Book Review: Ace, Marvel, Spy by Jenni L. Walsh

Official Synopsis: Alice tirelessly works her way up to be a #1 tennis champion, all while maintaining a growing career trajectory editing the Wonder Women comic. She enjoys her hard-earned success with her loving husband, her steadfast coach, and her dear friends—many of whom are famous and well-connected.

But then her world falls apart.

Alice's life begins to unravel when she receives a telegram informing her that her husband has been killed in action in the war in Germany. Heartbroken, she feels like she can only watch as the war wreaks havoc in every area of her life.

Until an unexpected invitation arrives.

Alice is prompted to action when the US Army sends her a request: Under the guise of playing in tennis exhibition games in Switzerland, she would be a spy for them. And Alice aches for nothing more than to avenge her husband's death. What awaits her might be her greatest challenge yet.

I am not normally a historical fiction reader and definitely won't usually rate them over 4 stars, but this book really blew me away. I am a lover of tennis, I play all the time, and I had no idea who Alice Marble was before reading/listening to this book. Knowing the book is historical fiction I definitely spent a lot of time looking up what I could about Alice Marble while reading this book. She was a powerful tennis player, who had multiple times in her life where it felt like she'd never play again. From fainting on the the court to suffering through the loss of many people she loves, Alice works had to get back on the court throughout her life.

That is, until she is asked to help spy for the Americans during WW2, to help them find out who is helping move things across the border and that person is connected to someone she knew in the past. The story has a lot of ups and downs, with the moments where tennis is being played written so well and the others showing the emotion of how big the moments are for Alice. There are some time jumps, but they are well labeled and easy to understand where in her life we are during those chapters.

We get to watch Alice go from a stubborn teen/twenty-something to deciding to get married behind her coach's back and eventually falling pregnant. As these events pile up, we also get to experience her loss of child and husband, how this impacts her game and her mental health in general. Then, as she tries to climb up the ladder of great tennis players again, getting asked to spy. Throughout the book it is brought up how much she wanted to help during the war, to make a difference in the lives of those impacted. When tennis allows her to spy, she wants to jump all in, even when her coach seems to think her traveling is a bad idea. The descriptions about Alice, and her coach, Teach, are also really great. Teach being a great mentor while also holding Alice to a lot of high expectations. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship play out throughout the book.

Overall, I'm not sure if this is a book I would have picked up on my own, but I'm so happy I had a chance to listen to the audiobook (and pick up the finished copy). I loved learning about someone new, especially in the world of women's tennis, and having that background of WW2 and how it impacted her. Alice Marble was a big part of the history of tennis, helping desegregate it and even training Billie Jean King!

I'm always really happy when a book teaches me something, while also surprising me with good writing and a story I never would have known before.

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Ace, Marvel, Spy came out January 14, 2025!

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