I love a book with spies, espionage, and women's empowerment. Karin Tanabe has done a ton of research into her subject, making the locations and settings believable. As a reader, I wanted a closer narrative to understand the interiority better. In reading some of the reviews, a closer narrative may have helped some of the reviewers not connecting with the characters or situations. Overall, an interesting premise during a riveting time period that delves into the struggles of motherhood and women's work lives.

This book was set up so well, but fell flat on the spy front. I would have preferred the part of working for the FBI to have played out more, it kind of just halted out of no where.
The narration was excellent!

A Woman of Intelligience by Karin Tanabe is not the book you might think it is based on its genres of historical fiction and spy thriller. It is a very real look at the patriarchy that existed after WWII despite how much women contributed to the war effort.

In 1954 Katharina is an intelligent modern woman before feminism became an ideology. She speaks four languages and is employed at the newly created United Nations. She is over 30 and single in a fast paced NYC. Then she meets wealthy successful pediatric surgeon Tom Edgeworth. He is a god to the parents of the children he saves everyday. He is a good man but he believes a woman has two goals; to be a mother and wife.

Katharina loves her baby boys but a life filled with spit up and dirty diapers is not her life ambition and does nothing to feed her soul. When she is approached by the FBI to help infiltrate the Communist party through a past college boyfriend, who is a high powered Soviet spy, she wants to do her patriotic duty. It is also an exciting adventure using her language training and intelligence.

Hearing narrator @jenniferjill.araya
express Katharina's frustrations, fears, confusion and self doubt at wanting more out of life than marriage and motherhood was heartbreaking because had she'd been born a few decades later there wouldn't be such a stigma on her. At one point her husband makes her see a psychiatrist because it is unnatural for her not to want what she has or to want more than motherhood.

I wanted a little more of finality at the end. Though there is a path for her I would have liked to have seen it all the way through.There is much tension during Katharina's journey as a young wife, mother, cold war spy, and a possible love affair. This is a story of learning your worth and fighting for it.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher via #Netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I’d describe A Woman of Intelligence as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - Humor + Spies.

The premise: In 1954, Katharina Edgeworth is leading an enviable life in NYC. She's married to a handsome, skilled, and well-connected surgeon, living in a luxurious penthouse with their two young sons, and attending high-profile society events. In reality, she hates her husband's rigid beliefs on childrearing, resents the all-consuming nature of parenting her children, and desperately misses her pre-motherhood life, especially her work as a translator at the United Nations. When presented an opportunity to assist the FBI in intercepting documents between KGB spies, she eagerly accepts which changes her life far beyond her expectations.

This is my first novel by Karin Tanabe, and I expected a story about Cold War spies to be exciting, or at least intriguing, but this was ... boring. I quickly grew tired of Katharina's chauvinistic husband and her laments about motherhood. I don't have children so I couldn't relate to all aspects of the plot. My favorite part of this novel was its clever title.

I'm grateful to Macmillan Audio for the review copy of the audiobook which enabled me to eventually finish the novel. Jennifer Jill Araya is a new-to-me narrator and I appreciated her performance involving multiple characters of international backgrounds.

A magnificent story of a strong and intelligent woman driven practically mad by the demands of domesticity and finally finding her true calling when asked to spy on a person connected to her. Superbly narrated!

Katharina works as a translator for the United Nations. She gives it all up to become a wife and a mother. However, she is just not happy. She loves her family but her life is missing something. Because of her life before, she is on the FBI’s radar. She is approached to become an informant on the movement of communists in the area. She jumps at the chance.

Katharina is a unique character for this time period. Not many women worked in the 1950s. I love strong women characters but Katharina fell a bit short. And for the life of me I can’t figure out why. She is a bit whiny…aren’t we all at some time. And for her to be so strong…she sure did not have much of a backbone with her husband. I wanted to pinch his ear off.

All of that being said, I did enjoy this novel. I loved the intrigue and the spy game. And when Katharina finally found her voice…stand back!

Jennifer Jill Araya does a fabulous job as narrator. She has the perfect inflection and emotion. I will definitely be on the look out for her in the future!

Need an all around good book! THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Unfortunately I believe this book is a case of marketing materials not matching the book they are describing. From the description of the book I thought it would be much more fast-paced and spy oriented. Instead I got 60% of the way through the book and decided not to finish because there had yet to be any real action.

