey of physical and mental recovery from torture and trauma.
This novel is not as engaging a thriller as its predecessor, but it’s actually a more thought-provoking book. I was reminded of the TV series The Bletchley Circle which conveyed so poignantly the way that women who had played important roles in the war were unceremoniously dumped back into the kitchen in the post-war period. The TV series ramps up the irony that the society which had assumed that their intellectual skills were no longer needed, turns out to need their analytical and code-breaking skills to hunt down a serial killer. In the novel, Marion, now she’s safely back in England but still suffering post-traumatic stress, is expected to restore her appearance, to find herself a young man, and to marry and have children.
But despite her horrific experiences at the hands of the Nazis, Marion still has some unfinished business, and she’s still subject to the lure of doing something exciting and important with her life. And as the war in Europe ends, the American betrayal of their allies* over the development of the atom bomb gains in significance. The real-life pacificist and philosopher Bertrand Russell makes an appearance at the fictional Franco-British Pacific Union (‘pacific’ as in ‘peace’), where Marion works, and shocks his listeners when he proposes that – since the Russians won’t agree to any world government to control nuclear weapons unless they run it – there are only three alternatives: an immediate pre-emptive strike on Russia which the US would win; a war between the two superpowers once Russia had acquired her own atom bomb which would cause catastrophic destruction even if the West won; or to do nothing and allow Russian domination of Europe which would be the end of European civilisation. Russell says that each alternative is worse than its predecessor, i.e. he seems to be suggesting that the US should take the initiative and destroy the Soviets as a power by using A-bombs on major Russian cities like Moscow and St Petersburg (then called Leningrad).
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2015/07/18/ti...
April 28, 2016
"She waited a moment, looking at him. And them she made her move. It felt like walking a tightrope, feeling the balance, knowing that a slight shift either side might be fatal. She reached her foot forward and poised to transfer her weight onto it, feeling the rope wobbling. No safety net. 'There's just one thing,' she said."
A couple of weeks ago I borrowed both Trapeze and Tightrope from the library, only to realise that I had read the former when it first came out. I decided not to re-read but to move on to the sequel in this duo of novels about Marian Sutro, who in Trapeze (in other editions titled The Girl Who Fell from the Sky) was parachuted into occupied France. I remember having mixed feelings about the first book but this one completely captured my attention and imagination.
In Tightrope, Marian is drawn back into the world of espionage at the beginning of the Cold War as America exploded the first H bomb. Some peace activists believed that only by allowing Russia and other nations to have this technology would the world be kept safe - the threat of mutual destruction. I was a teenager when these issues were coming to a head and I well remember the uncertainties, prejudices and fears of that time.
This is a marvellous spy story - complex, clever and intriguing. It is also a great character study of Marian, beautiful and adventurous but profoundly damaged by her experiences of capture, torture and internment in the war.
My only reservation about the book was that in the first part, I was confused by the narrative voice which sometimes was that of Sam, who as a boy worshipped Marian, and sometimes that of an omniscient author. Only when Sam enters the story in his own right does this clumsiness resolve itself. By the end, his narrative voice worked perfectly.
A couple of weeks ago I borrowed both Trapeze and Tightrope from the library, only to realise that I had read the former when it first came out. I decided not to re-read but to move on to the sequel in this duo of novels about Marian Sutro, who in Trapeze (in other editions titled The Girl Who Fell from the Sky) was parachuted into occupied France. I remember having mixed feelings about the first book but this one completely captured my attention and imagination.
In Tightrope, Marian is drawn back into the world of espionage at the beginning of the Cold War as America exploded the first H bomb. Some peace activists believed that only by allowing Russia and other nations to have this technology would the world be kept safe - the threat of mutual destruction. I was a teenager when these issues were coming to a head and I well remember the uncertainties, prejudices and fears of that time.
This is a marvellous spy story - complex, clever and intriguing. It is also a great character study of Marian, beautiful and adventurous but profoundly damaged by her experiences of capture, torture and internment in the war.
My only reservation about the book was that in the first part, I was confused by the narrative voice which sometimes was that of Sam, who as a boy worshipped Marian, and sometimes that of an omniscient author. Only when Sam enters the story in his own right does this clumsiness resolve itself. By the end, his narrative voice worked perfectly.
