What do you think?
Rate this book
Wife, Mother, Spy - An Extraordinary Life Filled with Ordinary Days
Many mothers shuttle their kids to dance lessons and sports practice, coordinate playdates, read bedtime stories, and struggle to get dinner on the table after a long day at the office. Very few do all this while secretly meeting with spies, carrying a purse retrofitted to conceal a Glock, and tasked with protecting the security of the United States. For several decades, this was the life of Ann Butler - wife, mother of five, and operations operative for the CIA.
From New York to Paris to Sarajevo, from Northern Africa to Central Europe, Wife, Mother, Spy provides a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the rewarding, chaotic, exhausting, often challenging, but always exciting life of a CIA spy who also happens to be a wife and mother.
Juggling parenthood, aliases, transatlantic moves every few years with five children and a dog, and going into labor during a clandestine meeting isn't for the faint of heart. But with determination, a sense of humor, and unflappable optimism, Butler takes readers along on an inspiring journey that knits together a life full of the dailiness, hopes, and fears all parents share with an exhilarating career few can imagine.
From New York to Paris to Sarajevo, from Northern Africa to Central Europe, Wife, Mother, Spy provides a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the rewarding, chaotic, exhausting, often challenging, but always exciting life of a CIA spy who also happens to be a wife and mother.
Juggling parenthood, aliases, transatlantic moves every few years with five children and a dog, and going into labor during a clandestine meeting isn't for the faint of heart. But with determination, a sense of humor, and unflappable optimism, Butler takes readers along on an inspiring journey that knits together a life full of the dailiness, hopes, and fears all parents share with an exhilarating career few can imagine.
242 pages, Paperback
Published December 25, 2024
250 people are currently reading
2302 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
June 28, 2025
I really wanted to like this book. As another commenter said, I wish she’d hired a ghostwriter. It was a really sweet story to hand down to her children and grandchildren and reads like a journal of her life written for them but not like an author writing for an audience outside family. She has such a fascinating story, I wish it could have been better told.
It’s not in chronological order which made it harder to read and connect the sequence of events. There were some pages and stories that were not necessary-like paintings they bought or pottery they found. Very little of it mentions her work on the CIA. She shares more and talks more about ski trips with her kids which are not interesting stories in and of themselves. Again, these are nice stories to hand down to grandkids. (But they feel like grandma telling you a story about the trip they took one summer with the neighbors and you’re just listening to be polite.)
There wasn’t really a plot. Not every memoir has a full, gripping plot, but I just kept wondering what I was reading and why. I would have liked to know more about her life as a spy, and less about a nanny they hired for a few weeks who didn’t show up one day so they hired a new nanny. Really interesting parts of the story like the health issues she faced or her work during and after 911 were short and glossed over. (And the timeline was so out of order it was hard to piece where the health issues played out.)
I would love to see a publishing company pick up this story and get it better written. (It might be self-published?) She has quite the story. It could be a movie.
It’s not in chronological order which made it harder to read and connect the sequence of events. There were some pages and stories that were not necessary-like paintings they bought or pottery they found. Very little of it mentions her work on the CIA. She shares more and talks more about ski trips with her kids which are not interesting stories in and of themselves. Again, these are nice stories to hand down to grandkids. (But they feel like grandma telling you a story about the trip they took one summer with the neighbors and you’re just listening to be polite.)
There wasn’t really a plot. Not every memoir has a full, gripping plot, but I just kept wondering what I was reading and why. I would have liked to know more about her life as a spy, and less about a nanny they hired for a few weeks who didn’t show up one day so they hired a new nanny. Really interesting parts of the story like the health issues she faced or her work during and after 911 were short and glossed over. (And the timeline was so out of order it was hard to piece where the health issues played out.)
I would love to see a publishing company pick up this story and get it better written. (It might be self-published?) She has quite the story. It could be a movie.
April 24, 2025
Do I recommend this book? Yes, Butler's stories are very interesting (if irritatingly vague on the details).
But as interesting as Butler's life was, and as much as I like the message of the book (which I would describe as "You actually can balance family life and work life IF you and your husband are willing to work hard at it"), I think it would have been better to hire a ghost writer. Even when Butler is writing about terrible medical emergencies overseas, the tone of the book sounds like an after-action report - very business-like, light on details, no emotion allowed.
