Ace, Marvel, Spy by Jenni L. Walsh ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

Trailblazer, superstar, activist, and spy: Alice Marble is a true American icon.

Alice strives to have it all.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

January 2025; Harper Muse; 978-1400246748
audio, ebook, print (336 pages); biographical fiction

I always enjoy historical fiction and it makes it even more enjoyable for me to learn about a real person that I knew nothing about.  Alice Marble is definitely a great person to learn about.  Not only was she considered the best tennis in the world but she was also a believer in the strength of women and a feminist before her time.  She helped the military working as a spy during World War II.  She was a strong and formidable woman who made a name for herself around the world thanks to her strength, dedication, and tenaciousness.

Alice grew up in California and didn't start playing tennis until she was 15.  At the time, tennis was mainly a sport for the rich.  Her family wasn't and she couldn't afford a coach.  Still, she managed to win some local junior championships.  Teach offered to be her coach and help her become a great tennis player.  She agreed and her life definitely changed.  Tennis became the main focus of her life.  As she began to win more tournaments, she became well-known on the tennis circuit.  Between 1936 and 1940, she won eighteen grand slam events including 12 U.S. Opens and 5 Wimbledons and was considered to be the number one player in the world but an event at Forest Lawn set her back physically and she had to withdraw from future tournaments and build up her health again.  Even though the doctors told her that she would never play again, Alice fought back with the help of her coach and began playing and winning tournaments again.  World War II caused a halt to many of the tournaments but she began to do exhibition games for the government.  Despite the heartache that affected her during the early part of the war, she maintained her strength as a tennis great.

Alice was a firm believer in the strength of women.  Early in her career, she learned that a male player was making triple the amount of money than she was and threatened to walk out if they didn't make the same amount.  She also wrote Wonder Women in History comics about inspirational women.  

I was never a follower of tennis but I'm still surprised that I never heard of Alice Marble before this book.   

An interesting fact I learned while looking for more information about Alice is that she became Billie Jean King's coach in 1959.

Be sure to read the author's notes at the end to find out about the sources she used to write this book.

Buy Ace, Marvel, Spy at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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