The Woman All Spies Fear by Amy Butler Greenfield

Reviewed by O. Hyatt, C. Kheang, M. Khodr, T. Kugelman, and J. Marquez

Image Above: "Novel Cover"

Review:

Amy Butler Greenfield's The Woman All Spies Fear combines research and thrilling writing to create a page-turning spy novel. Most people have likely never heard of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, but she is one of the most prolific code breakers in U.S. history. Beginning with Elizebeth's childhood, she was born in Indiana in 1892 to a Civil War veteran father and former teacher mother, both devout Christians. Elizebeth was determined to attend college despite her father's opposition. She succeeded, finding her way to Chicago, where a library visit led to a research job working for eccentric billionaire Col. Fabyan at his estate, Riverbank. There she met ar Russian-born fellow employee, and her future husband, William Friedman. They eventually comprised Fabyan's Department of Ciphers and married despite both families' religious objections, as William was Jewish.

Often overshadowed by her husband, with whom she worked closely, this biographical account of Elizebeth’s life brings her story to young adult readers. From falling into code breaking by landing a job for an eccentric millionaire during a visit to the library to falling in love with a fellow code breaker and working her way through two world wars solving ciphers and more, Elizebeth’s life story is a fascinating one. Almost unbelievable adventures ensued as the couple practiced their craft and plotted their escape from Riverbank’s maniacal owner. Elizebeth’s skills enabled the prosecution of alcohol-smuggling criminals during Prohibition. The couple’s work also saved lives and helped capture spies during both world wars. Between the wars, they threw elaborate code-breaking parties. Sadly, they also contended with antisemitism, misogyny, and William’s mental health issues; nonetheless, the tone overall is compelling and upbeat. Nearly every chapter about this intrepid, intelligent, energetic woman ends with a cliffhanger whose promise is fulfilled in the following one. Elizebeth’s life unfolded against a backdrop of some of the 20th century’s most pivotal events, and this riveting title is a fine tribute to her accomplishments.

The book follows a linear timeline, from her birth and childhood all the way to how she has been recognized and commended posthumously. Each chapter ends on a cliff-hanger, which helps to make a sometimes slow-paced narrative more engaging. There are also sections that break up the chapters called “Code Breaks,” which give more detail on either the subject’s work or the ciphers themselves. This narrative is very dense at times, but the level of detail and interesting topic make up for that. The back matter includes a bibliography and notes from each chapter.

The Woman All Spies Fear is an excellent tribute to a woman whose story was nearly lost to time. Elizebeth Smith Friedman was a codebreaker whose work was instrumental to major intelligence achievements in World War II and prohibition, and she fought against the sentiments of the time to make sure her voice was heard, sometimes as the only woman in the room. This biography is incredibly well-researched and is careful to stick to the facts. Greenfield's writing reads like a story, and you can feel yourself become immersed in the tale of this marvelous woman and her marvelous life.

Biography:

Amy Butler Greenfield was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the state of New York, specifically the Adirondack Mountains, in a small town with both of her parents and two brothers. When she wasn't helping her family raise their wild stock, she would spend her time reading at the local library in her town or writing short stories and poetry (Cynsations). Greenfield is most known for being a notable novelist and academician who specializes in writing both adult and children's literature; this makes her heavily sought out for both her work and her research. Although she loved reading and writing as a child, she had heard tales of the "starving artist" and did not like the idea of experiencing that, so she decided to throw herself into becoming a college professor due to her love of history (Cynsations). Because of this, she graduated from Williams College, where she studied Modern History and continued on with her work to become an award-winning historian (Greenfield). At Oxford University, she was known to be a Marshall Scholar, which is a grant given by the United Kingdom to 40 students who are looking to earn their graduate degrees. Many things such as academic merit, ambassador potential, and leadership potential are the criteria created by admissions officers in the UK to assess every student that applies to the program. Only 40 students have the opportunity to become a Marshall Scholar and get the costs of things such as university fees, cost of living expenses, daily travel, and thesis grants during their duration of studying (Marshall Scholarship). It was here where she conducted her research on the early history of chocolate while also studying the history of Imperial Spain, the Ancient Americas, and Renaissance Europe.