But as interesting as Butler's life was, and as much as I like the message of the book (which I would describe as "You actually can balance family life and work life IF you and your husband are willing to work hard at it"), I think it would have been better to hire a ghost writer. Even when Butler is writing about terrible medical emergencies overseas, the tone of the book sounds like an after-action report - very business-like, light on details, no emotion allowed.
September 21, 2025
I was expecting more of a glimpse into the hidden world of CIA life, but the book mostly delivers a family scrapbook. Work details are sparse, likely due to CIA vetting. That's understandable, but I think the real heat of the story is probably on the cutting room floor.
We do get detailed descriptions of family vacations, which are nice for the family, but not memoir material. Her posting locations were often vague, like “North Africa” or “Central Europe.” With a bit of Googling, I could figure out she meant Athens, Tunisia, and Austria. If secrecy was the goal, it didn’t work; if storytelling was the goal, it needed more specificity and imagination.
Butler was probably left in a tricky position, and I think taking creative license would have greatly served the piece. She could have used the need to stay secretive to her advantage. For example, she could tell us a great deal about her feelings around her writing process- what's it like for her to know she's leaving so much out- so we have a deeper sense of who she is as a person and feel connected to her. She could have employed elements of fiction- and told us that's exactly what she's doing- to create a sense of location or scene without revealing any secrets based in reality.
Did the book serve its intended purpose to help young women see they can have an exciting career and a family? Based on the other reviews, I'd say so. For myself, I already know it's very tricky because I see my friends struggling. So, for me personally, I didn't need that from the book. I needed compelling story.
I feel this was a case of a strong premise unfortunately dulled by vague, reporter-like writing.
We do get detailed descriptions of family vacations, which are nice for the family, but not memoir material. Her posting locations were often vague, like “North Africa” or “Central Europe.” With a bit of Googling, I could figure out she meant Athens, Tunisia, and Austria. If secrecy was the goal, it didn’t work; if storytelling was the goal, it needed more specificity and imagination.
Butler was probably left in a tricky position, and I think taking creative license would have greatly served the piece. She could have used the need to stay secretive to her advantage. For example, she could tell us a great deal about her feelings around her writing process- what's it like for her to know she's leaving so much out- so we have a deeper sense of who she is as a person and feel connected to her. She could have employed elements of fiction- and told us that's exactly what she's doing- to create a sense of location or scene without revealing any secrets based in reality.
Did the book serve its intended purpose to help young women see they can have an exciting career and a family? Based on the other reviews, I'd say so. For myself, I already know it's very tricky because I see my friends struggling. So, for me personally, I didn't need that from the book. I needed compelling story.
I feel this was a case of a strong premise unfortunately dulled by vague, reporter-like writing.
September 29, 2025
interesting life. Boring book
This book read like an extended Christmas letter. Or a travelogue. Little structure or chronology. I kept thinking, “What is the point?”
This book read like an extended Christmas letter. Or a travelogue. Little structure or chronology. I kept thinking, “What is the point?”
October 17, 2025
I saw her at 60 minutes and I thought wow would interesting book very little was spent maybe a few pages of the type of cases she worked for the things that she did to protect the United States. Basically it was a travelogue diary for her children that worthy of broad reading by people like us. Pretty boring!
September 14, 2025
boring
Not much about spying, but lots of being a mom. The time of stories jumped around a lot and things were repeated often.
Not much about spying, but lots of being a mom. The time of stories jumped around a lot and things were repeated often.
November 24, 2025
This might be my first scathing review... sigh. And I don't want this to come off mean spirited but I was so annoyed... Aligned with what many others have shared, I genuinely wanted to like this book. But I couldn’t overlook how steeped in privilege it was — to the point of being nauseating at times.
Maybe I should’ve paid more attention to the title and the order… there is a lot of wife and mother here, but spy is conspicuously scarce. And for someone who insists her days were “ordinary,” they were anything but.
Wife, Mother, Spy promises an insider’s account of a woman navigating marriage, motherhood, and espionage — but what it delivers is a memoir that might be interesting for the author’s family and close friends, yet offers little to a general audience. It reads like a collage of domestic anecdotes, travel memories, and lifestyle snapshots that never come together into a meaningful narrative about intelligence work. The timeline or lack thereof was difficult for me to follow.
