My Spy : Memoir of a CIA Wife

Rating:
Summary: Don't expect any spy information!
Review: Bina Kiyonaga successfully captures the joys and hardships of being a CIA wife. Since she is from our neighborhood, I was delighted to read about my former grade school and local haunts. Her stories about travel to Japan, South America, etc., with all her kids in tow were inspirational. She expresses the heroism of her entire family when her husband served the CIA. And it is not without levity. I was also intrigued by the amount of racism against the Japanese not only in the U.S. during the war, but abroad as well. Kiyonaga is a fine writer- I can hear her voice in this book.

Rating:
Summary: very interesting
Review: I just finished this book (having picked it up for .25 at a library book sale) and it was a real page-turner. I hated to have it end! I cried at the end. It reminded me of reading about my parent's generation (keeping their virginity, etc.) and thought she gave enough personal details to fulfill our interest but not too much to embarrass their whole family! Having read so much about her and her children, I would be very curious to hear more in an epilogue. I guess I also am interested because a relative has a mixed marriage as hers and mixed children. That part was very interesting to me. She has a good writing style. Very enjoyable book. I'm getting one for a friend my parent's age so I will be curious to see if it is interesting to someone in that generation as well.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Misleading Title
Review: I really enjoyed this book, but its title is a bit misleading. It Should have been titled, "My Life, While Married to a CIA Spy." The thing which struck me the most was that I'd never make it as the wife of someone in the CIA. Maybe as a spy, but never as the wife. The wives had to sit at home whenever their husbands disappeared, with no advance warning, and perhaps for weeks on end without EVER picking up the telephone to call and enquire as to the husband, or when he might be back--or a mission could be compromised. One woman was in the last weeks of her pregnancy, and her husband had disappeared for several weeks. This finally did make that call, and the husband's mission was compromised. It was the husband's last mission. Later he left the agency, and also divorced his wife. Anyway, there were a lot of interesting anecdotes in the book. Bina tells as much as she can without compromising anyone who could now be hurt by the book.

Rating:
Summary: A truly remarkable story
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this book. However, after the first chapter, I was hooked. Bina Kiyonaga has effectively portrayed the difficulties of trying to strike the delicate balance between maintaining a semblance of normalcy for her family, while supporting her husband's career as an officer of the CIA. Having lived overseas, I can certainly appreciate Bina's problems of having to raise a family without the normality and convenience of life in the United States (not to mention having to raise 5 children in this environment!).

While the details surrounding much of what her husband accomplished during his tenure at the CIA will never be disclosed, Bina has done an excellent job of providing background to lend a certain aura to what her husband was all about. I was awestruck by the devotion she lavished on her husband during good times and in bad. Her faith and her family certainly allowed her to become the women she is today. And is portrayed in the book in a very effective manner.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Despite the minor redundancies throughout the narrative, I think this is a remarkable story...truly something in this book for everyone!

Rating:
Summary: A truly remarkable story
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this book. However, after the first chapter, I was hooked. Bina Kiyonaga has effectively portrayed the difficulties of trying to strike the delicate balance between maintaining a semblance of normalcy for her family, while supporting her husband's career as an officer of the CIA. Having lived overseas, I can certainly appreciate Bina's problems of having to raise a family without the normality and convenience of life in the United States (not to mention having to raise 5 children in this environment!).

While the details surrounding much of what her husband accomplished during his tenure at the CIA will never be disclosed, Bina has done an excellent job of providing background to lend a certain aura to what her husband was all about. I was awestruck by the devotion she lavished on her husband during good times and in bad. Her faith and her family certainly allowed her to become the women she is today. And is portrayed in the book in a very effective manner.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Despite the minor redundancies throughout the narrative, I think this is a remarkable story...truly something in this book for everyone!

Rating:
Summary: --From the wife's point of view--
Review: This is an interesting book about the marriage of a middle class woman of Irish descent to a Hawaiian man of Japanese descent. Aside from the differences in their backgrounds, their lives were further complicated by Joe Kiyonaga's career as a CIA agent. Throw in several children, add tours of duty to Japan, Central and South America and you have a lifetime of various adventures. The author, Bina Cady Kiyonaga writes with feeling, and tells the story of her marriage to Joe Kiyonaga with a great deal of candor, even describing the racial prejudice that her husband had to endure. Her rich descriptions of the various places that the family lived really enhance the story and give it an extra dimension.

Bina has an easy style of writing and describes her life with a great deal of wit and humor. I recommend the book to anyone who might be interested in what it was like for the wife and family of a CIA operative.

