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If anyone would like to lead the discussion for Lauren Wilkinson’s, American Spy, please let me know.

President Obama has just released his summer reading list and American Spy was included.

“American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson is a whole lot more than just a spy thriller, wrapping together the ties of family, of love and of country� -Barack Obama

Columbus wrote: "If anyone would like to lead the discussion for Lauren Wilkinson’s, American Spy, please let me know."

I'm definitely going to read the book and contribute to the discussion but unfortunately I'll be out of the country for most of the second half of the month so it would not be fair for me to lead it.

Reading discussion schedule:

Part 1 begins Sept 4
Part 1-2 Sept 11
Entire book opens Sept 20th

Besides myself and Prez Obama, anyone else started the book? Completed it? Reserved it from the library?

What other spy novels written by an African American or person of color have you read? Any with a POC lead character not written by a POC you know of?

Reserved at the library. Really looking forward to this book. I went through a phase in high school reading spy thrillers.

About halfway into the book. Interesting to me that someone on the back cover blurb compared the work to Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. A tome which most political observers regard as conservative in it's outlook and anti-communist. I am getting a definite conservative vibe from the book so far. But I'm reserving judgement till the mystery of the assassination attempt (which happens in the first couple pages) is solved.

I was really enjoying the audio on my train trips along the East US coast, but had to return it! Now I have a long holds wait, but I have both the audio and print books on hold, so I'm hoping one comes in soon.

I’m moseying along in Part 1 and don’t know what I think so far. I agree with Prez Obama and Abby that this is so much more than a spy novel. So much is happening in the first part of the book. I like the fact that the action starts early like William mentions.

Columbus wrote: "Reading discussion schedule:

Part 1 begins Sept 4
Part 1-2 Sept 11
Entire book opens Sept 20th

Besides myself and Prez Obama, anyone else started the book? Completed it? Reserved it from the libr..."

I read American Spy earlier this year.

The two books that come to mind that have a lead POC character in a spy novel are:
The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlee
Star of the North by D.B. John

I believe I have read a couple more - but need to think a little harder.

The discussion is open for Part 1.

I finished the book today and am a bit conflicted about my feelings for it. I'm anxious to hear what others thought about it. The assassination attempt in the first pages was a very well delivered hook to pull a reader in.

Abby wrote: "William wrote: "I finished the book today and am a bit conflicted about my feelings for it. I'm anxious to hear what others thought about it. The assassination attempt in the first pages was a very..."

Not yet...I'll wait till the entire book is open for discussion. Don't want to give away too much or post any spoilers. But I guess I can say that I think the protagonist is herself quite conflicted.

The book starts out with a bang. Literally. I guess that’s how any true thriller, spy story should commence to get the readers attention. I was locked in from the very beginning.

We learn in part 1 that Marie Mitchell is writing this story to her twin sons: "I'm writing this to give you honest answers to the questions I hazard to guess you'll ask while you're growing up. I'm writing it all down here just in case I'm not around to tell you." Was this at all confusing, annoying or irritating to you? I guess since those were the three adjectives I used in asking the question you can see I’m not completely bought into this right now. The construction isn’t completely organic for me for some reason. What’s your thoughts?

I’m also trying to keep the timeline together. A story doesn’t always need to be linear for me but when it reverts back and forth between a few years (1987 - 1962 - 1984 - 1965 - 1985 ect...) it can get rather confusing.

I’m still in Part 1 (life issues hampering my reading progress) but that’s not at all bad because I can just follow the reading schedule for now.

William wrote: "Abby wrote: "William wrote: "I finished the book today and am a bit conflicted about my feelings for it. I'm anxious to hear what others thought about it. The assassination attempt in the first pag..."

I would agree that the protagonist seems to be quite conflicted!

Columbus wrote: "The book starts out with a bang. Literally. I guess that’s how any true thriller, spy story should commence to get the readers attention. I was locked in from the very beginning.

We learn in part..."

When I read this part, I remember thinking:

- isn't this too often what revisiting history/situations is all about - there is the official record and then there is the "truth"
- but the "truth" too often is in the eye's of the beholder
- why does someone want her dead, so many years later???

Beverly wrote: "Columbus wrote: "Reading discussion schedule:

Part 1 begins Sept 4
Part 1-2 Sept 11
Entire book opens Sept 20th

Besides myself and Prez Obama, anyone else started the book? Completed it? Reserved..."

