Summary:
This book is treated as though it were really a collection of Moneypenny's diaries. These entries were supposedly edited by Kate Westbrook, Moneypenny's niece, after she received them in "spy-like fashion" (sent from multiple locations, in chests with multiple keys) shortly after Moneypenny's death on Oct. 10th, 1990. The book has sections with Kate's comments, followed by what are supposedly actual journal entries from Moneypenny. These entries are even footnoted, as real documents would be.
These excerpts are from the year 1962, which would be Moneypenny's ninth year working for the SIS (aka MI6), and in the middle of the Cold War. Much of the plot deals with "Operation Mongoose", in which America is trying to destabilize Cuba, which is acting like a Soviet foothold in the West. Moneypenny writes her diaries as a release. She is sworn to never reveal anything she knows, yet has a hard time keeping everything bottled up.
Things become problematic when Richard Hamilton, Moneypenny's new boyfriend, begins to act suspicious and another man, David Zach, begins to pressure her to reveal what she knows about American actions in Cuba in exchange for information about her father, who went MIA on a mission during WWII. Moneypenny begins to do some of her own spying on R, and ultimately she tells Bill Tanner, M's Chief of Staff and her close friend, what is happening. Tanner tells her to play along in order to discover who exactly is trying to get the information.
Meanwhile, Bond has recently lost Tracy, his wife of only a few hours, and is getting worse by the day. Moneypenny is watching him deteriorate and has to cover for some of his mistakes. Ultimately, he gets captured while on a mission in Cuba. Moneypenny, after going with M to meet president Kennedy and discuss the matter, goes to Cuba to deliver a transceiver, and ultimately rescues Bond, who seemed resigned to death when she finds him. M is impressed with Moneypenny, and signs her up for training. She then goes on another mission to Cuba to help Bond get photographic evidence of missiles.
After returning to London, Moneypenny must still play along with Zach, ultimately ending up tied to her bed in her own flat. R, who turns out to not be involved in the operation to get information from Moneypenny, shows up and helps her. He is shot in the process. He survives, but Moneypenny learns that, while he wasn't working against her, is indeed a spy, and that she doesn't even know his real name. Needless to say, their relationship ends.
So, Moneypenny doesn't get information about her father from Zach, but does get a few leads from Cmdr. Derring-Jones, a fellow officer of Hugh Moneypenny. (This is another point where the diaries are made "real", as Ian Fleming was also part of this group.) It is safe to say the next two installments of The Moneypenny Diaries will feature more of Moneypenny's search for her father.
Grade: B- It is great to finally learn some things about the ever-present but rarely explored Moneypenny, but this book is a slow read. I think Ian Fleming Publications might have taken the whole "these are real diaries" thing a bit too far. A lot of the footnotes read like a history lesson. This book almost reads like a James Bond companion, filling in dates, names, and fates of many secondary Bond characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I enjoy Bond companions. Moneypenny's personality is too much like I expected it to be: a strong, independent woman who can be tough when necessary but has a heart of gold. I almost wish Moneypenny were more flawed. Her only weakness seems to be her need to write in her diaries.
Best Moment: I pick an interesting moment for this book: the revelation of Moneypenny's full name. I pick this moment because it represents the most interesting part of the book: that of the filling in of many gaps from the Fleming books. I especially liked learning the fates of some of the Bond girls and Rosa Klebb.
Quotable:
"Even the OO Agents could learn something from JFK about how to treat women." Moneypenny
