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The Second Lady
After years of plastic surgery and special training, the KGB substitutes a Russian actress for the American First Lady and only journalist Guy Parker notices a few tiny, but telltale, inconsistencies
341 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
210 people are currently reading
3512 people want to read
About the author
Irving Wallace
180 books292 followersIrving Wallace was an American bestselling author and screenwriter. His extensively researched books included such page-turners as The Chapman Report (1960), about human sexuality; The Prize (1962), a fictional behind-the-scenes account of the Nobel Prizes; The Man, about a black man becoming president of the U.S. in the 1960s; and The Word (1972), about the discovery of a new gospel.
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois. Wallace grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was the father of Olympic historian David Wallechinsky and author Amy Wallace.
Wallace began selling stories to magazines when he was a teenager. In World War II Wallace served in the Frank Capra unit in Fort Fox along with Theodor Seuss Geisel - more popularly known as Dr Seuss - and continued to write for magazines. He also served in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. In the years immediately following World war II Wallace became a Hollywood screenwriter. He collaborated on such films as The West Point Story (1950), Split Second (1953),and Meet Me at the Fair (1953).
After several years in Hollywood, he devoted himself full-time to writing books. Wallace published 33 books during his lifetime.
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois. Wallace grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was the father of Olympic historian David Wallechinsky and author Amy Wallace.
Wallace began selling stories to magazines when he was a teenager. In World War II Wallace served in the Frank Capra unit in Fort Fox along with Theodor Seuss Geisel - more popularly known as Dr Seuss - and continued to write for magazines. He also served in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. In the years immediately following World war II Wallace became a Hollywood screenwriter. He collaborated on such films as The West Point Story (1950), Split Second (1953),and Meet Me at the Fair (1953).
After several years in Hollywood, he devoted himself full-time to writing books. Wallace published 33 books during his lifetime.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
March 21, 2014
I read The Second Lady long long ago. But the book was missing the last few pages and after that initial torment of not being able to find out, I have managed to live all this while without knowing what happened the moment they stepped off the plane. And somehow after all these years, something made me want to find out.
Maybe it is not 'cool' to say that you like Irving Wallace and such these days, you got to be snooty and like authors like to be with it. But hey, I like my masala and I will not lie.
A classic USA-USSR thriller. The Soviets embark on an unbelievable plan to replace the American First Lady with a look alike, an actress with a strong resemblance who has been tweaked to perfection over the past three years. The replacement happens and the pages turn themselves. It is a USA-USSR game, so you already know who will win. But how they win is what makes it a page turner. The Soviets are ugly, potato nosed people. Their First Lady is fat and housewife-looking. Their food is vomituous, their alcohol is bitter. Americans on the other hand are handsome and glamourous.They are sexy and clever. But ofcourse. There is a half-American KGB agent whose loyalties lie with the Soviets but heart lies with the Americans. A lot of twists, turns, mind games and sex later the book ends in a nailbiting climax.
It was written in 1980, so you can't read it with an internet age mindset. But the plot unravels so smoothly and there aren't too many loopholes that make you roll your eyes.
The sore point between the Russians and Americans in this book is a small uranium rich African country called Boende. And today, when Russia and America are at it again,unfriending each other over Crimea, this book makes it seem like nothing has actually changed in the world.
Maybe it is not 'cool' to say that you like Irving Wallace and such these days, you got to be snooty and like authors like to be with it. But hey, I like my masala and I will not lie.
A classic USA-USSR thriller. The Soviets embark on an unbelievable plan to replace the American First Lady with a look alike, an actress with a strong resemblance who has been tweaked to perfection over the past three years. The replacement happens and the pages turn themselves. It is a USA-USSR game, so you already know who will win. But how they win is what makes it a page turner. The Soviets are ugly, potato nosed people. Their First Lady is fat and housewife-looking. Their food is vomituous, their alcohol is bitter. Americans on the other hand are handsome and glamourous.They are sexy and clever. But ofcourse. There is a half-American KGB agent whose loyalties lie with the Soviets but heart lies with the Americans. A lot of twists, turns, mind games and sex later the book ends in a nailbiting climax.
It was written in 1980, so you can't read it with an internet age mindset. But the plot unravels so smoothly and there aren't too many loopholes that make you roll your eyes.
The sore point between the Russians and Americans in this book is a small uranium rich African country called Boende. And today, when Russia and America are at it again,unfriending each other over Crimea, this book makes it seem like nothing has actually changed in the world.
September 20, 2019
The premise of this story is fantastic!
Billie Bradford, Fist Lady of the United States, (FLOTUS), has traveled to Moscow where, unbelievably, she is abducted by the Soviet KGB. Unknown to the American delegation, Bradford’s been “replaced” by Vera Vavolova, a superbly talented Russian actress turned undercover agent. Vavolova has undergone years of vigorous, demanding training for her “starring role” as First Lady. The ultimate purpose of the mission is to obtain secret information from the President himself.