Much of the book lingers on details so ordinary they verge on condescending. I do not need to be told what a crib is for. I do not need a play-by-play of a dog being walked. Yet when genuinely alarming parenting moments occur — a baby alone on a balcony, a child suddenly unable to walk, kids playing unsupervised near the ocean — they’re glossed over or delivered with such baffling casualness that the weight of these moments simply evaporates.
The Turkey chapters in particular read less like the reflections of someone living a covert life abroad and more like the world’s most elaborate vacation recap. Selective memory lapses (“I don’t remember giving Claire a banana… what?”) and constant lifestyle commentary make these sections feel more like curated influencer posts than insight into espionage or even personal growth.
The privilege saturating the narrative becomes impossible to ignore. The idea that a woman returning her lost child is somehow a threat to the narrator’s “Eden” is astonishingly out of touch. The recurring mentions of Coach purses, posh routines, and hosting “hundreds of guests” only widen the divide between how "ordinary" she purports her days to be. The suggestion that “any woman” could do this work — without acknowledging class, opportunity, or systemic barriers — lands with peak obliviousness. I felt similarly when I read Lean In.
Then there’s Claire, the eldest daughter, consistently described as always being “up for the task” of supervising her siblings. The memoir never explores whether she wanted this responsibility, whether she was asked, or whether she had a choice. She reads less like a child and more like built-in childcare, and the text seems strangely unaware of how concerning that dynamic is. When she went off to college I wonder if she ever returned.
But ultimately, the deepest disappointment is this: for a memoir supposedly about life in the CIA, I walked away knowing almost nothing about what it means to be a spy. The author keeps readers at arm’s length, offering polished vignettes while revealing virtually nothing about tradecraft, moral dilemmas, identity tension, or the psychological toll of covert work. By the end, I knew plenty about the family’s travels and routines — and almost nothing about the person whose memoir I was reading.
So… good job, Ann? You wrote an espionage memoir that reveals next to nothing about espionage — or about you. You proved that you're skilled at your trade, speaking yet revealing nothing. This irritated me so much.
In short, Wife, Mother, Spy reads like a personal scrapbook stretched into a memoir — rich in memories, but lacking the depth, reflection, or insight that would make it meaningful to readers outside the author’s immediate circle.
Maybe I should’ve paid more attention to the title and the order… there is a lot of wife and mother here, but spy is conspicuously scarce. And for someone who insists her days were “ordinary,” they were anything but.
Wife, Mother, Spy promises an insider’s account of a woman navigating marriage, motherhood, and espionage — but what it delivers is a memoir that might be interesting for the author’s family and close friends, yet offers little to a general audience. It reads like a collage of domestic anecdotes, travel memories, and lifestyle snapshots that never come together into a meaningful narrative about intelligence work. The timeline or lack thereof was difficult for me to follow.
Much of the book lingers on details so ordinary they verge on condescending. I do not need to be told what a crib is for. I do not need a play-by-play of a dog being walked. Yet when genuinely alarming parenting moments occur — a baby alone on a balcony, a child suddenly unable to walk, kids playing unsupervised near the ocean — they’re glossed over or delivered with such baffling casualness that the weight of these moments simply evaporates.
The Turkey chapters in particular read less like the reflections of someone living a covert life abroad and more like the world’s most elaborate vacation recap. Selective memory lapses (“I don’t remember giving Claire a banana… what?”) and constant lifestyle commentary make these sections feel more like curated influencer posts than insight into espionage or even personal growth.
The privilege saturating the narrative becomes impossible to ignore. The idea that a woman returning her lost child is somehow a threat to the narrator’s “Eden” is astonishingly out of touch. The recurring mentions of Coach purses, posh routines, and hosting “hundreds of guests” only widen the divide between how "ordinary" she purports her days to be. The suggestion that “any woman” could do this work — without acknowledging class, opportunity, or systemic barriers — lands with peak obliviousness. I felt similarly when I read Lean In.
Then there’s Claire, the eldest daughter, consistently described as always being “up for the task” of supervising her siblings. The memoir never explores whether she wanted this responsibility, whether she was asked, or whether she had a choice. She reads less like a child and more like built-in childcare, and the text seems strangely unaware of how concerning that dynamic is. When she went off to college I wonder if she ever returned.
But ultimately, the deepest disappointment is this: for a memoir supposedly about life in the CIA, I walked away knowing almost nothing about what it means to be a spy. The author keeps readers at arm’s length, offering polished vignettes while revealing virtually nothing about tradecraft, moral dilemmas, identity tension, or the psychological toll of covert work. By the end, I knew plenty about the family’s travels and routines — and almost nothing about the person whose memoir I was reading.
