What an incredible book! I have Under the Harrow and liked it a lot, but this one was perfection for me. I loved the tension of each page. Berry took a very complex situation and made it real.

This was a quick, tense read and I enjoyed every minute of it. I read it with a book club and we all wished it were longer and more detailed! Flynn Berry writes complex, interesting characters, tight plots with lots of twists, and fantastic backstory. Will read any of her works in the future!

Flynn Berry is the author of Under the Harrow, which won the Edgar Award for best first novel, and A Double Life, which was published in July 2018. Her latest novel, Northern Spy, is a fast-paced thriller set in Northern Ireland that follows two sisters who become entangled with the IRA. The book just came out, and was recently named a selection for Reece’s Book Club. I’m Beth Golay, this is Marginalia, and here’s my conversation with Flynn Berry about her novel, Northern Spy.

I found this to be an interesting read as I have never really read anything about the IRA (Irish Republican Army) in Northern Ireland. I enjoyed reading about the two sisters, Tessa and Marion and their lives during the conflict.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Published 6 April 201.

Northern Spy by Flynn Berry is a spy thriller / historical fiction book about two sisters that become involved in the Irish Republican Army. Tessa Daly is a producer for the Belfast bureau of the BBC and watched a news feed about a robbery by the IRA when she sees her sister holding a gun and pulling a mask over her face. Tessa is stunned; her sister Marian should be on vacation and out of the area. However, Tessa believes the IRA kidnapped Marian and is forcing her to participate in the robbery. Marian makes contact with Tessa and discloses that she has been part of the IRA for several years. However, she is now working as an informer for British Intelligence and recruits Tessa to help relay messages to the British.
I thought the plot moved very slowly, and I had a hard time finishing the book. Thank you, Net Galley, for this ARC.

I loved Northern Spy! I haven't read much about the IRA, but I learned a lot without the book being too political. I felt the progression of the sisters' involvement was totally believable, and Tessa's experiences as a new mother added to the conflict of the story. I definitely want to read more by Flynn Berry.

This was a great and surprising pick for Reese Witherspoon's book club. I'm so glad I picked it up. There are so few books that cover the complicated and painful conflict in Northern Ireland. Its a complex situation and this covers it with nuance and perspective while maintaining the thriller feel. There were twists that kept coming but overall a feeling of hope at the end.

Northern Spy by Flynn Berry is set during tumultuous times in Ireland. Tessa and Marian are sisters. They may not agree on everything the other does but they do love each other and will do what's needed in order to keep each other alive. Their bond is tested after Marian is accused of helping set a bomb as a member of the IRA. This book is about tough decisions and family love during a time full of violence. Read and enjoy!

Tessa and Marian are sisters, with an incredibly close relationship. When Tessa begins to realize that her sister has aspects to her life of which she was completely unaware , she is forced to make decisions that go completely against her desire to protect her child. Although some of these decisions are difficult to understand, they are given context by the setting in Northern Ireland and the machinations of the IRA. A taut, engaging mystery, Berry continues the string of wonderful Irish writers.

I liked Under the Harrow and, slightly more so, A Double Life, but this is exceptional, a story that got under my skin: an intense look at two sisters and their relationship to one another and to the fraught history of their country. A story of espionage, family conflict, and a mother's love for her small son, all wrapped up into a beautifully written package. I felt myself torn by all of the difficult choices that Marian and especially Tessa had to make, based on their devotion and loyalty to the conflicting causes of family and politics. I couldn't put it down and feel like it will stay with me; highly recommended.

I was pleased to receive an advance copy of Northern Spy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was confused at first because I thought this book was set during the Troubles but at some point the cell phones and technology drove me to the internet where I discovered the IRA has rebranded itself and continues to fight. (The USA still calls it the IRA; other places it's referred to as The New IRA.) The novel is sent twenty years after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which the internet says ended "most" of the violence. Well this is the other part. Well this is the other part. One article even links it to Brexit.

It starts with Tessa, a single mother who works for the BBC from Belfast. The police think her sister Marian is working for the IRA, which is unfathomable, and the more she knows, the more she gets pulled in.

