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Unveiling the layers of Mata Hari
A novel gives a poetic look at the mysterious, doomed beauty.
By Tammar Stein, Special to the Times
Published December 30, 2007
Mata Hari, that infamous World War I spy and femme fatale, has been reinvented in Yannick Murphy's haunting new novel, Signed, Mata Hari. Sticking closely to the known facts of Mata Hari's life, Murphy (Here They Come, The Sea of Trees) fills in the missing pieces, adding a sober twist to the salacious, sensual life of this dancer, courtesan and purported double agent. In Murphy's world, Mata Hari, innocent of spying for the Germans, has been struggling all her life against the indignities she continually suffers. More victim than siren, she has one gift, one asset, which hurts her more often than it helps: She is beautiful, she is sensual, she drives men wild with lust. But more often than not, she pays the price for others' desires. At times closer to poetry than prose, the book's short chapters, some only a paragraph long, paint small scenes, a moment, a feeling, each of which lingers on in the chapters that follow it. These short chapters act like gauzy layers slipping and sliding among first, second and third person, working the same way an exotic dancer uses veils: to reveal, to entice, to deceive. Mata Hari shifts smoothly from haggard prisoner, skilled lover, middle-aged dancer to young wife and mother, and betrayed innocent. Thinking only of reuniting with her daughter, Mata Hari makes a series of unfortunate decisions. With a plot filtered through the dreamlike lens with which her main character views the world, Murphy's lyrical novel is a train headed to an inevitable ending. But, reminding the reader of the adage that urges us to enjoy the journey, not the destination, her novel is lush and lovely and well worth the ride. Tammar Stein is the author of "Light Years," recently named a Virginia Readers' Choice book. Signed, Mata Hari By Yannick Murphy Little, Brown, 278 pages, $23.99
[Last modified December 26, 2007, 16:58:07]
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