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Title details for Paris Undercover by Matthew Goodman - Wait list

Paris Undercover

A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal

by Matthew Goodman
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Two women in Nazi-occupied Paris created a daring escape line that rescued dozens of Allied servicemen. With one still in a German prison camp, the other wrote a book about it—a memoir built on fabrications. Now the bestselling author of Eighty Days shares their incredible, never-before-told full story.

“Goodman’s gripping account chronicles the events—both courageous and horrifying—and illustrates how loyalty and betrayal can coincide in wartime and its aftermath.”—The Washington Post

“A heart-pounding tale that is impossible to put down.”—Lynne Olson, author of Madame Fourcade's Secret War
Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous are the unlikeliest of heroines: two seemingly ordinary women, an American widow and an English divorcée, living quietly together in Paris. Yet during the Nazi occupation, these two friends find themselves unexpectedly plunged into the whirlwind of history. With the help of a French country priest and others, they set out to rescue British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines—some of whom they daringly smuggle through Nazi checkpoints hidden inside the trunk of their car.
Ultimately the Gestapo captures them both. After eighteen months in prison, Etta is returned to the United States in a prisoner exchange. Back home, hoping to bring attention to her friend Kitty’s bravery, she publishes a memoir about their work. Paris-Underground becomes a publishing sensation and Etta a celebrity. Meanwhile Kate spends the rest of the war in a Nazi prison, entirely unaware of the book that has been written about her—and the deeds that have been claimed in her name.
In researching this story, Matthew Goodman uncovered military records and personal testimonies that reveal, for the first time, the shocking truth behind Etta’s memoir and the unexpected, far-reaching consequences of its publication. More than just a story of two women’s remarkable courage, Paris Undercover is a vivid, gripping account of deceit, betrayal, and personal redemption.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 4, 2025

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780593358931

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780593358931
      • File size: 6660 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      January 1, 2025
      Two women who took on the Nazis.Paris-Underground, a 1943 bestseller, Book of the Month Club selection, and movie, describes two heroic women from the French Resistance. Journalist Goodman, author ofThe City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team, tells what really happened, preserving some heroism while adding some painful details. The women themselves were middle-aged (not, needless to say, in the movie). Prosperous and living quietly, they were as shocked as the world was at the Allies' sudden defeat in June 1940. Fleeing Paris along with several million others, they returned a few weeks later after the French surrender. Etta Shiber, the American author ofParis-Underground, was anxious not to make waves, but Kate Bonnefous, her assertive British companion, went to work. Already a Red Cross volunteer with a car and papers allowing free movement, she began visiting hospitals for injured Allied prisoners, purportedly to bring provisions but in fact to help them escape. Beginning in July she became a pioneer in a resistance organization that ultimately guided thousands of Allied servicemen across France and back to Britain. The women guided several dozen before their betrayal and arrest in November 1940. Sentenced to prison, Etta returned to the U.S. under an exchange in 1942. Kate received a death sentence, but it was commuted, and she survived the war, although barely. The final hundred pages describe their postwar lives while casting a gimlet eye on the accuracy of Shiber's book. Written by ghostwriters, it was heavily fictionalized, full of suspense and events that never took place. Sadly, Bonnefous, then a prisoner, wasn't fictionalized enough. Her thinly disguised name did not fool the Gestapo, who tortured her brutally in an attempt to get more information. The two never met after the war. Genuine heroism and well told, with no Hollywood ending.

      COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

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Languages

  • English

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