Eventually, she found her way back to writing stories that incorporated stories of history that fascinated her. Some of the topics she feels passionate about writing about are history, art, science, and spies, which can be seen in books she's published, such as The Woman All Spies Fear and A Perfect Red. On her FAQ page, she was asked what inspires her to write, to which she replied, "What usually inspires me to write is history—especially parts of history that most people haven't heard about" (Greenfield). Her books were admired and praised by many, earning her various awards, including the Beacon of Freedom Award and the Virginia Reader's Choice Award, and also leading to her books being published in nine different languages. For her book, The Woman All Spies Fear, Greenfield was honored with the award of Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices in the year 2022. She is also a public speaker, speaking in places such as Harvard University's Sackler Museum and Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, and has appeared on television shows such as PBS's American Experience. While speaking on large platforms is important, she still takes the time to also talk to others in smaller situations such as classrooms, lecture halls, and bookstores (Penguin Random House). Greenfield is currently living in Oxford, England, with her husband while working on other novels.

Image above: "Greenfield Portrait"

Instructional Resources:

List of Coded Words: Codewords have been used for years, but during World War I, there was a necessity for the codes used to become more complex in the ways that messages were transported. The manner in which messages were sent also had to become more creative at the same time; some different facets of communication during WWI included having codes sent by “telegraph, signal lights, messenger dog, carrier pigeon or early radio” to prevent intel from reaching the enemy. This resource could benefit teaching this work because it gives students a good base concept of the different means of how secret messages were sent, especially during WWI.
Spying on the Enemy: Secret information that was communicated during WWI had a name: espionage. There was no shortage of double agents during World War I, either. For example, in 1914 a dancer by the name of Margaretha Zelle was hired by the French Intelligence services to spy on the Germans; she was given false information by a German diplomat, which thus led to her being suspected to be a double agent. She was arrested, tried, and found guilty of being a German spy and was executed in 1917. This resource could benefit teaching this work because it lets students get an insight into a double agent, which was a reality during WWI and WWII.
World War I: 100 Years of Espionage: During WWI, Germany had the most developed intelligence system. A popular method of sending codes during WWI included the use of telegrams because they could be sent anywhere in the world. However, coded messages were commonly able to be intercepted and broken by the Germans. This resource could benefit teaching this work because coding was such a heavily relied-on form of communication during wartime; this article can show students how it was used and why it was so important.
Female Spies in World War I: Topics in Chronicling America: Women were often perceived as having the upper hand regarding getting information due to their abilities to be, according to this resource, “seductive and cunning.” Edith Cavell is another female spy that had gained notoriety during WWI by her involvement in espionage. This resource will benefit in teaching students this work because it can give them a better look at the ways women were thought to be good at espionage.
War Secrets: Cryptology in WWII: Allied cryptanalysts were able to—thanks to the retrieval of codebooks that German spies threw overboard when their ships were being captured and for being skilled codebreakers—intercept up to four thousand enemy messages every day by the end of 1942. Americans developed and used a code machine known as SIGABA which was the top-of-the-line cryptographic machine used anywhere in the world during WWII. Fun fact: SIGABA isn’t an acronym and doesn’t stand for anything! This resource can benefit teaching this book to students because it shows how, while women weren't entirely responsible for breaking all of the codes, things like SIGABA were incremental in ending WWII.
How the American Women Codebreakers of WWII Helped Win the War: In 1945, it was a female codebreaker who was the first American to learn that WWII had officially ended. Her name was Virginia D. Aderholt, but her achievements largely go unnoticed. There were up to 10,000 American women codebreakers who worked behind the scenes in WWII that helped keep up with the intercepted communications. This resource observes that “These women continually broke their ever-changing and increasingly complex systems used by the Axis Powers to shroud their messages in secrecy, providing vital intelligence to the U.S. Army and Navy that allowed them to not only keep many American troops out of harm’s way but ensure the country emerged from war victorious.” The fact that there were even women behind the scenes was one of the best-kept secrets of the war. Some women even outranked their military husbands! This resource will benefit students because it exemplifies the early acts of equality that came in the workplace, and how women were able to showcase their abilities to be beneficial in things other than homemaking.
Inside the Stories of the Most Daring Women Spies in World War II: The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a voluntary force of espionage, sabotage, and building a resistance network in Europe. American Virginia Hall, Indian-British radio operator Noor Inayat Khan, and Vera Atkins were women in the SOE that was responsible for the deployment of agents in France. This resource observes: “Women were thought to be more inconspicuous as spies, and capitalized on this perception during the war, carrying out tasks and missions that men were unable to do. In the field, women could go unnoticed as couriers delivering vital messages, with one SOE dispatch from Holland noting that in 1944, women were rarely stopped and searched” and that, “In some instances, women spies used their femininity and played up to stereotypes of fragility or helplessness in order to get out of sticky situations.” This resource benefits the teaching of this book because it shows how, now that women were being taken seriously in the workplace, they were able to be useful in serious situations relating to war.
Female Spies and Their Secrets: According to this source, Maxwell Knight, an officer in one of Britain’s domestic-counterintelligence agencies stated that all women would have to do is seduce men in order to get their information; they would, however, have to be sexualized to do this. Knight also observed that intelligence agencies would need clever women who knew how to work with what assets they had. This resource also shares other books that delve into this topic. They include: D-Day Girls by Sarah Rose, Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynne Olson, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, and Code Name: Lise by Larry Loftis. This resource benefits the provided work because it shows other notable women who had assisted in ending WWI and WWII.

