The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen is a book I will never forget! The characters and their stories will stick with you forever after you finish it. Madeline Grant is from London and is in college there. She has to do a semester abroad and is going to be studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. She speaks both French and English as her mom was from France and her Dad was from England. Her mom died when Madeline was 10 and her father quickly remarried an unhappy, moody woman. Madeline was quickly sent to boarding school and because she didn't care for her stepmother she wasn't too sad about that. Madeline missed her mother terribly but she had no choice but to go on.

When Madeline arrives in Paris she's concerned with money and stays at a hostel because it's quite cheap. She loves Paris but stays pretty close to the Sorbonne where she's studying and the hostel. One day she's sitting in class listening to her professor give a lecture when the door opens and a young man sits down next to her. Little does Madeline know that this will forever change her life. Giles, the young man, asks Madeline if she'd like to get out of here and get a coffee with him? At first she thinks he's kidding, but realizes he's not. Madeline hasn't done anything but study since she's been in Paris so she accepts the invitation. Giles takes Madeline to the most famous cafe' in Paris and shows her some of the sights. Giles only ducked into her class to get away from a girl he had recently broken up with, but he really likes spending time with Madeline.

Knowing that the semester is winding down to when Madeline must leave, she and Giles are spending as much time together as possible. Giles tells Madeline that she must come back after Christmas and finish her studies here. He tells her he can't possible live without her. They have fallen deeply in love. Madeline says she'll ask her father, but she doubts he'll let her return. Once at home it's difficult for Madeline to be away from Giles and Paris. He was going home for Christmas, too and feeling the same. Madeline brings up the subject of continuing her studies at the Sorbonne after Christmas. Her father doesn't like the idea and her stepmother is angry telling her that if she leaves she won't be welcomed back. She also tells her there will be no more money if she leaves. Madeline decides to leave anyway. She has made up her mind, packs her bags, and gets the money she has saved out of the bank. When saying goodbye to her father he tells her he will still send money to her as usual.

When. Madeline was home she found a book of her mother's and her aunt's address was in it. Madeline knew she had an aunt in Paris, but wasn't sure of exactly where. She wanted to try to find her, if she was still alive. Madeline hasn't seen her since she was 4 and she seemed old even then. Upon arriving back in Paris, Madeline rushes to Giles apartment but no one is there. She sees his landlord who tells her he hasn't come back and he owes her money. Madeline offers to stay in the apartment and pay the rent until Giles returns, but the landlady won't allow it. She says if he's not back soon she'll rent it to someone else. Madeline is very concerned and has no way of reaching Giles. She also has no place to stay. Madeline's aunt lives close to Giles' apartment so she decides now is as good a time as any to try to find her.

Madeline finds the address that was in her mom's book and goes to the door. She steps in and sees her aunt's name is still on one of the mailboxes. She pushes the button to be let in and hears a buzz allowing her to enter. Madeline takes the lift up and she sees a door open down the hall. Her aunt calls out who's there? Madeline tells her who she is and that she's Louise's daughter. Her aunt is thrilled to see her as it's been so long. She invites her in and makes them both a cup of tea. Madeline's aunt look much older and thinner, but she has that same feisty attitude that she remembers. As they chat away, Madeline's aunt tells her she can stay until she finds a place as she has a spare room.
Madeline helps her out with grocery shopping and some cooking. She doesn't want to be a bother to her aunt.

A few days later Madeline is coming out of class when she looks up and sees Giles waiting for her! They run to each other and embrace so happy to be back together! Giles apologizes for returning late but explains he fell ill with a high fever. He was in bed over the holidays and quite awhile longer until he was finally able to come back. When Giles finds out that Madeline has not found an apartment he invites her to move in with him. They love being together so it seems like the next logical step. Her aunt wishes her well and tells her to visit when she can. Giles and Madeline are very happy and have now made love many times since living together. Everything seems perfect until one day Madeline feels sick in the morning and isn't sure when her last period was. After a few problems, Madeline and Giles decide to get married. Giles' mother has disowned him for marrying outside of the arranged marriage so he can't count on her help for a bigger apartment and baby supplies.

