Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter [Hardcover]

Sara Mansfield Taber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2012

From literary journalist Sara Mansfield Taber comes a deep and wondrous memoir of her exotic childhood as the daughter of a covert CIA operative. Born under an Assumed Name portrays the thrilling and confusing life of a girl growing up abroad in a world of secrecy and diplomacy—and the heavy toll it takes on her and her father.

As Taber leads us on a tour through the alluring countries to which her father is assigned, we track two parallel stories—those of young Sara and her Cold War spy father. Sara struggles for normalcy as the family is relocated to cities in North America, Europe, and Asia, and the constant upheaval eventually exacts its price. Only after a psychiatric hospitalization at age sixteen in a U.S. Air Force hospital with shell-shocked Vietnam War veterans does she come to a clear sense of who she is. Meanwhile, Sara's sweet-natured, philosophical father becomes increasingly disillusioned with his work, his agency, and his country.

This is the question at the heart of this elegant and sophisticated work: what does it mean to be an American? In this fascinating, painful, and ultimately exhilarating coming-of-age story, young Sara confronts generosity, greatness, and tragedy—all that America heaps on the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Born under an Assumed Name is as delicately wrought as bone china . . . A beautiful, mysterious, and unexpectedly suspenseful story of the struggle to find a place in the world."—William O'Sullivan, editor, Washingtonian

"Taber has worked magic with this intoxicating memoir of her childhood. This vibrant family portrait of love and heartache also reveals much about America—our passion, confusion, contradictions, and especially the tragedy we bring upon the world despite our very best intentions."—Mary Stucky, reporter, Minnesota Public Radio

"Lyrical and evocative prose . . . These tales of coming of age are filled with the exotic flavors of far-flung places but also touch on close-to-the-bone feelings about family and childhood relationships that befall all of us, no matter where we grow up."—Sandra Dibble, reporter, San Diego Union-Tribune

"With a poet's sensibility, a seasoned journalist's sense of where and when to probe, and a ravishing talent for conveying the exotic, Taber's writing is on par with anything by M. F. K. Fisher, Jan Morris, or V. S. Naipaul. Everyone who wants to understand America should read this book."—C. M. Mayo, author of Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico

"A gorgeous and shocking tale . . . Taber's poetic, vivid language bathes us in cultural beauty and harsh realities, her psychological insights into the costs of a clandestine life are fascinating, and her ability to electrify history during the era of 'red devils' make this memoir a sizzling read."—Carole Geithner, author of If Only

About the Author

Sara Mansfield Taber holds a BA from Carleton College, an MSW from the University of Washington, and a doctorate from Harvard University. She is the author of Dusk on the Campo: A Journey in Patagonia (1992), Of Many Lands: Journal of a Traveling Childhood (1999), and Bread of Three Rivers: The Story of a French Loaf (2002). Her memoirs and essays have been published in the Southwest Review and the Washington Post, and produced for National Public Radio. She has taught at Johns Hopkins University and currently teaches at the Bethesda Writer’s Center and at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Married with two children, she lives in the Washington, D.C., area.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 396 pages
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc. (February 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597976989
• ISBN-13: 978-1597976985
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.3 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Senstive Memoir -- thoughtful, contemplative and full of love February 26, 2012

By Nan Fuhrman

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In born under an assumed name, Sara Mansfield Taber intelligently and lyrically recounts her life as a young American living abroad with her mother, brother, and CIA agent father on assignment in such varied places as Japan, Taiwan, Holland and Borneo as well as back "home". The subtext is subtle self-discovery, inadvertent wanderings into and wondering about the truth and secrecy of her father's career, and the longing to understand both his life and her own in spite of strong sense of always being "the other". This memoir is also, in part, a period piece of the Sixties and Seventies that must resonate with anyone who grew up during that era and that colorfully illuminates it for those who came later to learn of it.

Throughout her sensitive and beautifully rendered prose threads of contention are interwoven. Where and what is home? What does it mean to be an American, and how does one fit into this world? What is right, and what is wrong? We see inside the observations and questions of a sweet, wide-eyed girl, and then struggle with a more squinty-eyed, questioning adolescent trying to make sense of herself and her role in the world.

Despite the author's youthful wish to steal herself against constant moves and demands on her self-esteem, this young woman perceives those challenges as providing truths to help her navigate the world. At one point she posits: "The great gift of an ex-pat community is that you can always belong - because no one does. Belonging is easiest abroad - there you automatically belong to the human race." However, even with that frame of mind, one's internal compass and family values complicate any simple sense of harmony.

Ms. Taber's journeys are filled with dichotomies to reconcile - both for her own piece of mind and her greater vision for world peace and acceptance. Poignant questions are coupled with rich and wise metaphors to compare her insights with phenomena of the natural world. Ms. Taber's beloved, kind, and understanding father is her constant, and yet his chosen career looms over him and his family in ways that no child can ever be expected to comprehend. Nonetheless, this gifted writer skillfully explores a wealth of keen observations to mold a cohesive sense of place and self.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sweeping, Suspenseful True Story, Beautifully Written February 23, 2012

By WK

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The craft of Sara Mansfield Taber's amazing memoir, Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter, is such that within one set of covers is interwoven a period piece of the 1960's and 70's, including exceptional details of both daily life and cultural-political backgrounds; a suspense story; colorful portraits of Asia/Malaysia, Europe, and the United States as seen through the eyes of a "diplomat's daughter;" and a reflective coming of age story featuring young Sara as she keeps absorbing new settings for home, school, and country of residence.

How exactly does a child, and then adolescent, form and maintain personal identity, a cultural sense of self, or national/political allegiances in such shifting landscapes? While the strong loving relationship Sara has with her father helps her learn, process and endure, it is also his line of work and his own growing and troubling questions that infuse Sara's larger crisis. These swirling conflicts reach a head while she is a teenager at a Japanese boarding school, and the reader is given a riveting, unique and insightful account of emotional breakdown and path to recovery.

Sara Taber's writing shines. While retaining the simplicity of a young person's point of view, her description of people and places, her perfect selection of words and narrative flow are stunning. A market scene in Borneo was so vivid that I nearly passed out reading it! Born Under an Assumed Name is a winner. Read it now - this book begs to become a film!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One family's story reveals America February 20, 2012

By Ellen Cassedy

Format:Hardcover

What is it like to grow up as the daughter of a spy? Sara Taber begins with her earliest memories, in Taiwan, then takes us to postings in Bethesda, Maryland; The Hague, Netherlands; Washington, D.C., Kuching, East Malaysia; and Tokyo, Japan. As Taber grows, so does her understanding of her father, her country, and the world.

Taber's ability to evoke the very essence of both the personal and the cultural, in a distinctive and poetic style, is extraordinary. Her compassion for her characters, especially her father, exists side by side with an unflinching critique of the costs of covert operations as she experienced them within her family. The last section of the book is particularly riveting, as those costs come crashing down around her. The conclusions she draws are fascinating, wise, and heart-warming.