Why Don’t Female Spies Grow Up? Women in Contemporary Spy Literature

June 19, 2018 | 8 books mentioned 4 5 min read













Image: Flickr/CLAUDIA DEA

is a freelance writer based in New York. She can be found on her book blog and her website, but mainly on Twitter at @emburack.


  1. I co-wrote two novels published by Grand Central Publishing about the adventures of Jackie Kennedy, when she was Jackie Bouvier, working as a neophyte agent for the CIA in 1951 and 1952. The two novels are Paris to Die For and Spy in a Little Black Dress, and are based on an actual career choice she had to go to work for the CIA.

  2. It surprises me that this article doesn’t mention Helen MacInnes, a great female spy novelist from 1940 – 1985. She never created an iconic character, like James Bond. Each novel featured a new protagonist. That may be why she is less well-remembered today. Four of her novels were made into movies though and all of them were NY Times best sellers.

  3. Regarding the disparity of male/female writers in the genre, the main component is the level of interest in spy stories between men and women. It would be more accurate to say men getting admitted to these “clubs” more often than women is a sexist thing if there are equal amounts of interest from both sexes and the result is 97% men. These stats tell me that there is just more interest in spy fiction from men than women in general, but thats not to say that if the amount of interest was equal, the percentage would also be equal. The reality is this is a sexist world in favor of men, but the percentages wouldnt be so lopsided as 97%-3%.
    And as a male writer, I often write male characters as central characters more than female characters simply because I am a man and have never been in the mind of a woman before, not because I believe woman are inferior or something ridiculous like that. Oftentimes, for my female characters, I need to confer with my girlfriend whether she thinks a female character would act, react, or think a certain way based on the particular characters’ personality and past because I dont want to get a female character wrong; likewise, when writing male characters, the only time I need to consult other males is usually when I need info on a profession or activity.
    I’m not against you lobbying for equality here but I think a more effective method would be to write an article describing to women why spy fiction is incredible and fun to read and encouraging them to write so the number of female interest increases, rather than writing solely about the disparity between male/female published authors in the genre.

  4. “Who is Vera Kelly?” was refreshing but far from good in my humble opinion,on the other hand Luke Jenning’s “Codename Villanelle” is about two strong women, one is a spy the other an assassin but the male writer’s touch is palpable. It got adapted into a TV series by women (Killing Eve) and became a brilliant piece in the espionnage genre.

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