I read in one sitting, then passed to my spouse, who also read in one sitting! Love a spy novel that departs utterly from the James Bond, Jason Bourne mode.

A really interesting novel that is told in alternating past/present chapters about Vera Kelly and the decisions that led her to become a spy in Argentina. Knecht does a great job with character and tension, but the plot and mystery are not too complex. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this character-driven thriller.

Rosalie Knecht's  wry Who is Vera Kelly? (Tin House Books, digital galley) is told in two alternating narratives of almost equal interest. Growing up in the 1950s with an alcoholic mother, Vera Kelly has a rough time, separated from her best girlfriend and then deemed incorrigible and sent to reform school. Ten years later, she's a fledgling CIA spy in Buenos Aires, pretending to be a student to blend in with campus radicals with supposed Soviet ties, as well as eavesdropping on government bureaucrats. But then she's betrayed during a coup and forced into hiding, eventually fleeing the city. Her gritty coming-of-age in  New York is what brings her to the attention of the CIA, but her early years can't really compete with her double-life exploits in Argentina. Throughout, however, Vera Kelly is a scrappy, resourceful outsider looking for a life in which she belongs.

from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever

3.5 stars

The first few chapters of this novel really didn't engage me. There is a chance I will go back to it at some point, but my TBR stack is tall and this one didn't hold my interest. I do know some readers have LOVED it, so it's not impossible that I'll be seeing Vera again.

WHO IS VERA KELLY? by Rosalie Knecht has been called a literary spy novel which is an apt description, In fact, Knecht' intriguing exploration of identity and coming of age mixed with political tension applies to her earlier work, Relief Map, which I also recommend. The setting for WHO IS VERA KELLY? alternates between the late 1950s on the East Coast of the United States and mid-1960s Cold war era in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a troubled teen dealing with her father’s death and exploring her own sexual identity, Vera is sent to reform school; less than a decade later she has been recruited to work for the CIA in South America and faces a coup on the near horizon. Knecht's writing always captures my attention and I am fascinated by the misunderstandings and quick, clever thinking her characters experience. There is a wonderful balance between internal dialogues and action-packed suspense. This cover is fabulous, too, and it’s helping to promote the book – the person in the queue in front of me at the public library was checking it out today. Our copy of WHO IS VERA KELLY? will be on the school library shelves soon.

Thank you so much to Tin House Books for the eARC of this intriguing book! Who is Vera Kelly follows the eponymous heroine throughout her work as a spy prior to a coup in Argentina during the 1960s. It also flashes back to Vera’s coming of age during the repressive 1950s. The Argentine setting was fascinating, I know very little about more recent South American history. I loved watching Vera use her wits to navigate her work in Buenos Aires. The flashbacks really enhanced the story to give a fuller picture, answering the question Who is Vera Kelly?

I really liked this book about a CIA agent in 1960’s Argentina. The book checked a lot of boxes for me: historical fiction, set in a foreign country (one I hope to visit soon), an interesting, multi-dimensional female character, and espionage. It fit in nicely with my recent read of Code Girls and my fascination with The Americans.

Vera is sent by the CIA in 1962 to investigate communist activity in Buenos Aires. She wiretaps a politician’s office and poses as a college student to learn more about a young radical who may be planning something violent. As Vera struggles with her assignments in a foreign country and at a time of political instability, the book shows us how she got there. As a teen, Kelly battles with her repressive mother and explores her sexual identity and love for a friend she’s no longer allowed to see.

This book may not be what you expect, because it’s more than a political thriller (though I say that as someone who doesn’t read much of the genre). You start out thinking Kelly is going to be this hardcore spy, but really she’s someone who has had a tough life and is just trying to do her best in a world that’s not very friendly. It makes you think about the kinds of people who can do espionage work well. We need them and I admire what they do – but I’m sure they pay a price for it, not just in confronting danger but in not having close relationships.

It had been a long time since I had gone home with a man, and I felt like I was reverting to an old script, a script I’d learned from novels and films like every other girl: waiting for him to cross the room, watching him nervously refresh his drink. And then later, being small and breathless, and seeing that he liked it. With women I always felt a bit like we were the first two people to ever do what we were doing, that we were inventing it, that we decided in each transaction who we were.

Knecht gives us a lot of historical detail about the political situation in Argentina, which I appreciated (though some might feel it slows the book down). There isn’t a ton of action in the book, which makes sense when you think about espionage work. But even without a lot of action, I definitely felt Kelly’s terror at times at being in a situation that is out of her control.

I don’t want to say more about the book, since Knecht does such a nice job of letting this book gradually unfold. A lot of times I don’t care for books told by alternating past and present, but here Knecht does it well – I found both timelines were equally interesting, and the present-day story wasn’t just a vehicle for telling the story. I really wanted to know how Vera got to where she ended up, and where she’ll go next. And that’s what makes the title perfect for this story.

Note: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from NetGalley and Tin House Books. The book will be published June 12, 2018.

1/2 spy novel, 1/2 historical fiction - Who is Vera Kelly is a fantastic story of a remarkable woman. Weaving the past and present together, we see Vera's youth - from her time in juvenile hall to her sexual awakening - to her current day work with wiretapping.

This is an adventurous story, showing one woman's attempts on her first big mission.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Do you want to read a spy novel set in Argentina during the cold war, with a totally bad-ass, queer, lady spy? Of course you do! Do you also want to read a coming of age novel set in the 1950's with a bad-ass queer teen? Yes again! Good news! With Rosalie Knecht's <i>Who is Vera Kelly?</i> you get a bit of both.