Most of the book fits more in the “gilded cage” theme – Katharina’s husband is a nightmare and she is struggling to survive life as the perfect high society housewife and stay at home mother to two rambunctious little boys. And then all of a sudden she is improbably approached and asked to serve as a spy for the FBI? It’s like the author tried to combine two different books and plot lines, and it just didn’t work.

My most frequent reaction while listening to this book was “huh?”. When the plot did move along it shifted so quickly that I’d have to rewind and re-listen to the last several paragraphs a few times to understand what was going on and who some of the different characters were in the FBI/spying sub-plot.

While the pacing was off and the writing felt a little amateurish, I thought Katharina was an interesting and likable character and I really felt for her dilemmas and was rooting for her. Even her husband seemed like a fairly complex and interesting character and not as one dimensional as he could have been.

I’d recommend this book to those who like slower paced character focused historical fiction. The descriptions of NYC were lovely and it really made me feel like I was in NYC and LA in the 1950s.

Thanks to the Publisher and Net Gallery for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story takes place just as WW2 is just ended and the Cold War is heating up. This book deftly deals with so many important topics- classism, Communism, racism and feminism all from the point of view a woman Katrina Edgeworth who gave up her bright career as a translator in the U.N to be first a wife and then a mother. She willing gave up the wildlife of a single girl with international lovers a-plenty to marry a blue blood Pediatric surgeon and join the cream of Manhattans socienty. Then came the children and the door of her gilded cage closed as her husband demanded that she spend every waking moment with her children- no nanny allowed- ever. She was trapped catering to tiny tyrants instead of using her brains and talent. She lovesher children, but finds no fulfillment in raising them- a shocking POV in the 1950s. Being a housewife and mother while supporting a career man, who spends more time at work than at home rending her essentially a single mom was seen as the epitome of life for a woman for 100s of years. ( note this is also why Valium was so popular in this time period)

Katrina is just about at witts end when she unexpectedly is recruited by the FBI to spy on an old college boyfriend who is now leading NY’s KGB recruiting branch. As a cover, she is introduced to a charismatic young African American FBI agent, Turner Wells who has infiltrated the inner circle of The communisT party. She soon finds herself becoming increasingly disenchanted with her life as she is loving the excitement and intrigue of her new life. Both she and Turner become increasingly conflicted as they come to care for the people they are spying on and each other. Though loyal to the FBI Turner can easily recognize how recruitment to communism with its promise of equality, is seen as a viable alternative to the hopeless that faced a person of color in 1950s America. As she becomes deeper and deeper into her life as spy, the risks she is asked to take both with the KGB and getting caught by her husband increases.

I listened to the audio version of the story the narrator is really good, and has pleasant voice. The story is well paced and the conclusion is exciting, realistic and satisfying. I was cheering for her in the end. Hope that there is a sequel.

Not your typical spy novel. Katharina has settled into motherhood but still some part of her is missing. She is approached by an FBI agent who needs her to help with an asset that is part of the communist party. Slowly she remembers who she is and what she can do. Through this journey she will leave the mundane life of a fifth avenue housewife to become a very important spy.

I enjoyed the story of Katharina. It was action packed and kept me guessing. I am pleased with the ending. Katharina truly feels like she obtained her dream life.

Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook and review it. All opinions are my own.

An Unhappy Full-time Mother is Recruited as an Undercover Agent by the FBI in this Intriguing Historical Fiction Novel.

SUMMARY
1954 New York City. Katharina Edgeworth is Ivy-League educated and speaks four languages. She has the perfect life: two healthy sons, a pediatric surgeon for a husband, and a Fifth Avenue address. But it’s not enough. She misses her job as a translator at the United Nations, where she devoted her days to the promise of world peace.

Katharina is miserable and desperate to escape her domestic life. When she is approached by the FBI and asked to become an informant, she jumps at the chance to do her patriotic duty. A man from her past has become a high-level Soviet spy, but no one has been able to infiltrate his circle. Katharina may be the only one who can. Her husband has no idea that she is now couriering stolen government documents from D.C. to Manhattan. But as several friends she works with die, Katharina worries that both her husband and the Soviets may uncover her secret role.

REVIEW
A WOMAN OF INTELLIGENCE weaves Katharina’s domestic dramas with her adventures as an undercover agent during the post-World War II Red Scare era.
The theme of how a woman can love her husband and children and still want more out of life is still relevant today.

