I have always Ben Macintyre who writes so well about the derring do of the brave people who spied for the Allied cause in WW2 and this book is cut from similar cloth The author writes succinctly and this is an accomplished piece of work

Thanks to NetGalley who supplied a copy

I enjoyed reading this book. This book is the story of Aline, a girl from New York who joins the OSS after college and marries Spanish Royalty. During the war she is stationed to Spain where she wined and dined with the enemy. After the war she settles in the Spanish countryside with her family. The book is well written and easy to read. Aline lived an exciting life and this book captures it. Enjoy

This story tells the little known story of the spy who became a princess. I was very interested in this story because I have never heard of her before. I did think that there would be more focus of her espionage days. Instead, it was more about her becoming a princess. Nevertheless, I recommend this fans of royalty! This book is perfect for fans of Heiresses, Noble Ambitions, The Churchill Sisters!

If a movie isn't made about Aline Griffith one day soon, I don't know what's wrong with the world.
NY born, Griffith went on to be a major influencer during WWII by infiltrating high society and high ranking diplomats during WWII.
Glamorous and nail-biting, but I would for certain call this historic fiction as parts of it are based on fact for certain, but other parts are more of a fly on the wall perspective.
There is an amazing amount of information about Griffith and well worth the read.

*I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Larry Loftis created a wonderful book about Alene Griffith, a girl who graduated from a Catholic college and wanted to do her part in WWII. This non-fiction biography starts with a prologue that has the feel of a mystery. Aline is in bed in her apartment in Madrid when she hears a noise outside her window. Loftis ends the prologue with Griffith’s raising a gun. Having read a biography about Virginia Hall who became a spy even though she had a wooden leg, I was excited to read about Griffith.

The book has short chapters which I love. I also appreciate the copious notes for each chapter documenting his writing. I had not heard of her and did not know she wrote a trilogy on her exploits which were embellished. She moved around in Spain with the social elite and after the war marries into royalty. She also did some work for the CIA.

<strong>The Princess Spy</strong>

The Princess Spy is historical narrative about Aline Griffith, prominent among America’s OSS spies during World War II, who went on to become a world-renowned countess and wrote fictional Spy novels based on her exploits. It’s the story of a small town girl who wished she too could help her country as her brothers set off to do when the U.S. finally entered the war. A former model, Aline quickly found herself embedded in neutral Spain, secretly working fir Uncle Sugar (the U.S.) and hobnobbing with various bullfighters and nobles, all of whom found their way to Spain. It was in those days a hotbed of spies from both sides and Aline had to ferret out who was working for who and sometimes supply misinformation to the Germans. As the tide of the war changed, her duties included finding fleeing Nazis and their loot as attempts were made to ship it to South America. Through it all, Aline walks a narrow line balancing her secret work with her social to-dos, often to the detriment of her personal life. The story is fascinating, but don’t expect too much of the cloak and dagger James Bond kind of stuff.

An interesting read, that sometimes dragged on but then reengaged and kept me interested. I was hoping for a little more when I first requested the book, but overall I was not disappointed.

4 intriguing stars
Aline Griffith wanted to help her country after she graduated from college. From the publisher, “With a code name and expert training under her belt, she is sent to Spain to be a coder, but is soon given the additional assignment of infiltrating the upper echelons of society, mingling with high-ranking officials, diplomats, and titled Europeans, any of whom could be an enemy agent. Against this glamorous backdrop of galas and dinner parties, she recruits sub-agents and engages in deep-cover espionage to counter Nazi tactics in Madrid.” The author did an excellent job researching Aline’s life and reporting in an engaging way. The story moved quickly and chronologically.

Aline had quite an adventurous life. I learned more about bull fighting than I wanted to. I appreciated the epilogue which followed up on the main characters lives. Extensive notes and a bibliography are also included in this non-fiction biography about a glamorous female spy during WWII.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Aline Griffith deserves so much more attention. Her story had me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. I read this book in one sitting and will be rereading to see what all I missed.

The Princess Spy
by Larry Loftis
Published February 9, 2021

This is a well-researched book and a great read if you enjoy WWII history.
Other spy books that I have read have been more "action" based. The book focuses more on the people Aline surrounded herself with rather than going into great detail about her different tasks and missions.
It is a long book. 345 pages.
I liked it but I'm not sure I will recommend it.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

4 star

This book was fascinating and hard to put down. I had not been reading any nonfiction in a while but this got me out of my slump. It was really interesting and I learned something new.

