Elizabeth Bentley, the Spy Who Ushered in the McCarthy Era
In mid-October 1938, Comrade Brown instructed Bentley to meet him in Greenwich Village in front of a little restaurant on University Place. He had a new contact for her, a top man in the communist movement, he told her, a man she could trust. They rendezvoused at the appointed hour and began walking slowly toward Eighth Street when, at the corner, a small, stocky man in a shabby suit and scuffed brown shoes suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Bentley was taken aback. Brown merely nodded and introduced the man as “Timmy.” Timmy had a car parked around the corner, an old Dodge sedan, and the three of them got in and drove over to Fourteenth Street, where Brown got out and caught the subway. Then Timmy swung the car around and headed downtown. He knew a restaurant on lower Second Avenue, an out-of-the-way little place where they could sit and talk over dinner.
Best Seller, The Washington Post
A compelling biography of the notorious “queen spy,” a quiet Vassar-educated woman who became the leader of the two largest Communist spy rings in America.
The Reviews are In…
“An intriguing look at the life and adventures of a remarkable woman…Clever Girl is not only an insightful biography of an extraordinary American woman but a thrilling character-driven drama.”
—The San Francisco Chronicle
-
Kessler’s story of Bentley the woman is superb, bringing to life the loneliness, the fear and the thrill of her life as spy and anti-spy.
-
Spellbinding.
-
In this compelling and comprehensive biography, Kessler masterfully explores and exposes the myriad, competing facets of Bentley’s tumultuous life. Whether she was lover or naif, patriot or spy, Bentley’s various crises-of-conscience would ultimately bring down individuals and nearly topple a nation.
-
A gripping book. Bentley’s story is quite remarkable.
-
A well-paced and sympathetic chronicle.
-
Impressively researched…the mystery of Elizabeth Bentley is what keeps the reader turning the pages.
