If you haven't seen Mrs. Wilson yet, you've been missing out. The drama, the intrigue, the romance (not to mention the betrayal!) are all off the charts. But what else would you expect from a war-time British drama based on real events?
READ MORE: The Spies Who Loved Us: Five Spies who Mixed Work & Romance
While the eponymous Mrs. Wilson is the emotional core of the series (a role deftly portrayed by Ruth Wilson, of Luther fame), her story orbits that of her husband, Alexander Wilson. A spy author, Alec wrote over 10 novels in his career, each receiving high praise from reviewers. But while the books were well-thumbed in his day, Alexander's star has dimmed somewhat. While you can still get a paperback of Get Wallace! or The Devil's Cocktail on Amazon, he's not a household name. So we got to thinking — are there more spies-turned-authors? And if so, how well known are they? For two careers that use psuedonyms on a regular basis, that answer was surprisingly easy.
Roald Dahl
The first on our list comes as no surprise. We covered Dahl's travail d'amour in our last article, The Spies Who Loved Us, where we looked at his work as a British honeypot spy in Washington DC. Using his considerable charm and verve, Dahl seduced many a socialite, enticing them (and often, their husbands!) to turn their monetary power toward World War II – which the U.S. had yet to join.
It was during this time that a newspaper reporter approached Dahl, asking to interview him about the plane crash that had removed Dahl from active duty. Intrigued by the idea, Dahl asked if he could take a crack at the article first — and the rest is history.
Iconic Books: Matilda, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Our Recommendation: Witches
Graham Greene
Though we all know Greene as one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century, we weren't nearly as aware of his work as an international spy – though it turned out to be a fairly unexciting career for him. As a student at Oxford in 1924, Greene's studies led to a sympathy for the Germans still recovering from WWI. A healthy desire for adventure led to his brief engagement with the Nationalists as a (fairly-useless) spy in Weimar-era Bonn and Heidelberg. This experience would come in handy when WWII inevitably rolled around. In 1941, Greene was sent to Sierra Leone by MI6, for what turned out to be another excitement-free endeavor. But, in 1943, he was moved to Portugal to spy on the German Abwehr (Military Intelligence). It was there that Greene discovered that the majority of the German spies were simply making up information to send home – and thus, the concept for Our Man in Havana was born.
Iconic Books: The Power and The Glory, The Quiet American, The End of the Affair, Brighton Rock
Our Recommendation: Our Man in Havana
Dashiell Hammett
The problem that comes up when you look into the lives of authors is that they sometimes... embroider the truth. Add in a history of espionage, and you can never quite be sure what the truth is. That is especially true in the case of Dashiell Hammett – so true, in fact, that any autobiographers of the author have to dedicate themselves to untangling the facts and fictions that Hammett wove about his life. While it was true that Hammett served as a Pinkerton Detective in his early 20s, many of the tales around his work with the agency are just that – tall tales. But while Hammett might not have actually turned down hitman jobs or found missing gold aboard a steamship, his somewhat tedious work for Pinkerton did inform some of the most well-known detective tales of the 20th century.
Iconic Books: The Thin Man, Red Harvest, The Glass Key, Nightmare Town
Our Recommendation: The Maltese Falcon
Julia Child
You may have been able to tell by now, but we kind of adore Julia Child. And while she did work for the organization that would go on to become the CIA, her tasks were less cloak and dagger, and more... keyboard and book. After being turned away from the military for being too tall, she began working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) as a research assistant. The majority of her work involved typing up the names and addresses of government executives. Despite being bored with the job, Julia put in the work, and steadily moved up the ranks. Other work during her time in the OSS included researching shark repellent kits for the Navy, before her ultimate post as the Chief of the OSS Registry in Sri Lanka. And while her spy work didn't inform her eventual writing, her time with the OSS did teach her French, setting her on the path to stardom!
Iconic Books: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes I and II, The Way to Cook, The French Chef Cookbook
Our Recommendation: My Life in France
Aphra Behn
The funny thing about Aphra Behn is that her spying is almost a footnote to the rest of her life. Behn had a far more important achievement — becoming the first successful female writer in England. Like other writers on this list, Behn started as a spy, and at the age of 26 infiltrated an enemy country, finding a contact there and turning him into a spy for the crown. Unfortunately, Behn found herself a victim of poor exchange rates, and was quickly stranded in the field, completely broke. After borrowing money to return home, she was thrown in debtors prison. It was this event that drove her to find a career that would allow her to provide for herself. Luckily, this was England during the restoration — with 11 years under the puritanical Oliver Cromwell now a thing of the past — the British public was in just the right mood for a bawdy, opinionated woman. With feminist, pro-pleasure, and anti-slavery opinion, Aphra's works disappeared as the restoration ended – but are now becoming available once again. Thanks Internet!
Iconic Work: The Forc'd Marriage, The Dutch Lover, The Fair Jilt, The History of the Nun
Our Recommendation: Check out The Works of Aphra Behn Collections on Project Gutenberg!
Did we miss any books? What are your favorite spy reads? Get at us on Facebook or Twitter!
Resources
Roald Dahl – History.com
Graham Greene – Lapham's Quarterly
Dashiell Hammett – Washington Post
Julia Child – The Julia Child Foundation
Aphra Behn –Amy's Smart Girls and Smithsonian Magazine