Madeline gives birth to a baby boy, Olivier Martin, and they are a very happy family. Once Madeline tells her father that he's a grandfather he sends a large check to help them out. He wishes that Madeline had let them know about the wedding as he would've like to come. Giles and Madeline find a bigger apartment and get everything they need for Olivier. Giles quits school and decides he needs to get a job to bring in money to support his family. He finds a job as a journalist at a local paper that has room for advancement. Madeline, Giles, and Olivier go to the Aunt's apartment every Sunday for dinner and she loves having them. Everything seems good until the Germans decide to invade France. Giles is very concerned and makes Madeline promise that if he tells her to go back to London, she must go for their safety. England is much better equipped to protect its citizens than France. She promises but hopes it never comes to that.

Hitler and the Nazis are bombing more and getting closer to Paris. Giles is going to work with the Resistance against them and tells Madeline it's time for her to take Olivier to her family home in London. It's the hardest thing that Madeline's ever had to do, but she agrees it's time. As she and Olivier get on the train she hugs and kisses Giles hoping she'll see him again! Madeline's dad is thrilled to have her and Olivier home and even her stepmother seems okay, Madeline takes a job teaching French at a nearby school and Olivier attends a private school as he's very smart, loves to read, and learn new things. His teachers tell Madeline what a good student he is and she knows this from how hard he works on his studies at home.

As things get worse in London with German soldiers on the streets and bombs getting closer to home, Olivier's school offers to take students to the country where it's safer and there's less bombing. Madeline doesn't want to send Olivier away like she was, but if he'll be safer she thinks she should. It's only temporary until things improve. The worst thing happens as the news reports that the train carrying the children to the country was hit by a bomb and many are dead! Madeline is filled with guilt and is hoping that her son was one of the lucky ones. Unfortunately, she is told that Oliver Martin (his English name) is dead. Madeline breaks down and can't see through her grief. She brought Olivier here to be safe and sent him away to be safer, and now he's dead! Her hatred of the Germans has gotten so bad that she now wants to join the government effort to help. She was approached a couple of weeks ago because she speaks French so well and is familiar with Paris. She calls the Colonel and accepts the job. She will go into training very soon.

Madeline is hoping that when she returns to France she will somehow find Giles alive. She hasn't heard from him in months and is very concerned for him. The training is intense and lasts weeks doing things Madeline never thought she'd be able to do. She excels and is one of a group of women who made it all the way through. She's given the job of courier and a placement in France. Madeline wants the Germans to pay for the loss of her son and she will do whatever it takes to make that happen, Madeline's strength, determination, and love for her family will be tested in ways you can't imagine. Will Madeline find Giles alive? Will they both get through the war alive? Will they be able to return to Paris and find the love they left there? Will Madeline's aunt survive the German's? What will become of her Dad and stepmother? Madeline's fight is inspirational and unforgettable. I loved The Paris Assignment and rate it 5 stars with my highest recommendation. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy of The Paris Assignment in exchange for a fair review. #TheParisAssignment

I really enjoy Rhys Bowen’s WWII fiction but this one wasn’t as good as some of her others for me. The story was interesting, the writing was strong, the character of Madeleine was well developed, and the historical context (especially regarding Australia) impeccably researched. However, the pacing and plot were a bit off for me. The characters in Madeleine’s life didn’t feel as fully developed as I’d have hoped, for example I didn’t really understand her deep meaningful friendships with other women, and some of the plot points felt rushed or skimmed over. I also couldn’t get past the incredible use of multiple extremely unlikely coincidences to move the story along, and I found the ending very predictable. A pleasant enough read but not as memorable as most of Bowen’s books.

I am a Rhys Bowen fan, so given the opportunity to read The Paris Assignment I was excited to get started. Bowen introduces Madeleine, who was raised by a French mother and English father. Training to be a French teacher, she takes a semester in Paris at the Sorbonne. There she meets and marries Giles Martin. With the arrival of their son Olivier they are a happy family, but war is coming and Giles sends them to safety in England while he stays to join the Resistance. When London is bombed Madeleine sends her son to the countryside with his school. Their train is attacked and she is informed of her son’s death. To fill the void left by this death she volunteers to be sent to France where she works as a courier for a network. There she experiences the deprivations and fears of the French people and suffers further loss.

