I love historical fiction, especially set during the WWII era, and I'll never get tired of reading heart pounding stories about the brave women who put themselves in unthinkable danger to help defeat the Nazis.

It was a bit slow to get into, and it was hard, at times, to keep track of the various characters. I really enjoy WWII-era books, and I haven't read many about female spies, so that angle was a bit unique. Espionage and action abound and keep the reader engaged. It's obvious that Rees did her research. There are numerous twists, and some were a bit confusing to follow, but it's an enjoyable read overall.

Overall this was a great book! It was a little slow to get into and there were a lot of characters to keep track of, but I still loved it!

Loved this book! Female spies during WW2 is something I’ll never tire of! Great characters, great atmosphere- loved it!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

If you browse through my "read" shelf, you'll see that I love a good WWII novel. I've read many, some better than others. And in all that time, I can only think of one (The Huntress by Kate Quinn) that takes place just after the war's end. Rees' novel is more than equal to Quinn's contribution to this canon. I thoroughly enjoyed Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook; it now ranks in my top reads of 2020.

The story centers around Nazi scientists who have gone to ground, what the Allied powers will do to get their hands on them, and what "good guys" intend to do with the scientists post-capture. Germany after the war is a bleak place, governed by different Allied forces. The civilian population is homeless and starving. And former Nazis and Nazi-sympathizers are finding it a great place to hide while awaiting their moment of escape. Edith Graham leaves her staid life as a teacher in Britain to enter this world of intrigue. She has many acquaintances in the intelligence community, but she's never done any spying herself.

Rees does a great job of building a sense of lurking danger. At some point in the story, you doubt nearly every single character. Are they on Edith's side? Are they working against her? Who can be trusted? I also loved the setting Rees constructed. I felt like I was there, in post-war Germany, Italy.

My only criticisms are this: I feel like there were some loose ends that never got tied up and the climax felt a bit rushed. As to the first, I think there were just a great many moving parts in this story, and I don't know that Rees succeeded in bringing them all to a stop. As for the climax, I wanted to hear more about the fates of a few characters. One woman rides off and we never hear from her again (except tangentially in the prologue). After a brief investigation, another woman is believed to be the true target of the Allied's efforts but we never hear if that turned out to be true. I just wanted a little more closure.

I truly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction, spy novels, WWII, and strong female characters.

Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook takes place towards the end of WW2. Based on the title alone, I figured that this would be a book based on recipes during the war. I was pleasantly surprised that it was so much more. Of course, food was involved but that was not the premise but the placement of the recipes was perfect. I am fairly new to the world of Historical Fiction and I enjoyed reading about Edith. The beginning is slow to start but I stuck with it and I am glad that I did! If you are into stories based on spies, then this is a read for you.

I was really excited to read Miss Graham's Cold War cookbook for the fresh take on a WWII novel. Using codes within recipes is a new spin for the subject. I did enjoy reading this book but it seemed a little slow or maybe I have just read too many books on the same general topic. Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins and TheBookClubGirls for an ARC.

I wanted to like this one. I very much liked the idea of it but it was too long and it dragged. I thought Edith was fine as a main character but it took her quite a while to get to Germany. I'm not sure why the author bothered describing the school and kids at all since none of that was really involved in the plot. I liked some of the intrigue and trying to decide which characters were 'good' or 'bad' but it just moved too slowly to be very exciting.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to netgalley.com for the ARC.

Yes, another book about WWII in Europe...but another one with a unique take and time period. The story primarily takes place in Germany directly after the war ends and Germany is being split up in two halves. Interspered within a story of espionage, friendship, and a very not sappy romance are recipes of traditional English, German, and Austrian dishes.

While there are the heartbreaking and horrific story lines that occur with any story about World War II, this had a different take on it. It was interesting to see life within Germany right after they had lost the warm and needed to rebuild.

This held my interest and am interested in reading more from this author.

