The Moneypenny diaries

Format:

Book

Title:

The Moneypenny diaries

Author:

Westbrook, Kate, 1966-

ISBN:

9780312383183

Edition:

1st U.S. ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2008.

Physical Description:

272 pages ; 21 cm

General Note:

"First published in Great Britain by John Murray (Publishers), a division of Hodder Headline"--Title page verso.

Summary:

Miss Jane Moneypenny, personal secretary to Secret Service chief M and colleague and confidante of James Bond, breaks the first rule of espionage. Unbeknownst to anyone, she keeps a diary charting her innermost thoughts and state secrets, including her efforts to find her father who inexplicably disappeared in action during World War II.

Personal Subject:

Bond, James (Fictitious character)-Fiction.

Bond, James (Fictitious character)

Corporate Subject:

Great Britain. MI6 -- Fiction.

Soviet Union. Komitet gosudarstvennoĭ bezopasnosti -- Fiction.

Great Britain. MI6

Soviet Union. Komitet gosudarstvennoĭ bezopasnosti

Subject(s):

Great Britain. MI6 -- Fiction.

Soviet Union. Komitet gosudarstvennoĭ bezopasnosti -- Fiction.

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Independence Public Library	FICTION - WESTBROOK	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

"My heart breaks for James-"--so begin the explosive, true, private diaries of Miss Jane Moneypenny, personal secretary to Secret Service chief M and colleague and confidante of James Bond. Bound by the Offcial Secrets Act not to reveal anything about her work, Miss Moneypenny is forced to lead a secretive, clandestine life. But, contrary to popular belief, she was not simply a bystander while James Bond saw all the action.
Miss Moneypenny's experience with mystery stretches all the way back to her childhood in Africa, when her father inexplicably disappeared in action during World War II. Now, as a young woman in 1960s London, Miss Moneypenny unknowingly stumbles upon her father's trail. In a position like hers, there's no file she can't access, and no document she can't read. Yet Miss Moneypenny is forced to decide whether it's worth risking everything---her job, her safety, and even international security---for the possibility of finding her father alive.
A life of espionage has personal as well as political ramifications. For Jane Moneypenny, the price is high. Romantic relationships with outsiders are necessarily built on lies, and she automatically questions the motives of every man she grows close to. For as her diary quickly reveals, Miss Moneypenny is involved in far more than office politics.
Guarding so many secrets and with no one to confide in, she finds herself breaking the first rule of espionage. Unbeknownst to anyone, she keeps a diary charting her innermost thoughts and state secrets.
These diaries should not have been written. They were never supposed to be read. . . .
Praise for "The Moneypenny Diaries"
"Beats pretend-Flemings hands down."
-"Literary Review" (UK)
"Brilliant..."Bridget Jones' Diary" crossed with "Spooks," but set in the 60s."
-"The Mirror" (UK)
"There is more to Moneypenny than meets the GoldenEye, as she embarks on her very own secret mission...Read her riveting account in this explosive, page-turning diary."
-"OK Magazine" (UK)
"Thrilling"
--Joanna Lumley
"A thoroughly enjoyable romp"
--"The Guardian "(UK)
"A damned good read"
--Roger Moore
"A compelling tour de force"
--Jeffrey Deaver

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Hardcore Ian Fleming fans and Cold War historians will best appreciate the initial installment of Miss Moneypenny's diaries, "edited" by Kate Westbrook (the pseudonym of British author Samantha Weinberg), the niece of the iconic James Bond supporting character, who was introduced in the first Bond book, Casino Royale. Covering the year 1962, the diary entries center on personal issues important to "Jane Vivien" (for the first time readers learn Moneypenny's full name), like her search for information about her father's mysterious disappearance in 1940. The Cuban missile crisis eventually looms large in a narrative slowed by copious footnotes. James Bond, still in mourning for his bride, Tracy, who died in a tragic car accident, acts surprisingly wimpy, except during a Cuban adventure when some much needed heat between Moneypenny and 007 is briefly generated. Two more volumes, hopefully more thrilling, will follow from the woman many revere as the first Bond girl. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* There are so many things to love about this book, it's difficult to know where to start. It's a dead-on simulacrum of a published diary, complete with copious footnotes and editorial commentary. The diarist, Jane Moneypenny, the Miss Moneypenny of the James Bond stories, is one of spy fiction's most interesting and underexplored supporting characters. The period covered by the book, the year 1962, is an important one in the life of Mr. Bond (it's the year he marries and soon thereafter becomes a widower). And the book provides fans of Ian Fleming's most famous creation with a fresh and insightful new angle on the life and career of 007 not to mention a glimpse into the life of Miss Moneypenny herself, who emerges as a charming woman with her own secret adventures. This is the first of a series of Moneypenny Diaries, some of which have already been published in the UK, where the series initially prompted speculation that the diaries were real and that Miss Moneypenny and Bond himself actually existed. The book's so-called editor, Kate Westbrook, eventually admitted that the diaries were a spoof and that she was the author (Westbrook is a pseudonym for Samantha Weinberg). Even without controversy over their provenance, Miss Moneypenny's diaries will delight American readers who still enjoy the mix of fantasy, adventure, and comedy that made the Bond books such fun.--Pitt, David Copyright 2008 Booklist