PARIS UNDERCOVER by Matthew Goodman - Spotlight

 

Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous are the unlikeliest of heroines: two seemingly ordinary women, an American widow and an English divorcée, living quietly together in Paris. Yet during the Nazi occupation, these two friends find themselves unexpectedly plunged into the whirlwind 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—some of whom they daringly smuggle through Nazi checkpoints hidden inside the trunk of their car. 

Ultimately the Gestapo captures them both. After eighteen months in prison, Etta is returned to the United States in a prisoner exchange. Back home, hoping to bring attention to her friend Kitty’s bravery, she publishes a memoir about their work. Paris-Underground becomes a publishing sensation and Etta a celebrity. Meanwhile Kate spends the rest of the war in a Nazi prison, entirely unaware of the book that has been written about her—and the deeds that have been claimed in her name. 

In researching this story, Matthew Goodman uncovered military records and personal testimonies that reveal, for the first time, the shocking truth behind Etta’s memoir and the unexpected, far-reaching consequences of its publication. More than just a story of two women’s remarkable courage, Paris Undercover is a vivid, gripping account of deceit, betrayal, and personal redemption.

Author photo by Jessica Hills

Matthew Goodman is a New York Times-bestselling author of four books of nonfiction: The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team (Ballantine Books, 2019); Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World (Ballantine Books, 2013); The Sun and the Moon: Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York (Basic Books, 2008); and Jewish Food: The World at Table (HarperCollins, 2005).

Matthew’s books have received the New York City Book Award and have been finalists for the National Jewish Book Award and the GoodReads Choice Award; they have been Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers, Indie Next “Great Reads,” and Borders Original Voices selections, and have been translated into eight languages. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The American Scholar, the Harvard Review, Salon, Tablet, the Forward, Bon Appetit, and many other publications.

He has given book talks at venues including the Museum of the City of New York, the Gotham Center for New York History, the Center for Jewish History, the National Yiddish Book Center, the Brooklyn Book Festival, the 92nd Street Y, the Newseum in Washington, D.C., Authors at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, and many bookstores, universities, and libraries. His radio and television appearances include National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, The Diane Rehm Show, On the Media, Only a Game, Back Story, and The Splendid Table; HuffPost Live; the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Woman’s Hour; the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s As It Happens; Arte France’s L’Incontournable; and numerous others.

Matthew has taught nonfiction writing at writers’ conferences including the Antioch Writers Workshop, the Cape Cod Writers Conference, and the Chautauqua Institution. He has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony (twice) and the Corporation of Yaddo.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two children.