Author Endorsements for Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant

“A charming and unusual portrait of the secret life.”–JOHN LE CARRÉ, author of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

“Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant is an elegant, and unusually moving, memoir of the wife of CIA officer under what’s known as ‘nonofficial cover’; that is, those intelligence officers who work abroad as a businessman, without the protections and comforts that diplomatic status provides. But it is much more than that—a story of espionage and spycraft; of an American family and its innocence lost; and of the emotional turmoil and psychic journey imposed by a life deep undercover. The depth of its vision and candor into the real-world effects of the espionage life on those closest to it makes it essential reading for anyone interested in an understanding of CIA free from both tendentious polemic as well as whitewashed apologia.”–ZACH DORFMAN, intelligence journalist and former senior staff writer at the Aspen Institute

“If you’re married to a spy, the always fraught arena of a relationship turns into a positive minefield. What does that all-night absence mean? What can you begin to say to the kids? In Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant, Lillian McCloy gives us the story of a life spent around secret intelligence that is funny and charming and in every wonderful sense, deeply spooky. This is the story John le Carré keeps out of his gripping bestsellers.”–PICO IYER, author of The Art of Stillness and Video Night in Kathmandu

“We’ve all read the romanticized accounts of a CIA officer’s life overseas. Rarely do we ever get to read about the spy’s family. Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant by Lillian McCloy is an engrossing, decades-long memoir of foreign life under deep cover for the CIA. McCloy reveals the intrigue, danger and humor of clandestine life in her thoroughly entertaining account of a CIA family’s nomadic lifestyle. Few living in the U.S. will ever encounter the unique trials and tribulations of the McCloy family, but what a fascinating read it is!”–ALAN B. TRABUE, CIA (Ret.), author of A Life of Lies and Spies

Lillian & Frank, 1960

Lillian & Frank, 1973

Lillian & Frank, 1985