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The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter
Potomac Books Inc
March 2012
On Sale: February 28, 2012
380 pages
ISBN: 1597976989
EAN: 9781597976985
Kindle: B006Z9K3DY
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
From literary journalist Sara Mansfield Taber comes a deep and wondrous memoir of her exotic childhood as the daughter of a covert CIA operative. Born under an Assumed Name portrays the thrilling and confusing life of a girl growing up abroad in a world of secrecy and diplomacyβand the heavy toll it takes on her and her father.
As Taber leads us on a tour through the alluring countries to which her father is assigned, we track two parallel storiesβthose of young Sara and her Cold War spy father. Sara struggles for normalcy as the family is relocated to cities in North America, Europe, and Asia, and the constant upheaval eventually exacts its price. Only after a psychiatric hospitalization at age sixteen in a U.S. Air Force hospital with shell-shocked Vietnam War veterans does she come to a clear sense of who she is. Meanwhile, Sara's sweet-natured, philosophical father becomes increasingly disillusioned with his work, his agency, and his country.
This is the question at the heart of this elegant and sophisticated work: what does it mean to be an American? In this fascinating, painful, and ultimately exhilarating coming-of-age story, young Sara confronts generosity, greatness, and tragedyβall that America heaps on the world.
 Media BuzzDiane Rehm Show - NPR - March 13, 2012
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