Flirting with danger The mysterious life of Marguerite Harrison, socialite spy

Marguerite Harrison was an intriguing figure who danced with danger at every chance, her story beautifully brought to life by author Wallach (Desert Queen). Born to wealthy parents in the Gilded Age, she was a socialite who didn't marry a man quite as well-to-do as her mother had hoped. After finding herself widowed young, Marguerite plunged headfirst into life as a journalist, writing about culture, which offered her the chance to see the world. As WWI drew closer, Marguerite applied for an intelligence position and was soon sent to Germany as a spy and later to Russia. While there, her cover was blown, leaving her with a single chance at freedom: becoming a double agent for Russia. Ingenuity and courage led her through the ordeal as she struggled to provide the U.S. with intelligence while making Russia think she was working for them. However, Marguerite's warnings about the unrest in Germany, which would culminate in WWII and the Cold War, often went unheeded. Perfect for readers of history, biography, and women's history.

In this colorful account, biographer Wallach (The Richest Woman in the World) relates the life story of one of America's greatest female spies, Marguerite Harrison (1879--1967). Born to Gilded Age wealth as the daughter of a Baltimore shipping magnate, Harrison volunteered with U.S. Army Intelligence in 1918, offering her services as a spy in Europe since she was fluent French and German. Arriving in Berlin after the Armistice, and with a legitimate cover as a Baltimore Sun reporter, she filed stories for the newspaper and secret dispatches to the U.S. government on the raging fight between German communists and the right-wing Freikorps for control of postwar Germany. She traveled to Moscow in 1920, where she glimpsed Lenin at the opera, interviewed Leon Trotsky, was arrested as a spy by the secret police after a mole in U.S. intelligence leaked one of her reports to the Soviets, briefly turned double agent, and served a harrowing 10 months in the infamous Lubyanka prison. Harrison's lectures and books about her exploits made her famous, and she founded the Society of Woman Geographers in 1925. Wallach presents the eye-popping action crisply, but struggles to get under the surface of this impressive woman. Still, it's a remarkable tale of intrigue and daring. (Aug.)

Biography of a secret agent, filmmaker, and socialite who "was always drawn to adventure, lured by the blurry beyond." Though hardly a household name, Marguerite Harrison (1879-1967) was at the center of consequential 20th-century global events. In her latest, Wallach, whose previous books include Desert Queen and The Richest Woman in America, tackles the life and professional contributions of Harrison, whose social pedigree and proficiency with multiple languages gave her international access and enabled her unlikely career in espionage. The daughter of a Maryland shipping magnate, by her late 30s, she was the widow of a stockbroker, a Baltimore socialite, and a society reporter for the Baltimore Sun. The first woman sent overseas as a military intelligence officer to spy for the U.S., she was also the first American woman to enter Germany after World War I. Harrison was later sent abroad to assess security situations in the newly independent Poland, the Baltics, and Russia, where she was detained for more than a year in the notorious Lubyanka prison. Later adventures took her to Manchuria, China, Turkey, and Persia, where she accompanied the Bakhtiari tribe on its annual 46-day migration across treacherous mountains. As "flirtatious in drawing rooms" as she was "unflappable in deserts," Harrison met a full cast of international figures, including Queen Victoria, Leon Trotsky, Bertrand Russell, John Reed, Herbert Hoover, and King Faisal of Iraq. Wallach focuses primarily on Harrison's spectacular yet largely unknown career in espionage. Her domestic life and family get only brief mentions, as perhaps befits her somewhat detached personality. Extensive endnotes make clear that the author relied heavily on Harrison's own books, including her autobiography, There's Always Tomorrow. Nonetheless, Wallach's expert storytelling, which has the suspense and pacing of a good spy novel, is clearly her own, and it makes for engaging reading. The globe-trotting exploits of "a confirmed wanderer" and top-notch spy finally get their due. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.