Description

Book Synopsis
'Wickedly funny' Country Life 'Hilarious and candid' Observer _____________________________ London in the 1950s. Lottie is a reluctant typist at MI5 and the even more reluctant daughter of the organisation's most illustrious spy. Now she has had the bad luck to fall in love with Harry, a handsome if frustrated young actor, who has also been press-ganged into the family business, acting as one of her father's undercover agents in the Communist hotbed of British theatre. Together the two young lovers embark on a star-studded adventure through the glittering world of theatre - but, between missing files, disapproving parents, and their own burgeoning creative endeavours, life is about to become very complicated indeed...

Trade Review
The great joy of Bingham’s prose is its youthful insouciance. She writes like a teenager, but an exceptionally observant one -- Lynn Barber * Spectator *
Enormous fun ... Dazzling * Sunday Express *
Wickedly funny * Country Life *
Flamboyance is the keynote… I loved it * Daily Mail, Book of the Week *
She has a keen eye … Bingham concentrates on amusing asides and scraps of dialogue, and the jokes carry the story blithely along … Its self-deprecatory portrait of a girl adrift is engaging, and it captures well the chance encounters that are often part of growing up -- Lindsay Duguid * Times Literary Supplement *
Praise for MI5 and Me: 'Astonishing ... She still has all the exuberant delight of a teenager in telling stories to make herself and other people laugh. Long may she write -- Lynn Barber * Sunday Times *
The sort of light, frothy book that makes your laugh out loud on public transport * Daily Mail, Books of the Summer 2018 *
Hilarious and candid … Filled with period detail, Bingham’s memoir is entertaining and extraordinary -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *
A fun and breezy read * Observer, Best summer books 2018 *
A Jilly Cooper heroine in a John le Carré world -- Libby Purves * Times Literary Supplement *
A stone-cold comic classic … Joyfully silly * Tatler *
Sparky and larky -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Guardian *
Much fun it is … Brilliant, sly, charming and flighty * Spectator *
One funny story follows another … You will be sure to find this book a most entertaining and enjoyable read * Country Life *

Spies and Stars: MI5, Showbusiness and Me

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    RRP £9.99 – you save £0.50 (5%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Fri 19 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Charlotte Bingham

    2 in stock

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      View other formats and editions of Spies and Stars: MI5, Showbusiness and Me by Charlotte Bingham

      Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
      Publication Date: 05/03/2020
      ISBN13: 9781526608802, 978-1526608802
      ISBN10: 1526608804

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      'Wickedly funny' Country Life 'Hilarious and candid' Observer _____________________________ London in the 1950s. Lottie is a reluctant typist at MI5 and the even more reluctant daughter of the organisation's most illustrious spy. Now she has had the bad luck to fall in love with Harry, a handsome if frustrated young actor, who has also been press-ganged into the family business, acting as one of her father's undercover agents in the Communist hotbed of British theatre. Together the two young lovers embark on a star-studded adventure through the glittering world of theatre - but, between missing files, disapproving parents, and their own burgeoning creative endeavours, life is about to become very complicated indeed...

      Trade Review
      The great joy of Bingham’s prose is its youthful insouciance. She writes like a teenager, but an exceptionally observant one -- Lynn Barber * Spectator *
      Enormous fun ... Dazzling * Sunday Express *
      Wickedly funny * Country Life *
      Flamboyance is the keynote… I loved it * Daily Mail, Book of the Week *
      She has a keen eye … Bingham concentrates on amusing asides and scraps of dialogue, and the jokes carry the story blithely along … Its self-deprecatory portrait of a girl adrift is engaging, and it captures well the chance encounters that are often part of growing up -- Lindsay Duguid * Times Literary Supplement *
      Praise for MI5 and Me: 'Astonishing ... She still has all the exuberant delight of a teenager in telling stories to make herself and other people laugh. Long may she write -- Lynn Barber * Sunday Times *
      The sort of light, frothy book that makes your laugh out loud on public transport * Daily Mail, Books of the Summer 2018 *
      Hilarious and candid … Filled with period detail, Bingham’s memoir is entertaining and extraordinary -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *
      A fun and breezy read * Observer, Best summer books 2018 *
      A Jilly Cooper heroine in a John le Carré world -- Libby Purves * Times Literary Supplement *
      A stone-cold comic classic … Joyfully silly * Tatler *
      Sparky and larky -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Guardian *
      Much fun it is … Brilliant, sly, charming and flighty * Spectator *
      One funny story follows another … You will be sure to find this book a most entertaining and enjoyable read * Country Life *

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