After all, if he can’t trust his own wife, who can he trust?
Even as I read the front cover summary, the questions were already popping into my head:
How would the kidnappers get past the First Lady’s Secret Service detail?
How would they pull off such an ambitious with no one noticing it?
Looking for clues, I then turned to the publisher’s page near the front of the book, noticing that the year of the book’s release was 1980.
1980, I reminded myself was the year that the “real life” White House was on the verge of a major leadership transition. The Sunday School teaching peanut farmer from Georgia had one foot out the door, the smiling cowboy governor from California, one-foot in.
Almost two generations ago…
The Secret Service of the time, I guessed, must have been a much smaller force. The press of 1980, reporting at a much slower, (but ultimately higher quality) reporting coverage than today’s corporate approved instant news. In 1980, the Internet was at least fifteen years away from becoming a mainstream reality for many people.
But even taking those factors into account, how would Vavolova pull off such a demanding disguise? How did the Soviets manage to find an exact replica of such a famous woman? How would the Soviets manage “keeping” First Lady Bradford for such an extended period of time while her double did her spy work?
Or was the intent of the Soviets much darker?
Did they plan to “keep” Bradford at all?
Wallace chose a daunting subject for this novel. Would the plot be sufficiently believable? Would I be distracted by too many outlandish plot reaches?
These were the questions I brought with me into the start of reading this book.
And given the solid four-star rating I’m giving it, you may have your answer to how satisfied I was in the end.
Billie Bradford, Fist Lady of the United States, (FLOTUS), has traveled to Moscow where, unbelievably, she is abducted by the Soviet KGB. Unknown to the American delegation, Bradford’s been “replaced” by Vera Vavolova, a superbly talented Russian actress turned undercover agent. Vavolova has undergone years of vigorous, demanding training for her “starring role” as First Lady. The ultimate purpose of the mission is to obtain secret information from the President himself.
After all, if he can’t trust his own wife, who can he trust?
Even as I read the front cover summary, the questions were already popping into my head:
How would the kidnappers get past the First Lady’s Secret Service detail?
How would they pull off such an ambitious with no one noticing it?
Looking for clues, I then turned to the publisher’s page near the front of the book, noticing that the year of the book’s release was 1980.
1980, I reminded myself was the year that the “real life” White House was on the verge of a major leadership transition. The Sunday School teaching peanut farmer from Georgia had one foot out the door, the smiling cowboy governor from California, one-foot in.
Almost two generations ago…
The Secret Service of the time, I guessed, must have been a much smaller force. The press of 1980, reporting at a much slower, (but ultimately higher quality) reporting coverage than today’s corporate approved instant news. In 1980, the Internet was at least fifteen years away from becoming a mainstream reality for many people.
But even taking those factors into account, how would Vavolova pull off such a demanding disguise? How did the Soviets manage to find an exact replica of such a famous woman? How would the Soviets manage “keeping” First Lady Bradford for such an extended period of time while her double did her spy work?
Or was the intent of the Soviets much darker?
Did they plan to “keep” Bradford at all?
Wallace chose a daunting subject for this novel. Would the plot be sufficiently believable? Would I be distracted by too many outlandish plot reaches?
These were the questions I brought with me into the start of reading this book.
And given the solid four-star rating I’m giving it, you may have your answer to how satisfied I was in the end.
December 31, 2016
Just reread this after 35 years. It's even better the second time around: second read for the Second Lady. Wallace was one of my major influencers when I started writing my own novels. I love how he begins with different characters in scattered parts of the world who seem to have no connection with each other. Then he brings them all together with intricate plot twists.
The Second Lady is no exception. Wallace begins with strands that he entwines into a solid rope, then begins to unravel again. Finally, he pulls all the loose ends together in a totally unexpected way.
Characters are well developed and their motivations are clear. You find yourself cheering first for one, then another.
His "Lady or the Tiger" ending leaves you satisfied rather than disappointed. He alludes to this story earlier in the novel, so the resolution shouldn't come as a complete surprise.
The Second Lady is no exception. Wallace begins with strands that he entwines into a solid rope, then begins to unravel again. Finally, he pulls all the loose ends together in a totally unexpected way.
Characters are well developed and their motivations are clear. You find yourself cheering first for one, then another.
His "Lady or the Tiger" ending leaves you satisfied rather than disappointed. He alludes to this story earlier in the novel, so the resolution shouldn't come as a complete surprise.
April 19, 2025
What a wonderful gripping and twisty book!
The Second Lady is set in Cold War when the chief commander of the KGB discovered an Ukranian actress who looks so much like The First Lady of USA.
Naturally, the Russian recruited Vera the actress and taught her almost everything about the First Lady Billie, how to talk like her in her exact accent and vocabulary, who are her friends, what are her allergies and how she looks naked.
