I picked up Agents of Change knowing approximately nothing about the history of women in the CIA—aside from what TV taught me (read: trench coats, lipstick, and suspiciously good lighting). Turns out? The real story is far grittier, way more inspiring, and full of women doing the most while getting the least credit.

Christina Hillsberg—former CIA officer, so she’s not guessing—takes us behind the scenes, decade by decade, to spotlight the women who kept the agency running. From the '60s “be a secretary and smile” era to the modern-day women holding their own at the top, these stories are equal parts maddening and motivating. These aren’t Bond girls—they’re brilliant, strategic, and tough as hell, operating under pressure and patriarchy.

The structure works really well. Each chapter focuses on a different decade, so you get this clear sense of how progress actually happens: slowly, unevenly, and usually after someone gets overlooked five times and still shows up for work.

The audiobook is great—narrated by Hillsberg and Valerie Plame, and it feels grounded, not overly polished. Like you’re being let in on something real. Which you are.

Thank you to Christina Hillsberg, HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for the early listen—opinions are mine, attitude also mine. Agents of Change is on sale now.

As someone who thoroughly enjoyed Liza Mundy's Sisterhood about the Secret History of Women in the CIA, I knew I had to request Christina Hillsberg's new book Agents of Change, as soon as I spotted it on NetGalley. While Mundy's book spans a greater period of time, starting with the Office of Specialized Services (OSS) the precursor to the CIA, continuing to modern day, Hillsberg's Agents of Change focuses on the lives of four women, and their experience in the CIA. While some things have changed from the days of the OSS, sadly other attitudes persisted, particularly with regard to the views of women as likely to get pregnant and be unavailable soon after marriage.

The narrator of an audiobook can make or break it. Although I like audiobooks generally, there have been books I had to stop reading in audio format, and pick up a physical book, and it was like night and day. Thankfully, I enjoyed the narration of Agents of Change, and felt like I could really picture the scene as the narrator read the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and am grateful to NetGalley, and the publisher, who provided me with this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This audiobook book was an interesting look at the history of women working in the CIA and those who made strides for advancing women in the operations department. My biggest critiques are that I wish there were more of a deep dive into the women highlighted in this book. The author was the narrator and I wish they had used another narrator as she was monotone at times. Overall, I did enjoy the audiobook and plan to research more about these women!

3.5 stars. An interesting and important read about trailblazer women in the CIA. As with most jobs over the years, misogyny, sexual harassment and sex discrimination are all prevalent. The stories about these women who paved the way for other women to move up in the ranks were both heartbreaking and heartwarming. They had to work twice as hard for half the pay, often putting aside their personal lives but it filled me with pride to see them rise in the ranks and fill more of the top jobs, with equal pay.
I think I would have liked to read a bit more of what they actually did, maybe some ops they were on to add to the story a bit more t fully round out my perception of them.

Colleen Chi-Girl at GoodReads
4 STARS

Agents of Change, Women Who Transformed the CIA, was a terrific novel based on actual CIA women and the many difficulties they experienced in the 1960's up to current time. This was written by an ex-CIA operative and detailed the main spy organization, aka the old "CIA Boys Club", which treated women no differently than the boys clubs in corporate law and business places everywhere.

However, the main difference in this novel is we get the female perspective by Hillsberg who was there! She shares stories and friend's stories, along with historical information that hasn't been easily attainable or at least isn't featured in most CIA stories - glad that's changing. It's an uplifting story of the intelligent and brave women who dedicated and risked their lives in the CIA regardless of the many obstacles endured internally and externally. I had a hard time putting this one down - fascinating women, some with husbands in the business.

My apologies, but I took off a star because of the narration, which I felt was too sweet to represent this collective band of women. Ironically, one of the narrators was Hillsberg, herself.

READ THIS to enlighten yourself and to remember how many women have been at the forefront in so many historical aspects of our lives. Be proud of them and their stories, especially ground breaking CIA operatives.

Thank you to the author, publisher HighBridge Audio, and NetGalley for having the courage to tell these stories and my deep appreciation to all for the ARC.


Publishers Note:
"The timely and revelatory exploration of the pioneering women who changed the insulated world of international espionage—from the barrier-crashing challenges of the 1960s to the present day reckoning—told through the eyes of a former intelligence operative herself. Years after her successful and impactful career at the CIA, Christina Hillsberg became enthralled with the stories of the trailblazing women who forged new paths within the Agency long before she began her career there in the aughts. These were women who sacrificed their personal lives, risked their safety, defied expectations, and boldly navigated the male-dominated spy organization."

I knew basically nothing about the history of women in the CIA before this book. Agents of Change is quite a history lesson that can sometimes feel like an emotional gut punch - especially if you're a woman navigating male-dominated spaces.