Instructional Activity:

Preview:

A recurring theme within The Woman All Spies Fear reflects upon the fact that Elizebeth Friedman's revolutionary cryptology accomplishments were undermined by her superior, new sources, and the public as the work of her husband and other men in the field. Our lesson seeks to build upon critical reading and writing skills by exploring why such misrepresentations existed, as well as to pique student awareness of the different narratives and agendas that exist within the news and media.

Students will be encouraged to distinguish similarities and differences between secondary source news articles about the Friedmans’ revolutionary code-breaking accomplishments from those that are presented in Greenfield’s biography. Since primary news articles on the Friedmans' cryptology work are virtually nonexistent, students will also be asked to hypothesize why such documents are absent from online databases by drawing from their own research and moments in the text. Ultimately, students will assess the credibility and validity of the articles presented and draw conclusions about why inconsistencies exist within these texts through cogent, well-developed short answer responses to instructor facilitated prompts.

Right Image: "Friedman Article"; clipping from a newspaper article covering Elizebeth's work. (from the novel, p. 153)

California Common Core Standards:

Reading Standards for Informational Texts: Grades 9-10

7. Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.

8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.

Writing Standards for Writing: Grades 9-10

9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Resources and Preparation:

Students will read and gather information from the provided news articles and then complete the questions on the provided worksheet.

Image Right: "I'm Alone Article"; clipping from a newspaper article showcasing Friedman's involvement in cracking the "I'm Alone" rum smuggling case. (from the novel, p. 120)

Required Articles:

Required Handout/Questions:

The following questions may be printed out and given to students in groups or posted online for students to access. Students can either write their answers on a separate sheet of paper or type their responses, depending upon how the instructor chooses to distribute the questions. These questions can be turned in at the end of class or submitted as homework.
According to the articles and Greenfield's novel, what inconsistencies and/or similarities did you discover in regards to how the events of Elizebeth’s accomplishments were recounted? Why might these similarities and/or differences exist in each text?
As explored in the TIME article, Elizebeth’s credit for her code-breaking accomplishments had been taken by another person until the truth was uncovered in 2008. Who was this person and what effect was rendered by the seizure of Elizebeth's credit? Does Greenfield explore this in the novel?
As explored in the novel, Elizebeth’s work was consistently undermined by her superiors and the public, and overshadowed by her husband and other men in the field. Why do you think this was? What do the articles suggest? What does Greenfield suggest?
Gathering what you know from the novel and articles, what happens when important figures in history, such as Elizebeth, become lost to time or purposely hidden? Does it have any effect on the present, on society, and how we view things? Why or why not?

Instructional Plan:

This lesson is intended to be executed at or near completion of reading the novel. If all articles are used, it is suggested that the activity be completed over two class periods or for a portion to be assigned as homework.

