Random Things Tours: The Matchmaker by Paul Vidich

 

As protests are spreading all over East Germany, Anne Simpson´s piano tuner of a husband suddenly disappears. Apparently without a trace, unless the CIA is able to figure out his mission. Stefan may not be whom he pretented to be, and Anne is just a victim of a spy scam. Her relatively modest yet resourceful position, as a translator for the Joint Operations Refugee Committee in West Berlin turned her into a target. A target skilfully matchmaked by the faithful employees of the secretive plan created in this respect by the Stasi´s  spymaster Man without a Face, the mysterious Markus Wolf. 

Paul Vidich was actually inspired by the personality of Wolf when he wrote The Matchmaker. A Spy in Berlin taking place on the foreground of in the last days of the GDR. A similar structure aimed at sending Romeos to vulnerable women operated in the West part of Germany, with victims among secretaries and translators working for high officials, some of them used blindly, some of them acknowledging their allegiance to the communist Germany.

Anne of The Matchmaker discovers, with a little professional help, that his beloved husband was already married in the East, with a son. Stefan reappears only to disappear again, while Anne is trying to figure out the tentacles of the lies, way too many lies.

Based on historical facts and ambiance details, the book recreates those trouble times shortly before the fall of the Wall. Tracing a story of relatively unimportant people, it shows at what extent simple lives were affected by the Cold War occurrences. There are a couple of details that I´ve found a bit unlikely, especially the intelligence details and Anne´s relative carelessness but for a spy story coming from the East, there are many more details that actually make sense.

What impressed me beyond the setting details and the relatively unmatched operational information is the writing, which is clean, clear, with a particular strength to describe and suggest. It has a classical charm that you only find in classical spy stories. 

While played in a very special moment of the modern German history, The Matchmaker uses the context to create realistic literary fictions which both attracts and incite. This book is also a testimony that good writing is always timeless. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own