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The Vixen



The Vixen is a historic adult fiction novel by the bestselling author, Francine Prose. The story is set in 1950's New York, based on the trial and execution of the American couple, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were convicted for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union.

The story revolves around Simon, a Harvard graduate, hired by a New York publishing company as an intern under the recommendations of his Uncle. He is usually tasked to read and approve/reject new scripts and edit the approved ones. One day, he is tasked with a new script by his boss Warren. This story, called 'The Vixen' is supposed to be kept a secret from everyone. The Vixen is based on the execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, convicting Ethel as a seductress who slept with every Russian spy whilst endangering her country by leaking the information to the Soviet Union. The case of the Rosenberg's is a bit complicated and controversial since a lot of people believed that they were innocent and wrongly punished. Along with the issue of dealing with the story delicately, Simon also holds the secret that no one can know: His Mother knew Ethel as they grew up in the same neighborhood. If anyone knows about this, they can be in great trouble. Anyways Simon decides to take the job (not that he had any other option) and decided to meet the beautiful author of the book to make sure the story doesn't come out way more controversial than it already is. But what he doesn't know is the content of the book isn't the only problem he has. His belief in people will change drastically when he uncovers the truth behind the book, piece-by-piece.

The Vixen turned out to be a great read. I struggled initially in the first 20 pages, but it picked a perfect pace after that. I read the book so fast, that I don't think I did anything other than consuming it whole :P

The interesting thing about the story is that it revolves around actual people and actual events back in the 1950s. The cover image on the book is the actual Rosenberg couple, which made the book more realistic.


The other characters felt real too. The power-hungry men in the 1950s, degrading women (Hey.! No accusations here. Not all men are the same) felt so genuine for that time. Especially warren.! I hated him. But he does represent the masochistic men who sleep around with every woman half their age, while the out-of-shape wife (aargh.! don't even.!) is taking care of the boys at home. All they care about and all they crave is power, and that's what made Warren perfect for this role. Similar to warren's beliefs, Simon's uncle thinks that women are too emotional and weak, and they are ready to give up everything if you just make them fall in love with you. All the men (including Simon) objectified women. But that's the 1950 era and that's the realistic scenario for the time.

Simon was a complicated character. Though he would do things that he knew aren't right, he would accept his snobbiness, which made him not the worst person to read. Sometimes I got annoyed and sometimes I laughed at how easily he fell in love with all the women in his life. The guy is sleeping with one while thinking about the other one, and as soon as she disappears, he fell in love with the third one. You would get frustrated and call him a bit pervy (he did sexualize all of them) if it weren't for the fact that he instantly 'Loved' them.

The story was intriguing through and through. Although the story revolves around Rosenberg's, we get to see a lot of suspenseful elements on its own. The journey of uncovering the truth behind the manuscript of 'The Vixen' was an exciting one. the dilemma that Simon faced between his Mother's belief (and somewhere his own), that the Rosenbergs' didn't deserve the death they got and the fact that the future of the company depends on the publication and success of this one book was captivating. His constant attempt to desexualize the story of Ethel, so she isn't viewed as a culprit shows his moral compass is still aligned properly.

The thing I really admired is how the ending (well almost ending) was written. The story started with a family watching TV and having a discussion/argument about it, and it ended (again, almost) with the same scenario. It's a full circle.

It was a great historic fictional read with loads of suspense, and actual facts about an uneventful incident.

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Gast
11. Aug. 2021

Thanks so much for the blog tour support xx

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