The story is entertaining and intriguing, and author Karin Tanabe’s writing is descriptive. She creates a highly visual story with her descriptions of monuments in Central Park, the streets of D. C., and the glitzy apartment on Fifth Avenue

To be a woman of such intelligence, Katharina’s character was perplexing. She lacked backbone and strength. This educated and multilingual woman becomes a doormat upon the birth of her children. She is overwhelmed by the task of raising children and is incapable of confronting her bully of a husband of her desire to go back to work

Tanabe is the author of six novels, including A Hundred Suns and The Gilded Years. She has written for the Washington Post, the Miami Herald, the Chicago Tribune, and Newsday. She’s a graduate of Vassar College and lives in Washington, D.C.

Narrator Jennifer Jill Araya provides a great performance bringing Katharina to life in the audiobook with an emotional tone and dramatic style. Her ability to differentiate characters is superb.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.

Publisher MacMillan
Published July 20, 2021
Narrated Jennifer Jill Araya
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

I listened to the audiobook of A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe. It was narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya. The narration was performed flawlessly as the narrator easily transitioned between the roles of the various characters in the book. The story of A Woman of Intelligence took place in the late 1940’s and into the 1950’s primarily in New York City. References to the McCarthy hearings and the support for returning soldiers who had served their country during the Second World War were important to the plot of this book. During that time period, women were expected to marry, have babies and stay at home and keep house for their husbands. It was rare to hear of women who continued to work once they started a family. Women, during those years, were seen as one dimensional. Their role as “mother” became their sole and most important responsibility. As mothers, women were meant to loose their own identity and desires and exclusively serve the needs of their children. This time period proved to be extremely difficult for some women. This became Katharina Edgeworth’s life once she gave birth to two active and demanding baby boys merely a little more than a year apart.

Katharina’s husband, Tom, was a brilliant and very well respected pediatric surgeon at Lennox Hill hospital. The only problem was that Tom was at the hospital more than he was at home. Tom did not believe in nannies or babysitters for his children. It wasn’t that they could not afford to have one. It was because he believed that there was no substitute for a child’s mother. Rina, as she liked be called, had no outlets. Her whole existence was her children. Before she became a mother, Rina was an accomplished translator for the United Nations. She loved her job but agreed to give it up when her first son was born. As a full time mother, Rina was beginning to resent the fact that she had to give up her career. She loved her children but she was beginning to question herself and her life and at the same time feel guilty for doing so. Then, one day, Rina was approached by a man from the FBI. He wanted Rina to become an informant for them. There was a man Rina had known from her college days that the FBI had been watching. Jacob Gornev and Rina had been lovers during graduate school. He was living in New York and was a Soviet spy. Could this be the answer Rina was searching for? Could she once again find relevance in her life by becoming an informant for the FBI?

A woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe was partly a spy story and partly a love story. It captured an era where women had a hard time “choosing themselves” over their children. The author, Karin Tanabe admitted to borrowing part of the premise for this book on her own experience at motherhood. She had had two children eighteen months apart and therefore experienced first hand the challenges that presented. During the 1950’s, postpartum depression was unheard of. No one recognized the symptoms or addressed it. Mothers were just expected to cope and carry on with their day to day responsibilities with smiles on their faces. I feel that the time period that this book depicted was well researched and represented within the book. It was an enjoyable book that I would recommend.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for affording me this opportunity to listen to the audiobook of A Woman of Intelligence through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was lucky enough to receive an audio copy and an e-galley of this book. I liked that I had the ability the keep the story going, regardless of where I was. Woman of Intelligence centers around Katharina, an international interpreter of languages, a new mother of two young boys; who desperately wants to feel useful in a world that requires she only be a mother.

What I loved:
✨ First and foremost, even though this is historical fiction, I think any woman will relate to Rina’s struggle through the book. Her husband is controlling and degrading toward her (“Rina and her little languages”) and refuses to believe that she needs anything else in life since she’s been given the gift of children. I know this is par for the course during the 1950s, but I felt enraged for Rina throughout the book. She had so much life before her children, and then she was delegated to park play and nap times. Anyone would go insane with that schedule.

✨I had very little knowledge of the Communist movement going into this book, but I learned a lot about the time period and ended up spending a good amount of time learning more after I finished. The author did a great job weaving historical facts into an enjoyable fiction read.

✨I love an educated female character from a time period where women are meant to be looked at or strictly answering phones. Rina has an advanced degree and held many important roles throughout her life. I know these stories are real to someone, and we need more light on these brave women who dared to break the mold.

What I didn’t love
✨ The only part that gave me pause was an early scene in the park. A LOT of stuff happened to Rina and her children within a short amount of time, and (I have no background with which to make this judgment), it seemed too dramatic to be real.

