Book Review: ‘A Woman Of Intelligence: A Novel’ By Karin Tanabe

The year is 1954 and Rina Edgeworth is the wife of a successful Doctor, living in a nice upper East Side apartment and the mother of two young sons. She was a translator at the United Nations before having children and she misses those days. Being a mother is hard and she has issues being a stay at home mom. One day out of the blue an FBI agent named Lee Coldwell approaches her and says they need her help. An old lover and friend named Jacob Gornev is a spy for the KGB. He wants her to see him and find out any information she can get on him and his radical group and leaks within the FBI. She’s to work with a Black agent named Turner Wells, who has infiltrated his group and let him knows what she learns. This excites her and she is enjoying doing this but is also worried about being in danger. She has to sneak around and she becomes attracted to Turner. Tom accuses her of having an affair and it soon becomes more difficult for her to keep sneaking around. There’s a shocking death and soon Rina has to re-think her whole life.

A solid historical drama spy story with a well-written female character who comes alive. It also shows how difficult it is being a mother of two young children and dealing with being a woman in the 50’s and dealing with rich society. Some good twists and turns keeps the story going throughout.

You can pick up A Woman Of Intelligence in stores on Tuesday, July 20th from St. Martin’s Press.