November 3, 2015
First let me caution you not to read too many reviews out there for this book. In my opinion they give too much of the story away. At the same time I want to encourage you to read Simon Mawer's first book about Marian Sutro, 'Trapeze' (also published as 'The Girl Who Fell From the Sky') where we learn all the backstory behind 'Tightrope'.
While 'Tightrope' can be read as a stand alone the experience will be much richer and more rewarding if you read the two in chronological order, too many eventualities will be revealed if you read this one first.
I read 'Trapeze' in September, it had been on my list to be read for a while and originally picked up the print version of the book but early on switched to the audio version and really enjoyed the reader. I love that audio books come to life for me in a way that print books don't. It's as if the real Marian Sutro was telling me her story.
Here her story is narrated by family friend, Samuel Wareham who travels to Switzerland to interview Marian decades after the exciting events in her life post war are over. Now an old woman in her eighties he's there to fill in the details of certain events so 'the agency' can close her file. She was a family friend of his mother and he was in awe of her as a child. Through this interview Marian remembers the difficulty of adjusting to ordinary life after the war was over and how she coped with her ennui.
An excellent conclusion to the story of Marian Sutro's fascinating life.
While 'Tightrope' can be read as a stand alone the experience will be much richer and more rewarding if you read the two in chronological order, too many eventualities will be revealed if you read this one first.
I read 'Trapeze' in September, it had been on my list to be read for a while and originally picked up the print version of the book but early on switched to the audio version and really enjoyed the reader. I love that audio books come to life for me in a way that print books don't. It's as if the real Marian Sutro was telling me her story.
Here her story is narrated by family friend, Samuel Wareham who travels to Switzerland to interview Marian decades after the exciting events in her life post war are over. Now an old woman in her eighties he's there to fill in the details of certain events so 'the agency' can close her file. She was a family friend of his mother and he was in awe of her as a child. Through this interview Marian remembers the difficulty of adjusting to ordinary life after the war was over and how she coped with her ennui.
An excellent conclusion to the story of Marian Sutro's fascinating life.
March 7, 2016
This was an excellent holiday read, Marian Sutro is a wonderful character and Simon Mawer writes beautiful, elegant prose. This book is a sequel to The Girl who Fell from the Sky where we are introduced to Marian as she prepares to join the SOE and be parachuted into Occupied France during WWII, and it takes up her story following her release from Ravensbruck concentration camp. Marian was interned following her capture, interrogation and torture by the Gestapo. This book is more interesting because it delves into what we now diagnose as PTSD and the struggle that she faces to lead a 'normal' life in postwar Britain. Others have criticised the character's willingness to have affairs with various other characters in the novel but I feel that this is just another manifestation of her survivor's guilt and PTSD. I believe that Marian has lost her sense of self through her wartime experiences, and finds it very difficult to form close relationships has it has been demonstrated to her time and again, that they don't last, though often through no fault of her own but circumstance. This isn't the first time I have wondered why it was that the SOE chose such young women for its agents, perhaps because they foolishly believed that, because of their youth and attractiveness, they would not become suspects? I feel it would have been better to choose maturer women with far more life experience.
November 30, 2015
Trapeze by Simon Mawer, was a nail biter dealing with the Resistance in occupied France. After an ending that left me reeling, I was eventually thrilled to learn that the story would continue in Tightrope. Once again, tensions mount, as Mawer deftly compels the reader, this time into intrigue in connection with the Cold War. He writes well. 'The moon was almost full, riding high over shards of cloud, beating the sea from pewter to silver’. Although Tightrope lacked the electricity of its predecessor, this was nonetheless a powerful story! I did enjoy seeing how the characters evolved from their haunted pasts behind enemy lines. Memories held powerful sway. ‘She didn’t want to talk about that. She had to keep hold of those memories and never let them go, because once out in the open they would be transformed by words, a string of words, into something that would never match the reality’. Fortunately, this book could stand alone, as it had been several years since I’d read Trapeze. I appreciated details of the edition as well – the cover, the quality of the paper, the print, and so forth – aspects which keep me reading ‘real books’! Three and a half stars, rounded up.
April 3, 2016
Prvně mě překvapilo, že je to pokračování Dívky, která spadla z nebe. Není úplně nezbytné mít ji přečtenou, ale je to určitě dobré. Já ji četla už dávno, takže detaily jsem zapomněla a docela by se mi byly hodily. Aspoň na začátku.
