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The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
Audiobook8 hours

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

Written by Dorothy Gilman

Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent. This time, the assignment sounds as tasty as a taco. A quick trip to Mexico City is on her agenda. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroilied in quite a hot Cold War--and her country's enemies find themsleves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 22, 2011
ISBN9781461810483
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

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Reviews for The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

Rating: 4.0536858573717955 out of 5 stars
4/5

624 ratings44 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great fun, with fast-paced action and memorable characters. The plot is a little preposterous, but if you're choosing to read a story about a grandmother who decides to volunteer for the CIA, realistic detail shouldn't be high on the list of things you're looking for.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is definitely dated, but it is still a ton of fun.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent narration, and a lively introduction to the delightful Mrs. Emily Pollifax, an older woman who decides to pursue her lifelong desire to be a spy. When a simple courier assignment turns life-threatening, the skills of a long lifetime prove surprisingly helpful in her quest to make it to safety.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was such a fun adventure, and definitely an unexpected delight!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love Mrs. Pollifax’s pluck and positive mindset. Her decision to get beyond the comfortable and familiar while aiming to do good in the world inspire me!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I delightfully quirky adventure with the most unassuming spy out there. The recording transports you back to the time period in which this was originally written.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Good story line. Interesting facts about countries. Lots of fun!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book (and series) is awesome. And the Recorded Books version enhances the enjoyment.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The story was humorous and moved quickly! Great narrator too.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Oh my word! That was absolutely delightful. I picked up Dorothy Gilman one book ago and decided thereafter to read the first book in the series. I wasn’t disappointed. It was a welcome reprieve from the pressures of my daily life. I became so invested in Mrs. Pollifax and absolutely love the way that Gilman developed her character.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    THE UNEXPECTED MRS. POLLIFAX BY DOROTHY GILMAN AND NARRATED BY BARBARA ROSENBLAT is the first in the Mrs.Pollifax series and one of her best in my humble opinionMrs Pollifax, is in her sixties and bored with her life. So bored she, at one point,considered stepping off the rooftop of her apartment building! Under the advice of her doctor she goes out and does what she has always wanted to do; become a spy for the CIA. Emily, becomes a courier for Mr.Carstairs,who runs one of the top secret departments in the CIA . Carstairs sends Emily to Mexico as a tourist and to pick up some top secret information from an informant. There, Emily's adventures begins and NO I am not going to tell you!I have been a big fan of Dorothy Gilman's Mrs Pollifax for many many moons and the audiobook THE UNEXPECTED MRS POLLIFAX is not my number one favorite of Emily's adventures. Barbara Rosenblat does an excellent job at narration and has got Emilie's voice down pat! Great Job!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a book I've heard of for years. Mrs. Pollifax, a widow whose children live in other parts of the country, begins to feel useless. She starts thinking about the exciting adult life she expected to lead and decides its not too late for adventure. Off she goes to apply with the CIA for a job spying. That's what she thought as a child she would like to do.As unlikely as it seems, the CIA hires her, not as a spy but as a courier who looks like a tourist. She makes her first airplane flight going to Mexico City where she is to take possession of a package and bring it back. Instead, she is kidnapped by others interested in the package and taken to a prison in Albania! To say she is naive is an understatement, but she is in prison with another American, an actual CIA spy. She assumes they will escape and he assumes they are as good as dead.I enjoyed this so much and since Mrs. Pollifax eventually does get back to the U.S., I'll read her next dangerous adventure.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The whole series is ridiculous, and hasn't worn that well. It's like Miss Marple, but with the CIA and spying standing in for murders in country houses. It is rather sloppily plotted. It is also the third book in the series that I have chosen to read, so clearly there is some appeal. But it diminishes all the time.There is a use of the word "guy" to mean "looking like a fright". After being abducted, drugged, and thrown in a cell without any sanitary amenities Mrs. Pollifax thinks that she must look "quite a guy" or something like that. The use of that word in that sense was dying out by the '60s, perhaps this is one of the last to be recorded.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Delightful! Emily Pollifax is an endearing and incomparable character and the very best thing about this book/series so far. I appreciate it too that I’m now in her age group and maybe it is a good thing that I waited until now to make her acquaintance. She’s a hoot.Some of the other characters are wonderful as well. I really enjoyed all the sections. Home, Mexico, and the adventure that makes up a long section toward the end of the book, and the end/conclusion too.Highly amusing, Touching.I found some of the politics, what is now highly fictionalized historical fiction, to be tedious but when Mrs. Polifax explains democracy and how the legal court system works that is priceless. Just marvelous. I didn’t like most of the “Cold War” portions but the rest was incredibly entertaining and a perfect diversion, so I forgave the anachronisms.Definitely a fun comfort read! I would like to continue and read the other thirteen books in the series. I’m also interested is seeing the two movies based on this character.Due to COVID-19 I read a Kindle e-book edition borrowed from my public library.