Mata Hari thought spying was just another game she could play

I am a great fan of Paulo Coelho and have read 5 of his novels, but I must add that this one, ‘The Spy’ fell short of my expectations.

Please don’t mistake me, the writing stands out like any other classic Paulo Coelho. What I liked most was the depth of research that has gone into recreating the life of Mata Hari. Though Mr. Coelho has classified it as a novel, it also qualifies as historical nonfiction. Possibly because of the imaginary dialogues and scenes he has evoked, he wishes to categorize this book as fiction. But intense research is visible in reference to actual people and events of World War I period.

Well known contemporaries of Mata Hari [1876- 1917] (like Pablo Picasso, Freud, Oscar Wilde) have appeared in scenes or in dialogues in the story. I googled the other characters of whom I no idea, and found them to be real men of that period who engaged with Mata Hari. These real characters are Adolphe Messimy, Gabriel Astruc, Fernande, Caruso, Rubinstein, Helen Brion, Georges Ladoux and a few others.

Then there were references to historic events during her life time (WW I, Russo Japanese War, invention of the telephone, and the construction of the Eiffel Tower (which the then intelligentsia didn’t approve of and wanted it taken down). A glaring omission of an historic event, I think, is the Russian Revolution of 1917, the exact time of Mata Hari’s execution. Maybe the October Revolution does not find a mention because it did not impact her life, but she was in love with a Russian soldier at that time. This Russian soldier was the only man she cared for, for reasons other than exacting money. All other men of high position were her exploits.

The book is replete with philosophic or learned one-liners as is characteristic of good Paulo Coelho books. The book has 3 parts. The first two parts deal with buildup of Mata Hari from an obscure but pretty small town girl to an international seductress. I enjoyed these two parts – pitied her earlier life when men exploited her vulnerability and I went with her later exploitation of men in position when nearly all of Europe desired her and despised her. She was too enigmatic to be ignored by anyone – man or woman. I certainly sympathized with her, even liked her exploits, until the end of part 2.

Part 3 came as a letdown for me. This part is 35 pages long, where the author justifies that she was victimized though (according to the selling hook of this book) ‘HER ONLY CRIME WAS TO BE AN INDEPENDENT WOMAN’. Are we to believe that independent women should be free to lie to everyone and lie with anyone they please, for securing lavish lifestyle?

A fact mentioned but overlooked in this book is that Mata Hari accepted a payment of 20,000 francs from the Germans for spying for them under the code name agent H21 and entered Paris with German help. This is a fact narrated by the character herself. Whether she actually passed any secret to the Germans or not is no longer relevant in the eyes of law. For a similar crime during war, any person, whether man or woman, would be executed.

This last part is entirely a letter written by her lawyer to Mata Hari, after she has been condemned to the firing squad. He also knows the letter will never reach her; he is only writing it to clear his conscience. It is only the words of the lawyer, using which the author wants to convey that she was innocent. But if I had written such an ending my publisher would have said, ‘The ending is unconvincing, too much telling, no showing there, bring in court scenes to justify that she is innocent.’

My opinions aside, Mata Hari’s character has drawn pity as well as ire down the generations and she has been the subject of many books, particularly, ‘Femme Fatale: Love, Lies and the Unknown Life of Mata Hari’.