Christina Hillsberg, a former CIA officer, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the real women who have helped shape the agency - from the 1960s "secretarial" era to the women currently holding their own in the highest levels of intelligence. These aren't James Bond characters in heels. They're intelligent, strategic, and tough women who had to fight for everything.

The structure of the book works really well. Each chapter focuses on a different decade, so you can feel how things slowly evolve. It's frustrating at times, especially knowing how much these women had to endure just to be taken seriously. But it's also inspiring in that "how did they keep going?" kind of way. I was both mad and motivated.

The audiobook is very well done. Hillsberg narrates alongside Valerie Plame, and both bring a personal, grounded energy to the stories. It never feels overly polished or stiff. It feels like they lived it because they did.

This was my first Hillsberg book, but it won't be my last. If you're into spy stuff, feminist history, or stories about badass women who refused to stay quiet, this one's a must.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for an advanced reader's copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is narrative nonfiction at its finest. The stories of women in the CIA is compulsively readable, full of personal stories that just flow. Propulsive tales of history, politics, and gender dynamics that made this difficult to put down.

There are so many advantages to using women in the field. We often go unnoticed or are overlooked by men. One woman was never given a tail so she frequently worked dead drops. It wasn’t until their source was compromised she was caught. Women will notice things men were never taught to look for. One woman found a man out of place at a market because of his shoes.

Despite proving themselves capable and valuable, these women were ignored, sidelined, stymied, or abused. These practices are still at play, despite almost 60 years of societal change. We hear from a variety of women at the CIA. Retired, still working, childfree, mothers, married, happily single, disabled, queer, and a variety of ethnicities. This book has better representation than Congress.

This has been on of my favorite reads of the year. I loved it and would absolutely recommend this. If you like history, feminism, DEI, espionage, or good memoirs, read it. 5/5

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Highbridge for the ALC

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved how it started back in 60's and went all the way thru recent times telling stories of different women and their experiences in the CIA. Lesbian, straight, African American, Asian, married, divorced, single moms, women of all different back grounds from all different walks of life and how they coped with life as an agent and everything that came with it. Descrimination that really hasn't come as far as you'd think, sexual harassment & assault. The stories of these strong women are amazing to read as you see how much they sacrificed while their lives were on the line.
Thanks to HighBridge Audio, Rbmedia & NetGalley for the ARC.

Having worked in a male dominated industry for my entire adult life, Agents Of Change: The Women Who Transformed The CIA by Christina Hillsberg really spoke to me.

Starting with the sixties and broken down by decade, chapters start with pop culture references that help set the scene and create an easily digestible non-fiction. As a Canadian and someone who doesn't know a lot about the CIA, this book was both informative and well written, never assuming readers have excessive government knowledge.

My big take away from this book, however, is that discrimination, sexism, and misogyny can happen to all women - no matter how bad-ass of a career they may have. This knowledge created a type of comradery I wasn't expecting between myself and those women who helped shape and change the CIA.

The audiobook was well done with Hillsberg narrating her own words, creating a personal touch to the harshness discussed. Additionally, Valerie Plame lends voice to her own words while narrating the forward.

I can see this book being easily gifted to a variety of women and would make for a fantastic book club discussion!

Thank you NetGalley, Kaye Publicity, Kensington Publishing, Citadel and HighBridge Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

This was a very interesting history told with an insider's perspective. I appreciated the variety of stories from different women across several decades. This seems well researched and was a very accessible read. Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy. I'm very glad that I picked this one up.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book - setting out not to tell the story of exceptions to the rule, but that of the every day woman in the CIA, and what it feels like to be a minority of a minority.

I liked the way the book was segmented by person, and how the author made sure that there were stories from diverse backgrounds among the pool. It was interesting to hear how similar and dissimilar being an agent can be to being a woman in the general workforce today. I’m not sure if it felt hopeful of desperate though, to be continuing to deal with this shit in 2025. Unfortunately, that’s not something the author can control, though this glimpse has the potential to be a great start at rolling a ball uphill.

That said, I did enjoy this book, and I would recommend it to others who are interested in the topic.

I was lucky enough to listen to the ARC of this book the week it was released. Hillsberg shares stories of a handful of women in the CIA. It does not come as a surprise to know that the agency is a place in which the patriarchy is fostered and women are considered less effective due in large part because they have uteruses. This book shows the real women who existed and exist in the CIA. Hillsberg shares stories that showcase the ways in which women are more effective in the field, alongside the things women put up with so as not to face backlash, the person lives they pushed to the side and neglected, and more. This is definitely a book I intend to listen to again. And physically read it, with a lot of annotation.