For 3 years the KGB spied on Billie and gathered an uncanny amount of intimate information about her. For 3 years Vera trained in a replica of White House built by the KGB, she spoke american, consumed only american culture, eat only american produced food and was waiting the signal to begin her biggest performance, the most difficult and brilliant performance known for actors and spies alike: How to pose as the First Lady and extract vital military and political information from the president of USA in order to gain Soviet supremacy!
And the time came and all the action begun. I was so nervous for all characters but especially for the soviet ones who went beyond enemy lines.
There was a plot twist after a plot twist, a double agent after another, and both Vera and Billie kept fighting for their lives, one maintaining a hidden identity, the other trying to prove her real one.
The book, of course, spoke beyond what's written to unearth the ugly face of two powers, two powers who are still fighting till today and nothing really changed beyond the death of the terminology of Cold War.
I almost laughed at how "sex" was a plot in itself and ruined the plans of both parties. I laughed out loud at the extreme measures the KGB took in order to find out how the president of USA fucked his wife so Vera wouldn't be exposed when she slept with him!
In a way I always admired how nonsense, pragmatic and thorough the Russians are. But, even with their brains and extreme eye for details, you can't play GOD, you can't know every thing.
The second Lady had sometimes to improvise even if that meant her failure and then death!
Had the pleasure to read this book and tick the square of "Morally Gray Heroine" in my 2025 Bingo Reading Challenge!
25⭕ ┃37⭕┃87┃13┃68┃40⭕┃32┃59┃76┃44
10┃86┃4 ┃45┃47┃98┃50⭕┃14┃85┃75
88┃51┃ 9⭕┃2┃42┃29┃ 24┃92┃ 82┃1⭕
100┃34⭕┃17┃96┃43┃49┃64⭕┃70┃15┃38⭕
84┃31┃ 62┃7┃21┃73┃28┃46┃90┃77
3⭕┃12⭕┃80⭕┃ 69⭕┃52⭕┃ 65⭕┃54⭕┃ 91⭕┃23⭕┃ 72⭕
18┃95┃ 22┃99┃93┃74┃41⭕┃8┃35⭕┃ 58
57┃94┃ 16┃56┃ 5┃60┃78⭕┃ 26┃81┃ 61
97┃48⭕┃ 79┃67┃ 53⭕┃30⭕┃ 6⭕┃36┃89┃ 33⭕
71⭕┃19┃ 39⭕┃66┃ 55┃27┃ 20┃63┃ 11┃83
The Second Lady is set in Cold War when the chief commander of the KGB discovered an Ukranian actress who looks so much like The First Lady of USA.
Naturally, the Russian recruited Vera the actress and taught her almost everything about the First Lady Billie, how to talk like her in her exact accent and vocabulary, who are her friends, what are her allergies and how she looks naked.
For 3 years the KGB spied on Billie and gathered an uncanny amount of intimate information about her. For 3 years Vera trained in a replica of White House built by the KGB, she spoke american, consumed only american culture, eat only american produced food and was waiting the signal to begin her biggest performance, the most difficult and brilliant performance known for actors and spies alike: How to pose as the First Lady and extract vital military and political information from the president of USA in order to gain Soviet supremacy!
And the time came and all the action begun. I was so nervous for all characters but especially for the soviet ones who went beyond enemy lines.
There was a plot twist after a plot twist, a double agent after another, and both Vera and Billie kept fighting for their lives, one maintaining a hidden identity, the other trying to prove her real one.
The book, of course, spoke beyond what's written to unearth the ugly face of two powers, two powers who are still fighting till today and nothing really changed beyond the death of the terminology of Cold War.
I almost laughed at how "sex" was a plot in itself and ruined the plans of both parties. I laughed out loud at the extreme measures the KGB took in order to find out how the president of USA fucked his wife so Vera wouldn't be exposed when she slept with him!
In a way I always admired how nonsense, pragmatic and thorough the Russians are. But, even with their brains and extreme eye for details, you can't play GOD, you can't know every thing.
The second Lady had sometimes to improvise even if that meant her failure and then death!
Had the pleasure to read this book and tick the square of "Morally Gray Heroine" in my 2025 Bingo Reading Challenge!
25⭕ ┃37⭕┃87┃13┃68┃40⭕┃32┃59┃76┃44
10┃86┃4 ┃45┃47┃98┃50⭕┃14┃85┃75
88┃51┃ 9⭕┃2┃42┃29┃ 24┃92┃ 82┃1⭕
100┃34⭕┃17┃96┃43┃49┃64⭕┃70┃15┃38⭕
84┃31┃ 62┃7┃21┃73┃28┃46┃90┃77
3⭕┃12⭕┃80⭕┃ 69⭕┃52⭕┃ 65⭕┃54⭕┃ 91⭕┃23⭕┃ 72⭕
18┃95┃ 22┃99┃93┃74┃41⭕┃8┃35⭕┃ 58
57┃94┃ 16┃56┃ 5┃60┃78⭕┃ 26┃81┃ 61
97┃48⭕┃ 79┃67┃ 53⭕┃30⭕┃ 6⭕┃36┃89┃ 33⭕
71⭕┃19┃ 39⭕┃66┃ 55┃27┃ 20┃63┃ 11┃83
November 13, 2019
This month I've been reading books that many different sources inform me are "trashy" reads, which is to say lowest common denominator books with a pre-occupation with sex. The first two novels of the month Valley of the Dolls and Peyton Place were a mixed lot, because while the former had a bunch of sex in it, it wasn't really focused on that. Instead it was about the backstabbing world of show business both in New York and Hollywood, the cut-throat nature of friendships and relationships and business partnerships and the titular pills, uppers and downers that celebrities take to sleep and to wake. The trashy sex was there, yes, but it was a small element of the overall story, in terms of time on screen. Sure, there was a lot of talk about it, but actual sex was relatively slight.
