This book had rather poor reviews on Amazon.in site, that was a good reason for me to pick this book :) and I was not disappointed - great read. Cant help but sympathise with Mata. This book is replete with quoteworthy sentences.

- But that means living the rest of my life split in two : as a woman who could be anything and one who was never anything, one who wouldn't have even a single story to tell her children and grandchildren.

-I always sought freedom. I didn't seek love, though it has come and gone.

- I realized that I had always been a warrior, facing my battles without any bitterness; they were part of life.

Those three quotes sum up, Mata. I should rather say they sum up the book . This book lacks all that confusing Coelho rant. Straight and simple but strikes a chord with the reader. ( )

Fluid, easy to read writing. I'm afraid I didn't find Mata Hari's story particularly enriching, but I'm happy to understand her history much better than I had. ( )

This book has such an intriguing premise: a fictionalized story of Mata Hari, told primarily from her own point of view. It's such a sad story at its heart; I really sympathized with her. I found the book mildly entertaining overall -- and it was a quick read -- but what I really liked about it is that it intrigued me enough that I now want to go read the author's recommended non-fiction books about Mata Hari. ( )

Well, I will say this with certainty: the cover photo of Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle) aka Mata Hari is absolutely stunning.

"Her only crime was to be an independent woman." Yeah, I didn't get that.

This was a short, fast read; a story told by Coelho the way he wanted it to be told. I believe that he tried to be faithful to the information available, but to me it still comes off as revisionist history. I don't know what to make of it as what clearly comes across is that Mata Hari's life was a fiction so it seems like there is no way to ever know the absolute truth. Any retelling can be presented in any way any author wants.

There is no escaping the fact that Mata Hari told lies and embellished her life at every turn, Coelho reiterates that time and again. In fact the last part of the book, the words written by her lawyer seem to sum everything up, and that is that she dug her own grave. It was her lifelong sense of entitlement that no matter what she ever did, nothing bad could ever happen to her. She was born into privilege and never let go. No man had ever said "no" to her so she was supremely confident the French President would pardon her because she was, after all, Mata Hari. It is as simple as that.

Mata Hari was a manipulator of men starting at an early age, at least beginning in her teenage years. She tells of being raped as soon as she was sent off to boarding school, but there is no way to know if that was true or not. That is questionable because her whole life she sees herself as a victim, and never misses an opportunity at self-pity. Truth or fiction, she always had an excuse at hand, and was quick to justify any and all of her actions.

Being a citizen of a neutral country - The Netherlands - she had every chance to stay out of harm's way. But her misfortune was that WWI got in the way of her fabulous life. Not satisfied to be normal and boring and, well, maybe actually getting a job and doing something, she agrees to spy for Germany for profit and agrees to spy for France for profit and, well, maybe agreed to spy for other countries for profit as well. All of which fed her self-importance.

Again, Mata Hari spent her life using everyone around her; everyone craved her attentions; particularly men, and mostly men with great wealth. She was hardly the first to manipulate men for fame, wealth, and profit, but she may have been one of the very best. I don't see her being a gold digger in the classical sense, but more as a means to maintain her position as the center of attention (versus needing the security of money). Nowadays we might call her an "attention whore," someone forever seeking approval from all of those around her. She needed to be the most liked, the most beautiful, and so on. She used her body and womanly charms to ensure that every man on the planet fell in love with her, that no man could ever resist her. Had she lived in the 21st century, at very least she would be an Instagram model and TikTok "star," however, more likely she would have millions of OnlyFans and raking in making millions.

That's what I got out of the letters. I have not read the originals nor do I intend to. It seems like most authors now consider her innocent of being a spy, but that still appears to be an ambiguous assumption and no one will ever know. A firing squad does sound extreme although common for the times. (Okay, very extreme since these days it would seem that treason can put you in high office.)

I also didn't get anything about Mata Hari being a strong or independent woman; another seemingly illogical assumption. She spent her life dependent upon the riches and help of others. Not that being wholly independent of men cannot mean a woman cannot be strong and independent, but in Mata Hari’s case that would seem to be the case. I would say a maid or washer-woman, some female who raises children and a family, basically anyone that ever had to work as a strong (and most likely independent) woman before I jumped to the conclusion that a woman born into wealth and relied on the riches of others was the person deserving such a title. At the end of the day, what comes across is that Mata Hari was someone that always took the easy way out. And then one day her luck ran out. ( )

mata hari rebels against the accepted role of women in her time