An Intriguing Life

Reviews / Votes

Cynthia Helms, now 90, has had a remarkable, if not, strictly speaking, an intriguing, life. If there's any person of note she hasn't met on either side of the Atlantic, it's not obvious from her book, co-written with Chris Black. * The Washington Times * Readers eager for secret-spilling must content themselves instead with these engaging home and hearth reminisces from the veteran of Britain's WWII all-female naval brigade who later became the wife of CIA Director Richard Helms. After moving to the US and, after four children, ditching an emotionally distant first husband, she marries Helms, who directed the agency under Presidents Johnson and Nixon. She parcels out a plethora of stories and the occasional tidbit about life among the Washington glitterati. Helms...serves up perceptive accounts of her sojourn in pre-revolution Iran as well as her work as a Smithsonian radio host and environmental activist. She dishes on congressional efforts to force Richard to own up to CIA excesses during the Cold War, yet throughout remains a model of discretion. Helms...emerges as a pioneering woman who seized her destiny at a time when women were slowly beginning to transcend expectations placed upon them to meet the fresh demands and challenges of a new era. * Publishers Weekly * [A]n extraordinary story.... A fascinating look into the life of a very private man and the wife he adored. * Intelligencer * This is the untold version of the 'Greatest Generation' story-the women's side-as recounted by one of the giants. Cynthia Helms fought in World War II as a British Wren and lived under the Nazi bombs-but her real passage was into the modern and independent life of American woman. She tells the story with honesty and humor-of marriage and divorce, and of the great romance that led to her second marriage with Richard Helms, the greatest spymaster America ever produced. The tale moves from Cynthia's girlhood on a farm in Essex, through her near-expulsion from boarding school for using the unspeakable word "bugger," through her education as a lady (note, for example, her account of the proper way to eat asparagus) to a wartime nuptial that proved to be loveless-all on the road to meeting Helms and discovering what she calls "the companionship of marriage." This book is charming, passionate and laced with the inside secrets that will make it a must-read for Washington insiders. Who else but Cynthia Helms could go to a party at the British Embassy and end up sitting next to the Beatles' Paul McCartney? -- David Ignatius, columnist, The Washington Post Cynthia Helms is a bright, savvy, tenacious and spirited woman who mingled with some of the headliners of the 20th and 21st centuries. She not only witnessed changes in the lives of girls and women, she lived them. And along the way, her insights into the powerful and her willingness to puncture the pompous make this must reading for students of history and human nature who want to know what it really was like in those Georgetown salons. -- Alan K. Simpson, United States Senator, Wyoming (Ret.) . . . Since [Cynthia Helms's] second husband was the director of central intelligence, he had constant contact with United States presidents, court justices, public figures and high society personalities. The chapters amass a plethora of who's who, name-dropping and stories ranging between gossip, rumors and historical incidences. Besides Nancy Reagan, Pat Nixon and the White House, tales are told about Warren Buffet, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor along with Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger and Paul McCartney. More international luminaries were added such as Moshe Dayan, King Hussein and the shah during trips abroad and when her husband became ambassador to Iran. * Bookpleasures.com * Cynthia Helms's memoir is an absorbing, wise, and often captivating look at the many worlds experienced by this extraordinary woman, including wartime England; Washington, D.C. at the zenith of its glamour and influence; and Iran just before the deluge, offering unique glimpses of life at the top with LBJ, Nixon, and the Shah of Iran. Perhaps most of all, she brings us a poignant and revelatory portrait of her soulmate, Richard Helms, one of the most important Americans of the twentieth century, whose legendary self-effacement and discretion have obscured vital aspects of his life and personality before now. -- Michael R. Beschloss, author; Presidential Historian for NBC News