Olivier actually survived the attack, but was seriously wounded. He had switched name tags with another child with a similar name and was mistakenly identified by that name. The other child had lost his family, making him an orphan, so Olivier was shipped to an orphanage in Australia. There the children were used as labor and received abusive punishments. He is half a world away from his mother, who believes him dead. After the war Madeleine’s work for the war office gives her hope that Olivier is still alive and sets her on a path to find him. This is an emotional story of love and loss that demonstrates why Rhys Bowen has developed a loyal following of readers. I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing this book for my review.

i don't generally read historical fiction. i'm not sure why--i like reading both history and general fiction, so it should be a perfect storm, but i've just never been interested in reading it.

until, of course, caitlin from about 6 months ago made this same observation and decided to branch out. and i'm really, truly glad she did, because this was so good!

it was my first rhys bowen book, but it will definitely not be my last.

i enjoyed all of the characters, specifically the protagonist, madeleine, from page one. the writing wasn't ever too flowery, but was still very informative. i must say, i am hardly the most knowledgeable on the second world war, but the dialogue and descriptions all made sense in it's context.

and, even more importantly than all that, it was just interesting.

i think there is so much importance in stories like these, fictional or not, because no matter how many times i stopped like, "no way!" it was real. madeleine might not be, but someone lived a story just like hers, in a situation just like hers, and whether it's unbelievable to me or not is beside the point because it's important context and a wonderful way to write a story.

it's my first rhys bowen novel, but it will certainly not be my last.

This is the third Rhys Bowen book that I've read and definitely the best.
Madeleine Grant grew up in Britain where her father was a teacher and her French mother died when She was 10.
She was fluent in both languages and wanted to spend some time at the Sorbonne studying French before taking on the working world in England. The book opens during a French lit class where a man, Giles Martin, sits down next to her and engages her in conversation. They develop a relationship and he introduces her to pre-War Paris. She becomes pregnant, and they marry and raise Oliver while Germany makes noises to take the country.
The book covers the German occupation of France and the destructive bombing in England at this time. When Giles joins the French Resistance, and Madeleine returns to England to raise Oliver, with her parents while she teaches French at a school. When the family decides to evacuate Oliver to the country for safety, he switches name badges with another child who is killed in the train bombing. However, the report to his family is that he was killed in the bombing. Madeleine seeks revenge for his death and joins the secret service as a courier in France.
The plot is well researched, and the story development kept me engaged for the entire book. Although the ending was a little predictable and coincidental, it was believable and was a good outcome.
I liked the way the author described the training that the women had; I was disgusted with the conditions of the orphanage and the abuse that the children were subject to. I was gratified that Madeleine met Giles' mother and developed a relationship with her.
There is much to discuss here and I will recommend this book to my book clubs. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Lake Union publishing and am leaving my review voluntarily. The opinions are my own.

France 1935: Madeleine Grant, a Londoner girl meets a communist young man Giles Martin at the end of her French literature study at the Sorbonne University in Paris. Making the most time in Paris being torn between wanting to be the dutiful student and the attraction she felt to Giles had ended up dating him at various Parisian cafes. Madeleine's mother died in the war and her father marries a war widow - Eleanor. Soon caught between Paris and excitement and Giles. They fell head over heels in love with each other and then they get married, out of their wedlock they have a son - Oliver Louis Martin. Giles starts after that and goes to work as a Journalist reporter at a newspaper in France as a rising star of the left wing as communism is what it represented. And then the inevitable happens in 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany.

There was a fear that Germany would invade France soon and be worse than the Great War. Worried about Madeleine and Oliver's safety Giles asks them to go back to England. As expected the Germans were pouring into the northeast of France. Giles decides to stay back in France to fight for his country. Madeleine finds a job when she moves to England as a teacher at a local secondary school. Madeleine felt hopeless as she thought Giles is doing some undercover resistance and wondered what chance of survival he might have. Oliver was not having an easy adjustment to life in England either as he have attended a French school until now. As the invasion of France is getting disastrous Madeleine heard nothing from Giles.
Bombs started falling in London in the autumn of 1940, there were air raid warnings and it was dangerous while the world shook in the muffled thump of falling bombs. They were terrified of the fierce bombings.

Soon there arrived news that Oliver's train that he traveled was bombed and he goes missing, therefore Madeleine thinks her son - Oliver is killed and dead. After that, the war office meets Madeleine, offering her to work as a translator sending out spy messages - infiltrator of France. Madeleine gets arrested by the Gestapo when working at Fontainebleau as an undercover agent. She gets tortured and there was no escape for her. At the same time, Oliver is shipped to nuns and goes through horrible treatment in Australia.

