Introduction

In Nazi-occupied France, an American film star takes on the most dangerous role of her life in a gripping novel about loyalty and resistance, inspired by a true story, from the Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Secret Stealers.

Paris, 1939. Hollywood actress Drue Leyton, married to Frenchman Jacques Tartière, lives as an expatriate in love. But when her husband is dispatched to Brittany to work as a liaison for the British military, Drue finds herself alone with her housekeeper, adrift and heartsick in her adopted city. With her career and fame forty-five hundred miles away, Drue accepts an opportunity that will change her life forever.

Befriended by seasoned wartime journalist Dorothy Thompson and urged on by political operative Jean Fraysse, Drue broadcasts radio programs to the United States. Her duty: shake America from its apathy and, as Nazis encroach and France is occupied, push for resistance and help from the US. As Drue and Jean fall under suspicion, Hitler sends his own message: when Drue’s adopted country is conquered, she will be executed.

In a Paris that is no longer safe, Drue’s political passion is ignited. She’s prepared to risk anything to fight the enemy no matter how dangerous it gets?for her, for everyone she loves, and for everything she’s fighting for.

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Excerpt

Chapter One

October 30, 1939?Paris, France

When I walked out of my apartment building on Rue Saint-Dominique, I nearly collided with my neighbor, the elderly Madame Vachon. She was returning from a walk with her two enthusiastic black-and-white papillons, Oscar and Titou, so I held the door for her, almost getting tangled in the little dogs’ leather leashes. It was a crisp October afternoon, and I had decided to bike to Les Deux Magots to meet Elise, my agent in France. With my hair tucked under a navy-blue beret and my windbreaker over my dress to protect me from the autumn breeze, I rode through my adopted city, reminded at every turn why it had captivated Americans like me for centuries—from the picturesque bridges crossing the Seine to the cream-colored apartment buildings with their matching balconies and mansard roofs to the ornate street signs. And then there was my favorite part of Paris—the cafés on almost every block, their terraces crammed with Parisians sitting together around tiny wrought iron tables sharing drinks and cigarettes.

Though just beneath the gorgeous facade lurked the palpable tension of a city whose citizens were on edge, clutching their gas masks everywhere they went. You could see it in the expressions of many of the patrons sitting at the cafés—the worry in their eyes, the serious conversations about a brother or son who had gone to war, or about the recent air raids and blackouts. And the topic that was on every Parisian’s mind—whether to leave the city for the coast or someplace of relative safety or stay in the capital.

And since my husband, Jacques, had left, I too had been dealing with this question, as well as my own feelings of heartache and anxious worry. The brilliant, handsome Frenchman Jacques Tartière had been my adoring husband for less than a year. Paris had been our home together for just ten months. But in mid-September, after being turned down by the French army due to his weak lungs, Jacques had accepted a role as a liaison for the British troops arriving in Brittany. And now that he was gone, I felt like a foreigner again—alone and adrift, an unemployed expatriate who spoke heavily accented French. Jacques had been my anchor to this city and this new life. I desperately needed something else to ground me here while he was away. Today I hoped Elise might have the answer.

The café Les Deux Magots was in the charming Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. Opened in 1885, it was one of Paris’s oldest cafés and, since 1933, had become a bastion of cultural life in Paris and a favorite spot for both famous and unknown artists and writers. Jacques had taken me to Deux Magots on one of our first warm summer evenings together. Sitting at an outside table at dusk, we had lingered for hours enjoying Clacquesin, a popular apertif, watching the people passing by and basking in our newlywed glow.

“Do you recognize that man over there? The one with the pale blue shirt?” Jacques whispered in my ear, nodding to a crowded table of people on the opposite side of the café. They were all smoking cigarettes and had gone through several bottles of red wine. The man he was referring to was small and compact, with a receding hairline and large, intense eyes.

“I do . . . but I can’t place him . . .” I said. “Who is he?”

“Pablo Picasso,” Jacques said, running his fingers down my arm in a way that made me shiver.

“Oh, yes, of course,” I said. “Fascinating. And he’s just sitting there holding court, enjoying his friends.”

“Would you like to meet him?” he asked. Jacques was acquainted with many in the artist community in Paris. “I am sure he would love to meet you. He loves to meet beautiful women.”

“Maybe another time,” I said, grabbing his hand, putting my other hand on his cheek. “I’m quite content with just you tonight, my darling.”

“Ah, good answer,” he said; a thrill ran up my spine when he leaned over and kissed me. “I just want to introduce everyone to my incredible new wife.”

Nostalgia and longing washed over me now as I pulled up to the café and saw the table where we had sat that evening. It seemed like both yesterday and a lifetime ago, and I wondered when we would have a night like that again. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. What surprised you the most about Drue Leyton’s story?

2. Which character’s fate would you say was the most tragic?

3. Did the story help you gain a better understanding of life in France during occupation? What details were you already aware of and what was new to you?

4. Before reading this novel, were you aware of the imprisonment of American women in a zoo outside Paris during the war?

5. What was your favorite scene in the story? Why?

6. Did any of the events or scenes in the novel seem similar to events that are happening in the world today? If yes, which ones?

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