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Every week, The Thread tackles your book questions, big and small. Ask 

This week's question: Where are all the female spies in fiction?

 by Natasha Walter, who proclaimed: "Fiction needs more female spies." 

In a genre popularized by Ian Fleming and dominated by Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and John le Carre, roles for women characters generally fall into two categories: the imperiled wife/girlfriend or the villain's sexy sidekick — a femme fatale whose most powerful weapon is her body.

So where are the female characters? History serves up no lack of real-world inspiration for spies, from Josephine Baker to Julia Child. Why haven't they made their way into novels?

This summer, we have two (very different) books featuring women spies in our Take It to the Lake summer fiction series: Manuel Gonzales' "The Regional Office is Under Attack" and "Enchanted Islands" by Allison Amend. Those looking for more can check out Stella Rimington's novels; Rimington is the former director of MI-5, Britain's counter-intelligence agency. "Restless" by William Boyd and "Red Sparrow" by Jason Matthews are also good reads with female spies as central characters.

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Roles for female characters in the spy genre tend to fall into two categories: the imperiled love interest or the femme fatale.

MPR News host Kerri Miller and Tracy Mumford ask the important literary questions, like, why are there so few female spies in fiction? 7/12/16

Where are the female spies in fiction?

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