In an aging mansion on the north side of London's Putney Bridge, an old
woman confesses a secret to her grandson, just returned home from the
battlefields of World War II. Charlotte Stetchworth has always appeared
to be a proper Englishwoman, though with a lively background as a
suffragette and European traveler. Now, her grandson Freddy learns a
sinister secret, that Charlotte and her son Rolly-Freddy's father-were
involved in a complex web of spying for the Germans starting in World
War I. In this captivating novel by historian and Army veteran Colonel
David Fitz-Enz, we follow Rolly throughout the European theater of World
War I. Rags, as he is known to friends and colleagues, is assigned to
the staff of Major General Avery Hilliard Hopewell, an inspector general
for the British Army whose work takes him from the battlefields of
France to Alexandria and Gallipoli and beyond. Rags' travels lead him to
army hospitals, a mysterious father figure, a beautiful nurse wracked
with grief, and Churchill's War Rooms. Along the way, he and Charlotte
learn the art of spycraft and use any means necessary to keep their
secret. But while Freddy is told his family's covert history, he begins
to suspect that Charlotte has just scratched the surface. Beginning his
own investigation, Freddy learns that there is much more to discover
about the spy on Putney Bridge.