A Woman of Intelligence is a work of historical fiction that grabs your attention from the start. The author walks the line with her characters, whom are somehow relatable yet the stuff of dreams (or nightmares). This was an enjoyable take on a period in history that tapped into the experience of women and the notion that things are not always as they appear.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read this book. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

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Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin"s Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy! This took me a lot of patience to not chuck this book against the wall. By chapter 9, I was screaming a steady stream of English and French curse words. Maybe it's the July humidity but it felt like a struggling type of read

The novel had a great premise and I think I was craving more hunting down of Soviet spies than an American woman's suffocating marriage to a real douchebag. Also, I don't know why the author felt she had to give the main protagonist a love interest.


Goodreads review published 18/07/21
Expected Publication Date 20/07/21

The synopsis of this book led me to believe that there was going to be much more espionage and intrigue. However, much more focus was placed on a woman who was struggling in her marriage and as a new mother.

While I think this is part of a much larger conversation and the author captured the very essence a problems women face within a marriage it just wasn't what I was looking for in what was marketed as a spy novel.

The highlight of this book was the quippy remarks in conversation. Rina had such a way of talking with both friends and those she considered enemies, her in-laws especially.

I was quite pleased with the profound conversation she was able to have with her husband at the end of the book. It was so different from many novels and television that use the lack of conversation as a dramatic point. The way Rina was able to speak with her husband in such a clear and concise manner was a breath of fresh air.

Marks removed from this review only due to the lack of clear perception.

Thank you to netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Karin Tanabe for the digital review copy.

This was a very well written historical fiction novel and certainly made me want to dig into other books by Tanabe. This is the story of Katharina Edgeworth, a stay at home mother in New York City in the 50s. But Rina is highly educated, speaks 5 languages fluently, and previously worked for the UN as a translator. Her new life as a mom is not at all fulfilling to her intellectually, and she yearns for more. An opportunity comes up for undercover work with the FBI and Rina is sent on quite a journey of personal change and growth. I will say that some of the aspects of this story stretched reality quite a bit for me, but the story was one that really drew you in and I had a hard time putting it down.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I'll admit, I was interested. I accepted an ARC of this early into my "going to read more historical fiction" this year plan and I am so glad that I did. Tanabe does a good job of balancing the thrilling aspects with the historical ones to take you on one interesting ride that I wasn't sure I wanted to get off.

A Woman of Intelligence - Karin Tanabe
3.5/4

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGallery for the electronic ARC! This novel came out on Tuesday

Brief Synopsis:
Set in Post-war New York in 1954, Katharina speaks 4 languages, works as a translator for the United Nations and is single…which means she is always up for some cocktails & a good time. Now, as a wife to a surgeon & with 2 sons, Katharina feels trapped and longs for her old life. When she is approached by the FBI to help track down an old acquaintance of hers, she feels exhilarated and alive. Will she risk everything she has for this taste of freedom?

My thoughts/opinions:
Katharina was living the life when she was young! What a strong female character. It will make you angry sometimes at how females were viewed as just being the ‘housewife’ and the sexism that she often had to endure. So frustrating. I felt for Katharina & the mixed feelings she had about motherhood.
It was a good read! I almost wished we followed her life when she was a translator thought. I think that would have been a lot more exciting for the FBI portion of the novel.

The striking cover art of this Historical Fiction novel set in 1950's New York City is what initially caught my attention. It is stunning, but when I read its blurb - about a young affluent mother who becomes a spy - my interest was truly piqued.

I love a story that sets me firmly in another era and in the shoes of a character whose life is so different from my own. A Woman of Intelligence is a story about Katharina, a woman who seemingly had it all - married to a doctor, part of a prominent and affluent family in NYC and mother to two young sons. But through Katharina's life, readers witness how this once independent woman and former UN translator loses her identity once she's married and becomes a mother. It's this look at the restrictive role, rights, and responsibilities of women in the 1950's that I found most interesting.

But it's when Katharina gets pulled into espionage that the story fell flat for me and lagged quite a bit in the middle. That said, I enjoyed the setting and era and Katherina's humour and sass. Unfortunately, her husband felt one-dimensional, like a caricature of a 1950's husband and some aspects of the plot were too farfetched for me.