I enjoyed Rhys Bowen's writing and research. I have always admired Rhys Bowen's novels. Madeleine travels from Paris to England and then to Australia in search of her enemies who tormented her. Her heroic courage and fearless character as a wife and a mother is being portrayed emotionally. There is heartbreak, bravery, and forgiveness knitted together in the storyline. A must-read for historical fiction readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance copy for my honest Review.
Novel nerd blog : - https://smithareading.blogspot.com/

Honestly, if you enjoy historical fiction just do yourself a favor and read this. It was incredibly well done - well researched, well planned, well thought out. The characters were realistic, their stories unreal, the dynamics and history were heartbreaking, brave and incredible. I could not put this book down - or stop crying through most of it.

Madeleine is the British wife of a French man. When he joins the resistance during WWII she and their son end up back in England. When their son is killed by the nazis, she finds herself joining the war effort - and will do anything to help make her heart hurt a little less and stop the nazis.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

So far, this my favorite by Bowen. As a wife and mother Madeleine Grant is faced with some tough decisions.
Madeleine is studying French literature at Sorbonne University when she meets an falls in love with Giles Martin, who is a Frenchmen and they have a son Oliver.
Giles is hiding a few things. One is he is part Jewish and also a communist. He decides to join the resistance and sends Madeline and Oliver to England until the war is over. Madeleine becomes a teacher and makes a touch choice about Oliver, but something happens which changes her plans for him.
Madeline ends up training with the Baker Street Irregulars and given a code name to be a courier in France. They are told during training that this job is dangerous. She receives some horrible news and she is determined to get her family back together. She is willing to travel anywhere.
Oliver will go through hell and back as he is told some things that are not true and ends up with nuns. This novel touches on several atrocities of the war. Abuse is prevalent with is difficult to read. Will the family make it back together and survive this war?

The Paris assignment was definitely a moving and powerful tale of wartime.
There were many great details that specifically caught my attention, and they made it so easy for me to just ignore the parts that weren't as good.
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First of all, Rhys Bowen is a fantastic story teller. In the first few chapters, the retelling of Madeleine's stay in France, and how she met Giles and had a family, was just so engaging and captivating. It was fast paced, but it still captured the emotions and thoughts of Madeleine through pregnancy, doubts about her husband's fidelity, and her pre-war life in general.
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I also liked how realistic Madeleine's character was, she was beautifully human. You could identify with how she felt and acted. It wasn't a matter of whether you loved her or not, she was a well written character that you could almost envision.
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However, if we are talking about characters, one character stood out and intrigued me immensely. Giles. Giles was such a complex and confusing character. From the way he held himself in college years to his political and religious beliefs, he was an enigma. Also, I don't know how I feel about how blunt he was about his love for women, and the openness he had about his extramarital affairs. Overall, a problematic character for sure.
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I liked the side characters so much. They all added to the beauty of the book. I especially liked the camaraderie between Madeleine and the women volunteering for being couriers, it highlighted how emotional support was the only thing keeping people back then fighting and going on.
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Olivier's story arch to me was the most depressing. I could almost feel my own spirit diminished whenever he faced abuse and hardships in the orphanage. After having a supportive and loving family, being almost killed, then, supposedly, orphaned was definitely excruciating for him to get through.
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With how much I loved the book overall, I thought some parts needed to be better. For example, the period when Madeleine was working as a courier and facing hardships in invaded France needed more work on pacing and writing style. It was apparent that the author was kind of holding back, some parts fell flat to me. Mainly, I think because I read many books in the genre that I turned picky.
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I wished the ending was longer, I wouldn't have minded to get a lengthier conclusion, and a little burst of hope. Instead, it was wrapped up pretty quick.
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Overall, it was a really great book.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Rhys Bowen is a reliable purveyer of solid historical fiction. The heroine of "The Paris Assignment," Madeleine is a likeable character as she grows a young woman timidly dipping her toes into the life of Paris and the Sorbonne to being parachuted into France to help the resistance. Madeleine's travels take her from London and Paris to the remote corners of the British Isles and Australia as she tries to put her shattered family back together.

Believing in some of the twists of the story took a bit of suspended disbelief, but all in all it was an enjoyable read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Intriguing story about the horrors of war, particularly from the point of view of orphans sent to Australia. Madeline goes through a lot in the book and we get to travel with her through different parts of Europe during the war, giving us a lesson in what it was like in various regions. The characters are likeable enough but there wasn't much different than other WWII novels and I found the beginning to be very slow; I almost gave up on the story because of it. The last part of it was the most interesting and I enjoyed that part very much.