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Feeling as if her life had no meaning, now that her children were grown and living far away, the widowed Mrs. Emily Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey was slipping into a depression when a doctor's visit prompted her to take matters in hand, changing the course of her life. Recalling her childhood desire to be a spy, the retired lady headed to Washington, D.C., there to offer her services to the CIA. To say that she was unexpected would be an understatement, and no one, from the hard-bitten Mr. Carstairs, who made the unusual choice to give her a job, to Mrs. Pollifax herself, could have predicted the extraordinary adventure ahead. From Mexico City to mountainous Albania, this wholly unconventional heroine won allies in unexpected places, revealed unexpected skills and grit, and triumphed over extreme (and unexpected) challenges...A book I read countless times as an adolescent, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax is the perfect blend of exciting adventure story and endearingly humorous character study. It's a Cold War spy novel with a cozy, heartwarming feeling to it, a fabulous sense of humor, and an engaging, endearing, unexpected heroine. Stories of espionage are not a particular favorite of mine - save for this series, I can't think of many others I have read, off the top of my head - but the Mrs. Pollifax books have always been a reading pleasure. This one, in particular, is simply marvelous, and I can never read it without chuckling in appreciation at its many humorous scenes, or racing along in suspense at its more action-driven sequences. The settings are fascinating, and I credit this book, read sometime when I was twelve or thirteen, with inspiring in me an interest in the small, mountainous nation of Albania. I'm not sure why it came to mind today, four weeks into this extraordinary quarantine, but when it did, I immediately sought out a digital edition, and read it again for the first time in years. It did not disappoint, and I am off to reread the entire series! Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys adventure or spy stories with somewhat unusual (one might almost say unexpected) characters...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Who wouldn't want a bit of Mrs. Pollifax's vigor and desire to be useful when widowed and post-retirement? Though a bit dated in political tone, I will never tire of Emily Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey and her forthright decision to march into Langley asking to be a spy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mrs. Pollifax is a favorite. She is who I want to be when I grow up, LOL. The books are considered "cozies" and are easy, light reading. Mrs. Pollifax is your favorite grandparent, the one who is still young at heart. The stories are a little dated with all the political changes that have occurred in the last 20 years but still a good book to sit down with.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you are in your 60s and no longer enjoy life, what should you do? Why, volunteer to become a spy for the CIA, of course. This story, the first in a series, is absolutely unbelievable. But it is a light, entertaining, and amusing read. The intrepid Mrs. Pollifax bumbles here way through spyhood, meets some interesting people, and gets into some remarkable, inescapable adventures. Don't expect anything serious except for the scrapes Mrs. Pollifax encounters.I bought an audio edition of this book.(As I was finishing this book, I first heard about the CIA agents that were taken by Iran, and reportedly, some executed. Sadly, that is reality, and my heart goes out to those agents and their families.)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really like this series--complete escape reading about Mrs. Pollifax, sort of an American Miss Marple who goes to exotic locations as a courier for the CIA.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Let me tell you about dear Mrs. Pollifax. She is a widow with grown children and grandchildren, and she feels like she has outlived her usefulness. What's a woman like Mrs. Pollifax to do? Well, go after her childhood dream of working for the CIA of course.While I might have found her story far fetched in many circumstances, I ended up being convinced that if anyone could do the things that Mrs. Pollifax did in this book, it would have indeed been Mrs. Pollifax.With a slew of interesting and likable characters, and a plot set in 1960's, I ended up on team Mrs. P and look forward to more in the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mrs. Polliflax was delightful. When I'm 63 I want to have an adventure as exciting as hers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mrs. Pollifax is a bored, retired widow looking for excitement. So, what does she do? She takes a trip to Washington D.C. and inserts herself as a spy for the CIA. It's really quite simple. They need an unassuming, nondescript individual to pick up a package in Mexico City and Mrs. Pollifax has nothing better to do but volunteer. What starts off as an innocent vacation turns dramatic when the package isn't there and Mrs. Pollifax goes missing. It's a hard-to-believe tale but one thing is for sure, Mrs. Pollifax is definitely unexpected. You will fall in love with her immediately.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Completely unrealistic but hilarious! I love Mrs. Pollifax. I found myself laughing and cheering her on from the very beginning. Some parts were predictable, but still a thoroughly enjoyable read!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read this book for three reasons; GeoCat was the number one reason and it was one Nancy Pearl recommended for a book about Albania and this was the month we read books about Eastern Europe, I read it for PBT as a mystery thriller. It was also available at the library and short and not too complicated. A cozy mystery written in 1966 as the first in a series. Mrs. Pollifax is a older, widowed woman who's children are busy and is not fulfilled by the life of volunteering. Her doctor writes her a prescription for a SSRI (just new on the market) and tells her to find something to do that will make her life fulfilling. She goes to the CIA and volunteers to be a spy. They send her to Mexico City. Hmm, thought this was about Albania. Well, you have to read it to find out what Mexico City has to do with Albania.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mrs. Emily Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey is a widow whose children have grown up and married. She is tired of her garden club, volunteer work and life in general. Her doctor advises her to do something fun. So Mrs. Pollifax goes to the CIA and asks if they need a spy, something she's always longed to do. Down the hall, CIA Chief Carstairs is looking for a courier. He wants someone unknown and innocent looking who will be able to pass for a tourist. When he accidentally meets Mrs. Pollifax, he knows he has found his agent. The fact that she has no training is fine since, while the situation is dangerous, she shouldn't be in any real danger. She's given a three-week vacation to Mexico. Her only job is to walk into a bookstore on a certain day, communicate a few code phrases, and bring the package with her back to America. Unfortunately when the day arrives, she walks into the bookstore and is promptly kidnapped. Soon she finds herself on a plane to Albania.

