Ike and Kay by James MacManus | Book Review

Title: Ike and Kay
Author: James MacManus
Publisher: The Overlook Press
Published Date: May 29th, 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 288
Format: Kindle Edition

My Rating: ★ ★ ★.5

Goodreads Summary: 
The sweeping love story at the heart of the Second World War, vividly reimagining General Eisenhower and Kate Summersby’s infamous, star-crossed affair

In his latest historical novel Ike and Kay, acclaimed author James MacManus brings to life an unbelievably true and controversial romance and the poignant characters and personalities that shaped the course of world history.

In 1942, Kay Summersby’s life is changed forever when she is conscripted to drive General Eisenhower on his fact-finding visit to wartime London. Despite Eisenhower’s marriage to Mamie, the pair takes an immediate liking to each other and he buys Kay a rare wartime luxury: a box of chocolates.

So begins a tumultuous relationship that, against all military regulation, sees Kay traveling with Eisenhower on missions to far-flung places before the final assault on Nazi Germany. The general does dangerously little to conceal his affair with the woman widely known as “Ike’s shadow,” and in letters, Mamie bemoans his new obsession with “Ireland.” That does not stop him from using his influence to grant Kay citizenship and rank in the US army, drawing her closer still when he returns to America. When officials discover Eisenhower’s plans to divorce from his wife they threaten the fragile but passionate affair, and Kay is forced to take desperate measures to hold onto the man she loves . . .

Based on the scandalous true story of General Eisenhower’s secret World War II love affair, Ike and Kay is a compelling story of love, duty, sacrifice, and heartbreak, set against the backdrop of the most tumultuous period of the twentieth century.

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 My Review:

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc.

I will fully admit that I only know the basics about Eisenhower, and I knew nothing about his staff and those surrounding him during WWII. Which is why I really wanted to read this book and start learning more about him in a fictional sense to see if I wanted to continue learning more about him from a more historical standpoint. So, of course, I have done a little bit of research about Eisenhower and Kay, and while there is no confirmation that they ever had a physical affair, it does seem plausible that it could have happened. As far as I can tell though, and what other historians say it does seem that they might have had an emotional affair instead during the war. This is all just speculation though, and we might never fully know.




Typically I don't like books that revolve around affairs or things like that. But there was just something about this book, that had me needing to know how they were going to end. MacManus was able to show the real realities of WWII and mixes them with a plausible rumor surrounding these two. 

Kay is a British citizen who is working as a driver during WWII, she gets assigned to US General Eisenhower, and from there forms a friendship of sorts and eventually becomes his secretary and all around person.
Eisenhower is the United States General who is on a fact-finding mission at first, and then who ends up working to help Britain defeat the Nazi's in WWII. During this time he had Kay travel with him and eventually got her to be apart of the US military so she could travel with him easily. 
We also have the side characters, some that are known people from WWII, and the others are people that were more unknown that we're apart of his 'family' (staff) as he liked to call them.

Overall I did really find this to be a fascinating read. I always love learning more about WWII, and how things happened and the people behind them. While this is a fiction novel, MacManus did use a lot of real life things that happened and you can tell he did do a lot of research. While the majority of this book is based on speculation and rumor, the behind the main story was extremely realistic.  I ended up really enjoyed Kay and Eisenhower as characters until the last 25% of the book and then I stopped liking them as much because of things that were happening. 

I do think if you like historical fiction and want to learn more about WWII then this is a great read for you!