I only knew of Marita from the failed assassination attempt on Castro. This autobiography provides a lot of background. She begins the book with her childhood in Germany during WW II where her mother may or may not have been a spy. Her father is cruise ship Captain and she meets Castro during a port of call in Cuba. Soon after she begins an affair with him. She is then recruited by CIA to assassinate him. After failing she continues to work for the CIA. She also has an affair with another dictator with whom she has daughter. She also becomes involved with the NY Mafia and works as a police informant. Through it all she seems to drift along going from one powerful man to another. She certainly has lead an interesting life. The book is well written and easy to read. Photographs are also included. Enjoy

I love reading memoirs. I love being lost in the true experiences of others. When I first heard about this book written by the woman who spied on Castro, I was enthralled and more than anything curious about her resolve and what Fidel was like as a person. After attempting to read this book I am at a loss. I learned of Marita’s life and her affair with Castro and yet never became invested. I’m not a fan of Lorenz’s writing which made the memoir feel poorly put together and struggled throughout. I couldn’t get past the bad writing and poor storytelling. Would I be interested in seeing her story play out on screen? Sure but I did find reading this memoir to be an enjoyable experience. The assistance of an established author that could her Lorenz with details that could really bring her story to life would help this memoir tremendously.

A little bit of history? True life scandal? Spy story featuring well-known people? CIA? A party girl with Mafia ties? This is too much! But count me in for the advanced copy of Marita: The Spy Who Loved Castro. I love a good espionage memoir.

Ilona Marita Lorenz was born in Germany just days before WWII started. It could have been an indication of her rough life to come. She was incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp as a child. Her father was often on the sea. When Marita got older, she was allowed to join him. It was on one of those voyages that she met and fell in love with thee Fidel Castro at first sight. Fast forward and she fled to the United States, where she was recruited to help assassinate Castro and later testified about JFK's assassination.

"Unreliable witness." ~ pg. 4

Have you ever got the sense that the narrator isn't the most credible? Or that there are mayjah parts of the story that are unsaid? Hmmm, I am not sure if I believe everything Marita "reveals" in this book. At best, I understand there are two sides to every story and hers needs more people for me to believe it all. Too many side-eyes, holes, and outlandish memories.

On the other hand, I was gripped from the first lines. Marita has a way of weaving a tale that will grab readers from the beginning. My jaw permanently dropped by end of chapter two. Whether it was embellished truth or not is not my call. But a page-turner this is!

Happy Early Pub Day! Marita will be available Tuesday, September 5, 2017.

LiteraryMarie

I would have loved to read this book, but no matter what avenue I tried, I couldn't seem to get this book to download in a manner where I could read it. I did realize that it wasn't a kindle copy and I would have to use Adobe Digital Reader in order to read it. I have read books like that before. However this book would just never show up in my digital library for some reason. I am neither giving a good or bad review on my normal posting sites.