The Second Lady by Irving Wallace

The story begins with the introduction of the First Lady Billie Bradford. She’s ever the glamorous and enchanting lady Americans have ever seen. Or so they think.  They aren’t aware of the exact double of their beloved First Lady who is nothing but a Russian spy put into the American embassy to know their state secrets. The Russians have replicated the first lady down to the exact detail to such an extent that even they themselves aren’t able to tell the difference between the two when the time comes. The scam, the treachery that has been committed is too fantastic for anyone to believe let alone imagine. And that’s the weapon they have.

The plot of the novel revolves around two Ladies; Billie Bradford the original first lady who has been kept as a prisoner in the Russian Embassy and Vera Vavilova the Second Lady who is the Russian spy in America impersonating as wife of the president.

Billie Bradford tries every way possible to escape. She lies and pretends to be in love with a Russian. The want for freedom and the will to save her country is so enormous that she sacrifices her honor and commits a sacrilege unknown in the American history. Billie Bradford is the prefect martyr in the novel.

Vera Vavilova in an actress taken into the task because of the uncanny resemblance she bears to American First Lady Billie Bradford. She is fully trained and knows each and everything about the president’s wife right down to what kind of books she reads and brands she likes to which side of the bed she sleeps in. She’s the perfect decoy which no one could ever doubt.

Only a newspaper Journalist Guy Parker suspects that something is fishy with the first lady after her visit from the Russia. He presents his doubt to Nora Judson who’s the press secretary of the first lady but she just shrugs off his suspicions.

The novel is a roller coaster joinery in which there are no secrets which the reader doesn’t know all he doesn’t knows is that who in the end will survive… or rather survives.

The most captivating aspect of this novel is that even after you have finished the novel, three days after, you’ll find yourself wondering what the ending was all about. The mysterious note on which the novel ends will make you feel like you’ve been cheated and at the same time you are in awe of the amazing story teller Irving Wallace is. More gripping than the impersonation of the American First Lady are the wonders and the calculating moves of the Russians. This novel has everything an avid book reader can ask for. An immortal love story, Russian conspiracy, glamour, espionage, jail break. You name it you have. It a masquerade party with all the cocktails served on a silver platter. The plot of the story will win you over and the sheer intelligence and the cunningness with which the events have been executed. It’s a nail biting tale always keeping you on the edge of your couch and as the story gradually unfolds you will realize that a masterpiece has been created by the hands of a mortal.