James Bond - The Spy Who Loved Me

He Spy Who Loved Me is the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series first published by Jonathan Cape on 16 April 1962. It is the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels as well as a clear departure from previous Bond novels in that the story is told in the first person by the young woman Vivienne Michel.

The central character and narrator of The Spy Who Loved Me is Vivienne "Viv" Michel, a young Canadian woman who ends up running a cheap motel in the Adirondack Mountains to pay for a trip through America. The novel is broken up into three parts: 'Me', 'Them', and 'Him'.

The first section of the book deals with Viv's past love affairs, the first being Derek Mallaby who took her virginity in a field after being kicked out of a cinema for indecent exposure. Their physical relationship ended that night and Viv was subsequently dumped later when Mallaby sent her a letter from the University of Oxford saying he was forcibly engaged to someone else by his parents. Viv details her second love affair with her German boss, Kurt Rainer, who would eventually get Viv pregnant. After she learned of her pregnancy and informed Rainer, he dumped her and paid for her to go to Switzerland to have an abortion.

The second section of the book details Viv's return to her native Canada, her plans to journey through America, and how she came to work at "The Dreamy Pines Motor Court" in the Adirondack Mountains for managers Jed and Mildred Phancey. At the end of the vacation season, the Phanceys entrust Viv to look after the motel for the night before the owner, Mr. Sanguinetti, can arrive to take inventory and shutter it up for the winter. However, two mobsters, "Sluggsy" Morant and Sol "Horror" Horowitz, show up under the guise of working for Mr. Sanguinetti and say they are there to look over the motel for insurance purposes. In truth, the two have been hired by Mr. Sanguinetti to burn down The Dreamy Pines Motor Court so that Mr. Sanguinetti can make a profit on the insurance. The blame for the fire would fall on Viv, who was to perish in the fire. The mobsters, specifically "Sluggsy", are very cruel to Viv, beating her when she attempts to escape and threatening to rape her if she doesn't cooperate.