As Knecht skillfully weaves the two narrative threads together, we get the story of Vera Kelly's life, her work as a spy, her efforts to keep secrets from her targets and from her employers. Though far from your typical spy thriller, it still keep you engaged all the way through. Will she be betrayed? Found out? Killed!?! Anything could happen!

This was an excellent, fluffy read and I devoured it in a day. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes strong heroines, mysterious strangers and cold war intrigue.

The characters and settings were well done but the plot wasn't engaging. It felt underdeveloped and purposeless.

I love books that educate me on historical moments from other countries- in this case, Argentina in a tumultuous time (the 1960s). The main character, Vera Kelly, aka "Anne", is not who I expect to be the hero(ine) of a spy novel. Why? She is a woman with fluid sexual preferences, who actually has limited "undercover" experience-her job title is "technician".
The book flips back and forth between her day-to-day experiences in Argentina, and memories from her life up before coming to Argentina. I enjoyed learning her story; the scenes from her childhood and teenage years with an abusive mother and few friends saddened me, but it was triumphant reading how she overcame obstacles to move to New York, discover and embrace (to a certain extent) her sexual identity, and become experienced enough in her field to be recruited by the CIA.
The end of the book is by far the most interesting; Vera comes alive in the weeks after the military coup in Argentina, proving herself to be a valuable "spy" and a force to be reckoned with. There is suspense, drama, and even humor.
This book is entertaining, but because of Vera herself, it's a must-read.

This was well written and I certainly liked Vera, but the whole thing just felt...small. The premise is good, but the book never quite got to where it needed to be.

This is pretty standard length for a novel, yet what I got out of it felt more like a novella. There just wasn't enough there.

And while I'm sure this is much closer to what would actually happen to a CIA operative in this situation than what we see in most spy novels, it probably would have been a better book if the author had given us a bit more action.

The suspense building was also pretty hit or miss. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it felt flat.

I did find Vera to be a compelling, likable character, and the atmosphere was very well crafted.

Overall worth a read, but keep your expectations in check if you're looking for page-turning action.

This isn't my usual read but a couple of coworkers gave me the hard sell. I was surprised by how much I liked this book!

This book is quite enjoyable. Told in two different locations and times. USA 1957 and Argentina 1966. In the USA she is a student struggling with everyday life. In Argentina, she is a spy well versed in wire-tapping and other clandestine affairs. Flipping between the two dates and locations adds to the reading enjoyability of this story. I very much enjoyed the writing style and the entire premise oof the book.

this was a wild ride! Little bit of everything that kept me on the edge of my seat! Well written and great story.

Love historical fiction, and this story was really unique and compelling! I would recommend this to fans of Deanna Raybourn, Tasha Alexander or Rhys Davis.

“Call the State Department. I’m CIA.”

Ooooh, this was good. Part spy thriller, part character study, and part historical fiction.

This book is told through a delicate interweaving of past and present. The past chapters chronicle the Vera’s youth, her troubled relationship with her mother, her brief stint in juvie, her sexual awakening, and the work that eventually leads to her recruitment by the CIA. The present chapters take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, circa 1966, in the months prior to the Argentine Revolution – which led to the country’s period of a military-dominated authoritarian-beurocratic state.

If you go into this expecting full-blown James Bond, you’ll be disappointed. It doesn’t just jump right into the action; it sets the stage first. The first 40% is mostly made up of stake-out mode and flashback chapters.

That’s not to say they’re boring. I flew through them. It’s obvious Knecht did her research here, and because of this, that awesome thing happened to me where I forgot that I was reading and simply felt like I was living this story through Vera’s eyes.

Her specialty is electronics, namely wiretapping. Her contact helps her get a bug placed in the vice president’s office and sets her up with a room to listen from. She’s also posing as a student, working against the KGB influence she’s been told is enthralling some of the up and coming Marxists at the university.

Vera is a really relatable character. This is her first big solo mission, so you’re right there with her when it comes to nerves and anticipation while you’re reading.

Around the halfway mark things start to go sideways. A military coup, betrayal, entrapment, followed by Vera’s wild attempt to escape the country alongside the students she was spying on.

I can’t recommend this enough for anyone looking for a women-driven, realistic, spy story.

From what I can tell, this isn’t a series, and I’m a bit bummed about that. Because I would love to read novel after novel about Vera’s exploits, and watch her really come into her own as a CIA agent.

ONE CAN ONLY HOPE THE AUTHOR SEES THIS REVIEW AND COMES THROUGH FOR ME.

I throughly enjoyed this spy novel which was more of a character study. There are some echoes of John LeCarre here. Primarily, this is a fabulous character study. The clever chronology works well (Two alternating timelines: beginning in 1958, when Vera is a high school student; and in the midst of a government assignment in Buenos Aires in 1966. Eventually, the first timeline catches up with the 1966 story. Fun and fast-paced.

I tore through this book, going on a wild ride with Vera Kelly. Many, many thanks to Tin House for the ARC of this delightful novel. Alternating between Vera’s strange childhood and her presence as a spy in Latin America, this story gradually reveals the question in the novel’s title. Truthfully, the lonely Vera may have little idea who she is either or at least she hasn’t synthesized how she ended up in Argentina and why.

Anyone who picks up this book will be in for a treat and as mentioned, a very wild ride.