Paris Undercover

by Matthew Goodman

Two women in Nazi-occupied Paris created a daring escape line that rescued dozens of Allied servicemen. With one in a German prison camp, the other wrote a book about it—a memoir that was built on lies. Now the bestselling author of Eighty Days shares their incredible, never-before-told full story.

Etta Shiber and Kitty Bonnefous are the unlikeliest of two seemingly ordinary women, an American widow and an English divorcée, living quietly together in Paris. Yet during the Nazi occupation, these two friends find themselves unexpectedly plunged into the whirlwind of history. With the help of a French country priest and others, they rescue untold numbers of British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines—some of whom they daringly smuggle through Nazi checkpoints in the trunk of their car.

Ultimately the Gestapo captures them both. After eighteen months in prison, Etta, a New Yorker of Jewish descent, is returned to the United States in a prisoner exchange. Back home, hoping to bring attention to her friend Kitty’s bravery, Etta publishes a memoir about their work. Paris-Underground becomes a publishing sensation and Etta a celebrity. Meanwhile Kitty spends the rest of the war in solitary confinement in a Nazi prison, entirely unaware of the book that has been written about her – and the deeds that have been claimed in her name.

In researching this story, Matthew Goodman uncovered military records, personal testimonies, and Etta Shiber’s own never-before-seen wartime letters. Together they reveal, for the first time, the shocking truth behind Etta's bestselling memoir and the unexpected, far-reaching consequences of its publication. More than just a story of two women’s remarkable courage, Paris Undercover is also a vivid, gripping account of deceit, betrayal, and personal redemption.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Biography, France, Espionage, Audiobook

448 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2025

About the author

Matthew Goodman is the bestselling author of three books of non-fiction.

His essays, articles, short stories, and reviews have appeared in The American Scholar, Harvard Review, Salon, the Village Voice, the Forward, Bon Appetit, and many other publications, and have been cited for Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize and Best American Short Story anthologies.

Matthew has taught creative writing and literature at Vermont College, Tufts University, Emerson College, and at writers’ conferences including the Antioch Writers Workshop and the Chautauqua Institution. He has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony (twice) and the Corporation of Yaddo.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are people you learn about from history who prompt a simple question. "Why bother writing fictional characters when you could just write about this person?" Dear readers, Kate "Kitty" Bonnefous is one of those people. She was courageous, wildly reckless at times, and above all, loyal to her own detriment. She helped numerous men escape Nazi clutches in World War II from Paris. She was also betrayed in one of the worst ways possible. Please have your outrage meter handy for the end of this book because holy moly...

Paris Undercover by Matthew Goodman dives into the story of Kitty and her best friend/flatmate Etta as they help these men escape. Kitty and Etta are far from professional spies, but you wouldn't know it based on the results. Goodman does a great job telling this story. It is broken up into three sections, Etta and Kitty's bios up until Etta's arrest, Etta's journey home and subsequent writing of her (almost) tell-all book on her experiences, and Kitty's path to freedom along with the aftermath.

I enjoyed Goodman's pace for the most part although it did drag slightly in parts, but this is a very minor issue and hardly frequent. There are a lot of characters, but they are balanced rather well and the descriptions of various prisons conjures the right level of horror. Especially for someone who doesn't read a lot of World War II spy books, I think this book is a perfect balance of story and history without being overwhelming. Give it a read!

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Ballantine Books.)

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of two heroic women who helped dozens of Allied soldiers escape from Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II. Etta Shiber was an American who, after she was widowed, moved to Paris to live with her English friend Kitty Bonnefous.They were ultimately captured and imprisoned by the Nazis. After 18 months, Etta was released as part of a prisoner exchange. Kitty was sentenced to death and remained imprisoned until the war ended. One of her immediate actions after she was released was to try to sue Etta, and this book explains why.

Paris Undercover was the title of the memoir written by Etta soon after her release. It was a Book of the Month Club selection and was made into a movie. Unfortunately, a lot of the book was not accurate. Even more unfortunate is that, although her name was changed in the book, Kitty was easily identifiable, and her life in prison became a lot harder as a result. This book tries to give an accurate account of the women’s actions. The author did a lot of research, so I hope the story is correct this time around.

