The Book Spy by Alan Hlad

 

What is your favorite novel or movie that has a female spy?

The Book Spy is an intriguing new WWII historical fiction novel.    Maria Alves is a microfilm expert at the New York Public Library.  One of her colleagues becomes a part of a new government program that is sending librarians that are microfilm experts to Europe as part of a new branch of the Office of Strategic Service.  In Europe, the librarians will work as espionage agents to look through newspapers, magazines, and books that could contain any information that will help with the Allied cause.  Maria uses her wit to be recruited and she is sent to Lisbon, Portugal.  While there she meets Tiago Soares.  He runs a bookstore, but is also helping Jewish refugees escape Europe with counterfeit passports and visas.  As the war progresses, both of their futures are thrown into question as Maria becomes a double agent.  Will they be able to help push the allies to their final victory, and will they survive?

I adored this novel.  It had a bit of everything – romance, intrigue, suspense.  I love learning something new in a historical fiction novel and I felt like I learned so much in The Book Spy.  I had no idea that this program existed in WWII and it was fascinating to learn about. I’ve also never read a WWII novel set in Portugal and I learned a lot about what was going on in that part of the world during the war.  Over one million refuges escaped through the port of Lisbon.  I also learned about the tragic crashing of the Yankee Clipper through Maria experiencing it in this novel. It was a heartbreaking accident. Maria and Tiago were both very brave characters and I enjoyed reading about them.  The side characters were interesting as well.

The Book Spy was the Brenda Novak Book Group February selection.  I was a bit behind on reading it, but I enjoyed listening to Brenda Novak interview author Alan Hlad at her monthly book club on Facebook. Alan Hlad stated that he likes character driven novels with characters that you root for.  He succeeded with that in the The Book Spy.

The Book Spy ended with a great author’s note that detailed all of the real history and historical characters in the novel.  It was fascinating.  It also had great questions to use if you read this with a book club.

Review Copy from Netgalley.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.