A couple of more books:

The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen

Two books in a series by Jason Overstreet
The Strivers' Row Spy
Beneath the Darkest Sky

The Loyal League Series by Alyssa Cole
An Extraordinary Union
A Hope Divided
An Unconditional Freedom

Part 1 ends where Marie decides to join in intel for Thomas Sankara, then President of Burkina Faso. What a fascinating story of this Marxist/pan-Africanist and his coming to power in that country. I knew nothing if this prior to reading this book and got side-tracked reading about it all.

I’m actually really enjoying this now. Wilkinson’s story is rather gripping for sure.

Columbus wrote: "Part 1 ends where Marie decides to join in intel for Thomas Sankara, then President of Burkina Faso. What a fascinating story of this Marxist/pan-Africanist and his coming to power in that country...."

I too got side-tracked to read more about Thomas Sankara and did not remember if I knew of this before reading An American Spy.

But it did have me remembering about the CIA meddling in the affairs of African countries as they gained independence - especially about the fates of Lumumba and Nkrumah.

I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep him in the fictional realm. If he's a real person then it would have been harder to suspend my disbelief.

William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep him in the fictional realm. If h..."

He's absolutely a real person and a quite fascinating one at that.

William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep him in the fictional realm. If h..."

“Africa’s Che Guevara�...what a moniker

Columbus wrote: "William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep him in the ficti..."

I'm glad I didn't know this before I read the book. I also wonder why I didn't know this before I read the book. I guess even those such as myself, who are fairly knowledgeable of the continent, (having worked in the Southern region for 2 years) still have much history to learn.

William wrote: "Columbus wrote: "William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep..."

In all honesty William, I am a little surprised that you weren’t aware of him and the whole Burkinabé coup d'état. Very few things seem to get by you since it appears you read more of this than I do. I’m always fascinated when I run across these things and a little incensed that I’m ignorant of them in many instances.

I'm through the first part of the book and I wonder which of Marie actions are truly ones she would have chosen even though she makes a big deal out of showcasing how she's knowledgeable going into every situation and thinks through every outcome. I still can't help but think she hasn't truly made these decisions of her own volition and is in some way being manipulated.

William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep him in the fictional realm. If h..."

You raised an interesting question - when real-life people become characters in a fictional story - should we the reader assume that the the events where the real life character appears is fact or should we assume that the scenes represents the essence of the real life character?

I liked that American Spy included Thomas Sankara as it allowed the story to be more realistic for me. And as Sankara was not the main character, it allowed to remain focus on Marie and her dilemmas/demons.

Beverly wrote: "William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep him in the ficti..."

Same here, Beverly. When I first read about Sankara in the book, I immediately googled him with fingers crossed hoping he was an actual person. I prefer a “factional� telling of an event or person rather than one completely made up and I can do my own added research to find out what is actually true or not. Sankara is one very charismatic individual and I love how he’s portrayed here.

I thought the mixture of fact/fiction was done so expertly in another book we discussed in this group: Leila Aboulela’s The Kindness of Enemies. I think I now know more about the Caucasus region and Imam Shamil from the added research than I ever would have thought. Making Shamil a fictional character would have been unjust in my opinion.

Beverly wrote: "William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep him in the ficti..."

Had I known Sankara's story before reading the book I probably would have been less sympathetic to the Marie character. Although historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, one needs to be on guard against accepting some of fictional elements and premises as fact.

Hi everyone - I hope you don't mind my chipping in? I loved this book. If I saw a flaw in it, it was that the "real" characters somehow struck me as "flatter" than the imagined ones. Almost as though the author felt constrained by the historical record every time the novel started to bump up against actual events and people? I guess maybe I just felt a slight sense of strain in the latter part of the book as the author tried to fit Marie/ the romance into the known facts of Thomas Sankara's life. That's a minor quibble though.

Now discussing Parts 1 & 2

Franklinbadger wrote: "Hi everyone - I hope you don't mind my chipping in? I loved this book. If I saw a flaw in it, it was that the "real" characters somehow struck me as "flatter" than the imagined ones. Almost as thou..."

Hello Franklinbadger! So glad you joined in!