The book covers the Nazi takeover of France, the French resistance and prison life. I have read accounts of life in the concentration camps, but I knew little about the treatment by the Nazis of political prisoners, particularly women. This book describes that in harrowing detail. The story of how the memoir got distorted is entertaining. This is a good book, approaching the war from a different angle.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Karren Sandercock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Etta Shiber is a widow and Kitty Bonnefous is separated from her French husband Henri, and the two women share an apartment in Paris. After the Germans invade, Kitty has a car and a permit to travel and continues working for the Red Cross. Kitty decides to help and rescue British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, Etta isn’t keen and together they daringly smuggle them through checkpoints in the car boot.

Both women are captured by the Gestapo, after being in prison twice Etta, she returns home to America in a prisoner exchange, she’s broke and Etta's given a lucrative publishing deal, and releases her memoir Paris Underground. Kitty is English and classed as a Nacht & Nebel or a Night & Fog prisoner, she’s held in numerous camps and unaware a book has been written about her good deeds and by Etta and no one knows if she’s dead or alive.

The narrative is written in three sections, when Kitty and Etta are helping prisoners of war escape and until Etta is arrested, her time in prison and ship voyage home and when her tell all book hits the shelves and while Kitty’s being questioned and tortured by the Gestapo, her trial and what happened to her afterwards.

I received a copy of Paris Undercover by Matthew Goodman from NetGalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for an unbiased review. The author has thoroughly researched both women, going through military records, personal statements, and letters to try solve why Etta agreed to have the memoir written, took all the accolades and while her friend was still held captive by the Germans?

The story is a blend of fact and fiction, Mr. Goodman's notes at the end are enlightening, for a friend to betray another and make money from this is unbelievable and I don’t know what Etta Shiber was thinking, she must have been either blindsided or she didn’t care what happened to Kitty.

I thought I knew a lot about Germans occupation of France during the Second World War, but how they treated Jewish people, prisoners of war and members of the resistance and women is much worse than I could ever imagine or comprehend and a must read for those who want to know the truth and five stars from me.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

attentisme…..They would wait and see.

An underground movement during WWII told from the point of view of two older women. These women were heroes and as I read I realized I have never read a book from this perspective before. I read so many WWII historical fiction books and this was very different.
This is a compelling non-fiction book that was well documented.
An unbelievably heartbreaking story of Etta and Kitty and their bravery.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for- Ballantine for the opportunity to read this book.

[Monica Hills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was something right out of the movies and the fact that it is all true is mind blowing. I love tales of women doing the extraordinary and the first part of this book did not disappoint. What Kitty and Etta did to help British soldiers escape occupied France during WWII was heroic. However what happened to both of them was incredibly tragic. What's worse is what happened with the memoir that Etta wrote. I thought the author did a great job giving both sides of the story but my heart broke for Kitty and what she had to endure. I also need to mention that this book does go into some detail about the horrors of war and what happened when the Russians liberated France. It was very hard to read. Although I enjoyed reading about Kitty and Etta's life there were many times when the book was just too verbose. I appreciate the detail but there were times when there was just too much and the book would have flowed better if it was more condensed. I am not a huge non-fiction reader but I thought that this did a good job bringing Kitty and Etta to life. I enjoyed the pictures that were included as it helped make them even more real. Overall, this was an important book to read especially as we need to never forget what people went through not so long ago.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

[Jackie Sunday · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fiercely sad and heart-breaking, but it’s a must read. It’s history from WWII of an underground movement from the point of view from two brave women.

We know almost immediately that Etta Shiber survived the war after 18 months in a dirty, cold prison for assisting the British and French soldiers. She was an American living in Paris when she was taken away by the Germans, accused of aiding the enemies. With the right connections, she was able to escape from the horrors and return to NYC in 1942.

Kate Bonnefous was not as fortunate with what happened later. She was always charitable with close ties to England where she was born and France where she owned a Paris dress shop. That’s where she met Etta who was visiting in 1926. After Kate’s separation from her husband, she moved into a two-bedroom apartment and asked Etta to join her in 1937. The answer was a supportive yes.

The women were different in various ways and yet, they seem to balance each other like two parts of a whole. When Paris was invaded by the Nazis, Kate was eager to help and Etta followed her lead. Their secret missions were dangerous. They always knew with any type of mishap, they could be arrested by the Germans. You could feel the tension.

We know from WWII historical accounts that there was a lot of blood on the streets, dead bodies and violence. Yet, there was also very caring people. The details with what happened to these women and so many others provide readers with an image of good versus evil. For me, there were tears when I read about a priest who was taken away.

Too often, as we know, history repeats itself. This was a time when books were banned: Shakespeare, Thomas Mann, Virginia Woolf and Jewish authors. The Right-wing politicians told the people in France that immigrants were stealing jobs and making it dangerous. Sound familiar? I had to recheck the dates.

