Special Bulletin: Review of ‘Agent Sonya’ (original) (raw)

Nancy Thomas

Thanks so much, Antony. I am partway through ‘Agent Sonya’ (I enjoyed Macintyre’s story about Gordievsky so I wanted to read it)-I like reading spy stories, but ‘Agent Sonya’ made me uneasy – she seemed too amazing to be true, so I was happy that I dug up your review today. I just retired from a career as a librarian. I did some archival work while I was in grad school so your arguments about the unavailability of E. German and Russian materials rings true (and I would certainly not rely on Ursula’s reminiscences, especially those approved by the GRU). I think the thing that bugs me the most about this book is that fundamentally, I don’t like Ursula. I can understand fighting Hitler’s fascists, and yes, they were our allies in WWII (albeit with gritted teeth re Stalin), but if Ursula was so brilliant in understanding the plight of workers and oppressed peoples (and her own Jewish people), I don’t understand how she could stay so (willfully?) blind to what she’d been fed by the party for the rest of her life. I would expect her to come to some uncomfortable conclusions (especially about Stalin!) with some soul searching. And finally, I am a mother too, and I would never put my child in danger for ANY job, so I suppose I do not have anything in common with Ursula. (Also, what comrade gets a live-in maid/nanny and a fairly generous housing allowance?) I admire courage, but I admire courage while respecting truth (at least the seeking of truth) even more. Maybe that’s why I was fascinated about Macintyre’s story of Gordievsky. At least Gordievsky looked beyond what he’d been told. I struggled with why I should admire Ursula as a brave and clever spy (as Macintyre seems to want me to do) but I feel that she stubbornly backed the wrong bunch. I can’t excuse ignoring Stalin’s purges. I’m going to search around and see if she said anything about Gorbachev or the fall of communism–I’d be curious to find out (I know she died in 2000). I am also aware that my country, the U.S. has made plenty of mistakes. But Moscow never got it right, as we’re seeing on the news every night from Ukraine. So thank you, Antony. I feel better about not being able to understand Ursula’s perspective. I’ll read the rest of it as mostly fiction with the conclusion that there’s just not enough information and therefore, we just can’t be sure of any part of her story.