Summary

Serena Frome looks back on her stint with the British Security Service forty years before in 1972. She only worked for the Service for eighteen months. She was relieved of her duties having disgraced herself and ruined her lover. Serena is the daughter of an Anglican bishop. She had an idyllic childhood living with her parents and one sister. She was a good student and figured she would seek an English degree in college. Although she loved English and reading, she was a freak of nature in that she did well at math even though it wasn’t a pursuit of hers. In her senior year, she was the captain of the chess club – another role usually reserved for males.

Serena’s mother had the perfect social skills and the proper image of a bishop’s wife. However, deep down she was a feminist though...