The book was captivating from the start and it stays with you. It takes us to a time in history not that long ago when women didn’t have as many rights, people starved and there were more health challenges. It also shows compassion, transformation, and strength within.

It’s expertly written from numerous historical accounts, wartime testimonies, birth and death records, news clippings and case files. It must have taken years to accumulate this information from researchers, librarians, authors, genealogist and relatives with personal letters. At the end, there are pages of notes and books.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of February 4, 2025.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of two ordinary women, Kate and Etta, who heroically saved many men from being imprisoned during WWII and were then imprisoned themselves.

When Etta was freed from prison, the question of a book deal came up. Soon, a book was written and published even before the war ended. It was then that Kate, who was still in prison, was once again tortured by the Nazis who had read the published book.

It's a shame and a tragedy that not only did Kate and Etta's friendship not last through the war, but that Kate suffered even more punishment after the book was printed.

[Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you @randomhouse for the #gifted copy of Paris Undercover! #randomhouse #MatthewGoodman #ParisUndercover #ballantinebooks

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫: 𝐀 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐧
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

Paris Undercover tells the true story of two women, Etta Shiber and Kitty Bonnefous, who created a daring escape line in Nazi-occupied Paris that rescued dozens of allied servicemen. Then they get caught, they spend months in a prison. Eventually, Etta is returned to the United States in a prison exchange, while Kitty is left in the prison. Back in the US, Etta publishes a memoir about their work called Paris Underground and becomes somewhat of a celebrity, while Kitty has no idea about the book or what has been written about her in the book. Matthew Undercover is an impeccably researched book, broken in three parts, containing military records, personal statements, letters, and never before published information behind Etta’s bestselling memoir.

I found this book to be truly fascinating. While I had never heard of Paris Underground before, or Etta or Kitty, I found the whole situation very interesting, especially how one friend was released from prison and had so much notoriety, while the other had no idea what was going on. I did find the book to be a little lengthy, but withy any non-fiction book, I did appreciation how much research the author put into the book and would not want any stone left unturned. Therefore, I appreciate how thorough the author was and the lengths he went to gather all of the information needed to write this book.

I truly think anyone who enjoys learning more about history will enjoy this book. I read a lot of historical fiction, and while this was a non-fiction book, I did really enjoy how this book was written and flowed. It truly was fascinating and very well done!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I have to start by saying that Matthew Goodman did an amazing amount of research for this book, and then turned it into an extremely compelling World War II narrative.

The book is the story of an American woman, Etta Shiber, and her British friend and roommate, Kate “Kitty” Bonnefous. They shared an apartment in Paris and during the early months of World War II, helped a number of British servicemen to escape from the German occupied zone in northern France to the unoccupied area of southern France. In late 1940, both women were arrested separately and were tried, convicted and sent to prison.

From this point, their stories diverge and Matthew Goodman follows both. Etta spends more than two years in prison in France, and then is returned to the U.S. as part of a German/American prisoner exchange. Once back home, Etta is convinced to write a memoir of her experiences, Paris Underground, but the book is actually ghostwritten and full of exaggerations and downright lies.

Meanwhile, Kate Bonnefous was imprisoned in both France and Germany, often held in solitary confinement, and was starved and frequently tortured from the time of her arrest in November 1940 until the end of the war in May 1945.

Matthew Goodman tells the stories of the two women in great detail and it kept my interest throughout. Highly recommended.

[Deity World · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow someone has put a lot of effort here beautifully written, good to see Bordeaux and La Reole which is where u grew up in France

[Lisa Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historical account of two older women who became heroes during the Nazi occupation is extremely compelling and informative. I’ve read many books on WWII but nothing from this perspective. There are numerous characters but it’s not difficult to keep track of them because the writing is spectacular. I found the beginning of the book a bit hard to get into but it definitely picks up midway through. If you enjoy history, this is a must read.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heroism, courage, and suffering of an ordinary woman living in Nazi occupied Paris reached me on a profoundly emotional level. Kitty Bonnefous used her position as a Red Cross worker to help British and American prisoners of war escape captivity. Eventually she was arrested by the Gestapo and years in prison followed. Captivity was akin to a living death. She endured starvation, beatings, freezing temperatures, constant threat of execution. She was tortured. She survived, clinging to life in a precarious state of health.

