Author: Stephanie Marie Thornton
Year published: 2021
Category: Adult fiction (historical)
Pages: 416 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2024 Google Reading map): USA (NY)
Summary: 1963: Reeling from the death of her mother and President Kennedy’s assassination, Catherine Gray shows up on Elizabeth Bentley’s doorstep demanding answers to the shocking mystery she just uncovered about her family. What she doesn’t expect is for Bentley to ensnare her in her own story of becoming a controversial World War II spy and Cold War informer…
Recruited by the American Communist Party to spy on fascists at the outbreak of World War II, a young Bentley—code name Clever Girl—finds she has an unexpected gift for espionage. But after falling desperately in love with her handler, Elizabeth makes another surprise discovery when she learns he is actually a Russian spy. Together, they will build the largest Soviet spy network in America and Elizabeth will become its uncrowned Red Spy Queen. However, once the war ends and the U.S. and U.S.S.R. become embroiled in the Cold War, it is Elizabeth who will dangerously clash with the NKVD, the brutal Soviet espionage agency.
As Catherine listens to Elizabeth's harrowing tale, she discovers that the women's lives are linked in shocking ways. Faced with the idea that her entire existence is based on a lie, Catherine realizes that only Elizabeth Bentley can tell her what the truth really is.
Review: I am all about a good historical fiction and this one mostly hit the mark. It was slow for me in the middle but by the end I quite enjoyed it. And the Afterword was really good. I didn't realize this novel is based on a real person and true events!
Elizabeth Bentley managed to become an American citizen who spied for the Russians (lured by the glow of communism), an American informer, and a lonely woman at the end. Her brushes with famous people of the espionage world (think J. Edgar Hoover, the Rosenbergs, and more) made this story seem almost unbelievable, but were true. What a crazy world filled with double and triple feints and names, a huge cast of characters, and intrigue at every turn.
The author has worked to have us know Elizabeth the woman, not just the international spy, and I think this is a bit where it fell flat for me. The part that was made up (the Catherine Gray portions) were less interesting than the larger-than-life espionage parts. But all in all, it's an amazing story.
Challenges for which this counts: none
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