A riveting WWII story inspired by the real life experiences of Josephine Baker, entertainer extraordinaire and spy for the French Resistance. Histfic fans will adore it!

This was based on real events of Josephine Baker and the French Resistance. This made me feel the book and characters, like I was experiencing the war. Young African American goes to study in France, gets recruited to be a spy. She needs all her wits, charm, and acting skills to make an impact in this story. I love learning new things about this period in history, we must never forget.

Thanks to the publishers, author, and NetGalley for the arc of this book.

If you enjoy historical fiction on WW2, you will love this book.

This is quite a different World War II historical novel and I found it to be much more than promised by the overview, with the tantalizing words of resistance and spies. The main heroine is Elodie, a young Black American student in Paris working on her second masters with a side job in journalism. The story begins during that strange interlude of "the phony war" when nothing much was happening and it paints a vibrant picture of Paris before the Nazi occupation.

Just as Europe was lulled by the Phony War, I was lulled by the first third of this book. Josephine Baker was such a fascinating & complex woman and her Black American expat friends were too. Suddenly, the spy game became deadly serious and then the Nazis arrived. This author's description of Parisians fleeing the city was heartbreaking. "A slow, delayed parade. Grandparents were being pushed in wheelbarrows by children and grandchildren unwilling to leave them behind, wagons packed with things and children." From then on, the story was like being on a runaway train and I couldn't stop reading.

This story begins and ends with the children & grandchildren of Elodie Mitchell finding out that there was so much they never knew about her because she chose not to tell them. We should all remember when we look at our older generation, they were once young too, with their own tales to share. This is a complex story, about more than just WW II in France or Josephine Baker. It's about family, racism, and courage. I loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley & Avon Books UK for the digital ARC. All opinions and the review are my own.

I read this authors previous book and loved it.
This one I also loved. Set during WW2 a young black girl has gone to Paris to study the language and work as a reporter.
She then meets up with an older man who recruits her to become a spy for France as the Germans start to move it.
A great story of danger and intrigue amongst a small group of spy's.

As a massive fan of WWII history and historical fiction, I was so excited to get my hands on this book. It's rare to find one based on a black woman (or man, for that matter), and Elodie is a wonderful protagonist. The premise is interesting, and the research and historical accuracy is solid (no glaring anachronisms that rip you out of the time period you're reading about and bring you back to real life!). Bohemian Paris in the months leading up to Nazi occupation is brought to life vividly by the author - you can feel freedom slipping away, and tension and unease building. I'm drawn to stories of the French Resistance as I love to hear about ordinary, everyday people rising to the occasion and doing far more than they think they're capable of when faced with monsters at the gate, and this book delivers on that front.