Upcoming Events

A Book Talk with Best-Selling Author Liza Mundy

We are thrilled to announce that Best-Selling Author Liza Mundy will be visiting Perrot Memorial Library virtually via Zoom on Monday, March 18, at 7 pm, to discuss her new book, The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA. This program is offered in honor of Women’s History Month in March. Heidi Matonis of Greenwich Pen Women will moderate the discussion.

Liza Mundy is an award-winning journalist and the New York Times bestselling author of five books, including Code Girls and her latest work, The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA. A former staff writer for The Washington Post, Mundy writes for The Atlantic, Politico, and Smithsonian, among other publications.

Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cables, made dead drops, and maintained the agency’s secrets. Despite discrimination—even because of it—women who started as clerks, secretaries, or unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIA’s shrewdest operatives.

They were unlikely spies—and that’s exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA’s critical archives—first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn’t see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-Qaeda—though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside.

After the 9/11 attacks, more women joined the agency as a new job, targeter, came to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape—an effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA’s successful effort to track down bin Laden in his Pakistani compound.

Propelled by the same meticulous reporting and vivid storytelling that infused Code GirlsThe Sisterhood offers a riveting new perspective on history, revealing how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, and how their silencing made the world more dangerous.

Check out a copy of The Sisterhood from our catalog or purchase a copy from Athena Books.

Please register for this free Zoom event.

For more information, contact Judy Sgammato at 203-637-1066 x15 or at lending@perrotlibrary.org.

Perrot Walks!

Join us for the next session of Perrot Walks on Tuesday, March 19th! Step-off is 10 am sharp. We will walk at a moderate pace and enjoy conversation and the beauty of Binney Park. All fitness levels are welcome. Dress appropriately.

For more information, contact Judy Sgammato at 203-637-1066 x15.

Perrot P.I.s March Meeting: “What the Dead Know,” by Laura Lippman

Perrot P.I.s, the Library’s montthly mystery book group, will meet on Monday, March 25, at 7 pm to discuss What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman. The meeting will take place in the Program Room, Radcliffe Children’s Library. All are welcome.

When he’s called to the scene of an accident detective Kevin Infante is drawn into a shocking and puzzling crime that still haunts the Baltimore P.D. Twenty years ago, two little girls were kidnapped from a shopping mall, igniting fear and anger throughout the city. 

Now, a clearly disoriented woman involved in the accident claims to be one of the missing girls. But instead of closing the case, her appearance marks the beginning of a nightmare that will once again rock Baltimore and threaten everyone it touches. 

To reserve a copy, visit our catalog.

For more information, contact Judy Sgammato at 203-637-1066 x15 or at lending@perrotlibrary.org.

My Library Account

Forgot your PIN?

Search the Catalog

Search the Site