I’m currently in the middle of the book and I’ll be checking to see how the real characters stack up against the fictional ones. I see it’s not just Sankara used as an actual character but some of the other members in his administration as well. Fascinating. I must admit, i’m really enjoying this book so far.

I had really mixed feelings about the book. I loved the premise, the complications, and the various levels of reveals throughout the book. However, writing this as a letter to her sons - which does bring an emotional complexity to the story I like - creates very jarring timelines for me and made it hard to follow in places. This is particularly challenging as there are times when she is writing and times when she is experiencing, and they can be hard to decipher. Did anyone else struggle with this aspect of the book?

ReGina wrote: "I had really mixed feelings about the book. I loved the premise, the complications, and the various levels of reveals throughout the book. However, writing this as a letter to her sons - which does..."

I didn't struggle with it but I wasn't a big fan of it either. The letter to the sons construction forced all of the action through the eyes of the protagonist. The book was therefore wholly Marie-centric. Was she a reliable observer? Was she being truthful or self-serving? An occasional peak into the mindsets of people like her lifelong friend or her fathers point of view would have enriched the story for me, Even Sankara was not as fully fleshed out of a character as I think he could have been because of the " I'm describing your father to you" limitation.

Hello,

I have already read the book (not a long time ago at all), and honestly, I found it an OK but not outstanding.

My main problem was probably the writing style. The novel lacked some real passion and the ability to disturb the reader (in a good sense). Although the events were extremely dramatic and tragic, with a strong chance to be also quite emotional and disturbing, Wilkinson managed to tone down the narration to the point when sometimes it almost fell into boredom (not quite, but almost). The style she chose to write this novel is too dry, too indifferent considering the topic and the story. I felt pretty frustrated reading this novel because of that.

That said, I liked that the book is so much more than a simple spy novel - as so many of you have already pointed out.

It was also very thought provoking how the book treated the bad/good aspects of 'communism' but I do find it problematic and very frustrating that lots of Americans call all socially responsible acts 'communist/communism', like in this novel. (Marxism is a philosophy and not equal to communism, which - although derived from marxism - is purely a political theory, just like the philosophy of Nietzsche is not equal to Nazism.) I am not trying to defend ruthless dictators of course but I felt that in this book socialism is blended into/made equal to communism and such, marxism mixed in this questionable coctail. Very annoying.

Columbus wrote: "Beverly wrote: "William wrote: "I know I could have and probably should have googled it by now, but is Thomas Sankara a real or fictional person? I think in the back of my mind I preferred to keep ..."

I also like the inclusive of real Political Leaders I didn't know about. It gives me the opportunities to learn more about them which is the best part of historical fiction for me.

Kinga wrote: "Hello,

I have already read the book (not a long time ago at all), and honestly, I found it an OK but not outstanding.

My main problem was probably the writing style. The novel lacked some real p..."

Very true that most Americans don't have any thoughtful understanding of socialism, Marxism and leftist philosophies. So far, I feel like the book is subtly pointing that out tho. At the very least, it highlights how the USA seeks to destroy any socialism/communism in the developing world. And I love how it shows we don't have a multiparty democracy in the US ( so much for the land of the free *cough*).

Sicily wrote: "Kinga wrote: "Hello,

I have already read the book (not a long time ago at all), and honestly, I found it an OK but not outstanding.

My main problem was probably the writing style. The novel lack..."

I agree - mention they word "socialism" and American tend to run in the opposite direction.
And they do this without also not understanding what "capitalism" means.

I read this the day after it came out, and I'm ashamed to say I remember it, but not as well as I would like to. I loved that it was so much more than a typical spy novel (and I'm a BIG fan of espionage novels - it's nice to read one from an author of color and an american too.) I also liked the subtle political discussion running under the surface.

There aren't many women writing espionage at all - so to have a black woman writing in this genre is wonderful, and even though the book wasn't a huge favorite of mine, I will keep reading her because I really do want to support black women writing in genres where they are sorely needed. (And I didn't dislike the book, just didn't love it as much as I'd hoped to ,but that's the case with me and almost every spy novel I read recently.)

I am with you all on the lack of understanding in the US of all of these terms and some more. Most of America also seems to lack any understanding of the links between capitalism and race, despite the many books and (at least to me) obviousness of the connection.