So… good job, Ann? You wrote an espionage memoir that reveals next to nothing about espionage — or about you. You proved that you're skilled at your trade, speaking yet revealing nothing. This irritated me so much.
In short, Wife, Mother, Spy reads like a personal scrapbook stretched into a memoir — rich in memories, but lacking the depth, reflection, or insight that would make it meaningful to readers outside the author’s immediate circle.
December 21, 2025
Fascinating peek behind the curtain of an extraordinary life. It takes an exceptional woman and the man behind her to keep all the balls in the air to achieve a successful career and raise an amazing family.
May 5, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this memoir! I highly recommend to anyone, it was an easy read as it draws you in from page 1.
I found this book to be very inspiring. As a woman in her mid-twenties, I aspire to be as hardworking and motivated in my career as Ann was through hers. I loved reading about the passion she had for her work, places she lived, and the experiences she gained along the way all while raising 5 kids! I could feel her emotion when reading about her time in Paris.
Reading this book felt like getting an inside glimpse into this profession, as I’ve always had a curiosity for it. It also made me feel hungry for travel and left me inspired as a woman, that I too, can have it all!
I found this book to be very inspiring. As a woman in her mid-twenties, I aspire to be as hardworking and motivated in my career as Ann was through hers. I loved reading about the passion she had for her work, places she lived, and the experiences she gained along the way all while raising 5 kids! I could feel her emotion when reading about her time in Paris.
Reading this book felt like getting an inside glimpse into this profession, as I’ve always had a curiosity for it. It also made me feel hungry for travel and left me inspired as a woman, that I too, can have it all!
November 9, 2025
Kindle 46%
Speechify 54%. Audiobook #43
Running Readers November Book
Speechify 54%. Audiobook #43
Running Readers November Book
December 15, 2025
Such a great read and very unique. Would definitely recommend if you’re interested in a biography about a woman in the CIA traveling the world for her work while also having 5 children. Story isn’t linear which threw me off a bit but really happy I read this!
September 6, 2025
This book was absolutely phenomenal. The insight into such a life was fascinating and I kept having to remind myself this was a true story and actually someone’s experience! Well written and I truly believe that this can and will inspire other women that they can really do it all!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2025
Imagine being a CIA Spy, with not only building up her career, but also raising 5 kids with her husband! This book details out Ann E. Butler’s experience of working a dangerous job, while having a family to raise and support. She began her career in the CIA in 1985. They moved to different locations all over the world. Ann explained not only the ups and downs, the changes, but also having incredible experiences not only in her career, but with her family! A great book to read with a book club as it will lead to many interesting discussions!
Read
November 14, 2025Another memoir I am not going to rate as this author is a true American hero and truly a woman who can do it all! However I didn’t love the writing and I really was expecting more of the extraordinary days. Instead it is mostly a travel journal of a family with 5 kids. Some parts were interesting but there was a lot of repetition.
July 10, 2025
Wife, Mother, Spy is a captivating and deeply inspiring memoir. Ann E. Butler delivers an extraordinary account of her life as a wife and mother of five and a high-ranking operations operative for the CIA—roles she somehow balanced with strength, resilience, and grace.
What makes this book truly unforgettable is the way Butler brings humanity to the often-mythologized world of espionage. She doesn't just offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse into CIA operations—she shares the emotional toll, personal sacrifices, and moral dilemmas she faced. Her courage and dedication, both to her country and to her family, are awe-inspiring.
The writing is sharp, clear, and honest. Butler draws readers in not only with the suspense of her covert missions, but with the vulnerability of her personal story. You feel her exhaustion, her fear, and her fierce love for her family as she navigates some of the most dangerous and complex operations imaginable.
This book is a tribute to the strength of working mothers everywhere—and a rare, authentic look at the human side of intelligence work. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys memoirs, strong female voices, or stories that expand your view of what it means to serve.
What makes this book truly unforgettable is the way Butler brings humanity to the often-mythologized world of espionage. She doesn't just offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse into CIA operations—she shares the emotional toll, personal sacrifices, and moral dilemmas she faced. Her courage and dedication, both to her country and to her family, are awe-inspiring.