I love a good spy novel but also feel I should say the writing is stellar, and the author captures the complexity of the lives of women and female relationships amidst a very tense plot, very impressive.

This was a thrilling and tense novel about the IRA which I didn’t know much about. It was interesting to see how people could get roped into doing things they had no plans of doing or getting involved with.

I really enjoyed this one. I learned a ton about the IRA and Ireland generally. Berry has a different writing style, and it made the story seem more personal. I also loved interviewing her for my podcast.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. I could not put this book down. I had to know what would keep happening next, and read this very quickly. I only know the barest amount about The Troubles, having grown up in the US in the 90s, but was still able to connect to what the characters were going through. A must read for any spy fiction fans!

Northern Spy is atmospheric and spellbinding, taking place during the tumultuous time of the IRA violence and unrest in Northern Ireland. At the center of the story are two sisters who have taken wildly different paths in life. One has just had a baby and is learning how to make it as a single mother. She finds out her sister is in the IRA and she is thrown into a situation she has no control over, making her yearn for those quiet days at home with her son, where safety was a little bit closer. Now the sisters are working together and their strained relationship makes it even harder. This book was a quick read and I loved it.

Stayed in bed late this morning to finish this one. Northern Spy is a riveting story of two sisters growing up in Belfast. The Troubles have supposedly ended, but in reality, they are still living in a war zone. Tessa’s fierce love for her sister and son force her to act in unthinkable ways to protect them. Another brilliant novel from Flynn Berry.

I was very nervous for both Tess and Finn while reading this book. Berry’s depiction of motherhood was the most compelling aspect. Tess tries hard to make the right choices with incomplete information wrestling with her upbringing and its biases. Book clubs could have meaty conversations trying to parse her motivations and what they would do in her shoes.

This compelling thriller was hard to put down. An intriguing and powerful story set in Northern Ireland describes the turmoil of life there amidst a contemporary IRA movement.
Tessa, a producer at the BBC is trying to balance her work obligations with being a single mother to an infant when she sees a news report of an IRA raid with a picture of her sister Marian pulling a mask over her face at the scene prior to the robbery. Marian who works as a paramedic, and Tessa are close and Tessa cannot believe that her sister has joined the IRA. Tension builds as the reader joins Tessa as she discovers the truth of Marian’s identity. Faced with danger and deceit, Tessa must decide how far she will go to protect the ones she loves.
Character driven and skillfully written, this story beautifully depicted the bonds and loyalty of motherhood, sisterhood and love of country and how they affect ones choices. A riveting, compulsive recommended read.

This standalone thriler from Flynn Berry is an intense thriller centered around two sisters, Marian and Tessa, who find themselves entangled with the IRA. As someone who remembers all the violence in Northern Ireland in the 1970s-1980s, I found this look at Northern Ireland and the IRA today utterly fascinating. It's an amazing story, a look at politics, allegiances, and family. Recommended buy for all thriller collections, and combine with Patriot Games (old, but still excellent) for those unfamiliar with the IRA.

“Northern Spy” by Flynn Berry, Viking, 288 pages, April 6, 2021.

Tessa Daly, a political news producer at the Belfast bureau of BBC radio, is at work one day when the news of another raid comes on the air.

The IRA may have gone underground after the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, but they never really went away. As the news reporter requests the public's help in locating those responsible for a robbery at a gas station, Tessa's sister, Marian, appears onscreen. Tessa watches in shock as Marian pulls a black ski mask over her face.

The police believe Marian has joined the IRA. Tessa doesn’t believe it because the sisters were raised to oppose violence. Marian, a paramedic, is supposed to be on a diving vacation on the north coast.

Tessa goes to the police station and says Marian had to have been coerced. Marian is pregnant. Tessa, a single mother, has a 6-month-old son, Finn, with ex-husband, Tom. Police have also interviewed their mother, who plans to visit a friend’s IRA-member son for advice.

Then one day Marian shows up. She tells Tessa that she has been in the IRA for years, but she says that she is now an informant for the government. Tessa is faced with impossible choices when Marian asks her to be her go-between with MI5. The police don’t know that Marian is an informant.

The underlying themes of the novel are family and conflict. The characters are good, but the plot is implausible.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.