Edith and Kim explores the story of Edith Tudor Hart, a woman written out of a part of history that is dominated by men. The author brings Edith’s story to life with superb research, skilful characterisation and an atmospheric sense of time and place. A beautifully written and revealing novel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I don't think this book particularly worked for lots of little reasons – the clunky transitions and flashbacks, the forced dialogue, how often characters so clearly say things just to inform the reader of historical fact. However, I loooove an espionage novel and I find this story and period of history so fascinating, so I definitely enjoyed reading it! Shame it wasn't the best of its kind, as the prose was pretty good and the story was banging. 3.5 stars

Who doesn’t love a good spy novel? Espionage, undercover operations, the thrill of wondering if they will be caught…Except, Unlike most spy thrillers, Edith and Kim is a slow-paced but engrossing novel with a rather haunting sense of time and place that takes a close look at the daily life, struggles, and fears of a committed activist and a single working mother alongside her work for the communist cause.

Whilst I ramble incoherently here, I have to add that I’m really unsure how a written review will do this book justice. Please just trust me when I say – THIS IS A MUST READ.

I couldn’t stop reading this book. Compelling, propulsive and oh so believable (especially given the family of the author). Surely it will become one of the great spy novels of the age.

This is a fascinating yet slightly confusing book that I found myself reading as non-fiction, rather than as the fiction which it is in reality. I'd probably classify it as faction. Either way, it's very well written, and was a gripping read, once I had worked out the various relationships between all the characters in the first few chapters.

Occasionally a novel comes along which lives up to the hype. Charlotte Philby has made a career writing novels which live in the space between contemporary literary and the espionage genre.

She has explored the roles of women and the structural inequalities which lead to poor choices and dangerous paths for her characters in contemporary capitalist societies.

And now she has gone back in time. Back to the time of her grandfather’s recruitment by the NKVD and back to the time when Edith Tudor-Hart was photographing and recruiting the young and the idealistic to her cause and being instrumental in creating the most important spy ring of the twentieth century.

What follows is a novel of quite stunning ambition and scope. Philby takes us on the journey of Tudor-Hart as she encounters the turbulent unrest of Austria in the 20s, the Bauhaus, England as class struggle rears its head in the most obvious fashion and on to the sad ending which a life of having to hide your choices seems to lead to with inevitability.

Charlotte Philby is a novelist of rare scope and talent but here she employs her enthusiasm for split narratives to weave a tapestry through time and her characters which lends a spiralling inevitability to the outcome without ever being dull.

‘Edith and Kim’ is many things: a novel of rare scope in time and historical significance; an elegiac wander through the dream world of espionage and the impact of decisions taken in youth which echo through the decades; an increasingly rare epistolary novel, intercut with domestic security services’ reports. It is also a tale of a much over-looked figure in the history of spying, marginalised by her gender.

Finally, it is a novel which promotes Philby fully to the top ranks of writers in the field working today. “A novel only [insert name of writer her]” is an oft used trope in promoting literature.

But this is a novel only Charlotte Philby could have written. The heady mix of her personal history, her understanding of the societal issues which render women – especially talented and “difficult” women – ripe for expunging from the record make this a triumph of a piece.

Really interesting and feels very timely, given what is happening currently in the world. Yes it's fiction but it is based on true events and real people and includes extracts from Secret Intelligence files, private archive letters, the author's interviews and family anecdotes. With Charlotte being Kim Philby's grandaughter, she has her own personal perspective on one of the most influential women in histroy, yet Edith Tudor-Hart is relatively little known. In this book, I fet t understand her and her motivations and ideed this period of history, it's very well written. Sad at times, really quite moving there is both spy thriller and drama to enjoy. Recommended.

This wasn’t really my type of book but I persisted with it to the end but somebody else may like it better then me….