The instructor may introduce the activity by beginning the period with a class discussion of the novel. Some questions worthy of exploration may include: Have you ever had an accomplishment go unnoticed? How did it make you feel? What were your likes/dislikes about the novel? What characteristics does this novel possess that make it a biography? In what ways does the novel speak about Elizebeth's accomplishments? How does it comment on Elizebeth's underrepresentation in the field of cryptology? Why do you think such underrepresentation existed? Does this underrepresentation still exist?

After engaging students in a classroom discussion of the novel and the ways in which it explores the underrepresentation of Elizebeth's work, the instructor should have students separate into groups of 2-4. The instructor should advise students to read the articles together, collaboratively discuss the articles, and then respond to the questions provided using evidence from the articles, Greenfield's novel, and both group and individual derived analysis and reflection. Responses to instructor provided questions can be recorded on paper or through the online discussion forum provided by the school's learning management system. If time permits, the instructor may ask each group to share their answers to the questions with the class, or if submitted through an online discussion board, can request that students provide digitally written responses to their peers.

Activity objectives can be measured by how effectively textual evidence from both the articles and Greenfield's novel is used to support claims in addition to the depth of student analysis and reflection.

Image Right: "Women at Work" (from the novel, p. 215)

Bibliography:

Butler, Kirstin. “How Codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman Fought Nazi Spies.” American Experience, PBS, 29 Dec. 2020, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/codebreaker-elizebeth-friedman-fought-nazi-spies/.

California Common Core State Standards. California Department of Education, 2013.

Cynsations. “Author Feature: Amy Butler Greenfield.” Cynsations: Celebrating Children’s and

Young Adult’s Literature. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2201868/amy-butler- greenfield/. Accessed May 13, 2022.

Greenfield, Amy B. “Ask the Author (For Kids).” Amy Butler Greenfield.

https://www.amybutlergreenfield.com/Author_Media.html. Accessed May 13, 2022.

Greenfield, Amy B. “Author Biography.” Amy Butler Greenfield.

https://www.amybutlergreenfield.com/Author_Bio.html. Accessed May 13, 2022.

Greenfield, Amy B. “Media Kit.” Amy Butler Greenfield.

https://www.amybutlergreenfield.com/Author_Media.html. Accessed May 13, 2022.

Greenfield, Amy Butler. The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life. Random House Studio, 2021.

Haynes, Suyin. “How America's 'First Female Cryptanalyst' Crcked the Code of Nazi Spies in World War II—and Never Lived to See the Credit.” TIME, TIME USA, L.L.C., 11 Jan. 2021, https://time.com/5928583/elizebeth-friedman-codebreaker/.

Little, Becky. “The Female World War II Codebreaker Who Busted Nazi Spy Rings.” History, A & E Television Networks, LLC, 10 Mar. 2021, https://www.history.com/news/codebreaker-nazi-spy-rings-woman#:~:text=Friedman%20kept%20the%20secret%20of,Friedman%2C%20with%20husband%20William%20Friedman.

Marshall Scholarships. “About.” The Scholarship. https://www.marshallscholarship.org/the-

scholarship. Accessed May 13, 2022.

“NSA Historical Figures: Elizebeth S. Friedman.” National Security Agency/Central Security Service, NSA, https://www.nsa.gov/History/Cryptologic-History/Historical-Figures/Historical-Figures-View/Article/1623028/elizebeth-s-friedman/.

Penguin Random House. “About the Author.” Amy Butler Greenfield. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2201868/amy-butler-greenfield/. Accessed May 13, 2022.

Images Bibliography

"Friedman Article": Greenfield, Amy Butler. The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life. Random House Studio, 2021, p. 153.

"Greenfield Portrait": Greenfield, Amy B. “Author Biography.” Amy Butler Greenfield. https://www.amybutlergreenfield.com/Author_Bio.html. Accessed May 13, 2022.

"I'm Alone Article": Greenfield, Amy Butler. The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life. Random House Studio, 2021, p.120.

"Novel Cover" Greenfield, Amy Butler. The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life. Random House Studio, 2021.

"Women at Work": Greenfield, Amy Butler. The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life. Random House Studio, 2021, p. 215.

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