The writing is sharp, clear, and honest. Butler draws readers in not only with the suspense of her covert missions, but with the vulnerability of her personal story. You feel her exhaustion, her fear, and her fierce love for her family as she navigates some of the most dangerous and complex operations imaginable.
This book is a tribute to the strength of working mothers everywhere—and a rare, authentic look at the human side of intelligence work. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys memoirs, strong female voices, or stories that expand your view of what it means to serve.
November 6, 2025
Interesting but not what I expected. This book is much more about the busy life of a working mom with a large family, complicated (and energized) by assignments over seas as compared to details on working in the CIA.
July 18, 2025
Didn't gain any insight or hear any real stories of being a CIA agent but I guess that is expected. Really more of a travel memoir with a large family while the mom juggles a demanding job. Still an easy, enjoyable read.
October 28, 2025
sometimes got on her pity pot
Not a writer by trade, but her story was interesting enough to carry it over the uneven, occasionally repetitive prose. Worth your time though you want4d to sigh every time she whined over her self imposed plight.
Not a writer by trade, but her story was interesting enough to carry it over the uneven, occasionally repetitive prose. Worth your time though you want4d to sigh every time she whined over her self imposed plight.
September 18, 2025
90% travel guide, 10% spy.
Disappointedly short on spy stories, tiny bits about spy craft. Very mundane Spy, heavy on Wife, Mother. Do not recommend reading
Disappointedly short on spy stories, tiny bits about spy craft. Very mundane Spy, heavy on Wife, Mother. Do not recommend reading
December 14, 2025
This book was super disappointing. I was expecting a book like "The Spy Wore Red," and "The Spy Went Dancing". This book was like a written family instagram account sharing travel adventures, and the self-deprecating asides of having trouble keeping track of their son Eric and sharing relatable experiences like "enjoying a refreshing iced tea" or dealing with health challenges. It completely missed the real story of how a mother serves her country knowing this actually puts her beloved husband and children in actual danger, should she ever be caught. The "spy" part is almost completely skipped over and we never once learn about a harrowing incident involving high stakes and true fear. We never learn about a high stakes situation that may have put her own life in danger, or that of colleagues or her family; she never draws her gun of shares having to do something (other than lying) that she would otherwise rather not have had to do. There are a few light touches about maybe possibly not being able to rent a car because of not having back up documentation but that would have scuttled the appointment, not throw the author into actual danger. I was really looking forward to this. I recommend the books written by Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones for a much more satisfying spy memoirs.
April 7, 2025
“My life as a mom and my life as a CIA officer collided over and over…no one ever expected a pregnant woman to be a spy…no one thought I was anything but just a mom.”
You’ll want to take your time with this book. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. It will cause you to shake your head in awe at the resilience and poise of a woman balancing the challenges and joys of motherhood with the excitement and danger of a career in the CIA.
This book will take you to Sarajevo in the aftermath of war, the streets cratered by shelling, where Butler grappled with supporting the peace effort while her son turned one on the other side of the world.
It will take you off a dark road in north Africa where Butler switched out license plates in the middle of the night before clandestine meetings with a senior foreign official from a neighboring country.
It will take you past a pink-painted bakery where the aroma of fresh bread invited Butler and her young daughter in while on assignment in Paris.
If you’re about to read this for the first time, consider yourself lucky, and enjoy the ride. 5 stars.
You’ll want to take your time with this book. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. It will cause you to shake your head in awe at the resilience and poise of a woman balancing the challenges and joys of motherhood with the excitement and danger of a career in the CIA.
This book will take you to Sarajevo in the aftermath of war, the streets cratered by shelling, where Butler grappled with supporting the peace effort while her son turned one on the other side of the world.
It will take you off a dark road in north Africa where Butler switched out license plates in the middle of the night before clandestine meetings with a senior foreign official from a neighboring country.
It will take you past a pink-painted bakery where the aroma of fresh bread invited Butler and her young daughter in while on assignment in Paris.
If you’re about to read this for the first time, consider yourself lucky, and enjoy the ride. 5 stars.
April 1, 2025
Ann Butler takes us on her internal journey as she traversed the globe chasing secrets with her growing family in tow. Nurtured by a loving, wanderlust family in Endicott, New York, Ann met the world in a bold way. She became, in turn, a Central Intelligence Agency “operations officer”—that’s code for spy—wife, and mother. Doing all of these demanded enormous sacrifice, skill, and stamina. Doing them as well as Ann did demanded even more—a husband and children who rolled with it when her job required them to move every few years, her to spend evenings trolling for informants, and months-long separations. In reading Wife, Mother, Spy, you’ll become acquainted with Ann Butler, an American and family hero who succeeded in putting both our country and her role as wife and mother first.
