A review by bibliophage
A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

 “My vision for my life had been that of an international woman of something. Perhaps a translator like my Aunt Hannah. Maybe something that allowed me to keep one foot in New York and one foot in Europe. A diplomat if I really shot straight for the stars and didn’t miss. When I was at the United Nations that goal felt far more possible than it had at City Hall. On my desk, on day one, I found a headset, a typewriter, language dictionaries, a heavy black telephone, and piles of documents. One of them was the United Nations Charter. On that humid day, I sat down in my dark red Treina-Norell dress, took off my pristine white gloves, an ensemble bought at Macy’s with half of my last City Hall paycheck, and read dozens of pages. The section that stuck with me then, and that I re-read almost every week that I worked there, was Article 8: ‘The United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principle and subsidiary organs.’” 

 

Set in 1954 New York City, Katharina Edgeworth has a picture-perfect life. She’s married to a successful, altruistic, pediatric surgeon and she has two young sons. But Katharina (nicknamed “Rina”) is unhappy, lamenting the loss of her exciting past as a translator at the United Nations. The story goes back and forth between Katharina’s stale life as a mother in 1954, and her glittering single life of parties and affairs. Katharina’s background, however, makes her the perfect individual to be recruited by the FBI. She’s an Ivy league graduate, fluent in four languages, and had a romantic fling with a person of interest. When approached, Katharina gladly accepts the opportunity to become an informant. But, with all the secrets and time she must dedicate to this new opportunity, Katharina’s home life and marriage is thrown into turmoil. 

 

I think I should have been an ideal audience for this book, and there were elements of the premise that intrigued me: 1950s New York, work at the U.N., an ambitious female protagonist, tensions between marriage and motherhood and professional and personal aspirations, and the 1950s cultural expectations of a highly educated woman. However, I found the characters quite flat and the storyline quite predictable. Not one of the characters seemed to have any complexity or depth. Several times I was infuriated by Rina’s attitude and complaints––I really tried to give her character compassion and empathy for the rigidity of her time and social status, but I pretty much found her completely selfish and her feelings toward her role as mother mostly abhorrent. I think there certainly is a space to explore all the complexities of motherhood and the impact that being a mother has on an individual’s identity, goals, and choices, but I wasn’t convinced that Rina’s feelings for her children were authentic. I don’t want to share additional details as not to spoil the book, but I marked several lines throughout that really frustrated me, and I understand now why other readers struggled to finish reading the book. 

 

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook version of this title in exchange for an honest review.