The latter book was a bit more provocative and has often been slighted as a soap opera, probably because it was mined by the self-same entertainment industry savaged in the former book for only those salacious moments to turn into soap opera. The book is actually more a scathing indictment of small town hypocrisy and had it been written by a man I'm sure that's how we'd see the novel instead of tossed aside as pop trash.
Which brings us to Irving Wallace.
This book, ostensibly a thriller about a Russian actress who looks so exactly like the first lady, Bilile Bradford, that the KGB concoct a plot to replace the real first lady with their body double, who will then proceed to extract secrets from the president in order to win concessions from an African country sitting on a pricey uranium deposit. It's all very Cold War but the way Wallace writes about sex is just so god awfully cringy.
The first lady is described as having a "mat of pubic hair." A mat? Like table place setting mat or more like welcome mat out front of my door? A sexual encounter ends with the unfortunate phrasing "she...felt the sperm sputter deep into her." Sputter? Isn't sputtering usually considered weak and not very forceful? How deep is this sperm limping along?
The book's central tension comes from the will-they-won't-they (the Americans) see through the deception and the overriding most important way that this is discussed is in this question:
Page after page, meeting after meeting, an attempted rape, a seduction, very graphically described activity in said seduction, all to answer the Most Important Question: does the POTUS like it rough or vanilla?
I'm not joking.
Then there are things like pubic hair implants to make the double's mat match the real first lady's, plastic surgery scars added, nude photos shot, a lengthy account of what Jackie Kennedy looked like nude sun-bathing ("the long growth of pubic hair covering her vaginal mound") and on and on. Wallace just can't stop talking about pubic hair and all of it written as though he'd seen pictures of naked women and assumed certain dimensions and specifications from those pictures. He writes "long growth of pubic hair" like it's longer than a bob but not quite dragging the ground.
So the book is fine when it's just focused on the plain, clothed tensions of the story, but it really kicks into high hilarity once the clothes come off.
Now that's what makes a trashy book. Not just sex, but sex lingered over, described terribly, sometimes overly scientific anatomy style, sometimes grinding "jackhammering" hips and "rotating" asses, sex that seems gratuitious to the story or is just the sole focus of the story.
Turns out the trashiest writer so far this month was written by a man (and make no mistake, most so-branded "trashy" novels are ones written by women). Terrible, like a bag of Doritos. You know it's nutritionally null and void, but how can you stop when it's this zesty?
The latter book was a bit more provocative and has often been slighted as a soap opera, probably because it was mined by the self-same entertainment industry savaged in the former book for only those salacious moments to turn into soap opera. The book is actually more a scathing indictment of small town hypocrisy and had it been written by a man I'm sure that's how we'd see the novel instead of tossed aside as pop trash.
Which brings us to Irving Wallace.
This book, ostensibly a thriller about a Russian actress who looks so exactly like the first lady, Bilile Bradford, that the KGB concoct a plot to replace the real first lady with their body double, who will then proceed to extract secrets from the president in order to win concessions from an African country sitting on a pricey uranium deposit. It's all very Cold War but the way Wallace writes about sex is just so god awfully cringy.
The first lady is described as having a "mat of pubic hair." A mat? Like table place setting mat or more like welcome mat out front of my door? A sexual encounter ends with the unfortunate phrasing "she...felt the sperm sputter deep into her." Sputter? Isn't sputtering usually considered weak and not very forceful? How deep is this sperm limping along?
The book's central tension comes from the will-they-won't-they (the Americans) see through the deception and the overriding most important way that this is discussed is in this question:
Only one question, General Petrov, only one.
How does the First Lady of the United States fuck the President of the United States when they go to bed?
Page after page, meeting after meeting, an attempted rape, a seduction, very graphically described activity in said seduction, all to answer the Most Important Question: does the POTUS like it rough or vanilla?
I'm not joking.
Then there are things like pubic hair implants to make the double's mat match the real first lady's, plastic surgery scars added, nude photos shot, a lengthy account of what Jackie Kennedy looked like nude sun-bathing ("the long growth of pubic hair covering her vaginal mound") and on and on. Wallace just can't stop talking about pubic hair and all of it written as though he'd seen pictures of naked women and assumed certain dimensions and specifications from those pictures. He writes "long growth of pubic hair" like it's longer than a bob but not quite dragging the ground.