My favorite part:: Hillsberg is a retired agent.

Content warnings: (these are all present in the stories, but Hillsberg is able to authentically tell the stories of the women in the CIA without being explicit in the description of these occurrences).

Sexual harassment
Racism
Death
Violence
homophobia

This book is a thought provoking look at the CIA throughout different decades from the perspective of a former CIA agent. The roles throughout the years evolved to include more leadership and advancement, yet you still can see how even though huge changes have occurred, some things have not evolved at the same rate. Women and especially women of color, are under represented in these roles, which also speaks to women not even having the same opportunities to enter the field. Sexual harassment and assault probably could have had its own chapter, and i felt this was a short read and that topic could have been more expanded on, yet her research was probably very limited since the topic still remains very hushed in these departments.
This was a good starter read as I am getting more interested in nonfiction books about US Government agencies in the 20th and 21st centuries and would recommend on audio.

Thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

Agents of Change is a compelling and passionate recounting of several individuals and their journey and struggles through the CIA.

When I first jumped in, I was hoping for a bit more action in the narrative, following specific operations or events. While you did get that with a few of the stories (looking at you, Mary), this really focuses on the discrimination, prejudice, marginalization, and exclusion that these women faced.

I wasn’t surprised to hear that these types of issues were what these women faced, but it’s disheartening that the reality is that I am so desensitized to those things.

I did listen to this on audio, and my favorite audiobooks are the ones narrated by the author. The ability to consume the book exactly as the author intended is such a treat and really makes the book that much better.

Overall this was a great book, especially for anyone interested in the inner workings of the CIA, equality, women’s studies, or just an easy to consume, compelling story.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the ARC!

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but the eye-catching bright yellow and pink of Agents of Change’s cover is partly what drew my attention to Hillsberg’s work. The second thing I noticed about this audiobook is that it is read by the author. When I see a nonfiction audiobook listed as being read by the author, I'm immediately curious to find out more about it. I really enjoy hearing the author’s personal connection to the material come through the auditory narration.

Christina Hillsberg’s knowledge and respect for the CIA’s female workforce shines through her reading. Although the author was once an agent herself, Agents of Change is less a memoir about her time at the agency and more an account of the female agents who came before and after her. It is because of Hillsberg’s own background working in the agency that we readers gain access into this secret world.

Hillsberg briefly begins with recollecting her own spy operations. I was initially disappointed she didn't expand more on her experiences, but maybe she's saving that for another book. The accomplishments of women both past and present quickly take center stage.

Hillsberg’s chapters are divided by decade, starting with the ‘60s, and highlight issues women faced as well as showcase notable agents from each time period. I appreciate this organization; it made for a very readable book.

I had a favorite person for each decade. It was remarkable to hear how simply being a woman made them great spies. Marty Peterson capitalized on her “gift” of being underestimated in her work in Russia during the ‘70s. (I have since added “The Widow Spy” to my TBR list.) Mary, a first generation immigrant from Lebanon, utilized her female gut instincts to be a remarkable asset recruiter for the agency in the ‘90s. A wheelchair bound woman was mentioned briefly, but her story was not developed much further. Disabled myself, this reader is especially curious at any mention of disability in books. That said, I was pleased to hear the author highlight the CIA being recognized in 2021 and 2022 as a “government employer of choice” for a notable disability publication.

Book club discussion groups will love the treat at the end of this book-- a collection of ten discussion questions. Agents of Change will certainly spark important conversations about the challenges women face in the male dominated field of spies (and world at larger for that matter).

Thank you Netgalley and RBmedia for early access to this free audiobook. Agents of Change is scheduled to be available in print and audio formats on June 24, 2025.

I only read certain non-fiction books and this one was so well-done. Clearly it was researched well and then used empathy to tell every woman's story in a way that was interesting, yet conveyed the emotion of the stories. Since it follows female agents from the '60s to the present, the sexism, ageism, and just outright discrimination was very prevalent and still can be. It was interesting to hear about what was happening in the corresponding decade, so for the '90s, the author explains all about the scandal in the White House and how women were treated and then goes into the stories of the agents. To have these markers in history made it even more memorable. Hopefully this book helps to open up eyes within intelligence work and make it a safer environment for the women who work within these agencies.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook ARC!

I really enjoyed so much about Agents of Change, which as is described is based on the women who transformed the CIA for other women.

I loved the way the book was laid out. Essentially each chapter takes a deep dive into a decade and a woman or women working for the CIA at that time.

As is usually always the case I would love to be able to tell you that I was astonished at the women’s treatment within such an esteemed organisation. I was not, but I was astounded at the trailblazers who set to make changes.

Great writing. Great narration.

Many thanks to HighBridge audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