My favorite line:
“Remember that every person is a work of art and should be treated as such.”

I gave this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on @GoodReads and @netgalley. I received an advance copy, but all thoughts are my own.

was drawn into A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe by the description of a 1950s housewife who was asked by the FBI to be an informant but this book was so much more than that.

Katharina is an Ivy League educated woman who worked as a translator for the newly formed United Nations but in the last few years she's been a stay at home mom in NYC to two young boys. She feels like she's trapped in a gilded cage by her surgeon husband and society queen mother in law. When she's asked to be an informant by the FBI to spy on her old college boyfriend who is a high level Soviet spy she starts to feel the spark of her old life but will it threaten her?

This book is more a testament to motherhood and how Katharina feels about losing her identity. I loved the message the author left on Goodreads about writing this book and her own feelings. I wish this message had made the book!

I wanted to like this more but parts were a little slow. I did like the ending and the look at 1950s society and women starting to realize they wer more than mothers and they could have a career as well.

I read and listened to this and liked the audiobook a lot, I was struggling with reading so I'd recommend the audiobook!

From my blog: Always With a Book:

I first discovered Karin Tanabe when I read A Hundred Suns earlier this year as a buddy read. I fell in love with her writing and knew I would be reading everything she wrote. As soon as I heard she heard a new book coming out, I immediately requested it…and I loved it!!!

There is nothing I love more than reading about a strong woman and that is exactly what we have here. Katharina was working as a translator at the United Nations until she became a mother when her husband strongly encouraged her to stop working. Feeling stifled by motherhood and being known as “just a lovely wife,” she grabs at the opportunity to serve as a spy for the FBI to gain information on someone from her past who is involved in the Communist Party.

Not only is this a smart, thrilling read, but it is a social commentary on many of the issues that women were facing in the 1950s, and to a degree, today. What is a woman’s place in the home or society or even work? What if she wants to be a mom and work? Why can’t she have it all? The author explores these questions, exploring how it feels to be trapped by societal norms and the expectations that are placed on new mothers.

This is actually the second book I’ve read this year that centers around Cold War intrigue and I’m loving it. It’s definitely not an era I’m familiar with and both books were so different – the other book being Our Woman in Moscow. This is definitely a time period I don’t think is over-saturated with books and I’m hoping to find more to read…strong women turning into spies – I love it and cannot get enough of it!

Between the engaging story line and the smart writing, I was completely captivated by this story and loved every second of it. This is a must-read for all historical fiction readers.


Audio thoughts: I was lucky to be able to listen to this one and ended up listening to it all in one day because I just couldn’t put it down. It was narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya and she did a great job bringing this story to life, giving each character their own voice and accent, when needed.

A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe is an engaging, character-driven novel about a woman who becomes an FBI informant in the 1950s in New York City. Katharina ("Rina") is a married 30-something mother in the early 1950s who lives a life of privilege, but is isolated and stifled. While in her 20s, she had a fascinating and challenging job at the UN as a translator. Just several years after marrying a very wealthy pediatric surgeon, she is an isolated and underestimated stay at home mother of two young boys. She is approached by the FBI to reconnect with a former lover and infiltrate a communist group in the city. I loved learning about Rina's past life as a single woman and the unexpected directions the novel took. As a mother to two young children, I very much identified with Rina. I would more suggest this if you want a character-driven novel with light espionage than if you want something more action-oriented. This book reminded me of the style of Fiona Davis and Chanel Cleeton. I really enjoyed the narration by Jennifer Jill Araya, her tone kept me intrigued and seemed very fitting of a woman in the 1950s.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for providing this e-book and audiobook ARC.

A similar review will also be posted on my blog on August 1st.

A Woman of Intelligence, by Karin Tanabe ⁠
⁠
The main character of this novel is Katharina Edgeworth. She worked for the UN during WWII as a translator, and now she has settled down as a wife and mother. She is miserable in that role and wallowing in self-pity when she is recruited by the FBI to spy on a Communist organization centered in NYC.⁠
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This story is much more so about a woman that feels trapped in her marriage and motherhood. The history is there, however, it often reads like background noise to her personal story. She doesn’t really question the role she’s playing for the FBI, or whether Communism is really a threat. Really, she’s just excited to have a life outside of her apartment and away from her boys. I really wish the author had focused more on the history, as the setup for that history was really engaging. Instead, much of the book focuses on Katharina’s internal monologue.⁠
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If you’re looking for a book about motherhood and all of its trials, this is definitely a book for you. However, don’t pick up this book expecting to learn more about the McCarthy era. ⁠
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This book was provided to me by NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and MacMillian audio in exchange for an honest review.

