The Lunar Housewife by Caroline Woods

New York 1953 and Louise sees herself as an up and coming magazine and novel writer. The fact that she has only written a couple of articles for her boyfriend's magazine and is only halfway done with her romance novel is beside the point. She soon finds herself knee deep in the underground dealings of the unpatriotic kind, her boyfriend might be a spy and they might be under surveillance by the CIA.
It is non other than Ernst Hemingway who turns out to keep a protective eye on Louise. The glittering literary world juxtaposed with the behind the scenes Cold War watchful eye - this is a fascinating look at a young woman fighting social norms to have her voice heard amidst the men in her life trying to keep her silent. The secondary part of the story is Louise's novel which is a sci-fi romance about an American pilot and a Russian cosmonaut trapped on the moon and is at times more interesting than what is going on in New York. With a Mad Men cocktail vibe laced with literary royalty and a shot of THE AMERICANS cold war spy games, this slim novel packs a quiet but deadly punch.  4 martini stars