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13 reviews for:
Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal
Matthew Goodman
4.13 AVERAGE
13 reviews for:
Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal
Matthew Goodman
4.13 AVERAGE
This was in many ways a fascinating true story about two very different women -- one American named Etta Shiber and one British named Kate (Kitty) Bonnfous, who meet, become friends and later, roommates in Paris during WWII. You would never think that this pair would become courageous members of the resistance, helping rescue French and British soldiers. hey are eventually captured by the Gestapo, and while Etta is lucky enough to return after 18 months in custody via a prisoner exchange. An interesting aspect to the book is that Etta wrote a memoir called "Paris Underground," hoping to bring Kitty's story to a wide audience and generate sympathy for getting her release.
Matthew Goodman's book, "Paris Undercover," expands on the Etta and Kitty's unbelievable story. How many unsung heroes of war get this well-deserved recognition of their bravery?
The reason I'm only giving it four stars is because the writing drags in big chunks, because of a lot of history without much dialogue. Still, I am glad to learn about this chapter in WWII history.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC and the opportunity to review this book.
Matthew Goodman's book, "Paris Undercover," expands on the Etta and Kitty's unbelievable story. How many unsung heroes of war get this well-deserved recognition of their bravery?
The reason I'm only giving it four stars is because the writing drags in big chunks, because of a lot of history without much dialogue. Still, I am glad to learn about this chapter in WWII history.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC and the opportunity to review this book.
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4 stars for a story of courage and friendship with some tragic consequences. Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous live together in a Paris, France apartment at the start of WWII. Etta is an American widow who has been invited by Kate to come and live with her. Kate is an Englishwoman who has been living in France for many years. She is married to Henri Bonnefous who lives in the south of France. Henri and Kate remain friends, although they live apart. Shortly after France falls to the N**i blitzkrieg, Kate decides to help British soldiers caught behind enemy lines to escape and Etta follows her lead. Etta is a rather shy person, but does everything that Kate asks.
They manage to help between 20 and 40 soldiers escape.
But they are captured by the Gestapo. Kate is subjected to vicious torture, but refuses to talk until the Germans capture her son and threaten to torture him and execute him. Once they get all the information possible from her, they send her to a prison camp with no further torture.
Etta is exchanged by the German government for a spy imprisoned by the US government. She is hailed as a hero. A book publisher approaches her for an interview. The book telling her story inflates the 20-40 figure to 200. The book has other lies.
The Gestapo learns of the inflated figure and subjects Kate to gruesome torture, because they want more information.
Kate does survive the war, but with long lasting health issues caused by the horrific torture that she received. The author did a great deal of research into military and government archives plus finding letters written by both Etta and Kate to unearth the true story of Kate and Etta. There are extensive footnotes documenting his research.
I was impressed by these two women and their exploits. I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about courage in the face of evil. Warning: torture descriptions are horrific.
Thank You Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#ParisUndercover #NetGalley.
Pub Date Feb 04 2025
They manage to help between 20 and 40 soldiers escape.
But they are captured by the Gestapo. Kate is subjected to vicious torture, but refuses to talk until the Germans capture her son and threaten to torture him and execute him. Once they get all the information possible from her, they send her to a prison camp with no further torture.
Etta is exchanged by the German government for a spy imprisoned by the US government. She is hailed as a hero. A book publisher approaches her for an interview. The book telling her story inflates the 20-40 figure to 200. The book has other lies.
The Gestapo learns of the inflated figure and subjects Kate to gruesome torture, because they want more information.
Kate does survive the war, but with long lasting health issues caused by the horrific torture that she received. The author did a great deal of research into military and government archives plus finding letters written by both Etta and Kate to unearth the true story of Kate and Etta. There are extensive footnotes documenting his research.
I was impressed by these two women and their exploits. I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about courage in the face of evil. Warning: torture descriptions are horrific.
Thank You Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#ParisUndercover #NetGalley.
Pub Date Feb 04 2025
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
A little hard to get into, but nonetheless an interesting read. I loved reading about atypical heroes from World War II. We always hear about the young heroes in the war, the young women at home working as spies, but this one revolves around women with grey hair, women in their 60's. Women who, in their own words, were quickly and easily overlooked. I loved the different POV and recognizing people who are overlooked in society because of their age. It made them so invaluable and capable of helping. How many more heroes do we know nothing about?