Historical fiction at its best. A character I had heard about becomes a lot more intriguing in this excellent story

A spectacular novel on real life Alice Marble, #1 in the world in tennis in 1939, spy for the Allies during WWII, and later. an editor of the Wonder Woman comics. Incredibly written and so compelling that I felt I was on the tennis courts with her during her heyday, and in Europe spying during the terrifying war years. A remarkable woman, beautifully captured by author Jenni L. Walsh, whose books I adore. Highly recommended!

Traditional format 📕 (digital). I have read a few of Jenni Walsh’s young reader books so when I saw this Historical fiction book (which I think is intended for adults) I knew I wanted to request the ARC. Also If you have read any of my other reviews you will know I am an avid tennis fan and player so anything with tennis is top of my reading list. Combine it with my favourite genre of Historical Fiction and I was excited to give this a read.

The book is based on true life story of American tennis player Alice Marble. I was not familiar with her story but there were several other tennis players mentioned from her era that I was familiar with.

What I liked:
🎾Tennis content was accurate and well done. There is a lot of tennis talk in this book but it was written in a way for the average person to follow.
🎾 I know this is based on true fact but I loved the combination of tennis and WWII historical fiction. The spy aspect was my favourite.
🎾I liked the different ways the story was told with telegrams and news stories mixed into the book (note these didn’t translate well to Kindle format though)

Areas for improvement:
🎾 I wanted more of the spy aspect of the book. It seemed like a bit of an afterthought and seemed a little rushed to me.
🎾I didn’t feel a connection to the main character even though there were a lot of emotional moments. Something was lacking in pulling me into the character.
🎾 I would have liked a little less tennis tournament content and more of the focus on WWII.

Overall I did enjoy this book. I think with a few tweaks it could have been a five star read but it did fall a little flat. I would recommend this book to people who like historical fiction but also are tennis fans as the tennis content is a main focus. I am going to give this a 4/5 tennis balls.

Thank you HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

In ACE, MARVEL, SPY, JENNI L WALSH tells the life story of Alice Marble, a young girl from humble beginnings who became one of the best tennis players there has ever been. With the support of her brother Dan who gave her her first tennis racquet, her mother who let her go to follow her dream and her coach “Teach” Tennant, she took the tennis world by storm, even making a comeback after a period of ill health. She felt that the only way to repay them was by being the best at tennis. Her eidetic memory not only helped her in her tennis game but also in the undercover work she did for the government during the war.
She was fascinated with film stars and knew many of them, Carole Lombard being a good friend and supporter. She joined “Teach” in coaching many of the rich and famous.
There is a lot more to her story, but I do not want to give too much away.
I highly recommend this interesting and inspirational read.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Harper Muse. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

Historical fiction is supposed to make a reader want to know about the history. I wanted to l ow everything about Alice Marble after reading about her life and her rise to glory. This was heartbreaking, refreshing, well researched. I could have read more!

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, the story, the writing style. Pick this one up on publication day. You’ll be sorry if you skip it.