Rating:
Summary: --From the wife's point of view--
Review: This is an interesting book about the marriage of a middle class woman of Irish descent to a Hawaiian man of Japanese descent. Aside from the differences in their backgrounds, their lives were further complicated by Joe Kiyonaga's career as a CIA agent. Throw in several children, add tours of duty to Japan, Central and South America and you have a lifetime of various adventures. The author, Bina Cady Kiyonaga writes with feeling, and tells the story of her marriage to Joe Kiyonaga with a great deal of candor, even describing the racial prejudice that her husband had to endure. Her rich descriptions of the various places that the family lived really enhance the story and give it an extra dimension.

Bina has an easy style of writing and describes her life with a great deal of wit and humor. I recommend the book to anyone who might be interested in what it was like for the wife and family of a CIA operative.

Rating:
Summary: Endearing Love Story Midst a Cloak and Dagger Background
Review: What unexpected things can follow when two people fall in love! That is clearly the dominant theme of this uplifting story of being a successful spy's wife. Readers will feel rewarded by knowing the Kiyonaga family and their dedicated service to the United States.

Movies, television, and "serious" books about the CIA always leave the reader with a sense of glamorized unreality. People in the CIA must have families, need to go to school plays, get the laundry done, and have bad hair days. What is the full picture? This book goes a long way toward filling in that gap in our understanding by describing the world of being a CIA spouse, kept strictly apart from all of the secrets. Despite that, her husband shares many details that he wants revealed on his death bed, and those are included here as well. Although probably not intended as public relations for the CIA, the image portrayed here is much more positive than I have seen in other books.

But the main attraction here is the story of how two strong people come to grow closer and to accommodate each other over 29 years of a challenging marriage. Ms. Kiyonaga is candid about the issues that they faced, but her optimism shines through to make us all feel glad we, too, are human and can enjoy love.

The couple met while they were both students, long before the CIA beckoned to Mr. Kiyonaga. For the times (the late 1940's), they were an unusual pair. She came from an Irish-American family in Maryland, while he came from a Japanese-American family in Hawaii (the isolated island of Molokai). Over the years, they faced many challenges because of how people reacted to Mr. Kiyonaga as someone of Japanese ancestry. The Kiyonagas persevered and overcame these obstacles. These challenges were small, however, compared to the cultural issues separating Ms. Kiyonaga and her mother-in-law. Those, too, were eventually healed.

Even greater issues arose because of Mr. Kiyonaga's lingering discomfort about why he was so tall for someone with Japanese parents. Could it be that his biological father was not the father he had known?

The CIA is also a large hurdle for a family. To be a CIA wife was tough. "We lied about our husband's jobs, stalled inquisitive policemen, befriended ministers' wives, kept our eyes open at parties . . . and worried . . . ." Another challenge came from knowing that your husband would be gone unexpectedly, and that there would be plenty of opportunties for dalliances. "A CIA wife has to be trusting; either that or go crazy." Even your children don't quite know what's going on until they are older. "The CIA family is unique. They live a lie but . . . they believe in God and country and lie bravely."

The stories about life in the different postings are very unexpected and rewarding. You will learn many new aspects about post-war Japan, Brazil, El Salvador, and Panama during key moments in each country's history. The Kiyonagas came in frequent contact with important figures from Lyndon Johnson to Manuel Noriega, and from Helen Hayes to Helen Keller. You will see the world differently as a result of this first-person account.

Ms. Kiyonaga is a woman with great faith in God, and her observance of that faith will be heartening to those who are close to God or are interested in being close.

Ultimately, your faith in the fundamental goodness of human beings will be encouraged by this story.

After you have finished enjoying the book, please consider how many times the Kiyonagas were not treated well as newcomers. I suggest you look around for newcomers in your community and neighborhood whom you can befriend. As you do, recall how much such kindness and consideration meant to the Kiyonagas.

May all your secrets be ones you can be proud of!

Rating:
Summary: AN EMOTIONAL STORY FIT FOR A KING OR A QUEEN
Review: You're not going to learn much about the profession of "spying," but you are going to experience a wonderful true story of a family held together by the wife and backed up and nourished by the father. It is a little like a travelogue and a lot of how to have a successful marriage even while having problems and a husband who is away from home a lot. At the end, you should shed a tear or two if you have a heart within you!

Rating:
Summary: AN EMOTIONAL STORY FIT FOR A KING OR A QUEEN
Review: You're not going to learn much about the profession of "spying," but you are going to experience a wonderful true story of a family held together by the wife and backed up and nourished by the father. It is a little like a travelogue and a lot of how to have a successful marriage even while having problems and a husband who is away from home a lot. At the end, you should shed a tear or two if you have a heart within you!