A Historical WWII Spy Story Set In Los Angeles

 When we think of Los Angeles during the WWII era, we often think of movie stars and palm trees, but Los Angeles was also the home of Hitler sympathizers such as the Silver Shirts and the German American Bund. These fanatics hoped to turn the US into a replica of Hitler’s Germany.

In 1940 Veronica Grace has just graduated from Hunter college and been offered her dream job at Mademoiselle. When her affair with a married man becomes known, she’s told she will never work in New York and Mademoiselle rescinds her offer. With her mother, Violet Grace, they decide to go to Los Angeles where they can live rent free in Violet’s brother’s vacation house.

Soon after their arrival, Veronica is offered at typing job. Violet also finds employment embroidering blouses for wealthy women. Both women discover their employers are involved with the Nazi movement in the US. When the FBI dismisses their concerns they go to an old friend of Veronica’s father who introduces them to the man behind the infiltration of the Nazi organizations. He recruits them as spies. They discover they have joined a very dangerous game.

The historical background for this novel is chilling and very well researched. I particularly enjoyed reading the Afterward about the real people involved in the spy operation.The plot is somewhat slow moving in the beginning as the basis of the story is set up, but after the women become involved in the spy operation the pace picks up and it’s quite exciting.

I thought the characters were very well done. They started as politically naive, but they grew throughout the story. Veronica, particularly, discovered that her journalism skills fit well with her work as a spy. If you enjoy historical novels, or spy novels, I highly recommend this one.

I received this book from Random House for this review.

A Romantic WWII Spy Novel

 

Nathan Silverman escaped to the US from Germany in 1938 with only his mother’s wedding ring to sell. His Jewish family is still in danger and Nathan is desperate to find out what happened to them and rescue them if possible. While studying at Columbia, he spots a recruitment poster and decides to enlist in the Army. Because of his German language skills and knowledge of the country, he is almost immediately given a special assignment and trained as a spy.

His mission will be to try to help a German scientist and friend of his father’s who wants to defect and may be able to help on the Manhattan Project. In his mission, Nathan is joined by Dr. Allison Fisher, a nuclear scientist, who speaks French and would be in a position to determine how much progress Germany has made in developing an atomic bomb.

The book is filled with dangerous situations as the couple progress through Germany disguised as a Wehrmacht officer and his French girlfriend. As the mission progresses so does the attraction between Nathan and Allison.

The pace is reasonably fast. The only problem is the rather pedantic discussions to bring the reader up to speed on the science. The dialog is more of a data dump than the way people talk. However, having a great deal about the Manhattan Project and the science behind it, I found the book both scientifically and historically accurate.

If you enjoy romantic spy novels with a historical background. This is a good one.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

A History of Women’s Skirts and Dresses

 

This is a fascinating walk through the changing styles of women’s clothing focusing on skirts and dresses. From my teen years to the present I have been interested in women’s fashion and the changes following changes in society, but in some cases leading the way.

The book is divided into ten sections. All are informative, filled with details about the fashion designers as well as their creations. My favorite was the one on Chanel. Her fashions changed the way women viewed themselves. Her unstructured clothing gave women more freedom and led to women moving from the home to the wider world. Her little black dress is a classic that is still venerated today.

Tennis fashions were interesting going from calf length dresses that must have been difficult to run in to the very short skirts worn today which give women a much treated range of movement. Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap dress was the height of practicality. I remember how easy they were to slip into and you always looked stylish.

Another interesting area is hemlines. Before WWI hems were long because the time was elegant and fabric available. After WWI and WWII hemlines came up because fabric was not as available. However, as sheer fashion statements the maxi dress and the mini dress were either fun to wear or a nuisance. I was glad to get rid of my maxi’s.

If you’re fascinated by fashion this is an excellent book. I do hope there are illustrations in the published version. It was hard to visualize the fashions I wasn’t familiar with from the written descriptions in the ARC I received.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.