Inspired by a real-life female spy, a WWII-set novel about a woman
challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the
cost.
"A gripping, fascinating read." --Kelly Rimmer, New York Times
bestselling author of The Warsaw Orphan
1944, Rome. Newlywed Niki Novotná is recruited by a new American spy
agency to establish a secret branch in Italy's capital. One of the OSS's
few female operatives abroad and multilingual, she's tasked with
crafting fake stories and distributing propaganda to lower the morale of
enemy soldiers.
Despite limited resources, Niki and a scrappy team of artists, forgers
and others--now nicknamed The Lipstick Bureau--find success, forming a
bond amid the cobblestoned streets and storied villas of the newly
liberated city. But her work is also a way to escape devastating truths
about the family she left behind in Czechoslovakia and a future with her
controlling American husband.
As the war drags on and the pressure intensifies, Niki begins to
question the rules she's been instructed to follow, and a colleague
unexpectedly captures her heart. But one step out of line, one mistake,
could mean life or death...