Beverly wrote: "Sicily wrote: "Kinga wrote: "Hello,

I have already read the book (not a long time ago at all), and honestly, I found it an OK but not outstanding.

My main problem was probably the writing style...."

Yes, I do like how subversive she is in getting capitalism and American imperialism the side-eye. I think it is more digestible for Americans.

Sicily wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Sicily wrote: "Kinga wrote: "Hello,

I have already read the book (not a long time ago at all), and honestly, I found it an OK but not outstanding.

My main problem was probably th..."
On page 169 of the hardcover book, Marie's handlers tells her that they must prevent the population from voting against their own interests...this in the age of West Virginian's coal country, Alabama's dirt poor and Kansan's farmers voting for a New York billionaire poised a a man of the people...It was a not very subtle smack at the current state of affairs..

Let’s discuss the entire book

Although the story is enjoyable and rapid paced I still have reservations. I will go into more detail when the entire book is open for discussion..but is one's political outlook changed simply by an infatuation or a one night stand?? Your fathers a cop, your uncle an FBI agent, your sister a CIA spook and a handsome African changes your entire political outlook?

I have a friend whose father was lifelong military, had 2 brother air force pilots and a son in the navy seals/(cia?)..if i couldn't turn her leftward wasn't no Burkina Faso president gonna!! She was Marie in the flesh.

As far as the previous comments om the stupidity of the American populous towards the isms, I happen to disagree.
Agreed times are tough with the media only telling one story but as one who marched in recent thousand strong May Day parades and looking at the history of the radical movements in the States and the people of color calling themselves socialist (unlike the 30's when many were proud communists), I am hopeful. Just because Neo -Conservatives have been able to snatch 30 percent deplorables and make the tail wag the dog doesn't mean that the 70% left are unaware. In times of economic crisis it's always socialist policies which rescue us. We get lazy when we enjoy the crumbs given us during period s of capitalist excess, only to be saved again. A quick glance at history will show that while some don't know their isms, most, Paul Robeson, Fred Hampton, Huey Newton, Angela Davis, AOC, and a myriad of individuals and organizations do!
I suppose with the coming Trump recession socialism will be all the rage (can anyone say farmer bailout?) . I happen to prefer Marxism myself...

William wrote: "Although the story is enjoyable and rapid paced I still have reservations. I will go into more detail when the entire book is open for discussion..but is one's political outlook changed simply by a..."

I think it was hinted throughout part three that her political views were not as she portrays to the FBI. In fact, her dad's political views are also called into question throughout the book. I especially found it telling when he tells her that not she doesn't have to get them any more of herself. They both spies/double agents in America and at work. As far as her values, she says she doesn't reveal who she loves because that tells too much about herself and her beliefs - she is referring to her radical ex ( who she loves well before Thomas) which implies what her beliefs really are.

What did you think of the relationships in the book? Marie and her sister, Helene; Marie and her mother, Agathe; Marie and her dad; and to a lesser extent, Marie and Robbie. Is Marie a sympathetic character? Likable? Is that even necessary?

Columbus wrote: "What did you think of the relationships in the book? Marie and her sister, Helene; Marie and her mother, Agathe; Marie and her dad; and to a lesser extent, Marie and Robbie. Is Marie a sympathetic ..."

I didn't particularly like Marie but she was very loyal to and indefatigable in her search for answers about Helene's untimely death. To the point of pretty much dedicating her entire life to it. Perhaps that's why she didn't bat an eye when it became clear that she was to have sex with Sankara as her first undercover assignment. She didn't seem at all annoyed about the sexual entrapment until she found out she wasn't really working for the CIA but for a couple rogue contractors. I've forgotten, did Helene's ex ever disclose how she died or will that be saved for a sequel?

William wrote: "Columbus wrote: "What did you think of the relationships in the book? Marie and her sister, Helene; Marie and her mother, Agathe; Marie and her dad; and to a lesser extent, Marie and Robbie. Is Mar..."

William, Helene’s boyfriend, Daniel Slater, said she died in a freak automobile accident if I’m not mistaken. But, I think it was the cold-hearted and insensitive manner of the way he said it that sort of turned the tides for Marie against him. I think she knew then what she needed to do.

We’ve been pretty lukewarm to this book (many of us) but POTUS 44 and the literary award groups seems to differ.

Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction first novel: