Who Is Vera Kelly? (A Vera Kelly Story, 1) Paperback – June 12, 2018

As a kid, I loved reading spy stories. Still do. This recent novel was a good read, interesting to me for its braiding of two time periods in the life of the main character, as a teenager and young woman in the U.S., and the spy based in turbulent Buenos Aires in the late 'Sixties. It's fiction, but reflective of Argentine (and U.S.) history, which is brought to life through the character of Vera Kelly. I'm giving it to a friend who grew up in Argentina to read...

This is my favorite kind of spy novel, one that creates a sense of mystery on every page as it evokes a world that is both unfamiliar to me (Buenos Aires in mid-coup in the mid-sixties) and yet feels intensely present through the author's uncanny gift at evoking atmosphere through vivid details. From the first scenes, we sense that Vera is no typical "lady spy"; in fact, she's a cool customer who translates her personal vulnerabilities (a family dynamic of violence and loss, her lesbian sexual orientation) into the kind of detachment and cold-eyed control that leads to her being chosen as a CIA operative. This makes her a compelling protagonist as she navigates the political twists and upheavals of this slightly exotic and soon-to-be-under-siege capital. Just watching Vera display her deft command of period-accurate eavesdropping equipment is worth the price of admission and as the story moves to its unpredictable conclusion, I was thrilled to be along for the ride.

This book is not in any way a "page-turner", nor should it be described as "dazzling". The marketing description of this book is all wrong, and places it in a category (Spy novel! Thriller!) where it will suffer because people will expect it to deliver what it doesn't and can't. The scintillating reviews describing it as a book you can't put down are inexplicable, and left me wondering if they were written by people who know the author. It's not that the book is bad, it's just not in the category others are claiming it to be in. This is a well-written literary novel that is a pleasure to read because the author has obviously read literature copiously and knows how to turn a phrase. It reads like a memoir, a story about the life of someone the author actually knows, or noirish historical fiction. It reads bit like like chick lit, Curtis Sittenfeld comes to mind or Bridget Jones' Diary, except it's about a serious and intellectual young woman and her backstory and career instead of about vapid topics like finding a man to marry or starting a family. This author, in my view, doesn't know how to write a spy novel, and probably hasn't read many. This is where the problem lies. It's not a page-turner as advertised, nor is it satisfying from a plot perspective in the way that genre should be. For example, there is no suspense at the end of a chapter, and there's no real build-up to a climax. Theres no real threat, no real violence. Oddly, the only sex is heterosexual sex although the protagonist is bi an prefers women. The entire time through the book I wondered whether a woman alone in the 60's would have actually been able to have the freedom of movement described in the book. The "denouement", what there is of one, is understated and deflated, like finding out something you were looking forward to turned out to be pretty pedestrian and a non- event. The book ends on a downer as the woman moves on from her experience, and there is absolutely zero indication she is beginning a thrilling career as a spy. In summary, this is a good variation on the chick lit memoirish coming of age novel with a bit of history thrown in. Ignore the fact that she's technically a spy and think of that as her interesting job, and you'll end up liking it. But if you start out thinking of this as a "spy novel", you'll be sorely disappointed.

Part coming-of-age novel, part spy story, "Who Is Vera Kelly" doesn’t proceed like the typical espionage thriller, but I liked it anyway. It slowly warmed me up, like a good stew after a long hike in the cold. Issues of mother-daughter drama, the history of Argentina, and Cold War-era politics, sexuality and love are also woven in.I really liked the way Knecht used flashbacks to lend a sense of the wisdom of hindsight. At the start of the book, Vera is in Chevy Chase, MD, in 1957, and then in the second chapter (already on page three), she’s in Buenos Aires a decade later. Thereafter, the chapters alternate in location and time, until we finally have the whole picture in the final chapter (1967). As the stories oscillate, the reader gains insights into Vera’s life, as if she herself has only figured them out as time has passed.Knecht drops tidbits about CIA and KGB activity in Argentina during the Cold War, leading the reader to wonder who is who, driving the story forward. This is where much of the suspense comes in, as questions arise surrounding the true identities and motivations of the characters.Another way to look at “Who Is Vera Kelly” is as an anatomy of a coup. With Vera posing as a Canadian student Anne and describing the unfolding political upheaval, the reader gets to observe from her outsider’s vantage point. The impending coup feels like an iceberg inching toward an inevitable crash, something everyone sees coming but that is impossible to stop. More suspense comes in here, as the reader wants to know how she gets out, and whether her CIA boss will come through for her.On the downside, there was not enough historical detail for my taste (and this is why I gave it four instead of five stars). I would have preferred additional historical facts worked into the story. In particular, I had to check history books and websites to remind myself of the timeline of Argentina’s history, and how that would’ve related to Vera Kelly. Basics such as the background on the coup that came in June 1966, which brought Gen. Juan Carlos Ongania to power, could have been sprinkled throughout. I would l have enjoyed more detail on why certain characters were personally for or against Ongania.Another important aspect of the book has to do with love and sexual orientation, especially in the context of the era, when people really had to keep any same-sex feelings hidden. The way in which Knecht intertwines Vera’s experiences with both men and women came across as authentic to me, and I found these developments well-balanced, critical pieces of the overall story, rather than off-handed additions designed to target a certain audience.Finally, the ending really blew my mind, with multiple aspects that I didn’t foresee at all, but that seemed feasible, once they were revealed. “Who Is Vera Kelly” is not really a spy novel, but it is a great read that involves spying, and it gets hotter and hotter as it goes.

Set in Argentina on the cusp of one of its coups, this was a good way to know the history of the nation as lived in and seen through the eyes of CIA recruit Vera who is there on surveillance duty.The political machinations and Vera's own working methods as well as a side plot involving university students gave this the feel of an espionage genre book which it was but in a less action way.The dual timeline where Vera's childhood and adolescence led up to where she is now was done well.Vera was impressive in the way she had made something of herself and her quick thinking.

Buen libro, llegó rápido y en excelentes condiciones.

Didn't enjoy this book - it was a book club. Quite boring.

It sounded really exciting but failed🙁 it hopped from past to present and the present didn’t move fast enough, it was a book club read and we all enjoyed the past descriptions of her childhood