    This is a very entertaining book. Mrs. Pollifax is a great character and it's so much fun to see how she deals with her kidnappers. I think it's important to remember the book was written in 1966, in the middle of the Cold War, so references to Cuba, Russia and “Red China” may seen a bit strange to readers who didn't live thorough that period.

    Mrs. Pollifax is one of those characters that jumps off the page in vivid color and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Lovely as always. Mrs. Pollifax is a delight - and this is the best one, where she knows absolutely nothing and still manages on grit and determination and calm, and especially on her gift of making friends in the _oddest_ places. First meeting with Carstairs and Farrell, met up with an assortment of bad guys and some that weren't so bad, found her physical limits and that they were a lot further out than she'd expected. Of course now I want to read the rest (Ok, some of the rest) of the series - soon.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What an unexpectedly pleasant start to the series! This book is set during the Cold War era, so it helps to have some knowledge of the political situation in the 1960s. I can almost hear younger readers thinking about cell phones, email, and solitaire played with real cards!The story is a fun one with a hint of danger. Of course, when it was written there wasn't a sequel, so to the reader Mrs. Pollifax would be in real danger during her situation. There is a part of me that wants to be Mrs. Pollifax, going out on adventures. The other part is content to read about them.This book was well worth the reading; I have already downloaded the sequel. If you enjoy cozy mysteries I think you'll like this spy story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A fun read even if the plot is a bit thin. I could envision Maggie Smith as Mrs. Pollifax!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    How have I missed this series? Friends turned me on to it and I am most grateful. Well written and funny, I highly recommend them
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Again, I did not want to start another new series but oh Mrs. Pollifax you are quite the woman!Retired, widowed, grown children and bored so what is a woman to do when she is looking for some excitement? Well join the CIA and become a spy right??!!?? That is exactly what Mrs. Pollifax does; the CIA agent gives her a try, since no one would suspect a little old woman as being a spy but this simple hand off of information turns into something different from what Mrs.Pollifax or the CIA expected.However this unexpected turn of events shows us that Mrs. Pollifax can take care of herself and she is no one to be messed with. She can also take care of others when things go horribly wrong, I loved her no nonsense attitude and her view of life and her friendship with Farrell and I hope there will be more of him in future books, there are a few characters I will be interested to see if they pop back up in the future. Mrs. Pollifax made me giggle and made me want to read more!Barbara Rosenblatt narrated the audiobook and as always a fantastic job with many different characters, dialects and accents. You can never go wrong with this narrator.I really enjoyed this book if you are a fan of Miss Marple or cozy mysteries give this one a try you won’t regret it. 4 Stars