An audio book. An English woman working in Paris during WW2 as a radio operator is compromised and leaves in a hurry. After a few adventures in the countryside she meets a shot-down RAF pilot. They meet up with the resistance. The pilot is shot as they are smuggled out by boat. She arrives in Spain. She's then driven to Lisbon. Her godfather Matthew works there and wants her to work for him. We learn that her husband Philip died in the war, that her family disowned her because of the marriage.
Lisbon is neutral, awash with ex-pats, spies and people on the run. She all too easily begins to mix with high society, taking on a new identity - Solange Veran, a nazi sympahiser. Claudine befriends her. Her husband's Christof. She meets the German embassador and Major Hayden Schuler, who she suspects is an informer responsible for English merchant ships being bombed. She thinks that Matthew's involved with brothels.
She's asked to interrogate a englishman, Bertie, who claims he escaped from Germans. She believes him. He starts working in ports and becomes her informer - a rare mineral, Wolfram (Tungsten), is being exported.
She befriends Edward Graff. An assassin tries to kill her. She sees the German officer, Kuller, who killed the pilot in France. She breaks an arm while trying to follow some-one. It doesn't seem to impede her.
She discovers something that when passed to the Portugese, puts Germans in court. Matthew is kidnapped. Edward offers to help find him. He, Elizabeth and Bertie have a plan to rescue Matthew. Edward speaks English well and has reasons for wanting Matthew released. They release Matthew, killing many Germans in the process. Kuller appears. Fortunately the Portugese do too. That night Edward surprises Elizabeth by marrying her then leaving.
It's wartime, so I suppose it's reasonable that people suddenly become intimate with strangers. The language could be tightened up in places. In chapter 14/15 the term "rank amateurs" is used to describe people moaning about their superiors - an unintended pun, I suspect. And "scorpion's bite" should be "scorpion's sting".
At the end there's a section about Lisbon and the veracity of the people, places and events described in the book.
Other reviews
- goodreads
- (Elisabeth is such a brilliant character. I loved everything about her. She’s brave but has a vulnerable side, she will do whatever it takes for the people she cares about and for her country, and she really does put herself into some dangerous situations. I connected with her from the very beginning)
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