The Key To Rebecca by Ken Follett a book review by Endre Barath,Jr. a Beverly Hills Realtor

Well, I finally dusted off another great book from my home library, The Key To Rebecca by Ken Follett. I so enjoy picking up and reading a hardcover book that has been collecting dust on my bookshelves simply because of lack of time. Reading has always been a passion of mine, and I’m happy to back reading in earnest.

Author Ken Follett

The Key to Rebecca is an historical fiction spy thriller centering around World War II. It was published in 1980, and I am the proud owner of a first edition autographed book; I still remember how thrilled I was to attend an in-person author reading, discussion and signing with Ken Follett in downtown Los Angeles when he was promoting The Hammer of Eden and how gracious he was to sign all of my books that I touted to the event.

Another First Edition authographed book

The Key to Rebecca is yet another a page turner where you feel as if you are a participant in the drama and not only a reader. I was transported to Cairo in my mind as the German spy is sending critical information via secret code to the Erwin Rommell’s German Army (aka the Nazis) about the British Forces. I’ve always been intrigued how German spies and British Intelligence sent coded messages during World War II. In this particular story, it was done via a book called ‘Rebecca’, a much loved classic novel by none other than the late great Daphne du Maurier. Having been a realtor for many years and the stress of needing to conduct business and timely communications well before cell phones existed brought back some fond (or not so fond) memories for me. I am forever grateful for the improvements over beepers, pagers, and suit case phones, which ultimately led us to today’s smart phones. Hence my fascination with the challenges that spies had to contend with to get their messages across enemy lines.

Ken Follett’s hard cover book

Of course, Ken Follet is also a master at writing historical details. As with his spy, Alex Wolff, there was a real-life spy at the time who also grew up in Egypt thus having mixed German and Arab cultural upbringing just like Ken Follet’s spy. The similarities were amazing. The young Anwar Sadat also played an important role in the novel’s plot. According to Wikipedia, Sadat even mentions this arrest of the actual spy (not Wolff) in his own autobiography. And Sadat’s arrest by the British is largely derived from Sadat’s own autobiography (check it out). Finally, the motor cycle chase scenes in Cairo will take your breath away, at least they did mine.
All of this inspired me to check see if there was a movie made. Well, it turns out that there was a TV movie in 1985 starring Cliff Robertson. I am now on a quest to find the movie and watch it. The only downside to that is it would take me away from reading another one Ken Follett’s great books.

Endre Barath. Beverly Hills Realtor

If you are looking for a pet friendly Beverly Hills Realtor who can handle the most challenging properties that no one else could, please reach out to me directly. If you are considering buying or selling a home, a luxury home, luxury investment real estate, luxury vacation homes, or luxury beach properties or vacant land in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu reach out to me at 310.486.1002 (m) or homes@endrebarath.com or visit my website at https://www.endrebarath.com.