This lighter historical fiction will appeal to many readers and the topics would make for great book club discussion. I enjoyed its focus on women's historical roles, particularly the feminist issues and how Katherina lost her identity within her confining marriage and societal rules. But the plot was simpler than expected and the story lacked tension, particularly during the parts involving espionage. This was a good but not quite a wow read for me.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press for my complimentary digital copy of this book provided in exchange for my honest review.

This was a historical fiction novel. But the main character, Katharina, was not engaging enough to keep my interest. The premise was a little farfetched … how she managed to do her duty was a wife and mother while secretly working in the field of Intelligence without her husband figuring it out was ridiculous. It was just too difficult to take seriously so did not appeal to me as much as I had hoped.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe was in many ways a cautionary tale, in some ways a coming of age story. Katharina (Rina) who is trapped in a life she doesn't want. She is married to an up and coming pediatric surgeon, the son of society. She has two small children, two and less than one. She never sees her husband. He is at work. The only friend she has is another young mother who lives in the same building. She had had a life as an interpreter for the UN. Where had that interesting woman gone? Then one day she approached by an FBI agent, wanting her help with a situation what included a man with whom she had been in love in college. Could she even get out of the house often enough to help? Turns out she could. As she got deeper and deeper into the situation, the better she felt. Meanwhile, her husband thinks she's having a nervous breakdown.

Rina is a fabulous character, one many woman recognize. The first couple of years of a child's life totally consume the mother. With two little ones, she was running in opposite directions al day, with no mental stimulation at all. At the time in which this book was set, there were no many options. Working outside the home when one had small children simply was not done, especially with her husband's family. Her mother-in-law understood. Other women understood. Her husband did not. She began to drink too much, a common solution to these problems. She lied, a lot. Another sort of solution. Communication might have helped, but probably not: it was a female problem and of no importance. This was an intriguing novel; one young women should read, especially.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of A Woman of Intelligence by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #awomanofintelligence

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.

I 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.

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.

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 Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe is a spy novel set in the early 1950s as the Red Scare takes hold of the nation. Katharina “Rina” Edgeworth is a born and bred New Yorker. She has married the ideal husband, the talented pediatric surgeon, two sons, a Fifth Avenue address, high society parties. To the outside world, she has the perfect life. But appearances can be deceiving. As the daughter of immigrants, Ivy-League educated and speaking four languages, as a single girl in 1940s Manhattan, she was recruited as a translator at the newly formed United Nations. She devotes her days to the promise of world peace and her nights to the promise of a good time. But life as a wife and mother, Rina feels trapped in a gilded cage and she is desperate to escape. One fateful day, she is approached by the FBI to be an informant. A man from her past has become a high-level Soviet spy and the FBI has tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate his inner circle. Enter Rina, the perfect woman for the job. Can she navigate the demands of the FBI, secrets and keep her everyday life safe and secret?
A Woman of Intelligence is described with the “fast-paced twists of a classic spy thriller, and the nuanced depiction of female experience” and “shimmers with intrigue and desire.” I can say it failed to live up to this description. Maybe I’m not familiar enough with spy thrillers, not my usual genre, but the story was anything but fast-paced. The references to the Cold War events as they happened was interesting as the McCarthy hearings were headline news at the time. Rina was a very hard woman to care for. She whined and complained more than anything else. There were too many comments about the socialites and the fashion of the day, then the spy intrigue. The author tries to show how underappreciated the stay at home moms were, and often still are today, however, it did not improve my opinion of Rina. I can appreciate that the author wanted to show a woman who is more than just a wife and mother. Overall, I enjoyed A Woman of Intelligence, it just was not as exciting as I expected. If you are a fan of Karin Tanabe, you may enjoy A Woman of Intelligence.

A Woman of Intelligence is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook.

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.