So the book is fine when it's just focused on the plain, clothed tensions of the story, but it really kicks into high hilarity once the clothes come off.
Now that's what makes a trashy book. Not just sex, but sex lingered over, described terribly, sometimes overly scientific anatomy style, sometimes grinding "jackhammering" hips and "rotating" asses, sex that seems gratuitious to the story or is just the sole focus of the story.
Turns out the trashiest writer so far this month was written by a man (and make no mistake, most so-branded "trashy" novels are ones written by women). Terrible, like a bag of Doritos. You know it's nutritionally null and void, but how can you stop when it's this zesty?
April 24, 2025
The Second Lady is a fast paced political thriller published in 1980 during the Cold War era. The plot is rather far fetched whereby the Russians kidnap the First Lady and plant a Russian lookalike in her place. The lookalike being an actress who over a three year period has had multiple surgeries to look exactly like the president’s wife, as well as be trained on speech, mannerisms and background information etc. Her role was to basically become a KGB spy and gather valuable political intelligence. Whilst implausible, the author did a good job in my opinion and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The writing as one would expect was very “80s” and I think fiction writing has evolved a great deal in the last 40 years. I kind of enjoyed reading a story from this era just prior to the advent of mobile phones, email and the internet. I like books that have a conclusion since we devote a lot of our time to reading them. This one unfortunately left the reader hanging with a massive unanswered question. I kind of felt a little cheated. At the very end of the book some of the main characters state that they will never know the truth and the story ends. When in actual fact there would be several ways to actually find out the truth. I really wanted the question answered so I found this frustrating. Apart from the ending and the sometimes sexist 80s writing I did enjoy this book and the skill of the author.
November 13, 2015
It is a strictly time pass book. it is of cold war days. The plot is outlandish and so is everything else.
KGB comes across an actress in Russia who is a look alike of first lady. They hatches off a plan to switch the two. The actress is trained but they stumble when it comes to sex. This book has a lot of reference to that.
Climax is fitting to plot.
A racy, one time time.
KGB comes across an actress in Russia who is a look alike of first lady. They hatches off a plan to switch the two. The actress is trained but they stumble when it comes to sex. This book has a lot of reference to that.
Climax is fitting to plot.
A racy, one time time.
July 10, 2020
DNF at 100 pages. Writing was ok for a thriller but didn't like the plot. Had put it off for a while and realized now I am never going to get back to it.
August 5, 2008
entertaining but predictable. i guess it played on fears over Russia when it was written? the First Lady is replaced by a lookalike who attempts to obtain info directly from the President, her act carries into the bedroom, blahblahblah.
May 21, 2017
As brilliant as every other Irving Wallace book. A great thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you at the edge of the seat provided one believes the preposterous feat conceived by the author. Ignoring Guy Parker's amateurish detective skills and obvious deductions, the book still does its magic.
June 24, 2020
Para mantenerse en suspenso, me gustaron los giros que tomo la historia y el final, buenísimo!
November 8, 2012
I can't believe that this book received so less ratings. I was infact, WTF! People are not aware that this book was written in the 19th century by Irving Wallace & you can imagine he created this plot back then which we still use in our movies. There was everything in this book plot, love, action, drama, entertainment, lust & it was like thrilling experience while reading this book. A commendable job by Irving Wallace. If suppose in future, I became a movie director, i'll definitely make a movie on this book.
I was really hooked to the page & predicted the climax but no I was wrong, my prediction was wrong. The climax will leave you stunned. The Fan Club & The Second Lady are now my favorites of Irving Wallace. Looking forward to read his The Seventh Secret & The Man.
A Must Read!!!!
I was really hooked to the page & predicted the climax but no I was wrong, my prediction was wrong. The climax will leave you stunned. The Fan Club & The Second Lady are now my favorites of Irving Wallace. Looking forward to read his The Seventh Secret & The Man.
A Must Read!!!!
June 3, 2008
Great book! I have read it many times throughout the years! The Second Lady is in reference to a Russian lady who is a body double of the American President's wife. A Soviet spymaster comes up with the idea to train the Russian body double and swap her with the First Lady to learn the American President's military secrets. Loved it!
April 30, 2008
it is a GREAT storyline and an incredible idea, BUT it was so full of gratuitous sex. The whole plot did revolve around sex but it was almost porn.
Disappointing, as the premise of the book is great.
Disappointing, as the premise of the book is great.
April 17, 2025
Mi abuelo me prestó esta novela hace años y, a falta de más lecturas de interés, la escogí de entre los libros escondidos en mi librero.
