How did a young Parisian mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in occupied France?

Morocco, 1928. Marie-Madeleine Méric is not the kind of woman who stays quietly at her husband’s side. Polyglot, pianist, and pilot, she is a woman of many skills, with unconventional interests—like driving in car rallies—that earn her a daredevil reputation. But dabbling in intelligence work to assist her military officer husband and the French government helps her recognize who she is at heart: an adventurer.

Paris, 1936. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, Marie-Madeleine is living in France, her marriage now in shambles, when a chance encounter with an enigmatic spy turns her life upside down. He recruits her to help build a resistance network, and she conceals her identity—and gender—as she navigates a perilous double life.

Eventually, she steps into the role of leader of what is now known as Alliance, despite the naysayers who doubt in a woman’s ability to do so. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away for both Marie-Madeleine and the agents under her care. At the helm of Alliance, she achieves seemingly impossible feats of espionage that help turn the tide of the war. But the most impossible, and dangerous, feat of them all? Falling in love.

New York Times bestselling author Natasha Lester beautifully brings Marie-Madeleine Méric Fourcade’s story to life in this powerful, heartbreaking tale of resilience that reminds us what it means to cherish those we love and fight for them with every breath.