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An Imperfect Spy

by Amanda Cross

Amanda Cross, whose real name is Carolyn Heilbrun, has provided us with another adventure featuring her well-known protagonist, Kate Fansler. Kate, an English Professor and a dedicated feminist, has accepted a single semester teaching job at Schuyler Law School, which she expects to be a hiatus from her regular instruction at Columbia University in New York City. Of course, that's not to be.

An Imperfect Spy is not a typical Fansler novel, however. Unlike Ms. Cross' (or Ms. Heilbrun's, if you prefer) other books, it has no murders for Kate to solve, and is instead primarily focused on the need for feminine equality in a male-dominated atmosphere. Rather than solving a murder, Carolyn Heilbrun utilizes Kate in An Imperfect Spy as a vehicle for jolting the smug male out of his dreams of superiority. It's a relatively short book running to only 151 pages, and easily read at a single sitting – but that doesn't affect its impact.

Kate Fansler is married to Reed Amhearst, but unlike the majority of women, she's chosen to retain her own last name – one of the many actions she uses to maintain her own feminine independence. Kate and Reed have both been invited to teach a semester at Schuyler Law School, Reed to conduct a clinic for the students, interacting with prisoners who want or need a second chance, and Kate to teach a one-semester course on literature and the law. Both lean toward concentration on women.

Kate meets a woman calling herself Harriet, who also runs the secretarial room at Schuyler. Harriet is friendly toward Kate, and encourages her in every effort toward changing the ideas of the school toward a balance between the sexes. Through Reed, Kate also meets Betty Osborne, a battered woman prisoner who eventually had murdered her husband. Since the 'battered woman' law had been placed into effect after Betty was incarcerated, there is now an opportunity for a re-trial.

None of the major faculty at Schuyler Law School approve of anything either Reed or Kate are doing. All male, safely ensconced in a world where women are considered only good for sex, making children, and homemaking, the invitations to Reed and Kate are merely nods to pressures toward equality from outside that world. The Dean is especially intractable, and unfortunately, so are some of the male students.

When Kate, teaching her course with the assistance of a young faculty member named Blair, finally creates enough dissension to re-order the prevailing atmosphere at Schuyler, the rigid male authoritarian rules crumble. Betty Osborne is given hope for a new life, and the lady known as Harriet is uncovered as someone else entirely.

An Imperfect Spy gives the reader an understanding perspective of a world in which women have long been seen as second class. Undoubtedly based on religion and especially the Christian Bible, the female has been seen only as 'man's helpmeet' for more than two thousand years. Rabid feminism would place the female in the position of authority – this reviewer, who knows that history already once recognized female dominance – feels that now is simply the time for equality, without the pendulum swinging too far in either direction. I would guess that Amanda Cross aka Carolyn Heilbrun, feels much the same way.


Alan Paul Curtis

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