October 10, 2025
This memoir was a fascinating story of a real-life spy who is also literally the mom next door. The author was able to finally share her story which serves as an inspiration to many working to juggle demanding careers alongside a growing family. However, the unique nature of her work for the CIA adds a whole other level to the term "demanding." It was remarkable, and sometimes mind-boggling, to read how the author was constantly navigating between the most high stakes of decisions at work while finding space to be present for her family. The book also provides a look into the very real world of life as an agent, which is interesting on its own but also a helpful perspective for anyone considering a similar career path.
May 3, 2025
A beautifully written and moving autobiography of a glimpse in the life of a woman who lived in the shadows to serve a greater cause. With honesty, warmth, and quiet strength, Ann recounts her journey of an idyllic yet tragic childhood with the loss of her mother at a young age, to that of a devoted wife and mother and unassuming yet courageous spy. Her story shares moments of tension and sacrifice, and told with a voice that is both humble and powerful. The book is a reminder that perceived barriers can be overcome and a tribute to the stories of the many women who have shaped history behind the scenes. A lovely and inspiring read!
Read
November 11, 2025I’m not going to rate this book because I think it’s brave to tell your story no matter what. She definitely led an interesting life. As a stay at home Mom I sometimes wonder if I should have had a career. As I think about it I’m so glad I didn’t. I think it would have been too much to juggle and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on being a PTO Mom, a classroom volunteer, a coach, a Sunday school teacher, and their biggest fan at their sporting events. This isn’t to say that I think Ann should have stayed home; it obviously worked for her and her family. Just helped me realize that I like the choice I made.
November 25, 2025
Mother, Wife, Spy blends domestic drama with espionage in a way that feels fresh and engaging. The story moves at a great pace, and I was quickly drawn into the protagonist’s world as she tries to balance family life with the dangerous secrets closing in around her. She’s a believable mix of vulnerable and capable, and watching her grow into her role was one of my favorite parts of the book.
Some of the twists are a touch over-the-top, but they kept the tension high and the pages turning. The emotional undercurrents—trust, betrayal, and the cost of living a double life—gave the story more depth than I expected from a spy book.
A quick and easy read with strong character work.
October 31, 2025
Excellent book. As an ex-pat who at one time had the opportunity to work for the CIA, I found her book informative, interesting, funny at times, and just overall a great description of what living outside the US is like. Unlike Victor Marchetti's book, The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence - Ms Butler's book does not contain any blanks, so readers are able to learn more about the inner workings of the CIA. The book is also a great description of what it is like to juggle a career and family, while still enjoying life to the fullest. Very inspirational and I highly recommend.
December 14, 2025
This book was extremely interesting to me because it showed that a woman can pursue a challenging career and still have the life of a wife and mother. It's an inspiration to all women who may believe they can't have it all and shows that with the support of family and friends anything is possible. The author is definitely a driven person in all areas of her life. Although her line of work was unique she still managed to raise 5 well rounded children and also stay happily married. An inspiration to all women. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys real life adventure.
December 18, 2025
The thrilling life of an ordinary spy
Ann Butler's Wife, Mother, Spy delivers what it promises as the compelling story of the girl next door who grows up to practice spycraft all around the world for our country with a husband and five children. The moments of suspense were all the more pointed for me because the stakes were high for her contacts and her family. The contrast between everyday life with Ann’s large family and the risks taken during missions makes for a satisfying and entertaining read.
Ann Butler's Wife, Mother, Spy delivers what it promises as the compelling story of the girl next door who grows up to practice spycraft all around the world for our country with a husband and five children. The moments of suspense were all the more pointed for me because the stakes were high for her contacts and her family. The contrast between everyday life with Ann’s large family and the risks taken during missions makes for a satisfying and entertaining read.
April 14, 2025
Ann Butler has clearly debunked the myth that women can have it all, just not all at the same time! Ann beautifully captures her anything-but-ordinary days in this exceptional memoir. She has led an adventurous life of public service, accompanied every step of the way by her intrepid and surely proud family. Wife, Mother, Spy is a fascinating story told from a truly unique perspective. Ann is the real deal!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews