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MI5 and Me: A Coronet Among the Spooks
When aristocrat's daughter Charlotte Bingham was summoned to her father's office aged eighteen, she never expected to discover that he was a spy. Even more ominous was his decision that she should work for MI5. Miserably assigned to the formidable Dragon, Lottie wishes for release from the torment of typing. But as fellow secretary Annabella illuminates the mysteries of MI5, and Lottie's home fills with actors doubling as spies, Lottie feels well and truly spooked. This hilarious memoir is a window into 1950s Britain, where Russian agents infiltrate the highest echelons, where debutantes are typists and where Englishness is both a nationality and a code of behaviour.
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First published March 8, 2018
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About the author
Charlotte Bingham
75 books74 followersThe Honourable Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham was born on 29 June 1942 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, wrote detective stories and was a secret member of MI5. Her mother, Madeleine Bingham, née Madeleine Mary Ebel, was a playwright. Charlotte first attended a school in London, but from the age of seven to 16, she went to the Priory of Our Lady's Good Counsel school in Haywards Heath. After she left school, she went to stay in Paris with some French aristocrats with the intention of learning French. She had written since she was 10 years old and her first piece of work was a thriller called Death's Ticket. She wrote her humorous autobiography, called Coronet Among the Weeds, when she was 19, and not long before her twentieth birthday a literary agent discovered her celebrating at the Ritz. He was a friend of her parents and he took off the finished manuscript of her autobiography. In 1963, this was published by Heinemanns and was a best seller.
In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
June 17, 2018
MI5 and Me: A Coronet Among the Spooks by Charlotte Bingham is a 2018 Bloomsbury publication.
Charlotte Bingham returns with another installment in her riotously funny memoirs-
Charlotte starts things off by sharing with readers how she found out her father was a secret agent with MI5. For those who may not be familiar with Charlotte’s background, her father was John Bingham, the 7th Baron of Clanmorris, and wrote detective novels. It is widely believed that John Le Carre patterned his character ‘George Smiley’ after Bingham.
After rather casually dropping his bombshell on eighteen- year- old Charlotte, he follows this up with the announcement that it is time for his daughter to get a job, and to that end, he has gotten her an interview at the MI5 offices, to work as a secretary.
This book chronicles Charlotte’s experiences working for MI5 and the world of espionage in the fifties and sixties, while the ‘war office’ keeps Britain safe from communists- perhaps taking themselves too seriously at times. The ‘lobster’ story is one for the ages and kept me on the edge of my chair.
Charlotte paints a zany characterization of her work life, and as with her previous memoirs, she has a way of pointing out absurdities and having a bit of fun with them. Her home life is every bit as enthralling as her work life. Her mother laments being on the fringes of the spy game, wishing her daughter wasn’t ‘one of them’, while actors come and go from the home, lured into a schemes to trick communist investors.
Charlotte’s writing style has changed over the years, of course. This book is much more stylish, but I must confess, I kind of miss those, ‘no really’ sentences. With something like forty novels under her belt, Charlotte's style may have matured, but the zaniness is still front and center. Satire, or memory lane? Maybe a bit of both?
Despite the subject matter, don’t expect a reverent or serious tone. This homage to the spy game, her father, and MI5, is related to the reader with plenty of wit, putting her own deliciously sly spin on things, and leaving the reader pondering on just how much insider knowledge they came away- if any.
I highly recommend this one to anyone who followed Charlotte's illustrious career as a writer, to anyone who enjoys humorous memoirs, or if you like books about cold war spies told with a fanciful flourish.
I am so happy I discovered Charlotte Bingham. She is an author that should have been on my radar years ago, but, somehow, I missed out her historical fiction. However, I intend to remedy that ASAP!! I'm also in search of the detective novels her father wrote- should be fun!!
4 stars
Personal note: If you have Kindle Unlimited- check out Charlotte's first two installments in the 'Coronet" memoirs. They are short, written back when she was quite young, but they were still very funny and will give you a taste of Charlotte's background before starting this book- although it is NOT necessary to read them to enjoy this segment of Charlotte's memoirs. I just thought it was a fun thing to do and it did enhance my enjoyment of this book to some extent, having a better understanding of the author's humor, in advance.
Charlotte Bingham returns with another installment in her riotously funny memoirs-
Charlotte starts things off by sharing with readers how she found out her father was a secret agent with MI5. For those who may not be familiar with Charlotte’s background, her father was John Bingham, the 7th Baron of Clanmorris, and wrote detective novels. It is widely believed that John Le Carre patterned his character ‘George Smiley’ after Bingham.
After rather casually dropping his bombshell on eighteen- year- old Charlotte, he follows this up with the announcement that it is time for his daughter to get a job, and to that end, he has gotten her an interview at the MI5 offices, to work as a secretary.
This book chronicles Charlotte’s experiences working for MI5 and the world of espionage in the fifties and sixties, while the ‘war office’ keeps Britain safe from communists- perhaps taking themselves too seriously at times. The ‘lobster’ story is one for the ages and kept me on the edge of my chair.
Charlotte paints a zany characterization of her work life, and as with her previous memoirs, she has a way of pointing out absurdities and having a bit of fun with them. Her home life is every bit as enthralling as her work life. Her mother laments being on the fringes of the spy game, wishing her daughter wasn’t ‘one of them’, while actors come and go from the home, lured into a schemes to trick communist investors.
Charlotte’s writing style has changed over the years, of course. This book is much more stylish, but I must confess, I kind of miss those, ‘no really’ sentences. With something like forty novels under her belt, Charlotte's style may have matured, but the zaniness is still front and center. Satire, or memory lane? Maybe a bit of both?
Despite the subject matter, don’t expect a reverent or serious tone. This homage to the spy game, her father, and MI5, is related to the reader with plenty of wit, putting her own deliciously sly spin on things, and leaving the reader pondering on just how much insider knowledge they came away- if any.
I highly recommend this one to anyone who followed Charlotte's illustrious career as a writer, to anyone who enjoys humorous memoirs, or if you like books about cold war spies told with a fanciful flourish.
I am so happy I discovered Charlotte Bingham. She is an author that should have been on my radar years ago, but, somehow, I missed out her historical fiction. However, I intend to remedy that ASAP!! I'm also in search of the detective novels her father wrote- should be fun!!
4 stars
Personal note: If you have Kindle Unlimited- check out Charlotte's first two installments in the 'Coronet" memoirs. They are short, written back when she was quite young, but they were still very funny and will give you a taste of Charlotte's background before starting this book- although it is NOT necessary to read them to enjoy this segment of Charlotte's memoirs. I just thought it was a fun thing to do and it did enhance my enjoyment of this book to some extent, having a better understanding of the author's humor, in advance.
January 14, 2019
Its about time you got a proper job instead of drifting about in coffee bars and working for all sorts of people who your mother tells me she could never ask to dinner. So I have made some enquiries and decided that the best place for you to work at a steady, worthwhile job is - MI5.
So begins Charlotte (Lottie) Bingham's early career as a secretary in the back rooms of MI5. She has just learnt, at the age of 18, that her rather dull, conventional father, John Bingham (7th Baron Clanmorris) was an active spy during WW2 and is a member of MI5. His section's main role is spying on suspected communist agents, tapping their phones, ocassionally breaking into their homes looking for evidence and planting actors into left wing movies.
This wasn't quite what I was expecting from a memoir on what it was like to work at MI5 in the 1950s. It's an often humorous, light and fluffy account of some fairly inept spying where not much seems to happen and not too many communist spies are uncovered. Hard to believe it's actually true. Or maybe it isn't and the real spies were doing real espionage somewhere else; we'll never know, although John Bingham is reputed to be the model for John Le Carré's Smiley so he must have been a competent spy.
Charlotte Bingham went on to write several novels and with her husband Terence Brady wrote several plays, film scripts and episodes of TV dramas such Upstairs, Downstairs. 3.5★
So begins Charlotte (Lottie) Bingham's early career as a secretary in the back rooms of MI5. She has just learnt, at the age of 18, that her rather dull, conventional father, John Bingham (7th Baron Clanmorris) was an active spy during WW2 and is a member of MI5. His section's main role is spying on suspected communist agents, tapping their phones, ocassionally breaking into their homes looking for evidence and planting actors into left wing movies.
This wasn't quite what I was expecting from a memoir on what it was like to work at MI5 in the 1950s. It's an often humorous, light and fluffy account of some fairly inept spying where not much seems to happen and not too many communist spies are uncovered. Hard to believe it's actually true. Or maybe it isn't and the real spies were doing real espionage somewhere else; we'll never know, although John Bingham is reputed to be the model for John Le Carré's Smiley so he must have been a competent spy.
Charlotte Bingham went on to write several novels and with her husband Terence Brady wrote several plays, film scripts and episodes of TV dramas such Upstairs, Downstairs. 3.5★
October 3, 2023
When first settling down with this, I chose an armchair in the lounge and spent more time biting my lip to suppress the giggles than I did reading of the young lady's pursuits. Giving up, I snuck into the kitchen, the bedroom, the spare room - anywhere I'd be free to laugh aloud.
Some of the is most likely true. Some of this is most likely not.
Whatever: this is a hoot!
Some of the is most likely true. Some of this is most likely not.
Whatever: this is a hoot!
July 29, 2018
Behind the scenes view of 1950s MI5
This is an interesting view of what it was like to work in the back office at MI5, even if your dad was the boss! Some great anecdotes and gems, including how left wing plays were subverted by putting actors in them who were deliberately bad.
Overall a good fun read.
I was given a copy by the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review.
This is an interesting view of what it was like to work in the back office at MI5, even if your dad was the boss! Some great anecdotes and gems, including how left wing plays were subverted by putting actors in them who were deliberately bad.
Overall a good fun read.
I was given a copy by the publisher, but was not required to write a positive review.
January 19, 2019
interesting memoir of the daughter of a top M15 spy when she 18 and joined the war office. light humour
May 7, 2018
When Charlotte was 18 her father took her into his study for a serious talk. She was expecting a cringing explanation of the Birds and the Bees but instead learnt that her father worked for MI5 and he'd got her a job in the secretarial pool. Bingham recounts her time working for the spy service, including some light spying for her masters. This was a fascinating look into a secret world in a time when the main threat was from the Communists. As Bingham's father was a baronet as well as a spy, her memoirs are of a totally different life to anything I've known. This was quite a light read and very entertaining.
October 5, 2020
I am afraid that I found this book not remotely funny. Lottie, the protagonist and narrator, is quite off-putting. She spouts such a load of twaddle that interest in the plot (if there really is one) goes in the early pages. Some of the situations are just downright silly and if intended to portray work in MI5 heaven help our security service.
Her working environment when she eventually gets into the MI5 offices is to say the least bizarre and the way she goes about addressing her colleagues, and superiors, is hardly credible. Her discussions with her colleagues, particularly Arabella, are dull and often child-like while her relations with her father, an MI5 officer himself, beggars belief, too. Indeed, her colleague Arabella says of her tale near the end, 'Of course, you know no one will believe it.' Hardly surprising ... even for a work of fiction.
I persevered to about three-quarters of the way through and then thought I ought to spend my time reading something more appetising so I skimmed it and then gave it up ... dreadful!
I should note that Charlotte Bingham has undoubtedly written some fine works, but 'MI5 and Me' is definitely not one of them.
Her working environment when she eventually gets into the MI5 offices is to say the least bizarre and the way she goes about addressing her colleagues, and superiors, is hardly credible. Her discussions with her colleagues, particularly Arabella, are dull and often child-like while her relations with her father, an MI5 officer himself, beggars belief, too. Indeed, her colleague Arabella says of her tale near the end, 'Of course, you know no one will believe it.' Hardly surprising ... even for a work of fiction.
I persevered to about three-quarters of the way through and then thought I ought to spend my time reading something more appetising so I skimmed it and then gave it up ... dreadful!
I should note that Charlotte Bingham has undoubtedly written some fine works, but 'MI5 and Me' is definitely not one of them.
October 29, 2025
A good fun fireside read.
It reminds me of, 'The Road to Station X' by Sarah Baring.
I shall read this again - Christmas is coming!!
It reminds me of, 'The Road to Station X' by Sarah Baring.
I shall read this again - Christmas is coming!!
May 16, 2018
Delightful Spy Memoir
Most spy novels/films are dark, and at the very least, thriller-ish. This memoir is not that, in a completely surprising and delightful way. Charlotte Bingham was summoned into her father’s office when she was 18 and he revealed to her that he worked for MI5 as a spy. That was the first bomb he dropped. The second being that he was forcing her to work for MI5. Since this happened in England in the 1950s and Bingham was not 21 yetm she was forced to do as her parents said. Unlike me–who would have been thrilled to discover this news–Bingham became quite amusingly dramatic and tried to literally catch pneumonia to get out of the job. Her health remained in tact, and the book follows as she works for MI5, lives in a house regularly visited by spies, and wishes that communism would just stop so there would be no need for her father’s job and he could just be a normal wealthy father like her friend’s dads. This honestly read like a British comedy series to me and I adored every second of it–and it really should be turned into a series.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
Most spy novels/films are dark, and at the very least, thriller-ish. This memoir is not that, in a completely surprising and delightful way. Charlotte Bingham was summoned into her father’s office when she was 18 and he revealed to her that he worked for MI5 as a spy. That was the first bomb he dropped. The second being that he was forcing her to work for MI5. Since this happened in England in the 1950s and Bingham was not 21 yetm she was forced to do as her parents said. Unlike me–who would have been thrilled to discover this news–Bingham became quite amusingly dramatic and tried to literally catch pneumonia to get out of the job. Her health remained in tact, and the book follows as she works for MI5, lives in a house regularly visited by spies, and wishes that communism would just stop so there would be no need for her father’s job and he could just be a normal wealthy father like her friend’s dads. This honestly read like a British comedy series to me and I adored every second of it–and it really should be turned into a series.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
July 29, 2018
“It is about time you got a proper job instead of drifting about in coffee bars and working for all sorts of people who your mother tells me she would never ask to dinner. So, I have made some enquiries and decided that the best place for you to work at a steady, worthwhile job is – MI5.”
Lottie thus finds herself outside the Mayfair headquarters of MI5 in a dreary suit, feeling naked without her false eyelashes. Miserably assigned to the formidable Dragon, Lottie longs to escape, for for anything to release her from the torment of the typing. Thankfully the serene Arabella is on hand to decode the enigmas of office life – from the strange disappearance of some security films to the career-transforming properties of garlic. As Lottie's home fills with actors doubling as spies, and Arabella's mother is besieged by fishy telephone calls, Lottie begins to feel well and truly spooked.
This unique memoir is a window into 1950s Britain: a country where Russian agents infiltrate the highest echelons, where debutantes are typists, and where Englishness is both a nationality and a code of behavior. Discretion and honor meet secrecy and suspicion.
Charlotte Bingham wrote her first book, Coronets Among the Weeds, a memoir of her life as a debutante at the age of nineteen. She went on the write a further memoir, Coronet Among the Grass. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, was a member of MI5, where Charlotte worked as a secretary. He was an inspiration for John le Carré's George Smiley.
Charlotte Bingham went on to write thirty-three internationally bestselling novels and, in partnership with her late husband Terence Brady, a number of successful plays, films, and TV series, including Upstairs, Downstairs. She lives in Somerset.
(Somewhat edited publisher description taken from the hardcover book jacket, as is the slightly edited author biography.)
This pretty much was a bore. It took an effort for me to get through this, although it did have some moments. I don't see how John Bingham was an inspiration for John le Carré's George Smiley. George Smiley is sort of a shadowy figure but a extremely competent civil servant. On the other hand, John Bingham seemed like a buffoon.
Like I said, however, this book had its moments, the mod scene of 1960s London and all that, so I might give one of the other books Charlotte Bingham wrote. In addition to the aforementioned books. She has written numerous stand-alone-novels, as well as several series. Lots to choose from.
Lottie thus finds herself outside the Mayfair headquarters of MI5 in a dreary suit, feeling naked without her false eyelashes. Miserably assigned to the formidable Dragon, Lottie longs to escape, for for anything to release her from the torment of the typing. Thankfully the serene Arabella is on hand to decode the enigmas of office life – from the strange disappearance of some security films to the career-transforming properties of garlic. As Lottie's home fills with actors doubling as spies, and Arabella's mother is besieged by fishy telephone calls, Lottie begins to feel well and truly spooked.
This unique memoir is a window into 1950s Britain: a country where Russian agents infiltrate the highest echelons, where debutantes are typists, and where Englishness is both a nationality and a code of behavior. Discretion and honor meet secrecy and suspicion.
Charlotte Bingham wrote her first book, Coronets Among the Weeds, a memoir of her life as a debutante at the age of nineteen. She went on the write a further memoir, Coronet Among the Grass. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, was a member of MI5, where Charlotte worked as a secretary. He was an inspiration for John le Carré's George Smiley.
Charlotte Bingham went on to write thirty-three internationally bestselling novels and, in partnership with her late husband Terence Brady, a number of successful plays, films, and TV series, including Upstairs, Downstairs. She lives in Somerset.
(Somewhat edited publisher description taken from the hardcover book jacket, as is the slightly edited author biography.)
This pretty much was a bore. It took an effort for me to get through this, although it did have some moments. I don't see how John Bingham was an inspiration for John le Carré's George Smiley. George Smiley is sort of a shadowy figure but a extremely competent civil servant. On the other hand, John Bingham seemed like a buffoon.
Like I said, however, this book had its moments, the mod scene of 1960s London and all that, so I might give one of the other books Charlotte Bingham wrote. In addition to the aforementioned books. She has written numerous stand-alone-novels, as well as several series. Lots to choose from.
June 17, 2018
Charlotte Bingham was called into her father's office at 18 and told she needed to do something with her life. Oh, and her father works for MI5 and he's getting her a job as a secretary there. After recovering from that bombshell Charlotte was sure life as an MI5 secretary would be miserable and boring. Only time would tell if she was right or not.
This was a fascinating and very entertaining memoir about what real life was like in the 1950s as a secretary at MI5. Bingham relates her experiences with touches of humor that make this highly readable. I devoured it all in one sitting today. It isn't all cloaks and dagger types of spy stories, in fact there isn't so much as a fingernail broken in this. So don't expect death-defying jobs or high stakes operations. Her stories often sound like tales from a very normal typing office. But there are moments of everyday humor even in seeming monotony, and then little bits of craziness here and there (often stemming more from her father being a spy and the types of people he brought into their house). Bingham is quite humble and doesn't make herself out to be a stifled espionage genius or anything. She wasn't trained in multiple languages from the age of two or even given a martial arts lesson. She is frequently innocent about many things until her co-worker Arabella (who is a hoot, and a delightful part of the book) or her father clue her into what is really going on. She comes across very average and relatable, like someone you could actually know. This just covers a year or two of her life, so don't expect a full life story (as I understand it, she's written other memoirs that can fill in after the time period in this book). In all, this is a cozy, lighthearted memoir of a young woman who crossed paths with spies and actors on a regular basis and didn't seem to let it go to her head.
Notes on content: Just two or three minor swearwords. She talks in extremely vague terms about learning about the "Facts of Life" as she puts it, and intimates that the mother of one of her friends has regular gentlemen visitors but no details at all, and no sexual contents worse than that. No violence.
This was a fascinating and very entertaining memoir about what real life was like in the 1950s as a secretary at MI5. Bingham relates her experiences with touches of humor that make this highly readable. I devoured it all in one sitting today. It isn't all cloaks and dagger types of spy stories, in fact there isn't so much as a fingernail broken in this. So don't expect death-defying jobs or high stakes operations. Her stories often sound like tales from a very normal typing office. But there are moments of everyday humor even in seeming monotony, and then little bits of craziness here and there (often stemming more from her father being a spy and the types of people he brought into their house). Bingham is quite humble and doesn't make herself out to be a stifled espionage genius or anything. She wasn't trained in multiple languages from the age of two or even given a martial arts lesson. She is frequently innocent about many things until her co-worker Arabella (who is a hoot, and a delightful part of the book) or her father clue her into what is really going on. She comes across very average and relatable, like someone you could actually know. This just covers a year or two of her life, so don't expect a full life story (as I understand it, she's written other memoirs that can fill in after the time period in this book). In all, this is a cozy, lighthearted memoir of a young woman who crossed paths with spies and actors on a regular basis and didn't seem to let it go to her head.
Notes on content: Just two or three minor swearwords. She talks in extremely vague terms about learning about the "Facts of Life" as she puts it, and intimates that the mother of one of her friends has regular gentlemen visitors but no details at all, and no sexual contents worse than that. No violence.
unreadable
October 25, 2018Started 9/3. Bailing 9/4 on page 66.
I’m not rating because I didn’t finish, but of what I’ve read, I’d give this a single star. I can’t stand the narrative voice in this memoir. Admittedly, I struggle with memoirs, but Lottie is obnoxious and childish. I have no desire to spend another minute in her head.
I’m not rating because I didn’t finish, but of what I’ve read, I’d give this a single star. I can’t stand the narrative voice in this memoir. Admittedly, I struggle with memoirs, but Lottie is obnoxious and childish. I have no desire to spend another minute in her head.
January 17, 2019
I didn't do my homework... When I selected and started listening to this book I thought it was going to be a young lady's experience in MI5 during the Cold War. I'm a bit slow. It took me a bit longer than halfway through the book - and thinking it was a terrible book to boot - to figure out it was a parody of the times - British humor and all. Once my dim witted self realized what the book was all about I did enjoy it. At times it could get a bit trite, but over all a fun read with some interesting Cold War spy details thrown in.
July 5, 2019
I picked this up randomly at the library thinking that the story of a young girl working for the secret services in the 1950s sounded interesting. I realised the author had written lots of probably romance-ish books that I've never read, but that's fine, I often think that older female authors seem to have much more outrageous lives than the ones they write about. I missed the blurb on the cover telling me it was a "stone cold comic classic" though.
I can't really say I enjoyed it. I mostly found it stupid rather than funny, that's probably me rather than the book as I'm never very good with funny books anyway. I was never quite sure if I was in "truth is stranger than fiction" territory or how much it was embellished or if any of it was true to start with. It had its moments but I only really finished it so I could tick it off.
I can't really say I enjoyed it. I mostly found it stupid rather than funny, that's probably me rather than the book as I'm never very good with funny books anyway. I was never quite sure if I was in "truth is stranger than fiction" territory or how much it was embellished or if any of it was true to start with. It had its moments but I only really finished it so I could tick it off.
May 30, 2018
Ok, so I'm not sure if this book was meant for adults or not, but in my personal opinion the writing is more suited to younger readers just getting into full length spy novels. That is to say that I though the writing style rather childish. If you are already an enthusiast of the genre, I would say that you could skip this. It's very tame, nothing gets blown up, no one gets shot at, no violence of any kind. It does really read more like a memoir of what MI5 would have been like in the mid 20th century from a female secretary's perspective.
Would definitely recommend this title for younger readers.
Would definitely recommend this title for younger readers.
February 3, 2025
A bright and breezy memoir of a 18 year old in her first 8 weeks or so in the typing pool at MI5 in the 1950s. Perhaps more interesting and serious things happened after this which she can't talk about, but this felt very lightweight with a few anecdotes strung out and recounted in a very wordy style (her mother finds her father's gun in a bedside drawer). But still entertaining. Interesting - slightly different cover photos on the hardcover and paperback.
July 29, 2018
A fun, quick memoir about Charlotte’s early time in MI5. If you’re expecting something with a lot of depth and insight into MI5 this will be a bit disappointing, but I enjoyed the humorous approach Charlotte took to demonstrate the panic around communism in post-war Britain, simply by telling the stories as they happened. Not a deep book, but a fun one.
July 6, 2018
Such an odd little book. Funny and strange. I guess I’m meant to believe it?! A young lady in the 50s given a job by her dad in MI5. Was she really as nonchalant and savvy as she makes out? Don’t know but it’s an interesting read. And did I say funny?
August 16, 2018
A comic memoir from best-selling author, Charlotte Bingham, about the time she went to work as a secretary at MI5. It's the 1950s, there's a Cold War on and there are plenty of spies on the loose. A nice gentle read, with lots of humour.
April 18, 2019
Slightly funny.
December 3, 2024
A good read and lots of fun. It's entertaining to see the intelligence gathering world through the eyes of a female that's not actually an intelligence officer.
August 17, 2018
4 stars - A refreshingly amusing account of life on the fringes of British espionage.
Lottie was sure she was in for a dreadfully uncomfortable afternoon. Her father had called her into his drawing room, and she knew, she just knew he was going to tell her the Facts of Life, which, ugh, no teenager wants to hear from their stern, forbidding parent (plus, her best friend had already told her some Facts the previous summer). Instead, he tells her that he works for MI5, the UK's intelligence agency, a revelation that...well...is a lot less horrifying, she supposes. It even makes sense in retrospect...
But dropping that bombshell was not the only reason he'd wanted to talk to her that afternoon. He was there to tell her to grow up, shape up, stop drifting about and get a steady, worthwhile job....at MI5.
What an enjoyable read this was! We see a lot of serious, high stakes espionage covered in various media...but this is not that kind of book. Bingham's father may have been a high-ranking officer in the MI5, but she herself was hardly a field agent - as a typist, her daily concerns were initially more to do with how please - and later get even with - her overly-demanding boss (solutions: chew garlic, act overtly Roman Catholic), and how to spruce up their dreary office (solution: taping up magazine cutouts of Hollywood stars). But with a parent deep into this 'undercover business' (as her long-suffering mother phrases it), and a house full of visiting and resident spooks, Lottie can hardly stay uninvolved. Lottie is not quite in the know, but she skirts right along the edges of the scene. She soon finds herself spying onsuspected known double agents (aka her friend-and-coworker's mom, aka Mater Hari), listening in on suspicious phone calls, and practicing interrogation techniques on her colleagues.
Bingham's narrative is full of humorous anecdotes that show us the more lighthearted, accessible side of espionage. I know this is a memoir, but it almost reads as comedic fiction , and I mean that as a compliment! I think this would work well as a TV show; the guileless Lottie is quite the endearing 'character' and her quirky little misadventures are good for a laugh.
‘The facts are these. Your mother knows them, and since you are of an age, now you are eighteen, she thinks you should know them too – but you must remember that from here on your lips are sealed, and you cannot tell anyone else.’
Lottie was sure she was in for a dreadfully uncomfortable afternoon. Her father had called her into his drawing room, and she knew, she just knew he was going to tell her the Facts of Life, which, ugh, no teenager wants to hear from their stern, forbidding parent (plus, her best friend had already told her some Facts the previous summer). Instead, he tells her that he works for MI5, the UK's intelligence agency, a revelation that...well...is a lot less horrifying, she supposes. It even makes sense in retrospect...
But dropping that bombshell was not the only reason he'd wanted to talk to her that afternoon. He was there to tell her to grow up, shape up, stop drifting about and get a steady, worthwhile job....at MI5.
I stared at him in unbridled horror, there was no other way to describe the expression on my face.---
What an enjoyable read this was! We see a lot of serious, high stakes espionage covered in various media...but this is not that kind of book. Bingham's father may have been a high-ranking officer in the MI5, but she herself was hardly a field agent - as a typist, her daily concerns were initially more to do with how please - and later get even with - her overly-demanding boss (solutions: chew garlic, act overtly Roman Catholic), and how to spruce up their dreary office (solution: taping up magazine cutouts of Hollywood stars). But with a parent deep into this 'undercover business' (as her long-suffering mother phrases it), and a house full of visiting and resident spooks, Lottie can hardly stay uninvolved. Lottie is not quite in the know, but she skirts right along the edges of the scene. She soon finds herself spying on
Bingham's narrative is full of humorous anecdotes that show us the more lighthearted, accessible side of espionage. I know this is a memoir, but it almost reads as comedic fiction , and I mean that as a compliment! I think this would work well as a TV show; the guileless Lottie is quite the endearing 'character' and her quirky little misadventures are good for a laugh.
May 13, 2024
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In 1963, Charlotte Bingham (the Honorable Charlotte Mary Therese Bingham) wrote her first bestselling memoir at age 19, Coronet Among The Weeds. Several others followed and she turned her hand to writing for TV (Upstairs, Downstairs) and over 30 romance novels.
