Books Set in North America, United States, New York, New York

The Hours Count, by Jillian Cantor (2015)

This novel imagines a friendship between Ethel Rosenberg and (fictional) Mildred Stein.  Ethel and Julius (Julie) Rosenberg and the Steins are two young couples living an high-rise in Knickerbocker Village in the Lower East Side, New York in the 1940s.  The Rosenbergs are a loving couple with 2 young sons.  The Steins, on the other hand, are in a loveless marriage with a young autistic son.

Ed Stein was an immigrant from Russia.  He and Millie married mostly because it was time and Ed needed an American wife.  When it becomes clear that their son, David, is not “normal” and is unable to communicate with anyone, Ed loses interest in him and is continually pestering Millie for another child.

At this period in history, Russians are looked upon with suspicion and communism is becoming a dirty word.  At a party of fellow communist at the Rosenberg’s apartment, Millie meets Dr. Jake Gold, who claims he is friends with the Rosenberg’s, although Ethel later denies known him.  Jake Gold is a psychologist and tells Millie that he can help her son.  Soon Millie and David are meeting Dr. Gold on a regular basis.  David takes a liking to Dr. Gold, and Millie finds herself falling in love with him.

Millie takes a trip with David, ostensibly to visit the Rosenberg’s in the Catskills, with a brief stop to be with Jake Gold.  They have a one-night stand, and Millie becomes pregnant.  Things Jake tells her, however, that Millie knows are not true.  Still, she continues to long for him, as her own marriage begins to crumble.  Can she trust Jake even though she knows he doesn’t always tell her the truth?  [Spoiler:  Jake Gold is actually an FBI agent who was investigating Soviet spies.]

Soon it becomes apparent that the FBI is on the lookout for “atomic” spies, and suspicion falls on Ed Stein, who disappears from the family, and the Rosenbergs.  The novel begins on the day Ethel Rosenberg is to be executed.  Millie believes that Ethel is innocent and claims to have proof that will exonerate her.

I found this book to be annoying.  It started off well, but Millie’s pining for Jake didn’t ring true.  Furthermore, the author changed the names of the Rosenberg’s children for no apparent reason.  Although there is a kernel of truth in the novel (the Rosenberg’s were tried, found guilty of espionage and executed), the fictional story of Millie’s life and longing for Jake got in the way of the story.

Read:  November 11, 2021

2 Stars

Books Set in a Global Environment: United States and USSR

Bridge of Spies: A True Story of the Cold War, by Giles Whittell (2010)

This book of non-fiction delves into the events leading up to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Berlin Wall.  In the 1950s, Willie Fisher, also known as Rudolf Abel, was in the United States as an undercover agent for the USSR.  Through a comedy of errors, he was captured by the FBI, tried and sent to Federal Prison.

Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot hired by the CIA to fly reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union to look for Soviet missile sites.  He piloted a U-2, which could fly at unimaginable heights.  It was believed that the plane was shot down, survival of the pilot was not possible.  All that changed on May 1, 1960, when the U-2 Powers was flying was, indeed, shot down over the USSR and Powers survived the crash.  He was immediately captured, tried as a spy and imprisoned.

Around the same time, wanderlust Frederic Pryor, was studying communist economics at the Free University in West Berlin.  Until the Berlin Wall was constructed, he freely crossed between East and West Berlin.  A fact not unnoticed by the East German police.  He was arrested on suspicion of spying and imprisoned.  He had no connections with the US Government, but his parents were wealthy and were acquainted with some powerful men in Washington.

Bridge of Spies sets the foundation of the nuclear missile discussions, or lack thereof, between the two superpowers.  Shortly before Powers was shot down, US President Eisenhower and Soviet leader Khrushechv were poised to meet in Paris to discuss a nuclear test ban treaty.  The U-2 incident derailed the meeting with a growing distrust evident between the US and the Soviet Union.  The author details the tensions and misunderstandings of both leaders.

Two years later, however, tempers had cooled somewhat, and each country recognized the benefits of holding a prisoner exchange.  The details of the exchange were carefully planned.  Abel had an inkling that an exchange might be possible, but Powers and Pryor were completely unprepared.

This is a very readable history of the events leading up to, and surrounding the U-2 incident and its impact on relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Read: December 19, 2018

5 Stars