Spies’ Wives is a unique collection of true stories, anecdotes, and observations about life overseas recorded by spouses, former spouses, and offspring of CIA operatives. Included are insights into living the lie of "deep cover" and coping with strange economies, weird customs and linguistic roadblocks. The authors have culled the experiences of thirty reliable sources to tell what it was like to step through the looking glass of the real world into the wonderful world of espionage, where evacuations, secret meetings, and passionate love affairs are de rigueur.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"You know you are a CIA dependent when... [y]our husband tells you he's going on a trip and can't tell you where and you don't even wonder why," says one such dependent. Paging through old address books, Chiao and O'Brien, who have lived in many far corners of the world as the wives of spies, tracked down other women like themselves around the globe, leading to "numerous luncheons, afternoon teas, telephone calls, e-mails, conversations and then, this book," a collection of more than 90 true accounts many hilarious, others frightening by 30 spouses and daughters of CIA agents. (Only 16 contributors are credited, since many wished to remain anonymous.) Experiences here include culture shock, cover jobs, hardships, espionage, embassy attacks, evacuations, typhoons, secret love affairs and drunken parties. Particularly poignant are tales of teens suddenly surprised when told the truth by their CIA dads. Most incidents fill two or three pages, and some get only a sketchy paragraph. The contributions have been regrettably fragmented into thematic groupings, so any sense of personalities and cohesion is absent. The unfortunate final effect is that of a distractingly incomplete, unsolvable puzzle, as the reader riddles over which abbreviated anecdotes were once joined together. The book concludes with a two-page glossary explaining such terms as "compartmentation" (being told only what one needs to know) and "dead drop" ("a concealed site established for transfer or passage of clandestine material, information or equipment"). (Mar. 15) Forecast: Although a useful training manual for spies' wives-to-be, this hodgepodge will have little appeal beyond the most espionage-addicted readers.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
KAREN L. CHIAO grew up in the Midwest and developed wanderlust after reading about Boris, a White Russian who lived in Nepal. She never met Boris, but did once have a drink at his bar, The Yak and the Yeti.
MARIELLEN B. O’BRIEN was raised in a small town in Connecticut, and has traveled and worked with the CIA in Washington, Austria, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Denmark. She resides on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book,
By Marilyn Grossman (Vienna, VA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Spies' Wives (Paperback)
WOW!! I have a new respect for the young women who accompanied their CIA husbands over seas. All we ever heard about here was what an easy life they had with their big houses and maids and nannies. We thought that all they had to do was fill their time with fun. No one was able to tell us the real truth. After reading their wonderfully poignant stories (some times sad, some times funny, but always fascinating) I am filled with gratitude and respect for those who made it all the way and even those who didn't. This makes great reading for anybody. It is easy to pick up for just a few minutes at a time but I bet that once you get started you won't be able to put it down for long.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable and informative; highly recommended,
By Don Naples (New Britain, CT United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Spies' Wives (Paperback)
I received this book as a gift and it sat on a shelf for several months before I took it with me on a trip. I wish I had picked it up earlier, as I enjoyed it very much. It's a quick read and gives a good feel for what it must be like to be married to a CIA agent. The wives have great stories to tell. Now I know something about what those people who were supposedly working for the State Dept. were really doing. I was impressed by the resiliance of the wives and families who had to endure much more hardship and uncertainty in strange countries than I had imagined.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Personal stories from the other side of espionage,
By Nathan George (Harrisonburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Spies' Wives (Paperback)
A truly unique compilation of persoal stories, this book gives a fun, and often moving, picture of the family life of many spies. There is nothing else like it in print.
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