Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France (P.S. (Paperback)) - Softcover

Shakespeare, Nicholas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006229704X ISBN 13: 9780062297044

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2015

Synopsis

Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France by Nicholas Shakespeare is a transcendent work of narrative nonfiction in the vein of The Hare with Amber Eyes.

When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a trunk full of his late aunt's personal belongings, he was unaware of where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. The glamorous, mysterious figure he remembered from his childhood was very different from the morally ambiguous young woman who emerged from the trove of love letters, journals and photographs, surrounded by suitors and living the precarious existence of a British citizen in a country controlled by the enemy during World War II.

As a young boy, Shakespeare had always believed that his aunt was a member of the Resistance and had been tortured by the Germans. The truth turned out to be far more complicated.

Piecing together fragments of his aunt's remarkable and tragic story, Priscilla is at once a stunning story of detection, a loving portrait of a flawed woman trying to survive in terrible times, and a spellbinding slice of history.

About this title

Review:

"Gripping."--"New York Times Book Review"

"A gripping excavation of a woman's secret past, "Priscilla" is also a fascinating portrait of France during the second world war, and of the many shadowy and corrupt deals made by the French with their Nazi occupiers."--Caroline Moorehead

"In "Priscilla", Nicholas Shakespeare captures the soul of a young Englishwoman who, to survive in Nazi-occupied France, is forced to make choices which few in England ever had to face. She remained her own unflinching judge and jury to the end."--Charlotte Rampling

"A fascinating, complicated story."--"Entertainment Weekly"

"Impossible to put down."--"Mail on Sunday", a Book of the Year Pick

"In "Priscilla," Nicholas Shakespeare captures the soul of a young Englishwoman who, to survive in Nazi-occupied France, is forced to make choices which few in England ever had to face. She remained her own unflinching judge and jury to the end."--Charlotte Rampling

"Impossible to put down."--"Mail on Sunday," a Book of the Year Pick

Once I started it I was hooked. And when I realised that she hadn t been a brave and beautiful spy, I was double-hooked. Its truth is necessary and essential, and makes the last chapters terrifyingly poignant and moving. --Julian Barnes, author of "The Sense of an Ending""

A fascinating, complicated story. --"Entertainment Weekly""

Gripping. --"New York Times Book Review""

Book Description:

The astonishing true story of a young woman's adventures, and misadventures, in the dangerous world of Nazi-occupied France

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 006229704X
• ISBN 13: 9780062297044
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464