“Dear Edith, I’ve just received copies of various articles about yours truly, in the British press, sent via my children. The Observer pictures were a bit more flattering than the ones in the Daily Mail; thankfully I am much too old to worry about my looks. Much mention of Cambridge. It rather leads me to wonder what bothers them more: what I did, or the fact of who I was.” - from ‘Edith and Kim’.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Edith and Kim’ by Charlotte Philby in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating work of spy fiction based on true events and individuals. It examines the life of Edith Tudor-Hart, the woman who in 1934 introduced Kim Philby, Britain’s most infamous communist double-agent, known as the elusive ‘third man’ in the notorious Cambridge spy ring, to his Soviet handler, the spy Arnold Deutsch. In doing so she changed the course of 20th century history though she was then written out of it. ….Yet thanks to Charlotte Philby no longer.

Charlotte is the granddaughter of Kim Philby and brings a unique perspective to her subject matter. In her Author’s Note she advises that while ‘Edith and Kim’ is a novel much of it is true. She has drawn upon the Secret Intelligence Files on Edith Tudor-Hart along with private archive letters of Kim Philby as well as, in Charlotte’s words, “interviews, his autobiography, anecdotes, family folklore, and my imagination” to tell the story of the woman behind the Third Man.

As someone who enjoys spy fiction, especially the le Carre style that is grounded in history and tradecraft, this proved a fascinating novel.

Overall, I found ‘Edith and Kim’ a well written compelling read. Following this positive experience I plan to explore more of Charlotte Philby’s writings.

Thoroughly enjoyed Charlotte Philby's carefully woven story about Edith, the forgotten figure from history. The descriptions of London were so magnetic and vivid and I could picture myself easily walking beside Edith - such great writing. Whilst deeply moving and sad, it has all the great features of a spy thriller from another pov, a vivid picture is painted surrounding the crucial role of Edith-Tudor Hart in this slice of history.

I admired, more than enjoyed, this well structured spy story based on Kim Philby, Edith Tudor-Hart and others in spy circles during the period. Drawing on evidence and imagination to create a fully rounded view of the times, and their motivations over the years, Philby gives a nuanced view of history and the personal challenges that sit within major events.

But… I didn’t quite engage with it on an emotional level and as a result I felt it lacked a compelling reason to keep coming back. It was fine, but not the great spy novel I hoped for

I love a spy novel and this one turned out to be just as excellent as I had anticipated. This is a partly fictionalised telling of the story of Kim Philby, the famous Soviet double agent, and the woman who recruited him, Edith Suschitzky. The novel focuses largely on Edith which was a pleasant surprise as most spy novels do not go into the particulars of those working in the background. The novel was at times incredibly sad and deeply moving. I really enjoyed this book - the only downside for me being that the first half of the book was rather difficult to follow as there were so many characters introduced and the letters and files felt like they were just randomly slotted in amongst the story (although this was perhaps due to reading a digital copy!)

Well written novel about the real-life relationship which led to Kim Philby becoming a Soviet agent, and thus compromising British intelligence.

Would recommend to anyone interested in this period of history.

With thanks to NetGalley and The Borough Press for an ARC

Imagine the granddaughter of Kim Philby, the "Third Man" spy, novelizing the life of the woman who first introduced him to his Soviet handler. This sounds like a publishing beat-up, but no, it's real, and the end result is a thoroughly engrossing, low-key spy thriller-cum-drama that hews close to real life. "Edith and Kim" is a tightly plotted, stylistically elegant account of Edith Tudor-Hart, small-time Soviet pawn with a huge historical impact, also a harried mother and anxious soul. A claustrophobic narrative of Edith's days before and after the war, interrupted by imaginary letters from Kim in Soviet exile, the novel seeps with danger and dread, even though little violence takes place onstage. Unlike anything I have read before, Edith and Kim provided me with a novelist's evocative glimpse into that hallowed espionage era. Recommended.

Wonderful timing for the publication of this book, which comes right at the point where the world craves more information on Putin and the Russia that created him. It's mix of letters, documents and faction doesn't make this a straightforward read but it's a very useful addition to the body of work we need to read to understand current events.

This was a book with a difference focussing upon Edith-Tudor Hart and how she helped to recruit Soviet master spy Kim Philby.

Written by his grand daughter Charlotte, this is ostensibly fiction but is also based on government files and private letters.

Slow moving but engrossing she paints an evocative portrait of a committed activist and also a single working mother.

A patient but worthwhile read.