I will start by saying that I highly recommend this title which is a story of Germany in the aftermath of WWII.  Set in several countries, including Britain, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, it is the story of the titular Edith Graham. As the novel opens,  Miss Graham is an educator living at home with her mother, a life that she found somewhat dull and meaningless. When she is offered the opportunity to go to Germany to help with the re-establishment of educational facilities, she is really for the change and challenge. But...much more is in store for Edith.


Readers learn that, before the war,Edith was in love with a handsome, smart, German man named Kurt. Miss Graham also became close to his wife Elisabeth. What happened to this couple during WWII? How did they survive?  What did they do? What happened to them afterwards? Their story line forms a large part of the narrative.


Around Edith are various agents, each with their own, and sometimes overlapping, agendas. There are Dori, Vera and Adeline for the women, each of whom has been shaped by their wartime experiences. In addition, there are the men; they represent the U.S. and the British. What are their agendas? How will these intersect with those of the women?


There is espionage here and, after a slightly slow start, a book that had me turning the pages and connecting with the characters. In addition to an excellent plot, the book raises a number of issues: what was life like for the Germans as the Americans, Russians and British entered their defeated country? How do people survive when they have nothing, not even food? Do ends justify means? Who can be trusted? Can there be justice in a world that has been turned upside down?


As readers follow the story, each chapter begins with an entry from Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook. Readers will learn the significance of these menus as they become involved with the novel.


I have read many books of historical fiction about WWII. This one is a bit different in that it largely takes place after the war. It is a compelling read and one that I recommend most highly. I give it five stars, something I do not often do.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.

In the aftermath of WW2, Britain has set up the Control Commission in their occupied territory. Edith applies to become an education officer and is immediately recruited to act as a spy and help track down a missing Nazi war criminal that she once knew as a college student. In order to pass messages back and forth with London, she uses her alter ego, a cooking columnist that sends recipes to family and friends. As she gets closer to finding her old friend, more danger arises as many in the country are still loyal to the old regime.

For those who love and those may want a slight change from WW2 historical Fiction, Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook provides a different look at the time period and the years following the war in which Germany was rebuilt. The idea that many civilians harbored fugitives in the attempt to restore the Reich is an area that is often glossed over in typical American/British war fiction, and the trade offs between different groups are even less well known. It leads to many questions regarding which war criminals remained free in order to capture the major players.

The book was provided to me via preview copy on NetGalley in exchange for my thoughts.

I loved the idea of spies communicating through recipes, so I was very excited to read this book! The story opens when the main character is old and nearing the end of her life, before jumping to the past where most of the story takes place. It takes a long time to get going and I felt that the book was a bit too long overall with the lengthy descriptions of not only food, but scenery and clothes, etc. I think I was trying too hard to decipher the hidden clues in each recipe... Sometimes I could pick up on the coded messages but other times I was either missing it or maybe nothing was there and it was just meant to be what they were eating at the time. I think I was expecting too much from them, because I started to notice that when there was something we were supposed to get from the recipe it would be pointed out later in the chapter, so I quit trying so hard and that improved my enjoyment of the book!

It was both fascinating and disturbing to learn about Operation Paperclip and the other programs that allowed Nazi murderers to escape justice. This is why I love reading historical fiction. Even though it's fiction I still end up learning things that were left out of the history I was taught in school. The WW2 Era/Female Spy genre is getting a bit overdone, but this book is unique enough to stand out. Edith is a relatable character and once I hit the halfway mark, I had to keep reading to the end.

The description for this book really grabbed me. Female espionage in Cold War-era Berlin? Hunting down Nazis in hiding? Count me in! But I found the story dry from the beginning. I never took to any of the characters and felt little emotion about anything that happens to them. I will say that I did not see the end playing out as it did and that definitely gave me a wait, what?! moment. Overall, this was a book that I very much wanted to love and was left disappointed.

