Review: The Private Lives of Spies

Title: The Private Lives of Spies

Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Publisher: 14th February 2023 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 216 pages

Genre: historical fiction, short stories, spy

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

From Alexander McCall Smith, one of the world's most beloved and bestselling authors, comes a marvellous collection of stories about intrigue and espionage, told in his inimitable style.

During WW2 there was a rumour that German spies were landing by parachute in Britain, dressed as nuns...

Conradin Muller was an unusual spy. He was recruited in Hamburg in June 1943, much against his will, and sent on his first, and only, mission in late September that year. He failed to send a single report back to Germany, and when the War came to an end in May 1945, he fell to his knees and wept with relief.

From a highly reluctant German spy who is drawn to an East Anglian nunnery as his only means of escape, to the strange tale of one of the Cambridge spy ring's adventures with a Russian dwarf, these are Alexander McCall Smith's intriguing and typically inventive stories from the world of espionage.

My Thoughts

"Do you want to spend your life in the shadows? Now there are shadows, and it is the lot of some to work within them or, indeed, on their periphery, in their liminal territory. But if you are one who prefers to be in the clear light of day, then perhaps it is best not to dwell in penumbral regions."

I am a huge fan of the author Alexander McCall Smith. He is a prolific and incredible writer with his No.1. Ladies Detective Agency being a firm favourite of mine. Therefore I am always eager to read his latest which, this time around, is a short story collection surrounding intrigue and espionage. 

Here the reader is presented with five short stories that are a combination of fiction and nonfiction. The first is my favourite, a tale recounting the supposed legend of German spies dropped into England as nuns during WWII. You cannot help but be drawn to the plight of this reluctant spy and his effort to both hide and survive. Other tales include a Cambridge spy ring's adventures with a Russian dwarf and another on the Vatican Secret Service. 

Each of the short stories is imbued with Alexander’s typically clever prose and sprinkled life musings surrounding intrigue and espionage. Not one of my favoured of his books but still an entertaining read with themes of transparency and forgiveness in our lives.

“… you can create an identity for yourself that can then become the real you. Then people think that you were always what you claim to be, that you were born to it, so to speak, rather than having made it all yourself. And that can be important in the world of spies. They are accustomed to maintaining one identity while really being something else altogether.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Our Woman in Moscow

Title: Our Woman in Moscow

Author: Beatriz Williams

Publisher: 6th June 2021 by HarperCollins Australia

Pages: 432 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, spy, thriller 

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

In the autumn of 1948, Iris Digby vanishes from her London home with her American diplomat husband and their two children. The world is shocked by the family’s sensational disappearance. Were they eliminated by the Soviet intelligence service? Or have the Digbys defected to Moscow with a trove of the West’s most vital secrets?

Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from the twin sister she hasn’t seen since their catastrophic parting in Rome in the summer of 1940, as war engulfed the continent and Iris fell desperately in love with an enigmatic United States Embassy official named Sasha Digby. Within days, Ruth is on her way to Moscow, posing as the wife of counterintelligence agent Sumner Fox in a precarious plot to extract the Digbys from behind the Iron Curtain.

But the complex truth behind Iris’s marriage defies Ruth’s understanding, and as the sisters race toward safety, a dogged Soviet agent forces them to make a heartbreaking choice between two irreconcilable loyalties.

My Thoughts

"In this terrible war - this war between communism and liberal democracy - communism will win, because it does not care about how many lives it devours."

Our Woman in Moscow is a cold war thriller based loosely around the Cambridge Five - a ring of spies who passed information to Russia during and right after WWII. Based on real incidents and people, Beatriz has once again written a well researched novel that addresses not only espionage but also trust and family bonds. A tale of two sisters, moving back and forth across time and countries - 1940 Rome, 1948 London and 1952 Moscow.

“And what I have done this summer, I have done to repay my debt - the debt I owe her, the debt I owe t0 …  all who came before me and saved me without knowing it.”

Spies and espionage during the early days of the Cold War - love it! The story is divided into two time frames, with 1952 and Ruth trying to get to her sister, and the years leading up to Iris’s situation. Through alternate narratives of each sister, as well as a KGB agent at Moscow Centre, the reader learns of the sisters' history and how their falling out years before led them to their current life situation. I found the  character development - even secondary characters - to be well done. Beatriz’s writing of setting and sense of place draws you in as if you are right there facing all the intrigue and conspiracy. 

‘I know what he must be thinking. Nobody likes a shrew, do they? A woman who insists on having her own way. Oh, a man in my position would be hailed a great leader! Firm, decisive, independent, uncompromising. But a woman who stands up for herself and those she loves - well, that’s Palin mean and selfish, isn’t it?’

This is a story of sacrifice and fortitude as Beatriz cleverly combines the historical detail with strong female protagonists. If reading about the push of communism in the early 1950s is of interest to you, then you will enjoy this fictional tale. A tale of love and loyalty, defection and deception, family and betrayal all woven together into a highly entertaining read. 

“When is it possible to feel and to think at the same time? Never.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.