I’m feeling quite accomplished, because I’ve read, or not read for a reason, all the NetGalley books I had won that are published in February (of course, I went and won another one during the month but …). I have finished “A Million Aunties” but you’ll have to wait for my review until after my Larry McMurtry, I think. Anyway, here we go with this fascinating non-fiction book that I must remember to pair with its fictional counterpart during the relevant week in Non-Fiction November this year …
Donna McLean – “Small Town Girl”
(1 December 2021 – NetGalley)
I had been aware of the SpyCops scandal, in which undercover police officers infiltrated activist groups in the UK systematically and eroded members’ human rights by lying to them, spying on them, forming relationships with them and even fathering children with them (as far as I know, all the police officers were male), but I hadn’t read anything about it until I was offered Alice O’Keeffe’s novel “Skylark” to read by the publisher. That was brilliant and fascinating but I was glad this non-fiction account caught my eye: in fact, reading it has also shown what great work O’Keeffe did in putting together bits and bobs from different women’s experiences in her novel.
This isn’t one of the early, main works on the scandal. In fact, McLean didn’t realise that her ex, Carlo, was a SpyCop until old activist friends got in touch and told her – the fact that they, all men, had suspected for three years but not advise her is pulled out and examined when she forms a tight support group with other women who were abused in this way. We then follow her path through putting all her memories and evidence together, joining in one of the big court cases and fighting for an apology and compensation, her lawyer the excellent Harriet Wistrich. Sometimes it’s a bit disjointed as she follows various memories or talks to friends and family but it’s well-written and easy to follow.
As well as a narrative of the events in her and Carlo’s life and the subsequent investigation, McLean brings various skills to the table which add to the book and give it depth. She’s a therapist who works with trauma and addiction and she’s very good at demonstrating the physical reactions she has to aspects of the process, and also at explaining how it affects her own work as a group therapy leader and her relationships with her mother, sister and daughters. She is also good at pen portraits, bringing the other characters alive, and she really gets across the support and care of the group of affected women that forms, sharing their joy as well as their pain as they go on writing retreats. In addition, she’s able to bring in the wider context very effectively: the blacklisting of unionised and activist construction workers and the shocking infiltration of the Stephen Lawrence campaign for justice, which I hadn’t known about.
An important and also readable book that I recommend.
wadholloway
Feb 24, 2022 @ 10:01:01
It’s just straight out disgusting what the spy agencies get up to, supposedly in our names, and just how much freedom from the rule of law they are given by politicians.
Spurred by your review I’ve been reading a story in the Guardian by another woman whose partner turned out to be spying on her, “Alison”.
Sex without informed consent is rape.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liz Dexter
Feb 26, 2022 @ 16:04:31
Yes, indeed. It was shocking when it came out and then more and more women have been finding this has been perpetrated on them.
LikeLike
Marcie McCauley
Feb 24, 2022 @ 15:55:37
I’m not familiar with this situation but it sounds like the stuff of fiction! (Not saying it is, of course. Truth is stranger, etc.) No wonder you found it such a rewarding read. And that must be a very good feeling indeed, to be caught up with February IN February. Which sounds like something that should just happen…but it’s hard to keep up, so hard!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liz Dexter
Feb 26, 2022 @ 16:05:32
I’ve been doing pretty well with my NetGalley reads for a good few months though, although I don’t think I’ll manage March! And yes, it’s just horrendous, I remember finding out about it a while ago and it’s just unimaginable.
LikeLike
heavenali
Feb 25, 2022 @ 19:21:14
These spycops stories were very disturbing. It seems unbelievable that people would form relationships in this situation, the finding out would be such a betrayal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liz Dexter
Feb 26, 2022 @ 16:06:12
In Donna’s case, she also discovered her old friends from those days had suspected for a few years but hadn’t told her, which adds another layer of betrayal to it.
LikeLike
mallikabooks15
Feb 28, 2022 @ 17:46:41
I remember reading your review of Skylark and being shocked by the events that were its basis. Sadly all of the human rights instruments and guarantees we supposedly live by seem too easily bypassed by the state when it serves its purpose. Ar these times, or for that matter what’s going on in so much of the world right now, they seem shallow or only paper protections
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liz Dexter
Feb 28, 2022 @ 20:50:04
Yes, I completely agree. The length of time this went on and the amount of people who were treated in this way was really shocking, there was already a big lawsuit going on when Donna found out what had been done to her!
LikeLike
Nonfiction November Week 2: Book Pairings | Adventures in reading, running and working from home
Nov 07, 2022 @ 14:01:08
Nonfiction November Week 3: Stranger than Fiction | Adventures in reading, running and working from home
Nov 14, 2022 @ 09:23:43