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    The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
    The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
    The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
    Audiobook8 hoursMrs. Pollifax

    The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

    Written by Dorothy Gilman

    Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

    4/5

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    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
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 22, 2011
    ISBN9781461810483

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    Reviews for The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

    4/5

    636 ratings45 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be an awesome and delightful adventure. The book is filled with interesting facts, a quirky spy, and a plucky and positive protagonist. The narration is excellent and enhances the enjoyment of the story. It is a fun and unexpected delight that provides a welcome reprieve from daily life.

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      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.
    • 5/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      This was such a fun adventure, and definitely an unexpected delight!
    • 5/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      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!
    • 4/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      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.
    • 5/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      This book (and series) is awesome. And the Recorded Books version enhances the enjoyment.
    • 5/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      The story was humorous and moved quickly! Great narrator too.
    • 4/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      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.
    • 5/5

      Oct 5, 2023

      Good story line. Interesting facts about countries. Lots of fun!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5

      Jun 27, 2023

      2019 reread via Recorded Books audiobook narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. Rosenblat gives an excellent narration of this, though her voice for Farrell didn't match the accent I had imagined.
      --------------
      This was my fourth or fifth time reading this first Mrs. Pollifax book since I was introduced to the series in the 1970s, and I still love it! Despite the fact that I know the plot so well that there are no surprises, I enjoy the characters and situations.

      If you like spy books with a sense of humor, I would recommend this series.
    • 4/5

      Mar 14, 2023

      This is definitely dated, but it is still a ton of fun.
    • 5/5

      Sep 26, 2021

      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 opinion

      Mrs 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!
    • 4/5

      Aug 14, 2021

      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.
    • 5/5

      Jan 24, 2020

      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.
    • 4/5

      Dec 3, 2019

      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.
    • 4/5

      Sep 11, 2013

      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.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5

      Jul 10, 2020

      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.
    • 4/5

      May 31, 2020

      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.
    • 4/5

      Apr 13, 2020

      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...
    • 4/5

      Oct 17, 2019

      So much fun. This was a good cozy kind of spy novel.
    • 4/5

      Jul 23, 2019

      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.)
    • 3/5

      Feb 23, 2019

      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.
    • 5/5

      Aug 12, 2018

      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.
    • 4/5

      Jun 3, 2018

      Mrs. Polliflax was delightful. When I'm 63 I want to have an adventure as exciting as hers.
    • 4/5

      Sep 19, 2017

      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.
    • 4/5

      Oct 17, 2016

      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!
    • 4/5

      Mar 20, 2016

      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.
    • 4/5

      Jan 17, 2016

      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.
    • 5/5

      Jan 2, 2016

      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.
    • 5/5

      Oct 14, 2015

      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.
    • 3/5

      Sep 21, 2014

      A fun read even if the plot is a bit thin. I could envision Maggie Smith as Mrs. Pollifax!