Spy Daughter, Queer Girl

In Search of Truth and Acceptance in a Family of Secrets

By: Leslie Absher

Narrated by: Leslie Absher

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

For Leslie Absher, secrecy is just another member of the family. Throughout childhood, her father's shadowy government job was ill-defined, her mother's mental health stayed off limits—even her queer identity remained hidden from her family and unacknowledged by Leslie herself.

In Spy Daughter, Queer Girl, Absher pursues the truth: of her family, her identity, and her father's role in Greece's CIA-backed junta. As a guide, Absher brings listeners to the shade of plane trees in Greece, to queer discos in Boston, and to tense diner meals with her aging CIA father. As a memoirist, Absher renders a lifetime of hazy, shape-shifting truths in high-definition vibrance.

Infused with a journalist's tenacity and a daughter's open heart, this book recounts a decades-long process of discovery and the reason why the facts should matter to us all.

Leslie Absher is a journalist and personal essay writer. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Salon, Ms., Greek Reporter, and San Francisco Magazine.

©2022 Leslie Absher (P)2022 Leslie Absher

Critic reviews

"Leslie tells her story with soul-searing honesty, plenty of self-deprecation and humour. In working through her own story, confronting her difficult past, she's revealed the human damage—most often to innocents—inflicted by the espionage "game" played out on the global chessboard." (Ian Callaghan, producer of the Audible Original series My Dad the Spy)

"Without a drop of sentimentality but with a giant heart and a fresh, assured voice, Absher explores the roles of memory, secrets, and the grief that comes from what we hide and what we leave behind—and what we simply cannot." (Natalie Bakopoulos, associate professor and author of Scorpionfish and The Green Shore)

Personal and brave

I very much enjoyed this book. I think it must’ve been hard to write, because the author put so much of herself on the line in the telling. I applaud the author’s willingness to share such a personal story. I thought it was interesting to compare my own life to hers at times at the same age in our respective lives, although I’m probably 20 years older than she is. Because I personally know one of the characters in her book, I know her telling is on point. I could see the person I know as being accurately reflected in the author’s words. I listened to the very end, which I don’t always do.

Great book

I was emotionally moved by Leslie’s book about her family. I loved it thank for sharing.

Al ( S.F. bay swimmer)

Sincere and heartfelt.💜

I loved the intensity and drive that Leslie portrayed. She told her story with honesty and integrity, never villainizing her father, but always wondering. What a wonderful dedication to a father she tried to understand. And one she loved and appreciated to the end.