I was left with a new, unwelcome understanding of the depth of savagery within the realm of human behavior, especially toward women. Rarely has a book left such an indelible imprint on my awareness.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've differing opinions about this book, so I'm arguing with myself on how I rate this book. Was it a three because a lot of it was repetitive? Was it a five because of the history that I learned? Was it a two because I couldn't handle the torture scenes? Was it a three because a lot of the book didn't really follow the lives of the two women? Was it a five because of all the research that went into this book? I probably shouldn't give it a star rating because I'm so torn. I also must have missed how one friend betrayed the other. I couldn't see it as a problem with Etta but a problem with her ghostwriters/publishers.

This is the perfect book for those who want to take a look at the war, not from the English side but from the French side. An excellent book for those who want to see the actual repercussions of the war and its aftermath on women who did their bit to fight the Nazis.

This is an excellent read for book clubs and scholars.

*ARC supplied by the publisher Ballantine Books/Random House Publishing Group, the author, and NetGalley.

[Annette Geiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible research went into this book by Matthew Goodman. The magnificent accounting of these two woman, Kate (Kitty) Bonnefous and Etta Shiber, most notably Kate Bonnefous, is visceral. You read about Kate’s time in prison, after being captured by the Natzis and her torture at their hands and you cringe and you cannot fathom how she could survive such horror. Kate’s dedication to aiding captured soldiers during WWII and sheltering them in her home until she could provide safe escape for them, is nothing less than heroism, a will of steel and a heart of gold. We have all read accounts of WWII travesties and perversions but this historical account is so well documented and speaks to some of the lesser known horrors that affected so many people. Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for granting me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. #ParisUndercover, #BallantineBooks, #Goodreads.

[Dawn Michelle]

What I liked:
* The history. Filled with information I'd never read before [as someone who reads and loves history and has read a LOT of books set during World War 2, I am always surprised when I read a bit of history or story that I had no idea of and makes the reading of these kind of books even better], and while much of it hurt to read [the third part of the book will make you weep], it was still very fascinating.
* Kate and Etta and their bravery in helping the wounded soldiers. I cannot even imagine what it must have been like to risk everything to help them [as well as trying to find the resources to house and feed them]. There is so much to admire in all they did.
* Kate. ALL. THAT. KATE. DID. All that she suffered. She is one of the bravest people I have read about recently and I am still bowled away by her. Her extreme bravery n surviving the jail in France, the camps, and the Russians [y'all. That chapter was...WOW. I am still sick to my stomach as I write this and tears are still flowing; I do not know how anyone lives and THRIVES after that] is absolutely gobsmackingly amazing. I am in awe of her.
* The very vivid descriptions of the war in France, while horrific, is still some of the best descriptions of wartime France that I have read in quite some time.

What didn't work for me:
* So. Much. Repetition.
* Etta's betrayal [and refusal to delay the book]. WOW.
* So much extraneous information here. So much of this story gets lost because of this issue. And because much of this extraneous information was either not really applicable *OR* very boring, and I spent much of this book [when I wasn't cringing in horror or weeping] wanting to do anything but actually read it.
* The narrator. I'm not really sure what it was about her narration [one thing I DO know is that she would pause, then read in a "different" voice when there was something in quotes and it was jarring and well, awful], but it really added to me not wanting to pick up this book.
* A good chunk of this book is very dry; I love and read a lot of nonfiction and have read many books in this time frame and know that this particular story should have leapt off the page, and it just doesn't. Considering the amount of research that went into this book [this is talked about in the acknowledgements at the end], I am truly baffled as to how we end up with what we got.

I am unable [in good faith] to rate this book because I am all over the place in regards to this. While I absolutely believe that this is an important book [or actually, story], and I am not completely sorry I read it [for Kate's story alone], I am not sure I can recommend it to anyone who isn't a scholar of World War 2 history *or* history itself. There is just too much extraneous detail to wade through and it will be a really rough slog for the casual nonfiction reader.

Ultimately, this was not what I was hoping for [though I will never forget Kate and her story and this book was worth the length for that], and I am left pretty disappointed.

I was invited to read/review this by the publisher [Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Ballantine] and I thank them, the author, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book attempts to write the biography of two women during WWII and their work in France to resist by saving soldiers either hiding or escaping from the Nazis. The story was inspired by a book and movie ostensibly written by one of the women, but which likely contributed to what happened to the other woman.

I think the author does a good job trying to give us a full picture of what both women (Etta Shiber and Kate "Kitty" Bonnefous) went through and the circumstances that led them to their choices. What we know is that these women were very much involved in the escape of at least a dozen soldiers, but from what this book states, Kitty was probably the major decision maker in this partnership and Etta was her friend in the supporting role. But at some point both women are captured and imprisoned, but they are eventually separated and at that point their journeys become wildly different, although Etta definitely does suffer.

