The Spy That Didn't Love Me

The book is very funny in places - a prime example when I talk about lunatics. Interesting characters There’s a real sense of old Dublin in this book - ferrying buckets of water up and down “wonky” stairs, gas lamps, mouldy smells, the nuns enjoying a fag, fruit allotments, broken bits of chocolate from Cadbury, the scullery window, mass every Sunday, prams pushed by women, fish wrapped in newspapers, space exploration helped along by Con’s telescope, All very old school! The story has its heart wrenching moments too as when poor Francis dies, the baby of the family. The effect on Robert and the move back to England where the post boxes, phone booths and buses were all red as opposed to Ireland’s green. Hampshire was just around the corner. Reading all the stuff about schooling in England reads like Jennings or Bunter, without the cricket and Latin respectively. The prose is accompanied by photographs and some artwork done by Bob himself. The humour continues. The story sweeps into the 80’s - the miner’s strike, Russia, Margaret Thatcher, the Irish called her a “witch”, especially during the Hunger Strikes. Bobby Sands and all that carry-on. More characters appear - The little chat with Con at the airport - funny and sad at the same time. Off to Greece to pick oranges - hippy days. Snowstorms in Austria. Picking grapes in France..” . Israel. Mount Lebanon? The mathematics teacher aka “The Wizard.” Swimming with dolphins. Sandstorms in Egypt and karma. Music and favourite tracks. Spying for the United .It is for want of a better word a bit ‘wacky’. “I am not a famous person, but when someone writes their life stories, that is not necessary. Many entertaining and successful novels have been written by undistinguished people. I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 and spent just under a year in a Psychiatric hospital. I was detained for assessment and treatment. I was not free to go. If I ran away the police would bring me back. The psychiatrist said it could be beneficial to write how I feel. In some sort of diary. For one I could get it all off my chest. Secondly, they could make a proper Diagnosis and care plan. I asked, “where do you want me to start.”? The psychiatrist said, “At the beginning. At the beginning when it all started”. I agreed. They gave me medication, a pen and paper and sent me back to the ward. I did think, you may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try. So this is my diary, written from my bed on the ward. It is a true recording of history. In terms of what it was like in my early years, both in England and Ireland. My home life, school life, career, relationships even my taste and habits. How technology, political and culture reform affected the people and the environment I grew up in. Reliving the high’s and lows, I will endeavour to acquaint you with the people who I was fortunate, or not so fortunate to have met. My trail will take you on an international Hippie trail across Europe. Grape picking in France, Orange picking in Greece and then into Israel. This is where I volunteered to be a CIA agent. My mission was to put political pressure on the Israeli and prove it was breaking a worldwide trade embargo with the South African Government, With the ultimate aim to free Nelson Mandella. He was a South African political activist. His political believes focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid. This was a system of racial segregation that existed in his country. In 1961, a year after I was born, he was charged with high treason and sentenced to life in prison.” The book reminds me a little of Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, that hard kind of writing that talks about the old days and the spirit it took to survive. Scanlan has achieved this with his bold writing and funny and engaging style.