The Spy Keeper of Marseille
It’s 1941, and France is under occupation by the Nazis.Zelie, a widowed officer’s wife, is a major cog in the French Resistance’s spy network. Marcel is a concert pianist, freshly returned from prison camp. To open up new channels of gathering and transmitting information, he agrees to direct a youth orchestra with a weekly radio program and a schedule of tours. Together, they face hair’s-breadth escapes and betrayals in an ever-more-complex—and dangerous web of espionage against the Germans. But they’re human. Zelie must fight the self-doubts left by her oppressive late husband and her concerns for her mother and children. Marcel, a devout Catholic, tries not to think too much about Zelie the woman. But love blossoms, as you may expect, and since there are no atheists in the foxhole, Zelie finds herself depending more and more on the lost faith of her childhood to survive her responsibilities.
This is, first of all, a well-written spy thriller that launches straight into the action and never lets up. You can read it with pleasure for that. Or you can read it as a clean romance with touching and well-drawn characters. Or you can read it for a tale of conversion and spiritual discovery, or even as a feminist take on the true value of underestimated females. In any case, you’ll read it avidly and tear yourself away with difficulty. Certainly a cut above many of the French Resistance books that have flooded the market in recent years. Recommended.
