IN his latest novel, The Spy, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, most well known for his 1988 novel, The Alchemist, turns to the iconic figure of Mata Hari for inspiration. Coelho’s choice of narrative is 11th hour confessions in the form of letters penned by Margaretha Zelle (Mata Hari’s real name), a structural style that works well.

From the letters we learn that Zelle had a relatively comfortable upbringing in Holland, but faced tragedy and abuse later in life. She was raped at 16 by her school principal, and married a Dutch officer, Rudolf, partially because of the promise of adventure: “Army captain. Voyages to far-away places. Indonesia. What more could a young woman want from life?”

Unfortunately for Zelle, it turns out a woman could want more in life. In Indonesia, her dreams are shattered: she says she is “in paradise living [her] own personal hell”. Rudolf beats and rapes her and keeps concubines, her baby son is murdered by the nanny, and she finds herself confined at home, her only comfort being her daughter.

####A very brief exploration of the life of the Dutch courtesan Mata Hari

What finally spurs Zelle to escape her domestic misery and end up in Paris is the suicide of the wife of her husband’s fellow officer, Andreas. As she sums it up: “I had been baptised with the blood of Andreas’s wife and, through that rite, I was freed forever, though neither of us knew how far this freedom would reach.”

We follow Zelle as she becomes the famed ‘exotic’ dancer and courtesan Mata Hari, acts as an ineffectual double agent for France and Germany, and finds herself in the midst of the French government’s sham trial for treason that spells her end.

Most readers will be familiar with Mata Hari’s story: it has been told and retold in popular culture, books, and films — most notably Mata Hari starring Greta Garbo. The Hollywood film is credited with promoting the legend of the Dutch courtesan as an intelligent femme fatale. The Spy, however, depicts her as reluctant and ineffectual, used as a scapegoat by the French authorities to distract the public from the government’s war failures (historical research after Mata Hari’s death shows that the latter narrative is more likely).

The Spy is an interesting and quick read and fans of Coelho will enjoy it. However, readers expecting a grand biopic or thriller should look elsewhere. In this slim volume, the controversial figure of Mata Hari is given sympathetic, but superficial, treatment. Little space is dedicated to exploring what made the renowned courtesan tick, or what her ambitions and fears were. We learn, for instance, about the Dutch dancer’s trouble regarding her wardrobe as Europe is plunged into WWII: “[…] my clothes never made it to Holland and, even if they arrived now, they would no longer be welcome. The magazines showed that the fashion had changed, so my ‘benefactor’ had bought me all new things. Not of Parisian quality, of course, but at least the seams didn’t rip at the first movement."

While an entire chapter is devoted to the contents of the protagonist’s trunks, relevant questions are left unanswered. What is Zelle’s daughter’s name? Why does she choose to call herself Mata Hari (which literally means ‘eye of the day’ in Indonesian)? Where does she meet her Russian lover? Perhaps, instead of including dull letters from Zelle’s trial lawyer in the last few chapters, the author could have spent some more time filling in these gaps.

The book’s blurb states Mata Hari’s “only crime was to be an independent woman”, but in painting her as a clueless woman who stumbled her way through history, and who seems financially dependent on “benefactors”, the bigger crime has been committed by Coelho.

The Spy follows the style of self-help fiction that the author is famous for: epithets such as “Only love can give meaning to something that, on its own, has none at all” and “When we don’t know where life is taking us, we are never lost” pepper the novel. If you enjoy such books, then you might enjoy The Spy, but if you want to learn more about one of history’s most intriguing personalities, prepare to do your own research.

The reviewer is a Dawn member of staff.

The Spy
(NOVEL)
By Paulo Coelho
Knopf, US
ISBN: 978-1524732066
208pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, January 22nd, 2017