AustLit

'Paris, 1943. Lana Antanov is rushing to see her husband, Frederic, to tell him the news that she is pregnant. But as she arrives at the convent where Frederic teaches music, she watches in horror as a Gestapo officer executes Frederic for hiding a Jewish girl in a piano. Overcome with grief, Lana loses the baby.

'A few months later, Lana is approached by a member of the French Resistance to work as a spy on the French Riviera and help save Jews from execution. As a ‘White Russian’, daughter of a Russian countess, Lana is the ideal choice to infiltrate the émigré community of Russian aristocrats who socialise with German officers. But Lana has a very personal motive for taking on this mission – the Gestapo officer in charge, Alois Brunner, is the man who shot Frederic.

'Lana’s cover story makes her the mistress of a wealthy Swiss playboy, the darkly handsome and charismatic Guy Pascal, and her base his villa on the Riviera. Together they make a ruthlessly effective team. The information they gather at parties and the casino at Monte Carlo helps thwart several raids and enables countless Jews to escape to Morocco by boat.

'But Lana has not counted on becoming attached to a young Jewish girl named Odette, or on falling helplessly in love with Guy. As the Nazis close in, her desire to protect the ones she loves threatens to put them all at risk.' (Publication summary)