Lamentablemente, me pareció una historia básica, extremadamente superficial, y escrita en un estilo narrativo completamente obsoleto. Entiendo que esta novela se escribió en hizo popular en el auge de las novelas de espionaje, en plena Guerra Fría, pero sin duda el estilo al día de hoy ha evolucionado un montón y, comparada con las historias de espionaje actuales, este libro se siente totalmente en pañales en lo que al género se refiere. No hay plot twists, los acontecimientos de desarrollan de forma obvia, y los personajes no actúan como actuarían personas reales en sus situaciones, en especial en los momentos más críticos.
Sin embargo, el aspecto principal de mi crítica es el siguiente. La historia está contada por un narrador omnisciente que sigue de cerca las experiencias de varios personajes, describiendo sus puntos de vista de forma personal. El problema es que, en vez de que los acontecimientos sean presentados de forma imprevista, llamativa y secuencial, el mismo acontecimiento se presenta con lujo de detalles una y otra vez desde la perspectiva de cada uno de los personajes, por lo que las “revelaciones”, que deberían ser el misterioso motor de la trama, lo son solo para los personajes y no para el lector. No es interesante leer sobre un misterio cuando ese misterio ya está cerrado y sólo resulta sorprendente para los personajes que se enteran de su resolución.
No leería otro libro de este tipo nunca más, la verdad.
Lamentablemente, me pareció una historia básica, extremadamente superficial, y escrita en un estilo narrativo completamente obsoleto. Entiendo que esta novela se escribió en hizo popular en el auge de las novelas de espionaje, en plena Guerra Fría, pero sin duda el estilo al día de hoy ha evolucionado un montón y, comparada con las historias de espionaje actuales, este libro se siente totalmente en pañales en lo que al género se refiere. No hay plot twists, los acontecimientos de desarrollan de forma obvia, y los personajes no actúan como actuarían personas reales en sus situaciones, en especial en los momentos más críticos.
Sin embargo, el aspecto principal de mi crítica es el siguiente. La historia está contada por un narrador omnisciente que sigue de cerca las experiencias de varios personajes, describiendo sus puntos de vista de forma personal. El problema es que, en vez de que los acontecimientos sean presentados de forma imprevista, llamativa y secuencial, el mismo acontecimiento se presenta con lujo de detalles una y otra vez desde la perspectiva de cada uno de los personajes, por lo que las “revelaciones”, que deberían ser el misterioso motor de la trama, lo son solo para los personajes y no para el lector. No es interesante leer sobre un misterio cuando ese misterio ya está cerrado y sólo resulta sorprendente para los personajes que se enteran de su resolución.
No leería otro libro de este tipo nunca más, la verdad.
April 2, 2019
Este libro lo leí hace muuuuuuchos años, creo que era adolescente incluso. No sé si lo saqué de la biblioteca del barrio o lo tenía mi mamá, no recuerdo, pero me había encantado y me había parecido super inteligente e ingenioso.
No sé si lo leyera ahora qué pensaría, pero le voy a poner 4* porque ese es el recuerdo que tengo del libro.
No sé si lo leyera ahora qué pensaría, pero le voy a poner 4* porque ese es el recuerdo que tengo del libro.
November 27, 2023
After about 30% of the way into this book - I realized I had read this before as a teenager.
The concept of this book was fun and it is definitely a story that moves. I have a lot of thoughts of how ridiculous the plot is - it doesn't really seem possible. I also think this is very much a book of its time with cold war plots and extremely sexist female characterization. Do we need to know about every woman's boobs? Apparently so!
The concept of this book was fun and it is definitely a story that moves. I have a lot of thoughts of how ridiculous the plot is - it doesn't really seem possible. I also think this is very much a book of its time with cold war plots and extremely sexist female characterization. Do we need to know about every woman's boobs? Apparently so!
December 2, 2022
The novel is very gripping.
The writing is clear and I felt the author did a very good job in using names appropriately. What I mean is, as there are two ladies who look a like and they exchange places as a reader I found it very easy to differentiate when the author switched to which lady and there was no confusion whatsoever.
The first half of the book deals with a situation, while reading, it felt like a very bizzare situation being handled but if I think about it, it is a high possibility. Author covered most of the details and answered all my queries in the book. The second half is very fast paced and the ending is something I never expected.
The writing is clear and I felt the author did a very good job in using names appropriately. What I mean is, as there are two ladies who look a like and they exchange places as a reader I found it very easy to differentiate when the author switched to which lady and there was no confusion whatsoever.
The first half of the book deals with a situation, while reading, it felt like a very bizzare situation being handled but if I think about it, it is a high possibility. Author covered most of the details and answered all my queries in the book. The second half is very fast paced and the ending is something I never expected.
August 4, 2023
Well written spy book on the Cold War. Suspense grows over time.
September 24, 2023
Re-read this book after 40 years. Except for the 20 pages in between full of explicit sex (justified for the storyline) I thoroughly enjoyed the wild imagination, incredible plot, fast pace, dirty politics and the climax. Specially the climax.
October 1, 2024
4.5 Book Club October 2024. This one grabbed my attention right away! Some explicit sex, so use caution, but the story was incredible!
