Gaining Lars' trust will bring Maria into the very heart of the Fuhrer's inner circle. Working in tandem with Tiago Soares, a Portuguese bookstore owner on a precarious mission of his own-providing Jewish refugees with forged passports and visas-Maria acquires vital information, including a directory of arms factories in Germany.īut as she and Tiago grow closer, any future together is jeopardized when Maria's superiors ask her to pose as a double agent, feeding misinformation to Lars Steiger, a wealthy Swiss banker and Nazi sympathizer who launders Hitler's gold. Maria Alves, a microfilm expert working at the New York Public Library, is dispatched to Lisbon, where she meticulously photographs publications and sends the film to London to be analyzed.

By acquiring and scouring Axis newspapers, books, technical manuals, and periodicals, the librarians can gather information about troop location, weaponry, and military plans. They are librarians and microfilm specialists trained in espionage, working with a special branch of the Office of Strategic Services and deployed to neutral cities throughout Europe. A mission to change the tide of the war.ġ942: With the war's outcome hanging in the balance, President Roosevelt sends an unlikely new taskforce on a unique mission. Despite their growing friendship Ollie and Susan must soon be parted – but will Duchess’s devotion and sense of duty prove to be an unexpected lifeline between them?īased on true events, The Long Flight Home is an uplifting and timeless wartime novel, that reminds us how, in times of hardship, hope is never truly lost.Description Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn, Marie Benedict, and Pam Jenoff and inspired by true stories of the heroic librarian spies of WWII, the new book from the internationally bestselling author of Churchill's Secret Messenger transports readers from the New York Public Library to Portugal's city of espionage in a thrilling, riveting tale.Īn American librarian.

The National Pigeon Service has a dangerous mission to air-drop hundreds of pigeons into German-occupied France.

But Ollie doesn’t expect his quest to bring him instead to the National Pigeon Service – a covert new operation involving homing pigeons – and to Susan. Thousands of miles away, Ollie Evans, a young American pilot decides to travel to Britain to join the Royal Air Force. Of all Susan’s birds, it’s Duchess who is the most extraordinary, and the two share a special bond. As enemy fighter planes blacken the sky, Susan Shepherd finds comfort at her home in Epping Forest, where she and her grandfather raise homing pigeons.

The long flight home book review