Averin's Letters from Bangkok 1957-1961: Diary of a British Embassy wife

From 1957 to 1961 Averin and Geoffrey Hinton were attached to the British Embassy in Bangkok. Geoffrey was officially a diplomat with the rank of 1st Secretary, but this was cover for his real role as an intelligence officer working for MI6.

Throughout the posting, Averin wrote round-robin letters to the family back in England, and most of these letters have survived. Averin had herself worked for SIS, the Secret Intelligence Service, during the Seoncd World War. Like Geoffrey, she was bound by the Official Secrets Act and so, frustratingly, there is no hint at all in any of the letters as to Geoffrey's real role.

The letters give a vivid and candid picture of life in Thailand in the 1950s and early 1960s as seen through the eyes of a middle-class British woman: the politics, the frequent coups d'état, summary executions, cholera epidemics, religion, etiquette, manners, food, dress, education, and much more. And all the while Averin threw herself with gusto into the role of diplomat's wife, running a household with six or seven servants and their families, entertaining dignitaries, mixing with royalty, holidaying by the sea, all amidst an endless whirl of cocktail and dinner parties.

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