As with her previous books, this one is also inspired from the author's travel to China. Dorothy Gilman loves to travel and her stories are often a product of her latest escapades. This book was born after her journey to the mainland.
Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station
Mrs. Pollifax, after her astonishing success from her previous assignments with the CIA, she has become one of Carstairs most cherished assets. She is now the Agency's go-to person for jobs that require a great deal of resourcefulness and to allay suspicion that the agency is involved. This next mission is to get in touch with a contact in Xian, China to get information on a labor camp. Once Mrs. Pollifax got the information, another agent will approach her and pull out Mr. X from the labor camp. Mr. X is an engineer who helped build China's defenses near the borders of Russia. They need to get Mr. X out of the mainland before Russia will get to him.
Mrs. Pollifax is to join a tour to China with other unsuspecting American tourists. If anything goes wrong, she will have to make sure that the group are taken out of China as soon as possible. The challenge now would be to convince the contact to give her the information she needs and not report her to the Sepos (police). The success of the whole operation depends on her, if she is unsuccessful, the other agent will never be able to rescue Mr. X.
Another display of Mrs. Pollifax amazing powers of persuasion and her ability to see through a person's character. She again surprised me. She will always be my greatest super heroine. No one can match her. Dorothy Gilman is undoubtedly my number 1 favorite author in the whole universe. Her stories are written without much need for highfalutin words and emotional lines but nevertheless captivating and absorbing.
This book makes me want to go to China and walk the famous Silk Road. To see for myself the life size terracotta warriors of China's first Emperor.
This post has reminded me of the joy I had when in the company of Mrs. Pollifax. I think I am now a believer of the saying that stories are more enthralling the second time you read them. This surely applies to Mrs. Pollifax and Dorothy Gilman. I often do not read books again in fear of not feeling the same enjoyment I had when I first read them, but not with Mrs. Pollifax. I am convinced, I need to read the rest of my Mrs. Pollifax and Dorothy Gilman collection again. I need them to feel good again, to feel alive. I haven't been feeling myself lately, actually for quite a while.
Again, so long Dorothy Gilman and thank you for giving us Mrs. Pollifax. I will keep her immortal, even just for my benefit. I think, I still have a lot to learn from her. May I grow old to be a Mrs. Pollifax, not a CIA spy, but someone who never stops learning and dreaming. One who finds friends in unlikely places and who never fails to disprove what others think I cannot do.
Long live Mrs. Pollifax!
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1/3)
Mrs. Pollifax on Safari (2/3)
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