About Gertrude Zella McLeod, who is known to the general public under the pseudonym Mata Hari, we know only three indisputable facts: she lived, danced and died. Her name became a legend of the 20th century - “the famous spy and fatal seductress.” Leila Wertenbaker managed to return human features to the heroine and explain the immortality of this image that eludes definition. The narrative, woven from passions, betrayal, slander, is imbued with sympathy for the heroine and is told on behalf of three of her contemporaries.