Publication Date: February 4, 2025
Print Length: 448 pages
A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
Finalist, 2025 American Library in Paris Book Award
Previous Author Publications:
The City Game: Triumph, Scandal and a Legendary Basketball Team (2019)
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizaeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World (2013)
The Sun and the Moon: Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York (2008)
Jewish Food: The World at Table (2005)
SYNOPSIS
In Paris Undercover, A Wartime STory of Courage, Friendship and Betrayal, Matthew Goodman researches the true story of how two middle-aged women helped dozens of Allied soldiers escape from Nazi-occupied France during World War II. While a first version of Paris Undercover was published in the mid-1940s, Goodman updates the narrative, focusing on the actual count of Allied soldiers who were rescued, as well detailing the postwar fate of the two women.
One of the collaborators, Etta Shiber, was an American who after returning to the United States, helped author a best-selling account of the duo’s courageous rescue efforts. In this gripping account, Goodman details the gruesome fate of the second collaborator, Kitty Bonnefous, who was tortured by the Germans after Shiber’s account was published, as the Nazis sought additional information regarding the escape network that assisted the two women.
Goodman’s well-researched account captures the terror that French citizens experienced while their country was occupied by Nazi Germany. He also details the risks that ordinary citizens took to help the Allied soldiers escape while describing the ultimate price they paid for their heroic acts.
REVIEWS AND AUTHOR INFORMATION
Zozzaro, Phillip, “Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship and Betrayal.” Bookreporter, February 21, 2025. Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal | Bookreporter.com.
Kirkus Reviews, “Paris Undercoever, A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal, Kirkus Reviews, February 4, 2025. PARIS UNDERCOVER | Kirkus Reviews.
Kustra, Bob, Interview with Matthew Goodman regarding“Paris Undercover” Readers Corner, Boise State Public Radio. “Paris Undercover” by Matthew Goodman | Boise State Public Radio,
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
In what ways does the investigative detail that Goodman provides regarding the Nazi occupation of Paris enhance the story of how two middle-aged women were able to enable British soldiers to escape?
As part of his account, how well has Goodman contrasted the personalities of Etta Shiber and Kitty Bonnefous? What enabled them to be successful in their rescue efforts?
When Etta Shiber released the initial account of Paris Undercover was her effort a betrayal of her friend, Kitty Bonnefous? In what ways did the ghost writers fictionalize the narrative?
What enabled each of the two women to be released from their imprisonment by the Germans? Was Kitty Bonnefous adequately recognized for her courage and the torture she endured?