June 8, 2012
By Irving Wallace. Grade: B+
With the humble beginning of selling magazines as a teenager to becoming a Hollywood screenwriter to becoming one of the all-time greats in literary circles, Irving Wallace has undertaken a topsy-turvy ride of life. He is considered one of the five most widely read authors of modern times. His famous works include The Seven Minutes, The Plot etc.
In the novel The Second Lady, Billie Bradford is a beautiful, intelligent and enchanting woman. But along with that, she is the First Lady of the United States. In Russia, there exists a woman who is her exact double, down to the most secret detail. They call her the Second Lady. It is the Second Lady who will share the Presidential spotlight, who will be privy to state secrets and who will sleep in the President’s bed, Just long enough to tip the balance of power away from the West. While the real Billie Bradford must fight her ruthless jailers in a foreign land- with the only weapon she has,
The plot begins in a period of intense but non-violent conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding a particular African region and the resources of that region. The President is up to his neck in preparation of the Russo-US summit that is to take place in the near future and the First Lady, Billie Bradford is lending a helping hand in every possible way. Whichever side negotiates its way to victory through this summit will have the upper hand in the modern world for a very long period of time.
But the KGB (Secret police of the Soviet Union) has other plans. General Ivan Petrov, the Director of KGB, discovers an actress Vera Vavilova who is almost a copy of Billie Bradford and thus hatches a plan so bold, if discovered it could rattle the very foundations of world peace. The Russians decide to train this actress (they call her the Second Lady) and substitute her with the real First Lady. The Second Lady would then convey the deepest secrets straight from the President of the United States to the Russian Premier.
Once trained, the Second Lady is substituted with the First Lady at a State dinner in London (yes, they actually did it). Henceforth, Vera begins a very dangerous pursuit of the information, the sole purpose for which she was sent here. But at an instance or two, her erratic behaviour in the public ticks off the antennae of Guy Parker, an ex-CIA writer writing a biography on the First Lady and Nora, her secretary. Stunned by the audacity of the plan, both of them begin a counter investigation on the Second Lady.
The major focus of the plot was the one hurdle which the Second Lady had to face during her charade, which was the behaviour of the First Lady in the bed. The whole plot revolves around this one obstruction and how the KGB overcomes it. What happens to the First Lady after her kidnapping and to what extent are the Russians successful in their desired outcome is what the story follows.
On the face of it, The Second Lady harbours an audacious plot which gives the word “outrageous” a whole new meaning. The seemingly impossible plan, the turn of events, the twists all go ahead and cement Irving Wallace’s stature in the literary world. But while reading, the overly explicit content can make the reader a tad bit uncomfortable which is typical Irving Wallace style. The one thing which goes against the plot is the undercurrent of ease with which everything takes place. Had it been a little more “on-the-face-of-it”, it would have been a classic hands-down.
Originally reviewed at: www.the-vault.co.cc
With the humble beginning of selling magazines as a teenager to becoming a Hollywood screenwriter to becoming one of the all-time greats in literary circles, Irving Wallace has undertaken a topsy-turvy ride of life. He is considered one of the five most widely read authors of modern times. His famous works include The Seven Minutes, The Plot etc.
In the novel The Second Lady, Billie Bradford is a beautiful, intelligent and enchanting woman. But along with that, she is the First Lady of the United States. In Russia, there exists a woman who is her exact double, down to the most secret detail. They call her the Second Lady. It is the Second Lady who will share the Presidential spotlight, who will be privy to state secrets and who will sleep in the President’s bed, Just long enough to tip the balance of power away from the West. While the real Billie Bradford must fight her ruthless jailers in a foreign land- with the only weapon she has,
The plot begins in a period of intense but non-violent conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding a particular African region and the resources of that region. The President is up to his neck in preparation of the Russo-US summit that is to take place in the near future and the First Lady, Billie Bradford is lending a helping hand in every possible way. Whichever side negotiates its way to victory through this summit will have the upper hand in the modern world for a very long period of time.
But the KGB (Secret police of the Soviet Union) has other plans. General Ivan Petrov, the Director of KGB, discovers an actress Vera Vavilova who is almost a copy of Billie Bradford and thus hatches a plan so bold, if discovered it could rattle the very foundations of world peace. The Russians decide to train this actress (they call her the Second Lady) and substitute her with the real First Lady. The Second Lady would then convey the deepest secrets straight from the President of the United States to the Russian Premier.
Once trained, the Second Lady is substituted with the First Lady at a State dinner in London (yes, they actually did it). Henceforth, Vera begins a very dangerous pursuit of the information, the sole purpose for which she was sent here. But at an instance or two, her erratic behaviour in the public ticks off the antennae of Guy Parker, an ex-CIA writer writing a biography on the First Lady and Nora, her secretary. Stunned by the audacity of the plan, both of them begin a counter investigation on the Second Lady.
