Friday, February 17, 2012

A Covert Affair

Friendship. The declassification of secret records can provide authors with a treasure trove of material about individuals and situations. Jennet Conant’s book, A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS, tells a bundle of interesting anecdotes about the wartime adventures of the Childs and how their postwar life led to challenging times for them and their friends. The central character of the book, Jane Foster, was a friend of the Childs, and she was accused of being a Soviet spy. That led to McCarthy challenges of the loyalty of her friends. Even with many American and Russian documents declassified, it remains unclear whether or not Foster was a spy. Fans of Julia Child may feel shortchanged by all the pages that are not connected to her. Readers interested in this era are those most likely to enjoy this account of some fascinating people and events of the 1940s and 1950s.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
Click here to purchase A Covert Affair from amazon.com.

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