Book Review: The Princess Spy

 

This reads more like a novel than a work of non-fiction and kept me turning the pages to see what exciting adventure Aline would be involved in next.

Aline Griffith was a small-town girl who wanted to be part of war (WWII) effort, just like her brothers and other young men. She said she was just as patriotic as they were and didn't want to be relegated to the roles women had been forced to play. She was eventually recruited to be a spy in Spain for one of the pre-cursors to the CIA. There, she met famous bullfighters (and even got in the ring once herself), royalty, celebrities, famous designers and jewelers, and some people high up in the Nazi party. She became a valuable asset because she could fit in to all social situations and make her targets feel comfortable. But there was quite a bit of danger involved and she often thought people were following her or that her cover had been blown.

One of the people she meets is Luis, with whom she has an on-and-off relationship for a couple of years, although she does realize she's in love with him. The "off" part of the relationship is related to her job. But, eventually, they do get married and live quite the jet-setting life with celebrity friends like Audrey Hepburn.

The author also includes footnotes that give greater insight into the historic events involved in Aline's story.