Longlisted for the American Library in Paris Book Award
One of the best books of the year *according to the Washington Post.*
Etta Schipper and Kate Bonfus are unlikely heroines: two apparently ordinary women, an American widow and an English divorcee, living quietly together in Paris. But during the Nazi occupation, the two friends suddenly found themselves in the middle 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, daringly smuggling some of them out.They crossed Nazi checkpoints while hiding in the trunk of their car.
In the end, the Gestapo forces arrested them. After eighteen months in prison, Etta was returned to the United States in a prisoner exchange.Upon her return home, hoping to highlight her friend Kitty's courage, she published a memoir of their work. The book "Paris Underground" was a huge success in the publishing world, and Etta became a famous figure. Meanwhile, Kitty spent the rest of the war in a Nazi prison, completely unaware of the book that had been written about her, and of the deeds that had been attributed to her.In researching this story, Matthew Goodman has uncovered military records and personal testimony that reveal, for the first time, the shocking truth behind Etta's diary, and the unexpected and wide-ranging consequences of its publication. Paris Incognito is not just a story of the courage of two remarkable women, it is a vivid and moving account of deceit, betrayal, and personal redemption.
