Angela Sloan: A Novel

by James Whorton Jr.

In his latest novel, universally acclaimed author James Whorton, Jr. , delivers a curious Nixon-era caper of broken men and stoic runaways who learn just how much there is to gain, and lose, when you go undercover. Angela Sloan, a seemingly average teenager living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., is left to lie low and fend for herself when her father, a retired CIA officer, skips town in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Driving a Plymouth Scamp she has just learned to operate, Angela encounters strangers literally at every turn. A fugitive Chinese waitress won’t get out of the car. A jaded lady spy offers up free therapy and roadside assistance. A restless pair of hippies keeps preaching about the evils of monogamy. And an anteater lurks in the unlikeliest of places. But through all of her outlandish adventures, Angela keeps focused on one urgent wish: to reunite with her father.

Bold and quirky, Angela Sloan is a priceless coming-of-age story about stealing diner food and salvaging lost identities.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club

203 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2011

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a sense, the exploits of young Ms. Sloan take place in a landscape no less fantastical than that of Oz or Wonderland. This is the uncanny milieu of Watergate, hippies, anarchic radicalism, and the insane Ouroboros of the espionage world. Whorton's writing is unpredictable, a touch melancholy and filled with deliciously wry, deadpan humor. In some ways this novel greatly resembles Charles Portis's True Grit (though with a far looser plot line).

[Second reading, June 2017.]

[RD Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there were an award for Favorite Character of 2011, I would, without a doubt, vote for Angela Sloan, who is, in actuality, a character from the Watergate era, which is when the novel takes place. But I'd also want to vote for her sidekick, a fugitive Chinese waitress whose real name we never learn. Come to think of it, we never learn what Angela's real name is, either. Both Angela and the waitress were brought under dubious circumstances to the U.S. from the Congo and China, respectively. Angela is fiercely loyal to the United States and the C.I.A., as Ray, the man who has raised her as his own and who saved her from the Simba rebellion, is an agent; the waitress is a staunch Maoist revolutionary -- the two, then, make an interesting pair.

Warning: if you're not a fan of bone-dry wit, this book might not be for you. Example from page four of the novel, when Ray attempts to send Angela to safety in the midst of the bloody Simba retreat by lifting her into the back of a truck with another passenger, a nun: "The nun began to sing 'Amazing Grace.' I don't quite remember assaulting her, but evidently I did. She was bitten in places where she could not have bitten herself. I guess I did it. They turned the truck around."

Angela Sloan: A Novel is part On the Road, part Bastard Out of Carolina, and part Dirty, Pretty Things. Angela Sloan: The Character reminds me a lot of another 14-year-old in recent literature -- the narrator of Jo Ann Beard's In Zanesville: A Novel. Fans of Beard's work will appreciate Angela Sloan.

[Brenda Youngerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sent this book as part of the Free Press Blog Tours Group on Book Blogs in return for my unbiased review.

My review:

Angela Sloan is written as a letter to the CIA explaining who she is and who her father Ray Sloan is. This is all laid out in the opening chapter. The book is a fast moving tale, told in first person narrative, written in short chapters. It opens the reader's eyes to espionage, intrigue, paranoia, alcoholism, treachery, the world of double lives and what it must have been like to be alive in the seventies with absolutely no parental supervision. Angela is exposed to things no child should ever have lived through and is indebted to her father because of it; however real emotional issues are never discussed. Such is the life of a child of a spy.

No book for this period would be complete without drugs and hippies and Whorton winds that thread in as well. If you are looking for a quick trip down memory lane, or a glimpse into a world you know nothing about, pick up this book - it will be a fast read.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Angela Sloan” by James Whorton, Jr., published by Free Press.

Category – Fiction/Literature

Angela Sloan’s life is a mess. She is only fourteen years old and in a heap of trouble. Her father, Ray Sloan, is a CIA agent working in the Congo during the Simba rebellion. Her mother is murdered and Ray takes it very hard. He is relieved of his duties in the Congo and is transferred to an assignment at “the farm”. Ray retires but is plagued with his memories and becomes a borderline alcoholic with very little to live for but his Angela.

Ray gets involved in the Watergate scandal and tells Angela to “bug out”. Angela is on her own at fourteen and drives a car across country. She meets a Chinese girl who tags along with her, a female CIA agent who is trying to get her to tell her father to come in. They also encounter a band of “hippies” that just add more problems to her already overburdened life.

Highly improbable, totally unbelievable, and very few, if any, bright spots. The story started going nowhere and wound up getting there in the end.

[Margee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourteen-year-old Angela's life has been far from easy, since the murder of her homesteader parents during an African uprising in 1964, when she was 7 years old. After her immediate rescue from the orange tree she was hiding in by Ray, a CIA agent posing as a beer deliveryman, they make their way to Washington D. C. Ray, now her common law adoptive father, and Angela are passing some quiet years on I Street--Ray occasionally disappearing for periods, and Angela sometimes showing up at school. When tortured, alcoholic Ray's dangerous past comes back for him, he utters the code word and the two separate to meet up later, spinning Angela into a life on the run. No comic set-up has ever sounded bleaker, but existentialist Angela starts executing orders impeccably, later going off-plan and teaming with a Red Chinese illegal called Betty, who stows away in her car. Unconventional and true to period, Angela's voice and story are infectious.

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whorton's third novel is different from his first two in that it's set in an earlier time and with a female protagonist, fourteen year-old Angela Sloan. It's a zany dash of a novel tangentially related to the Watergate scandal, but it isn't especially funny. Ray Sloan is a CIA man who is drinking himself to death, and Chinese woman Betty is Angela's companion for most of the journey. But it doesn't add up to much. Whorton seems almost to be willfully insistent on being a minor writer when he might be a major one. I'm not entirely sure whether I'm being fair, but if you write a book that

a) isn't dedicated to fine writing, as Chabon's work is
b) isn't hilariously funny
c) doesn't convey any deep or essential gravitas

then what have you instead? A limp, feeble thing, the kind of novel Kurt Vonnegut usually wrote. Now I know I'm not being fair. In spite of my criticism I quite enjoyed Angela Sloan, in a limited sense, but I can't help but feel that this author is really coasting here.

[Justin Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly different from his other works, but this is a very entertaining read. I can't say with certainty that this was exhaustively researched, but it certainly seems like it, making an often ridiculously epic saga both entertaining and believable. There are many small chapters that allow the reader to easily take in small chunks if needed (I read this book on my lunch break over the course of a few days). The only problem there is that often the chapter ends leaving the reader wanting to know what happens next, then deciding to read on since "the next chapter's only a couple of pages." Certainly recommended.

[Andrea Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this character, Angela Sloan--she's quirky, intelligent, and mature beyond her years, yet still a 14 yr old girl with lots of questions about life. A road story, a mystery novel, and a coming-of-age tale all wrapped up into one great book--highly recommend!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky and funny.... Very enjoyable

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt like watching a poor TV series. Chose not to finish it

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky find, with some brilliant moments - "...poignant comedy of broken girls, stoic men, and mean hippies set amid the chaos of the Nixon era."

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great picaresque, enjoyable read.