Sisters in Resistance:
how a German spy, a banker’s wife, and Mussolini’s daughter outwitted the Nazis
Sisters in Resistance:
how a German spy, a banker’s wife, and Mussolini’s daughter outwitted the Nazis
Overview
The extraordinary true story of the unlikely friendship between three women — Mussolini’s daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite — who conspired to assist the Allies.
In 1943, Edda Mussolini, daughter of the fascist dictator, gave her father and Hitler an extraordinary ultimatum: release her husband, Italy’s former foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano, from prison, or risk her leaking her husband’s incendiary diaries to the press.
Instead, Hitler and Mussolini vowed to do everything in their power to destroy the diaries — even if it meant killing Edda. They ordered Hilde Beetz, a German spy, to seduce Ciano in prison in order to learn the diaries’ location. But Beetz fell in love with Ciano, and joined forces with Edda to try to save him from execution. When this failed, Edda fled with Hilde’s assistance.
Upon learning of Edda’s escape, US intelligence sent in socialite Frances de Chollet to find Edda and get her to hand over the diaries to the Americans. Against all expectations, what developed was a rich and humanising friendship.
With all the twists and turns of a spy thriller, this is the story of three women whose lives were drawn together in one of the most unlikely rescues of the Second World War.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Hardback
- 234mm x 153mm
- 336 pages
- 9781914484537
- GBP£20.00
- 11 August 2022
Praise
‘Intelligent and compelling, Mazzeo’s probing book delves intriguingly into the “moral thicket” into which a group of strangers found themselves plunged during the long, dark days of World War II. A tantalisingly novelistic history lesson.’
‘University of Montreal literature professor Mazzeo unravels a tangled knot of Fascist intrigue and family infighting in this riveting WWII history … Mazzeo efficiently relates these complex events and renders empathetic portraits of the story’s main players. WWII buffs will be enthralled.’
About the Author
Tilar J. Mazzeo is the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle bestselling author of books that include Irena’s Children, The Widow Clicquot, The Secret of Chanel No. 5, and The Hôtel on the Place Vendôme. She also writes on food and wine for the mainstream press and is the Clara C. Piper Associate Professor of English at Colby College. Her books have been published in over 16 languages internationally.