This was an interesting book, it was not what I expected from the cover or reading the description. While it did mention and talk about how Aline Griffith became a spy, it didn't really get into what she did. There were little snippets of her work as a spy. This book did give a lot of personal insight into the life of Aline Griffith. The story was more of her social life and the people she meet, which I am sure help with work with the OSS. It also gave insight into the personal lives of her colleagues. This was an excellent biography of her but I wouldn't really say that it showed her contributions or actions of espionage.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for kindly providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.
Well this had be hooked and drawn in from the get go. I’ve finished this whole book off on a wet Sunday afternoon. And considering I’m going through a bit of a reading slump now, where my attention easily wanders, it’s pretty impressive that I’ve gobbled this up in one sitting.
This book is a piece of non-fiction that is unravelling the fact from fiction of the life of a WW 2 spy, who was based in Spain. Her life was utterly fascinating and it’s hard to believe that people do actually live those kinds of lives occasionally.
I’ve read many non fiction and fiction works that deal with undercover or spy work that are set in WW2 but they are almost always dealing with events that took place in occupied France. It was very interesting to learn about another piece of history from a different view point. It’s very fast paced and reads almost like a fictional adventure story, although the facts mentioned are well backed up by ample footnotes etc,
I’ve really enjoyed this book and it’s set me off down many rabbit holes now learning about some of the other famous people that are discussed in this book. Definitely recommend.

I really liked that this book can be enjoyed both as a biography and a fictional work. I always appreciate reading about women in historical settings, especially if they actually existed. I did point out at the beginning how it can be read as fiction and nonfiction, but I also gotta add that Larry Loftis knew how to draw the line between each, true and false.

Born into a quiet hamlet in New York, Aline Griffith never dreamed that she would become a spy and a Countess. After her studies at university, the beautiful and clever young woman worked as a model for the designer Hattie Carnegie, but her brothers were fighting in the war, and she also wanted to play a role. Her facility for languages led her to a job in the OSS in Madrid, where she entered a world of espionage and glamour. She found herself involved in Spanish high society and bull fights, spying on such people as princes and princesses to see how close they were to the Nazis. She wore clothes by Balenciaga and other famous designers to balls and country house weekends. She also stayed in luxurious hotels in Paris and other European cities. It was dangerous work but Aline certainly had a glittering life!

Eventually, Aline married the handsome and charming Don Luis, the Count of Quantinilla, but she continued her espionage work even after the war. She also made friends with movie-stars, the Duchess of Windsor and political leaders, and wrote several exciting books about her time as a spy, which she admitted were 'faction'. Larry Loftis delves into this to try to get to the truth about Aline, although considering that she was only a clerk, some of it is still difficult to believe! However, it's a very enjoyable story, and I think that I will try Aline's books to compare the two. I would also like to read about Edmundo, her colleague in the OSS, who married a princess.

This is a great book for anyone interested in the OSS and the Second World War.

I received this ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have always liked to read about all things WWII. Not for the negative, but for the candle flame in the dark that didn't go out. To see the positive side of what humans can do for one another. It gives me hope.

I am by NO means a WWII professional, or even buff, that can give you dates and places and names of important locations, battles and people. But I DO enjoy reading about it and I enjoyed reading this book. It was fascinating and I have to say, she was an AMAZING person. Everything she did and went through, it is just stunning to think that she wasn't the only incredible person, that the whole world is full of incredible people, but we don't always hear about them. I'm glad that her story was told and that I was able to read about it.

Very interesting book, one I am glad that I have read and will recommend at my store. Not just for history buffs, but also to those who want to read about strong women.

4, good addition to the WWII books out there, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

Good story with a lot of sources, kept straight to the persons live and you were able to read it fluidly like many fiction stories.

I love well researched books. I especially love authors that do so diligently and without letting their opinions color that research. Mr. Loftis tells an amazing story of Aline Griffith, a woman who was intent on helping her country during World War 2. Up until she was sent to Spain, her only experience in any kind of job was modeling clothes. It turns out that experience helped tremendously. Her pedigree and connections let's her get information that normally she would not be able to get. Amazing story, amazing woman and an amazing life!!

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is about one brave woman who is a Countess, but goes beyond her title to become a spy during the War. This book was a really good historical read and again I marvel at how brave so many of these women and men had to have been in Europe at that time!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. Larry Loftis writes a nonfiction account of US Spy Aline Griffith - how she was recruited, what work she accomplished and how her life ended up. I really enjoyed the day to day accounts of her job and the means of the spy network. Ironically, I was also reading The Invisible Woman at the same time. I loved reading about two real-life women, working in the midst of war for their country, relying on their smarts and wits. This book flowed like a fiction book though all the information is substantiated. Worth a read! #theprincessspy #larryloftis #feb2021