This book is billed as a Historical Thriller. Post WWII New York is historical but I didn't quite get the thriller part. This book felt much more about how one woman dealt with postpartum depression. The description makes is sound like there would be all sorts of undercover spying, danger and such but as I listened to this book there was way more complaining about Motherhood and having to give up everything to be a wife a mother. As a Wife and Mother of four children who hasn't "worked" since a few weeks before my first child was born I could relate to the struggles of having small children who need you every moment and the loss of autonomy. I think this story beats that drum very hard and doesn't really end with hope that there can be a better balance. Katherina lived a life of self indulgence and self promotion. When she married she was hoping to have that life continue but now have a rich husband. There was no honesty in the relationship if he picked her because she was different than the society girls her knew but then expected her to conform to his norm. Their relationship is doomed because their goals and values were different. Neither seemed ready to give at all to make the relationship work. The book ended leaving me with no real positive feelings. It just felt like the story of a worldly woman who was unhappy and unfulfilled. She had buyers remorse about getting married and having children. She was never able to really see any benefits to saying in that relationship with her husband and was totally apathetic to her boys.
Yes there was an FBI agent and some spying on communist party activists but these were only a frame in which to hang the real story of how unfulfilling life is tied down to a husband and children. Not an uplifting read.

This book had a different twist on a typical WWII historical fiction novel. It had that Gothic Thriller feel and parts of the story reminded me of the short story, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. A Woman of Intelligence had a thrillerish quality that I wasn't expecting, but ended up enjoying.

I was disappointed that the romance element in the book wasn’t very believable. I think this is because there wasn’t enough information to explain why she fell head over heels for the person she did. Because of this, the romance element felt unbelievable.

All in all this book was an enjoyable, surprising twist on a historical fiction/spy thriller.

The audiobook narrator did an excellent job and added to my enjoyment of the book.

3.5 rounded up

“My vision for my life had been that of an international woman of something. Perhaps a translator like my Aunt Hannah. Maybe something that allowed me to keep one foot in New York and one foot in Europe. A diplomat if I really shot straight for the stars and didn’t miss. When I was at the United Nations that goal felt far more possible than it had at City Hall. On my desk, on day one, I found a headset, a typewriter, language dictionaries, a heavy black telephone, and piles of documents. One of them was the United Nations Charter. On that humid day, I sat down in my dark red Treina-Norell dress, took off my pristine white gloves, an ensemble bought at Macy’s with half of my last City Hall paycheck, and read dozens of pages. The section that stuck with me then, and that I re-read almost every week that I worked there, was Article 8: ‘The United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principle and subsidiary organs.’”

Set in 1954 New York City, Katharina Edgeworth has a picture-perfect life. She’s married to a successful, altruistic, pediatric surgeon and she has two young sons. But Katharina (nicknamed “Rina”) is unhappy, lamenting the loss of her exciting past as a translator at the United Nations. The story goes back and forth between Katharina’s stale life as a mother in 1954, and her glittering single life of parties and affairs. Katharina’s background, however, makes her the perfect individual to be recruited by the FBI. She’s an Ivy league graduate, fluent in four languages, and had a romantic fling with a person of interest. When approached, Katharina gladly accepts the opportunity to become an informant. But, with all the secrets and time she must dedicate to this new opportunity, Katharina’s home life and marriage is thrown into turmoil.

I think I should have been an ideal audience for this book, and there were elements of the premise that intrigued me: 1950s New York, work at the U.N., an ambitious female protagonist, tensions between marriage and motherhood and professional and personal aspirations, and the 1950s cultural expectations of a highly educated woman. However, I found the characters quite flat and the storyline quite predictable. Not one of the characters seemed to have any complexity or depth. Several times I was infuriated by Rina’s attitude and complaints––I really tried to give her character compassion and empathy for the rigidity of her time and social status, but I pretty much found her completely selfish and her feelings toward her role as mother mostly abhorrent. I think there certainly is a space to explore all the complexities of motherhood and the impact that being a mother has on an individual’s identity, goals, and choices, but I wasn’t convinced that Rina’s feelings for her children were authentic. I don’t want to share additional details as not to spoil the book, but I marked several lines throughout that really frustrated me, and I understand now why other readers struggled to finish reading the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook version of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a fantastic historical fiction novel! The main character was so relatable and the story beautifully illustrated the historical events of the time. I now have a better understanding of a lot of what happened after reading this.