In MI5 and Me, she recalls being 18 - too flighty to keep even a coffee shop job and still under her parents control until she turns 21 - being assigned a job by her father John Bingham to work secretarial at his business. Little did she know that his was the secretive world of espionage that is MI5.
John Bingham was a head MI5 counterspy and once the boss of John leCarre, becoming one of the men who inspired the famed character George Smiley, and author of 17 spy thrillers himself.
That said, this is quite a frivolous book, delivering exactly the light entertainment you expected. Lottie is a sharp-eyed but scatterbrained girl, and Charlotte does a great job of bringing you back to that time, where her concerns were about the cakes in the breakroom, keeping up with dictation, and petty retaliations towards her boss nicknamed Dragon. Hers is not the dangerous world of covert operations, more the daily duties given to young girls of the day and gossip with Arabella, her girlfriend at work - observances of the people her father brings to the Knightsbridge home she calls Dingly Dell - ideally suited to ferret out the Commies lurking about the luxury flats next door. It soon seems to Lottie that London was seething with Lefties, that everyone she knows from household staff to family friends were potential spies, counterspies, or double agents. As Arabella explains, the service's purpose is to make socialists' lives umitigated hell. "But in a nice way of course, because that is what we British do."
Her parents decide to bring in two famous West End actors as 'lodgers' (actually bogeys he uses to find out what kind of Communist propaganda is going to be fed the public as entertainment). One big job is tricking the Trotskyists into producing a Leftist play that is doomed to fail, thereby draining their coffers. Arabella and Lottie end up temping at a film studio, which brings a little glamour.
There is no real danger here, and nothing substantial about MI5 business. But it is a fun look at both the place of woman in the 1960's and an entertaining, often comic look at nosing around in others business, overhearing clues in phone calls, and once or twice reporting back random bits of gossip which actually yield results - enough to cause one to stub out their cigarette or put down their drink.
You would think at that age, Lottie would be focused on meeting the right man, but there is a lack of romance one usually finds in these memoirs.
"There are quite a few bachelors in MI5, and quite a few friends of Dorothy, too."
"Does she work in my Section?', I asked in a low voice.
This is a light memoir set against the backdrop of 1960's spy work. Very much on the outside of the action, but a unique look that was worth a quick read. Entertaining.
In 1963, Charlotte Bingham (the Honorable Charlotte Mary Therese Bingham) wrote her first bestselling memoir at age 19, Coronet Among The Weeds. Several others followed and she turned her hand to writing for TV (Upstairs, Downstairs) and over 30 romance novels.
In MI5 and Me, she recalls being 18 - too flighty to keep even a coffee shop job and still under her parents control until she turns 21 - being assigned a job by her father John Bingham to work secretarial at his business. Little did she know that his was the secretive world of espionage that is MI5.
John Bingham was a head MI5 counterspy and once the boss of John leCarre, becoming one of the men who inspired the famed character George Smiley, and author of 17 spy thrillers himself.
That said, this is quite a frivolous book, delivering exactly the light entertainment you expected. Lottie is a sharp-eyed but scatterbrained girl, and Charlotte does a great job of bringing you back to that time, where her concerns were about the cakes in the breakroom, keeping up with dictation, and petty retaliations towards her boss nicknamed Dragon. Hers is not the dangerous world of covert operations, more the daily duties given to young girls of the day and gossip with Arabella, her girlfriend at work - observances of the people her father brings to the Knightsbridge home she calls Dingly Dell - ideally suited to ferret out the Commies lurking about the luxury flats next door. It soon seems to Lottie that London was seething with Lefties, that everyone she knows from household staff to family friends were potential spies, counterspies, or double agents. As Arabella explains, the service's purpose is to make socialists' lives umitigated hell. "But in a nice way of course, because that is what we British do."
Her parents decide to bring in two famous West End actors as 'lodgers' (actually bogeys he uses to find out what kind of Communist propaganda is going to be fed the public as entertainment). One big job is tricking the Trotskyists into producing a Leftist play that is doomed to fail, thereby draining their coffers. Arabella and Lottie end up temping at a film studio, which brings a little glamour.
There is no real danger here, and nothing substantial about MI5 business. But it is a fun look at both the place of woman in the 1960's and an entertaining, often comic look at nosing around in others business, overhearing clues in phone calls, and once or twice reporting back random bits of gossip which actually yield results - enough to cause one to stub out their cigarette or put down their drink.
You would think at that age, Lottie would be focused on meeting the right man, but there is a lack of romance one usually finds in these memoirs.
"There are quite a few bachelors in MI5, and quite a few friends of Dorothy, too."
"Does she work in my Section?', I asked in a low voice.
This is a light memoir set against the backdrop of 1960's spy work. Very much on the outside of the action, but a unique look that was worth a quick read. Entertaining.
