The Florentine entanglement

I have just had the pleasure of reading the newly published book "The Florentine Entanglement", written by Pamela Norsworthy. It's a book right up my street: a non-action Cold War spy novel with a certain amount set in Florence, Italy. To quote an AI, "The Florentine Entanglement" refers to a Cold War historical fiction novel, intertwining the 1960 U-2 spy plane incident with the complex marriage of a CIA officer involved, exploring how global events impact personal lives through the story of Eleanor and Talbot Bentley, set against a backdrop of espionage and wartime secrets from fascist Italy to the Cold War.

It is richly detailed and slow, so much so that at about halfway through the book, I started wondering where it was going to lead. I don't want to give away any of the plot, so I'll have to say that the first half gives the impression that the story is about a CIA officer who is involved with the U-2 programme, trying to understand how the Soviets could have shot down the plane, whereas the second half takes a dramatic turn elsewhere. Chapter 23 - the first chapter of part two of the book - suddenly takes the reader into an unsuspected world.

I enjoyed the book, despite its glacial pace. It is full of observation and details. It also lacks swearing which always makes a book easier to read for me. James Bond this is not, neither is it particularly George Smiley, although of course it does lean that way. Highly recommended.

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This day in blog history:

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444	15/01/2012	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Films, John Le Carre
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