New York City, 1943: War widow and Best Society’s darling Mrs. Evelyn (Evie) Rousseau Somerset is five months into mourning her husband’s death when her family insists on an untenable plan for her future. Desolate and disenchanted with life, she’s determined to remake herself and prove she’s something more than a useless socialite—regardless of what her Senator brother and domineering mother demand of her. A previous clandestine job at a newspaper provides the escape she’s looking for: a trip to neutral Lisbon, the spy capital of the world, to rescue a family of German Jews stranded in Portugal. While crossing the Atlantic to Lisbon, she meets handsome and enigmatic Carl Wilson, the cocksure, ill-mannered American musician with an agenda and secrets of his own. Armed only with sophistication and moxie, Evelyn reluctantly welcomes Carl’s invitation to a new world—one that ultimately lands her as a secret agent for His Majesty’s government.
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March 1943: New York City Socialite Evie Somerset’s liberating adventure in Lisbon opens the door to the dangerous world of wartime espionage as a swallow—an agent—within Great Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service.
Without Carl Wilson’s supportive presence, Evie is thrust into the rigors of training in England armed with nothing but determination to prove herself to her superiors and fellow recruits. But, when a letter arrives from home, Evie is faced with unexpected demons. She must bury them, and the accompanying emotions, to focus on her mission as Salzburger aristocrat Eva von Lamberg visiting Berlin, the heart of the Nazi war machine.
Her perilous infiltration into German High Command’s social circle is aided not only by a resistance network of wealthy, high ranking officials but also her new skills at deception. Convincing her mark, a General within the Wehrmacht, of her affection is tantamount to gaining access to the information she seeks.
The mission brings Evie face to face with evil, humanity, and painful crossroads. Will she be able to separate her heart, which belongs to Carl, from the acts she must commit as a means to her success? Will she and Carl make it back to each other? Or is the end result of their respective missions a fait accompli with no future for either of them—just a legacy left behind after the Official Secrets Act ends?