The major focus of the plot was the one hurdle which the Second Lady had to face during her charade, which was the behaviour of the First Lady in the bed. The whole plot revolves around this one obstruction and how the KGB overcomes it. What happens to the First Lady after her kidnapping and to what extent are the Russians successful in their desired outcome is what the story follows.
On the face of it, The Second Lady harbours an audacious plot which gives the word “outrageous” a whole new meaning. The seemingly impossible plan, the turn of events, the twists all go ahead and cement Irving Wallace’s stature in the literary world. But while reading, the overly explicit content can make the reader a tad bit uncomfortable which is typical Irving Wallace style. The one thing which goes against the plot is the undercurrent of ease with which everything takes place. Had it been a little more “on-the-face-of-it”, it would have been a classic hands-down.
Originally reviewed at: www.the-vault.co.cc
March 10, 2017
hahhahhahahh!! Is TRUMP II MAN!!!! Wonder????? Russian Plant???
August 27, 2020
This was a sentimental reread. As a precocious reader, I started taking books off my mother’s library pile when I was in middle school. This is the first adult novel I recall reading. Given its explicit sexual content, it was quite an entrée into adult literature. Rereading it decades later, I had accurately recalled the sex but had forgotten how poorly written the novel is (or perhaps it’s written at the level of a middle schooler). The premise is highly implausible but somewhat intriguing—the Soviets find a rural actress who bears a striking resemblance to the American First Lady. They groom her for the greatest role ever. When the KGB kidnap the true First Lady, the double takes her place to learn State secrets. Among other problematic aspects of this book, the big question in the finale could be easily clarified a variety of ways. Nonetheless, I appreciated the trip down memory lane.
April 27, 2018
10/10 DC!
First off, this is not the kind of book I'd normally choose for myself, I picked it up because it was suggested by one major library in my city. After that I was reassured because my mother saw the cover and mentioned that when she was younger she had read several Wallace's books.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. It reads like something you would find at an airport bookstore. It is fast paced and has an interesting premise and up until the first quarter of the book it was decent. But at some point it became utterly ridiculous and kind of trashy (mainly because of the cringeworthy sex scenes. "Male appendage" as a euphemism for penis made it worse!). The last chapters I had to speed-read (which I don't normally do because I enjoy taking my time reading) because I had to finish this book in order to lift my book buying ban. Done.
June 14, 2019
2.5 stars rounded up because the ending was pretty exciting.
What struck me most about this book was how much popular fiction has changed in the last 50 years. There was a lot of telling and not showing in this book, and it had stiff, old-fashioned diction and dialogue that read like the script for a 1940's movie.
It took me a good while to read it, and I would've probably just thrown it aside without finishing it but it did help me get to sleep lots of nights. Around the end, the action picked up and it was more exciting, but the whole premise was just preposterous and beggared belief.
I'm chalking it up not a lack of talent on the author's part but being from a different era with different audience expectations.
What struck me most about this book was how much popular fiction has changed in the last 50 years. There was a lot of telling and not showing in this book, and it had stiff, old-fashioned diction and dialogue that read like the script for a 1940's movie.
It took me a good while to read it, and I would've probably just thrown it aside without finishing it but it did help me get to sleep lots of nights. Around the end, the action picked up and it was more exciting, but the whole premise was just preposterous and beggared belief.
I'm chalking it up not a lack of talent on the author's part but being from a different era with different audience expectations.
September 3, 2021
The legend that is Cliffy sir (i.e. Clifford Dragwidge of St. Vincent's Asansol and St Mary's Mount Abu) narrated this story to us, his students of class VI at St Vincent's Asansol. This was 1990 or 1991.
Listen, it does not matter how good this story was, or how good Irving Wallace is as a writer. Cliffy Sir was a bona fide magician of the spoken word. This gets a 5/5 rating because Cliffy Sir blessed it by choosing it, and by giving his voice to it.
Listen, it does not matter how good this story was, or how good Irving Wallace is as a writer. Cliffy Sir was a bona fide magician of the spoken word. This gets a 5/5 rating because Cliffy Sir blessed it by choosing it, and by giving his voice to it.
March 9, 2014
Simplemente perfecto, mi libro favorito. Me sorprende no haber visto 5 estrellas para La Segunda Dama, hay que tomar en cuenta el año de escritura, no es posible juzgarlo con el conocimiento actual porque habría puntos de comparación negativos. El libro te atrapa al momento, lo leí en dos días porque no pude dejarlo a un lado, lo menor de todo es el final!!!
July 11, 2016
Típico relato de la guerra fría. Estados Unidos es bueno y poderoso, los soviéticos son malos, débiles y merecedores de todos los castigos. Tema inverosímil y pobremente tratado. Diálogos poco realistas. Le doy dos estrellas porque sí me mantuvo leyendo.
January 3, 2009
novel terjemahan, judul indonesia "Isteri Palsu Sang Presiden"
It's not my favorite novel, but it has something that I want to it more and more. I read more than twice
It's not my favorite novel, but it has something that I want to it more and more. I read more than twice
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