Není to špatná kniha, ale na Mawerův Skleněný pokoj či Pád to nemá. Jedná se o osudy Dívky, která spadla z nebe v době, kdy se vrátila z koncentráku zpět do Anglie, skončila válka a ona začala žít svůj staronový život. Na ten obyčejný předválečný navázat nedokáže a zase se vrací zpět ke spolupráci s tajnými službami. Myslí jí to levicově, prosovětsky, což normálního českého čtenáře více či méně irituje, ale uvědomme si, že po válce (a po koncentráku) to člověk vnímal trochu jinak a neměl naše zkušenosti.
Nejsem puritánka, ale nějak jsem nenašla hlubší význam Mawerovy posedlosti popisováním sexuálních scén.
Není to špatná kniha, ale na Mawerův Skleněný pokoj či Pád to nemá. Jedná se o osudy Dívky, která spadla z nebe v době, kdy se vrátila z koncentráku zpět do Anglie, skončila válka a ona začala žít svůj staronový život. Na ten obyčejný předválečný navázat nedokáže a zase se vrací zpět ke spolupráci s tajnými službami. Myslí jí to levicově, prosovětsky, což normálního českého čtenáře více či méně irituje, ale uvědomme si, že po válce (a po koncentráku) to člověk vnímal trochu jinak a neměl naše zkušenosti.
Nejsem puritánka, ale nějak jsem nenašla hlubší význam Mawerovy posedlosti popisováním sexuálních scén.
August 18, 2016
Jak moc je těžké začlenit se do "klidného" života po válečných dobrodružstvích a prožitých hrůzách? Kdo nezažil, asi těžko pochopí. A tak se Marie se svou složitou povahou s touto životní etapou vyrovnává po svém.
Dobře napsaná kniha.
Dobře napsaná kniha.
March 20, 2016
Jaké bylo, ptala se sama sebe, její skutečné jméno? Čtěte celou recenzi: http://bit.ly/recenze-provazochodkyne
February 11, 2016
Předchozí příběh Marian Sutrové se mi líbil o fous víc. Ale tohle bylo taky dobré. Dost jiné, ale ve spoustě věcí stejné.
Víc tady: http://bit.ly/Provazochodkyne
Víc tady: http://bit.ly/Provazochodkyne
September 22, 2019
Tightrope is the second book in a pair about Marian Sutro, a SOE agent dropped into France in 1943 and arrested by the Gestapo a short time later. This book picks up Marian’s story in 1945 at the point where she emerges from Ravensbrück concentration camp. It can be read as a standalone as it gives a good precis of her arrest and incarceration. Marian returns to Britain to be debriefed and to convalesce with the help of her family and a psychiatrist. She finds it hard to adjust to post-war life and the guilt of survival and is horrified by the nuclear age, her role in helping to extract a scientist from France, as well as the work of her physicist brother. SOE find her a job working as a librarian at a left-wing organization and she quickly marries a former pilot, while occasionally having affairs. She still craves purpose and adventure, so when an opportunity arises to slip back into the intelligence world she takes it. This time, however, she’s not simply doing the work for King and country, but also her own agenda. Mawer tells her story via a narrative pieced together by her biographer, Samuel, who’d been obsessed with her ever since he was a boy and she used to visit his home. It’s an interesting approach as it allows for hesitancy and silences where the biographer has to speculate about motives and what really occurred. The tale is effectively an in-depth character study of a complex woman living on the edge through difficult times. It is very nicely plotted, with Marian struggling with loyalties and motives, and her past and her future, as she’s drawn into the cold war intelligence and romance. The result is a thoughtful, engaging, nicely paced story of finding one’s place after a tragic adventure.
September 27, 2018
This is the story of Marian Sutro, a complex character 'full of fear but full of courage'. She is a World war two heroine having survived torture and a concentration camp. Does she later become a Cold War traitor? It is evident from her reactions that she is suffering from what is now known as post-traumatic stress syndrome. She walked a tightrope in becoming a double agent. Her motives are complex - guilt, that her wartime actions may have led to the atom bomb, she and others believe Russia should have an atom bomb to even up the balance of power; to defend her brother who could be blackmailed; post-war life is mundane and she is skilled at espionage; she is also attracted to a Russian spy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2020
A better effort than the previous one in that the lead character had a three dimensional personality caused by trauma for part of the book. The plot did become outlandish as she seemed set on sleeping with everyone she met but the sense of place was good.
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October 30, 2021Nelíbila se mi
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