Madeleine Grant travels to Paris to study at the Sorbonne and ends up returning for another year after meeting Giles Martin. They fall in love, marry and have a child, Olivier, and after several years living in France, Madeleine and Olivier flee to England at the onset of war. A tragic event occurs in Madeleine's life which results in her assignment to Paris as a spy and the actions that she takes as a result.

I was hoping to enjoy The Paris Assignment as much as I enjoyed this author's book, The Venice Sketchbook, but I ended up just liking it. I feel that much time was spent on descriptions of Paris and Madeleine's training in England to the detriment of character development. In addition, some of the events felt too coincidental and improbable although things wrapped up in a somewhat satisfying conclusion. Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC in return for an honest review.

I did not enjoy this book. I don't think I need to go into a lot of detail about what I disliked - however, I am not a fan of the dialogue between the characters (it all felt naïve and almost childlike).

This story takes place between London, Paris and Australia. The Australia storyline is what I think should have been the entire focus of the story. Rather than giving us another WWII spy story, give us more insight into the farms orphaned children were sent to during the war.

Madeleine's story was just more of the same - and it dragged to get to where it needed to get. Oliver's story was much more interesting.

Either I wasn't in the right mindset to read this - or each time I picked it back up I kept thinking of other versions of a similar story that I connected better with.

1 star.

The Paris Assignment was real page-turner for me. It’s set in the decade before and during WWII, mostly in the UK and France. Told through the eyes of Madeleine Martin and her son Olivier, this is a heart-rending character driven story. At times I felt like crying. At others I railed against the unfairness of fate and the appalling way Madeleine and her son were treated at times during the story. I marvelled at Madeleine’s bravery and that of her husband Giles and was horrified at some of the treatment they each faced. I was impressed with Olivier’s resilience in the face of dreadful adversity. This story is beautifully told and emotional. It really is a gripping read.

Madeleine Grant is studying French literature at Sorbonne University, the lonely young English woman meets a charming Frenchman Giles Martin and he sweeps her off her feet. The couple marry, they have a son Olivier and when Germany invades Poland and Giles is concerned.

Giles has two reasons why he should be worried, he’s part Jewish and he’s also a communist, he wants to join the resistance and he thinks Madeleine and Oliver should go to England. Madeleine and Olivier reluctantly leave, she and Giles promise they will see each other again and once the war is over. Madeleine gets a job teaching French at a secondary school, she has to make a difficult choice about Olivier, she discovers during a war nowhere is safe and mix ups can happen.

Madeleine is approached by the Baker Street Irregulars, as she can speak fluent French, she’s recently lived in France and they want to send women into the country and they can mix in with the population and won’t stand out as much as a man. Madeleine passes her training, she’s given a code name and flown to France. Once she lands Madeleine works as a courier and she passes on messages.

Madeleine discovers that being an SOE is dangerous, they warn everyone during training what the Germans are capable of and unfortunately Madeleine discovers this first hand. Madeleine won’t leave any stone unturned to find out what happened to her loved ones, she travels from London to Paris, and back again and even crosses the ocean to Australia.

I received a copy of The Paris Assignment from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for my honest review. Rhys Bowen has written a fast paced story about one women's quest for justice, the main character Madeleine never gives up, she’s brave and resilient. I did find the parts of the narrative set in France and during the war a little predictable and over the top. However, Ms. Bowen has done considerable research about what happened in Australia, I'm glad she draws attention to this subject her latest novel and three and a half stars from me. Due to be released on the 8th of August 2023 and please read and make up your own mind about The Paris Assignment.

The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen is a gripping Historical Fiction book about family, loss, grief and hope with bits of romance during WWII. It is set in France, England and Australia.

While studying in Paris Madeleine (Maddie) meets Giles who is a journalist. They are both young and fall in love. After their son Olivier is born the family decided that mother and son would move to England for safety. However, England isn't immune from the horrors, either. Maddie fights against the Nazis in her own way while Giles joins the Resistance in France. Tragedy happens and lives are forever changed. Loyalties are divided and people aren't all who they appear to be.

Though in my view this is not the strongest novel by Rhys Bowen she remains an auto-read for me. Her writing is consistently thoughtful and she doesn't shy away from the awful realities of war and life. I like the historical elements but the story itself sadly doesn't offer a lot of uniqueness. The romance isn't my favourite, either, but that's just me. It just wasn't convincing and I did not feel the connection I had hoped for.

