Art, Culture, & Education

Corinne Souza grew up knowing her father was a secret agent but realizing that certain words must never be mentioned. As a child, the knowledge didn't shake or stir her. Those shattering reactions came much later. In girlhood she realized only that her family's life was unorthodox to say the least, with furtive comings and goings at night and picnics with people whose names must never be spoken. At first it seemed exciting, even romantic, but as she grew older Corinne saw the destructive side of the spy life. Normal relationships with her parents became impossible, the constant secrecy breeding inhibitions as constrictive as a strait-jacket. But despite this, Corinne was immensely proud of her father, Lawrence - and now she is equally furious at what happened to him when MI6 decided he was no longer 'one of us'. The murky world of MI6 (which Corinne describes by its own preferred title, SIS) is not so much revealed as blown apart. Corruption, callousness, cowardice and treachery are all exposed by a woman who believes that SIS chiefs systematically destroyed her father's reputation. When Corinne herself received an invitation to join SIS as a spy her response was blunt. While the story tells of the activities of Lawrence de Souza as Britain's top spy in the Middle East, and particularly in Iraq, it takes on an extra dimension in showing what influence Lawrence's secret life had on his family and especially on an impressionable child. Corinne became unwittingly involved in her father's work by being used as a messenger to deliver clandestine letters. Strangely, she does not appear to be outraged at this. She becomes incandescent, however, at the 'vicious spite machine' that turned on her father when he dared to point out shortcomings within SIS. Not only did it break the heart of an honourable man but also undermined his family. Corinne became a lobbyist and it was then that she saw for the first time that what her father had claimed about the corruption within SIS was, if anything, an understatement. Whether her father ever was the saintly figure she portrays is open to question, but much more important are the questions posed about the SIS upper echelons. (Kirkus UK)