Clever Girl: Elizabeth Bentley, the Spy Who Ushered in the McCarthy Era

By Lauren Kessler
August 2003: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060185198

Lauren Kessler’s tenth book, Clever Girl, received this review from The Oregonian: “Kessler is an expert chronicler of complicated events, dedicated to unearthing the unvarnished truth, and Clever Girl is an important and compelling read." Library Journal called it, simply, “spellbinding.” Clever Girl chronicles the life of Elizabeth Bentley, the woman who was once head of the largest communist spy ring in the United States who later turned FBI informant. In addition to ongoing appearances in Oregon to promote the book (see Upcoming Events,
back page), Kessler toured the mid-Atlantic states last summer, appearing on CSPAN BookTV and The Diane Rehm Show. Kessler says she was “slow to love history,” in part because of the way history texts are usually written. “ Clever Girl is a history book—but it’s a dramatic character study set against the most controversial period of history,” she says. “It’s written to be a compelling narrative. The reader can place his/herself in there and not only learn some history, but learn about human nature.”

Why did you write this book?

I’m interested in ill-behaved women who make history. My antennae are always up for these folks. As the head of the two largest communist spy networks in the US, she definitely fit into the category.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on two projects, which are in different stages. Either of them could become a book. Neither is about ill-behaved women, however.

Why is that?

I felt it was time to get back in the real world with some immersion reportage—like I did in Full Court Press.

The reviews have been great. Is this your most successful book to date?

Well, The Happy Bottom Riding Club is in paperback; Clever Girl is only a year old, so it’s not in paperback yet—that’s due out this summer. It’s been published in two other languages, interestingly enough Polish and Portuguese. And there’s a film option with a script in the works.

Did you have any amazing discoveries while writing this book?

Yes—that you can hold two opinions or “historical facts” that are dramatically opposed to each other. Prior to writing the book, I thought communist spies were the paranoid fantasy of Joe McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover. But there were communist spies in the U.S., taking information and documents and feeding them to the communist party. And McCarthy is still wrong—I believe firmly he was a sick guy. He was 99 percent wrong but 1 percent right. He was the thought police.

You spent a lot of time last summer touring to promote the book. How was that?

I really enjoyed it. I got to go on these great runs in every town. And I really like Washington, D.C.; I hadn’t spent much time there as a grownup.

Anything else Flash readers should know?

I was very slow to love history. I did not love it as a high school student, or as an undergraduate. One reason was the way history books are written. Clever Girl is a history book—but it’s a dramatic character study set against the most controversial period of history. It’s written to be a compelling narrative. The reader can place his/herself in there and not only learn some history, but learn about human nature.