cluedupreader's Reviews > Our Woman in Moscow

If you can't resist picking up this book because Beatriz Williams (!), then at least read the Author's Note in the back matter first. It explains the frazzled plot.

It helps additionally to brush up on the Cold War (to avoid a disruptive reading experience from "having" to google left and right), since it is assumed that we readers know the historical context. Instead, the novel contains some background on the arts, and is laden with superfluous details (I was surprised we aren't given the stair count when the characters depart the church).

It is no more a character- than plot-driven story, since nothing propels it after the intriguing opening, but the focus is on the characters—or, more specifically, on their physical features (spoiler: mostly everyone's skin is/turns pale and is/turns rosy or pink at the cheeks or ears).

Not even the sex scenes sizzle up this fizzle.

A letdown from the bestselling author whose live chat about this novel had me fascinated. The actual material did not.

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Thank you to William Morrow for an advance reader copy.