Publication Date: October 19, 2023

Summary

Lady Pamela More is a writer for the Times. Her column “Agent of Influence” keeps the who’s who of London society up to date on the latest fashion trends and society gossip. She is well aware that her co-workers consider her decorative at best and vapid at worst. At one point she had hoped to be a serious journalist. Earlier in her career she had followed the news zealously and tried to engage others in discussions about politics, but found nobody would take her seriously. In frustration, she surrendered and focused on what was expected of her. 

At the age of 29, Pam has become frustrated with her life. Her husband, Francis, age 40 and a member of Parliament, seems willing to humor her, but she knows he would very much like to have children. This has become a sensitive topic between them, and like so many of their class, they deal with sensitive topics by ignoring them. 

It is 1936 and King Edward has just taken the throne. The majority of the British public know nothing about his American lover, Wallis Simpson, because the press has agreed not to publish anything about their relationship. Some members of the press consider this a form of censorship, but the vast majority of the newspapers are owned by wealthy, influential people who are happy to cooperate with the Palace.

Imagine Pamela’s surprise when her Editor-in-Chief, Geoffrey Dawson, informs her that she is going to write a column for the paper titled “A Week with Wallis.” Her job is to make Wallis seem interesting and relevant, but without mentioning the king. Her focus is to be on clothing, jewelry, parties, and home design. Originally, the column had been assigned to the other female at the paper, Gertrude Leigh, the Agony Aunt, but the previous month Gertrude had fallen under a train and was now in a coma. 

Around this time, Pamela becomes convinced she is being followed by a man, likely another journalist hoping to scoop her on the Wallis story. However, this man isn’t trying to steal her story. He’s trying to recruit her to MI-5 to gather information on Wallis, the king, and any Nazis or Nazi sympathizers with whom they interact. Initially excited by the opportunity to do more than write about dresses, Pamela soon becomes aware that the Nazis will target their adversaries ruthlessly and she is concerned that should someone realize what she is doing, she could be disposed of as easily as the last German ambassador. 

My Thoughts

This is a detailed, immersive and exceptionally well-researched story. The author’s writing style is highly engaging. While it is a spy novel, it’s also a story about a woman trying to figure out who she is and what she wants from life. There’s suspense and there are also some poignant moments. I found it a very enjoyable story.

Many of the characters mentioned in the story were actual historical figures. Noel Coward, Evelyn Waugh, Vita Sackville-West, Cecil Beaton and other recognizable individuals attend some of the same parties as Pam. It added a very authentic feeling to the book to have real people showing up alongside the fictional characters. I recently finished reading an excellent biography, The Viceroy’s Daughters: Lives of the Curzon Sisters by Anne de Courcy, and many individuals in that biography also showed up in this story. That said, there are a lot of characters in this book, and for those who are not entirely familiar with political figures and the nobility of the UK in the 1930’s, it could be over-whelming. It may help to jot down names while reading. 

Lady Pamela is a fascinating character. She’s a highly observant woman who can tell a lot from a person based just on what they are wearing. She notices quality, loose buttons, scuffed shoes – even the smallest details don’t escape her. Pamela doesn’t have much tolerance for hypocrisy and resents things like double standards for women. In her own way, she’s a feminist for the time period. 

However, as a spy she has some shortcomings. A major problem is that she’s suffering from a serious case of imposter’s syndrome. She is such a good fit for what they have asked her to do, but she constantly doubts herself and thinks they should have chosen someone who was better qualified.

Perhaps her biggest failing as a spy is that she isn’t really good at keeping secrets and she reveals her secret work to two other individuals. As the book progresses, she becomes more and more paranoid, which seems reasonable given that she is a relatively sheltered woman without much experience of the real world, and she finds the work very isolating. That isolation sometimes allows her paranoia to get the better of her. 

Everything was not wrapped up neatly at the end of the story. Normally, that would annoy me, but so much in the world of spies is so ambiguous, so I was actually very happy with how things ended up.

What Else I Liked

• Pam’s Aunt Constance is a marvelous character. A former suffragette who went to India to open a school for girls, she has returned to England after many years away and has asked Pam to help her hold a fund-raiser. The more I learned about Constance, the more I liked her and I could envision an entire book being written just about her life. 

• Jenny, the maid, is also an intriguing character, also deserving of her own book. She does a great deal of information gathering for Pamela, first for her society column and eventually for her work with MI-5. 

• Pam makes friends in the LGBT community at a time when being LGBT was a criminal offense. Through them she learns of some of the abuses the community faces in general, but also the heightened dangers they face from the fascists in Germany and in the UK and that reinforces her desire to help MI-5. 

What I Didn’t Like

• Pam’s paranoia occasionally seemed a bit extreme to the point of appearing farcical. For example, she was on a crowded yacht and a German man began to walk towards her, so she freaked out and started to run. I understand many on the boat were Nazi sympathizers, but she was with her husband, aunt and friends on the boat, so I didn’t understand why she fled and where she thought she was going to go.

• I love this time period, and I know a lot about this time period, so for me it was a perfect book. For some people, I think the number of characters and political movements could make it bit harder to follow.

My Rating 5/5

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I received a free eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review,

Trigger Warnings/Content Alerts

• Infertility
• Antisemitism
• Homophobia
• Abortion
• Sexual harassment – verbal and physical 

About the Author

Photo credit to David Monteith-Hodge

Originally from Chicago, Sarah Sigal has lived in London since 2005. She has a PhD in Theater and Performance, and she has published both academic research and a play. The Socialite Spy will be her first published novel. Sigal has taught in theater related classes at Universities across the UK, written and directed for film, worked as a Live Perfomance Programmer for several years, and co-founded and programmed the Change of Art festival.

To learn more about her, please check out her website.