Ian Fleming made a bold experiment in The Spy Who Loved Me, writing the novel from the perspective of the heroine of the story, rather than from that of James Bond.
He does it quite well, writing with the detail and emotion of a woman of that time. “Vivienne Michel” recalls:
WOKO announced forty minutes of “Music to Kiss By” and suddenly there were the Ink Spots singing “Someone’s Rockin’ My Dream Boat,” and I was back on the River Thames and it was five summers ago and we were drifting down past Kings Eyot in a punt and there was Windsor Castle in the distance and Derek was paddling while I worked the portable. We only had ten records, but whenever it came to be the turn of the Ink Spots’ L.P. and the record got to “Dream Boat,” Derek would always plead, “Play it again, Viv,” and I would have to go down on my knees and find the place with the needle.
WOKO is a station in Burlington, VT, which now plays country music. Here is the song by the Ink Spots that Ms. Michel so fondly recalls:
I read it for the first time about 3 years ago and was pleasantly surprised. It certainly doesn’t deserve some of the criticism its garnered down the years.