The novel begins with Dori in a fine Swill hotel. She is elderly and is near the end of her life. She is looking at a tattered old cookbook. Flashback to 1947. Dori was part of a sort of spy ring with her friends Addie who was a photographer and Edith who was a teacher. As the story unfolds, Edith seems to be the main character. Edith who wants to be a food writer has gone to post war Germany to help set up and supervise schools for the children in the British occupied Germany. She becomes embroiled in the search for a war criminal. She knew Kurt before the war so she is asked to help look for him. However, she soon learns to her horror that her former lover committed some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. The people she is working for do not plan to bring him to trial. They just want to use his knowledge. Her friend Dori is associated with a group who want him brought to justice. Edith finds herself in a very difficult position unable to trust anyone besides her two friends and she even has to watch how much she tells them. The ending was not predictable.

I found this slow at first, but I stuck with it and I'm so glad that I did - loyalty and allegiance in a newly post-WWII Germany. The author knows her history of the time period and it shows in this well crafted, excellent read.

I received a digital advance copy this book for my honest opinion. My thanks to Celia Rees, HarperCollins Publishers / William Morrow Paperbacks, and NetGalley.

Celia Rees has taken you on a post World War II adventure. The strong women in this book made me realize that war is not just about men but about women also played a key role during and after the war. Edith is a single, plain women who is a teacher and speaks fluent German. She also likes recipes and writes cooking tips under the name Stella Shelling. Her friend Dori, is a spy. Together they become part of a team searching for Nazi officer criminals. They communicate with each other through recipes which they decode.
This book takes you on a journey in Germany where war has left it's mark with devastation, shortages of food, heat, and clothing. Children in need of shoes who are hungry in the schools that Edith supervises. She is a very good, kind hearted person who sticks to her guns and will generally get what she needs to help her people.
Beautifully written with attention to detail the author brings to life all the characters in her story to a point where you are vested in their mission and their lives. This book is released on July 7th 2020 and I would definitely put it on your TBR list, it will not disappoint.

Thank you to #netgalley and #WilliamMorrow for an ARC of this book.

In Germany, the war may be over, but questions linger. This is a story of spies and the allegiance of individuals. A good read.

This is a suspenseful historical novel set in Germany in 1946. A British woman, Edith Graham, is sent to Lubeck to help resurrect German schools devastated by the war. She is also involved as a spy, entangled with British and American agents either trying to recruit Nazis for their knowledge or to bring them to justice for their war crimes. Edith uses recipes she gathers to encode messages to send back home. There is much well-researched, atmospheric information about Germany’s condition after the war and the horrors that went on during it. There is a devastating twist toward the end of the novel. This well-written work is highly recommended.

This book was a very good read. Was a little hard for me to follow at first but it made sense at the end and all tied together quite nicely! The characters were likable and it got to a point where i didn't want to stop reading I wanted to see what happened next

The premise of this book is what drew me to it. The idea of transmitting classified information through recipes seemed original and intriguing. Hence, I appreciated that each chapter began with a recipe. The descriptions of the food were fun. It might have been nice to understand the code a bit more, though.

Edith was sweet, and the way she cared so much about helping others made her easy to root for. I found her work with the school system interesting, though there wasn't a lot of it that made it into the story.

Probably the best thing about the book is the way the author captured time and place. I really felt transported to post-war Europe.

There were a couple things I wasn't especially fond of. Edith's understanding of the word 'secret', for one. She tells her friends she can't talk about her assignment because she signed the Official Secrets Act, and they scoff at her hesitancy to speak stating that everyone has signed that. Their dismissiveness combined with the thought that they'll just keep pressing her is enough to get her to talk. Later she tries to think of ways to share information about her work with her reporter friend. I was scratching my head about that.

Another thing that didn't sit quite right with me was that she got only a vague description of her assignment from Leo and no training or anything. Still, he and the contact she was given seemed to expect a lot from her.

There were some things near the end that didn't make sense to me, why certain things were done, why other things were allowed. It soured the last part for me. Ultimately, I did not feel fulfilled when I finished this. Still, it was an interesting concept, and many looking for a book connected to WWII but told from a different angle will probably enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Book Club Girls for this early read.