July 12, 2020
I was a huge fan of Spooks (the TV series) back in the day, have a real soft spot for Mick Herron’s Dead Lions‘ fictional cast (washed-up MI5 operatives) and found the Crown TV-series episodes set in the 1950s most fascinating. So, it was no surprise this title from my library’s fabulous catalogue caught my eye.
I am sure we’ve all had moments in our life, that in hindsight we’d admit we took ourselves just a little too seriously. We learn from experience that our everyday trifles, and often privileged perspective, can result in well-intentioned actions that are at best insulting, at worst, harmful. It is in this vein that, in M15 and Me, Charlotte Bingham rather comically recounts her experiences working for that particular secret service, and more broadly, the mood and level of suspicion that had gripped London society at the beginning of the Cold War.
In this nostalgic satire, she dryly pokes fun at the passionate ineptitude with which the ‘enemies hidden in plain sight’ were hunted and the dubious value of their results and man-hours, all in the context of an increasingly outdated British class system. Continue reading > https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/...
I am sure we’ve all had moments in our life, that in hindsight we’d admit we took ourselves just a little too seriously. We learn from experience that our everyday trifles, and often privileged perspective, can result in well-intentioned actions that are at best insulting, at worst, harmful. It is in this vein that, in M15 and Me, Charlotte Bingham rather comically recounts her experiences working for that particular secret service, and more broadly, the mood and level of suspicion that had gripped London society at the beginning of the Cold War.
In this nostalgic satire, she dryly pokes fun at the passionate ineptitude with which the ‘enemies hidden in plain sight’ were hunted and the dubious value of their results and man-hours, all in the context of an increasingly outdated British class system. Continue reading > https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/...
November 23, 2021
If you ever dared to think John Le Carre made it all up, or even made up part of it, this memoir will make you think again. Bingham confirms all the absurdities, the hugger-mugger cloaking of communications and plans in outrageously outlandish ruses, the elaborate fail-safe confections invented to circumvent suspicions of “going over” that pepper Le Carre’s spy tales. And to boot, Bingham’s father was, actually Le Carre’s “Smiley.” If a novel, you might dismiss it as one of those cozy mysteries barely grounded in a not-to-be-believed reality. But in fact, it is all true, and thus, keeping you wondering what is going to happen next is not just a literary device, because what does happen next, actually happened.
June 25, 2023
Certainly describes the 50's in a realistic but very humorous way. It's a light read and amusing.
Her father telling her it's time to get a job, "It’s about time you settled down to doing something serious, patriotic, and worthwhile, Lottie. Time to grow up. You are in danger of becoming a lightweight".
Arranging a party, "I thought a nice fancy dress party, with a title. Not Vicars and Tarts for a change. Something a little different.
Such as? I wondered clearing my throat.
I thought Romans and Greeks, perhaps, although please God, not too many blasted Greeks. I knew that my father had a thing about Romans, and no time for the Greeks whom he considered a bit on the flouncy side".
I'm loving the idea of summing up the Greek civilisation as "flouncy".
Her father telling her it's time to get a job, "It’s about time you settled down to doing something serious, patriotic, and worthwhile, Lottie. Time to grow up. You are in danger of becoming a lightweight".
Arranging a party, "I thought a nice fancy dress party, with a title. Not Vicars and Tarts for a change. Something a little different.
Such as? I wondered clearing my throat.
I thought Romans and Greeks, perhaps, although please God, not too many blasted Greeks. I knew that my father had a thing about Romans, and no time for the Greeks whom he considered a bit on the flouncy side".
I'm loving the idea of summing up the Greek civilisation as "flouncy".
September 21, 2021
When Charlotte Bingham was 18, she was surprised to be informed by her father that he was a spy, and worked for MI5. He decided she should work for them too, and got her an interview for a secretarial job in their offices. Somewhat to her dismay, she got the job, and this was the beginning of an extraordinary period in her life. This account of her time working among the spies is extremely funny, with one hilarious incident following another. Laughter on every page. An absolutely delightful book.
October 12, 2018
Heard about this one from a friend at book group. I would never have found it/heard of it otherwise. But I enjoyed it quite a bit. A young women discovers her dad is an agent in Britain's secret service, and it throws her whole world out of whack. But her voice is so young and naive and ridiculous, that you can't help but giggle at her antics and interpretation of experiences at home and work. I loved the gentle satire of all things "British."
April 18, 2019
This is a good three and a half stars for me. It was an enjoyable, continuous smile read. The cynicism and wit never faltered or hit the wrong note. In spite of this, there is an underlying sense of intelligence at work and a shrewd appreciation of both intelligence and self-preservation. This was a book club choice - and one I enjoyed rather more than usual.
March 14, 2020
This is a really cute menoir about a frivolous young lady who is reluctantly recruited as a spy by her father. It's cleverly written with some very witty bits, and a reader gets a good sense of 60s London. However, it's a bit light on actual plot, which caused me to put it down about three-quarters of the way through.
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