INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
"As exciting as any spy novel" (Daily News, New York), The Princess Spy
follows the hidden history of an ordinary American girl who became one
of the OSS's most daring World War II spies before marrying into
European nobility. Perfect for fans of A Woman of No Importance and Code
Girls.When Aline Griffith was born in a quiet suburban New York hamlet,
no one had any idea that she would go on to live "a life of glamour and
danger that Ingrid Bergman only played at in Notorious" (Time). As the
United States enters the Second World War, the young college graduate is
desperate to aid in the war effort, but no one is interested in a
bright-eyed young woman whose only career experience is modeling
clothes. Aline's life changes when, at a dinner party, she meets a man
named Frank Ryan and reveals how desperately she wants to do her part
for her country. Within a few weeks, he helps her join the Office of
Strategic Services--forerunner of the CIA. With a code name and expert
training under her belt, she is sent to Spain to be a coder, but is soon
given the additional assignment of infiltrating the upper echelons of
society, mingling with high-ranking officials, diplomats, and titled
Europeans. Against this glamorous backdrop of galas and dinner parties,
she recruits sub-agents and engages in deep-cover espionage. Even after
marrying the Count of Romanones, one of the wealthiest men in Spain,
Aline secretly continues her covert activities, being given special
assignments when abroad that would benefit from her impeccable pedigree
and social connections. "[A] meticulously researched, beautifully
crafted work of nonfiction that reads like a James Bond thriller"
(Bookreporter), The Princess Spy brings to vivid life the dazzling
adventures of a spirited American woman who risked everything to serve
her country.