3.5 rounded up

Katharina (Rina) West had an exciting life. She used to be a UN translator in four languages. She and her dear friend and co-worker, Marianne Fontaine would paint the town almost nightly until Rina ,met and ,married Dr. Tom Edgeworth. Tom was a pediatric surgeon when he met Rina. Both Tom and Rina hit it off and eventually got married. Little did Rina know that her life would change dramatically.

And change it did when Rina bore two sons born five months apart. At that time, Rina was in love with motherhood. But soon it got to be tedious and her life with children was almost the bane of her existence -- until she met Lee Coldwell, an FBI agent. Lee propositions Rina to spy on an intelligence operative for the Soviet Union and to fish out the traitors.

A Woman of Intelligence is categorized as Women's Fiction and rightly so. It's a sad tale of a woman's loss of self esteem and her plight to get any sense of self worth back.

The character development is well executed. The reader will be able to picture each player in his/her mind's eye.

The plot wasn't that straightforward and it took a long while before any semblance of a storyline occurred.
For some reason, I expected more espionage, but got more midlife crisis, instead. A somewhat disappointing two stars -- it was okay.

I received a digital ARC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Loved this story! Katharina, an independent, confident, professional UN interpreter, post WWII, at least until the demands of 1950's wife/mother demands force she into a domestic lifestyle that she is not happy with. She eventually takes the risk/opportunity of spying for the FBI, because of a relationship she had back during college with a man that is involved in the KGB/Soviet Union. A wonderful look at sexism back in those times.

My Review:⭐️⭐⭐.5/ 5 stars

Another book with a beautiful and bright cover! I had read Karin Tanabe’s last book, A Hundred Suns, and loved it. This one is a historical fiction taking place in 1954 about Katharina Edgeworth who feels like she has lost her true self after marriage/kids. Before marriage, she was working as a UN translator in 4 languages, lived and loved freely, and had the time of her life. She really felt like she was a part of something special. Then she meets Tom Edgeworth, a pediatric surgeon from a wealthy shipping family, who always seem to be a bit judgemental about her “poorer” roots. Tom wants her at home with the kids - but she wants more for herself. Then she meets Lee Coldwell, an FBI agent, who asks if she could be an informant because her former lover is now a top level Russian spy. As she gets more immersed in the job, she is now delivering top secret stolen government documents to DC, while balancing the hardships of being a mother. After people start dying after their covers are blown, she realises quickly how dangerous her job is and she finds comfort in unexpected ways.

I enjoyed the overall story, but I really was put off by Katharina’s boredom of motherhood and how much she complains about it. I can only imagine how moms feel this way is common after losing your career in lieu of having children - but this woman is a millionaire, living in one of the most expensive buildings in NYC. So she becomes a spy, endangering the lives of her young kids, meeting other KGB spies while on the “job.” As hateable as her husband Tom is portrayed in this, I felt myself siding with him a few times: she left her child bleeding on broken glass because she lost herself and ran away and comes home hungover late at night, keeps secrets about everything from her husband, and goes onto break promises/agreements with him. As much as I liked reading about female spies during this time, Katharina was one I did not like as a character.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review! US Pub Date: July 20, 2021

Katharina "Rina" Edgeworth appears to have a dream life as a socialite and mother of two young sons. She is fluent in four languages and Ivy-league educated, yet Rina yearns to feel the fulfillment she once experienced when she worked for the UN. Then the FBI approaches her to be an informant and Rina jumps at the chance to help bring down a man from her past who is a communist spy. Her double life comes with repercussions that could ruin her and her family.
The cover is absolutely stunning! I think the author did a good job helping me to understand how Rina felt about motherhood and her life even if I didn't agree with all her decisions. I did enjoy the intrigue that came with her double life. Overall, it was an interesting read.

This book struck me as "The Scarecrow and Mrs. King" meets The Feminine Mystique. Set in the mid-1950's in New York City, this is the story of a young, wealthy, highly-educated woman who is struggling with the expectations of both society and family as she finds motherhood more limiting and less fulfilling than her previous job at the United Nations. When she is approached by the FBI to act as an informant, life becomes a lot more complicated and a lot more interesting. A well-paced, propulsive read that provides insight into a woman's struggles in the era of McCarthyism, with a lot of NYC scenery thrown in.