My sincere thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this interesting book.

<i> I am ready to volunteer for whatever you want me to do. Anything at all. I’ve nothing to live for here</i>

Madeleine leaves France for England for safety only to lose everything. Her grief turns to a desire to do something, to push back against those threatening the country she lived in with her husband and her home country.

Bowen is a good storyteller. The story moves quickly, even with changing POV. While the dialogue was sometimes awkward and in some places I think more detail would have been beneficial, I did enjoy it. I love a good WWII female spy story, and she brought in the real history of children being sent to Australia, which began before the war and continued after the war. The real history there is pretty disturbing. While all the children didn’t experience abuses, forced labor, and cruelty, many did. I appreciate when authors bring in interesting bits of history that I don’t know a lot about. I would have loved more information in the author’s note.

I was a little frustrated with Madeleine for being so indecisive about what she wants and essentially (in my opinion) letting Giles push her into choices that she didn’t seem wholly committed to making.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I was not a fan of Giles. First, he convinces Madeleine to return to Paris after her planned semester abroad. I was okay with this, but I wish she had determined to return on her own whether or not Giles was there waiting. Then he convinces her to move in with him. This seems like a pretty outrageous choice for your average woman in the 30’s, even one who isn’t religious. His reasoning for it was that they would eventually be intimate because he wasn’t going to be with her otherwise. Yikes.

Then she just decides to go with it and its not hard to to figure out what happens next. He decides to marry her, but its hinted that he is less than faithful. Madeleine just goes along with it because she decides he’s not the kind of man that can be faithful. Later Giles helps with the Resistance because he isn’t completely terrible, I guess. But of course she learns he is carrying on with another woman in the Resistance (so shocked). What he says in his defense was the final straw for me.

He laughs and talks about how this person was just a warm body and she’s been with “half the men between here and Paris,” as if that makes it any better. Actually, it made it more gross to me. I could have respected him more if he just owned it and managed not to dehumanized the person he was having an affair with. I pretty much decided then and there that I was ready for him to leave the story.

Madeleine deserved better.

I want to try another book by this author. I liked this book, even though Giles as a serious love interest almost ruined it for me.

Thank you netgalley, Rhys Bown, and Lake Union Publishing for this free arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As WWII reaches Paris, wife Madeleine and son Olivier are sent to England for safety while husband Giles joins the French resistance. After the devastating loss of Olivier, Madeline returns to France in search of Giles. Well written historical fiction, well developed characters

Sensitive ww2 historical

This is a wonderful ww2 historical novel by an accomplished writer of several series. The Paris Assignment is stand-alone and great reading. The plot is intricate and characters well drawn. It is hard to put down and I read it in a day.

Thank you to the publisher who lent me a time limited e-arc via netgalley with no obligation. This review is optional and my own opinion.

Historical fiction lovers will enjoy this WWII tale of heroism and love. As a young woman, Madeleine Grant is studying at the Sorbonne in Paris when she marries charismatic French journalist Giles Martin. As they raise their son, Olivier, they hold on to a tenuous promise for the future. Then Hitler begins to invade France, and Giles sends Madeleine and Olivier to the relative safety of England while he remains in France to join the French Resistance.

In a twist of fate, Madeline sends Olivier (who now goes by Oliver to fit in with the other boys) by train to the English countryside to escape the bombing in London. But she soon hears that her precious son has been killed by a bombing. Devastated, she becomes one of hundreds of women to join England's efforts to win the war. And because she can speak fluent French, she’s recently lived in France and they want to send women into the country to mix in with the population, Madeline soon returns to France - this time as a British spy.

This is a fast-paced story full of female bonding, spy craft, betrayal and love. I have not read any books by Rhys Bowen before but felt completely immersed in Madeline's story. In spite of insurmountable odds, she remains strong and steadfast in the face of adversity. I was extremely intrigued - and haunted - by the story of orphanages in Australia and their deplorable conditions. Children from England with no apparent family remaining were sent there and in some cases were adopted by families while others ended up in orphanages no better than work camps but for kids. This aspect really tugged at my heartstrings.

While things tie up nicely at the end and Madeline's trials and tribulations in France seemed a bit predictable, I enjoyed this unique look into the life of one woman fighting against the odds to rebuild her life.