About book The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel (2005)
I was lucky to have found a copy of The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel, by Kate Westbrook, as it s not even published in the States. I was able to find a fairly inexpensive, used copy on Amazon. But it was obviously published in England. I only found out about it, because I was researching the James Bond novels on Wikipedia. It sounded interesting, so I hunted down a copy.[return][return]This was written mainly as journal entries from Jane Moneypenny, the secretary to M at MI6, and colleague of James Bond. In the book, her niece, Kate Westbrook (the supposed author of the book), has been sent Moneypenny s journals many years after her death. Kate learns by reading the journals that her aunt actually worked for the Secret Service. She then tries to find out if the journals are real, and in doing so, proves that Ian Fleming s Bond novels were based on fact as well. [return][return]This was a clever idea, written from both Kate s and Moneypenny s points of view to make this work of fiction appear as non-fiction. There was even an overload of history tied in to the stories to make it appear genuine. My only complaints are the long history lessons throughout the book, mainly on the Cuban Missile Crisis, as this set of journal entries were from 1962. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.[return][return]Besides the cleverly written story, it was incredibly fun to read stories from Moneypenny s point of view. She was written as a deep and complex character. The men in her life are mysterious, and she gets thrown into dangerous situations. And best of all, Moneypenny gets to go on a couple exciting adventures with 007. [return][return]This is the first in a supposed trilogy. Wikipedia states this about The Moneypenny Diaries:[return][return]The Moneypenny Diaries is a planned trilogy of novels chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny, M s personal secretary. The novels are penned by Samantha Weinberg under the pseudonym Kate Westbrook, who is depicted as the book s editor . The first instalment of the trilogy, subtitled Guardian Angel, was released on October 10, 2005 in the UK. A second volume, subtitled Secret Servant is scheduled for publication on November 2, 2006 in the UK.[return][return]Weinberg is the first woman to write officially licenced Bond-related literature&
This is a very clever reimagining of the literary Bond's universe. The book is essentially Jane Moneypenny's diary from the year 1962, heavily footnoted by her niece who was willed her aunt's diaries after her death. As Bond fans know, Moneypenny was the faithful assistant to M, the head of MI-6. She was also the target of regular flirtatious advances by James Bond, although both knew that nothing would ever come of his romantic suggestions and that they were actually good friends.The conceit of the book is that all these characters were real people and only Bond's name was actually changed in Ian Fleming's fictional books. If you can swallow that premise, the rest is pure fun for anyone who is familiar with the Fleming novels. The story begins right after the end of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and follows through the events of "You Only Live Twice." In between, we are treated to a view into Moneypenny's private life, her personal back story, and the intrigue that surrounded her work at MI-6. With the Cuban Missile Crisis on the horizon, Moneypenny leaves her desk and typewriter to go on a harrowing mission to save Bond and help uncover information about the Soviet's true intentions in Cuba.The book is a wonderful blend of historical fact and Bond lore which not only fills in the gaps between two of Fleming's pivotal novels, but gives us an intriguing peek into the life of one of Bond's most underappreciated characters.
Do You like book The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel (2005)?
This was definitely an interesting read. I spent most of the book actually beginning to doubt whether it (and the entire James Bond collection) was fiction or not. It is backed up so well by what I assume are accurate historical footnotes. And that, I guess, makes it a pretty good book actually. It's occasionally a little tricky to get into (since you keep jumping out of the storyline to read the plethora of footnotes) but it's a decent read. Not quite as fast paced as we're used to from James Bond, but he's really just a side-story here.
—Phillipa
This is a book I picked up in Japan airport while on holidays. It is a delightful spin off from the James Bond 007 series. On the back blurb simple one line hooks, ‘Thrilling’ Joanna Lumley, and ‘A damned good read’ Roger Moore. I took the bait and bought the tale and I’m glad to say it was worth it.Ten years after her Aunt Jane’s death Kate, a Trinity College, Cambridge Lecturer receives her legacy from her Aunt in forty leather bound diaries. They had arrived in three packages wrapped in brown paper and string and sealed with red sealing wax. These, her Aunt’s accompanying letter explained, she had kept in secrecy in a false wall between bedroom and bathroom. If they had been discovered by our side she would have lost her job and if by anyone else much worse.Very convincingly the reader is drawn into Kate’s discovery of her Aunt Jane’s life of subterfuge and much more about the woman she thought she knew well. Yes Aunt Jane was working for the British Government in a clerical position. She had signed her life to secrecy about every aspect of the role as she was privy to some highly classified information. And yes, she was in fact Miss Moneypenny who was portrayed in Ian Flemings James Bond 007 series.We are only given a glimpse of the journals in a one year extract 1962 when the world was brought to the brink of war during the Cuban missile crisis. The events in the diary intertwine with the Ian Fleming versions of facts and Jane Vivien Moneypenny did indeed have some effect on the historic events through her efforts to save James Bond when he was at his lowest ebb and captured in Cuba. She went there herself to assist in the rescue in a foolhardy and dangerous act that paid off and brought information that could change the course of history.I found myself enjoying the journey of discovery with Kate of her Aunt and her frailties and strengths. If you want to loose yourself in the world of spies and intrigue you won’t fail to enjoy taking this book and enjoying the ride.
—Jill Smith
It's hard to imagine a James Bond book ending up dry and with footnotes, but that's pretty much what happens here. The setup is that after her aunt's death, Jane Moneypenny's niece gets a package which contains Moneypenny's secret diaries. She's shocked to find that Ian Fleming's James Bond novels are entirely true and that her aunt is the Moneypenny, and the conceit is that this book is Moneypenny's diary of the Cuban Missile Crisis - with annotations and copious footnotes from her niece about the Bay of Pigs, the Gary Powers incident, and Raul Castro.If you're picking up on some essential tension here, you're not the only one. When most people think of James Bond stories, they think of car chases, explosions, and credulity strained to the breaking point, not scholarly analyses of the cold war. It's strange to be reading detailed footnoes on one page and then reading about James Bond running around in a mini-sub and deploying Q's devices. I can't believe I'm saying this, but as pleasure reading, this was way too much work.
—Kit