From the author's research, he's able to show that much of the book and movie inspired by Etta's life (but possibly mostly written by the ghostwriter/publishing house) were such a blend of fact and fiction that one can't really call it an autobiography. Sadly, there is evidence to show that her action in agreeing to let this book be published may have led to many of the atrocities that Kitty ended up suffering. It's very sad because this book provides enough evidence to show that Etta may have not been entirely culpable or aware of the consequences of her action, but either way, it led to Kitty suffering horribly.

Overall, this was a fascinating read, although it did seem to ramble at times. It helped for me to read along with the narration--I think I would have had a more challenging time making it through the book had it not been for the audiobook, which I thought was well done. I ended up reading this a few days before reading another story about the same era, also centered around two women, but very different circumstances.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Cari Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I am quite familiar with many of the underground networks that helped Jews during WWII, I was less knowledgeable about the networks that helped POWs escape from Nazi camps in France, therefore I was extremely interested in reading Paris Undercover.

Focusing on two friends, Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous who seemingly fall into their respective roles as aides in helping British POW soldiers escape their imprisonment after the occupation of Paris by the German Nazis, Paris Undercover slowly meanders through both of their early biographies, their supposed activities during WWII and their eventual arrest at the hands of the Nazis before cascading into a waterfall of information on what really was going on during those years and the lies, secrets, and betrayals that accompanied their actions.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the overall information in the book, I felt that it moved too slowly at times and that the ending was a bit of a shock in how the rest of the pieces of information were tossed at the reader like confetti with a loud "Surprise!" I did appreciate all the accompanied pictures that were included as I always love having a face to a name when reading biographies, memoirs, or historical records. The layout was well thought out in the back and forth between Etta's story and Kate's, giving each their own due for their experiences without stepping on the foot of the other.

Overall, this was a fascinating look at women whom history has relatively forgotten. I had never heard of Paris-Undercover before, even though it had made the bestseller list in the US and despite having had grandparents who were extremely well read. I would recommend it for fans of history and strong, overlooked women who helped shape the course of history in their own ways. It is not, however, a page turner and I would rate it at 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Matthew Goodman, and Ballantine for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Bethany Swafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the Nazi occupation of Paris, American widow Etta Shiber and English divorcée Kitty Bonnefous secretly rescue British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. After their capture by the Gestapo, Etta is eventually returned to the U.S. in a prisoner exchange, where she publishes a bestselling memoir, Paris-Underground, to honor their work. Meanwhile, Kitty endures the rest of the war in solitary confinement, unaware of the fame and story unfolding in her name.


True stories from the Nazi occupation of Paris are grimly fascinating. I had not heard of Etta Shiber before, so I was interested to learn more about her experience as an American. I liked that the first section of the book explains her background as a homemaker and widow, and then delved into her participation in saving people. She came across as a very ordinary woman, doing what she could to support her friend.

And then it reached how it came about that she “wrote” a book. It really was the perfect storm of bad decisions from all involved. It broke my heart when I realized the consequences of that book. I appreciated that the author remained neutral, simply sharing the facts of what happened without blaming anyone. The reader can decide for themselves who was to blame.

This was an informative read, though not for the faint-hearted. It doesn’t overly describe the torture, but doesn’t shy away from it either. I would recommend this to anyone interested in true stories of World War 2.

I received an advance reader copy via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.

[Stuart Endick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paris Undercover tells the fascinating story of heroism and suffering behind a forgotten World War II best seller that claimed to be the true story of two middle aged women who aided in the escape of stranded British servicemen after the fall of France to the Nazis. The book vividly depicts the horrors of Nazi occupation and brutality and the exciting details of the actual true story and how it diverged from the fictionalized account that further jeopardized the tale’s remarkable heroine, Kate Bonnefous, and exacerbated her terrible ordeal. But while the author deserves kudos for telling a griping story and opening a window into this dark era he too often overindulges in a fondness for minute descriptions of the scenery, weather, and the like that divert the narrative flow. The last section of the book also seems to unaccountably switch to a different and distracting present tense narrative style. Nevertheless this is an interesting and rewarding read.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* rounded up... I found this true story of Kitty and Etta's attempts to help WWII soldiers escape over enemy lines in Paris truly fascinating. I had never come across their names before in my readings of this time period. Once the actual French occupation gets going in this account, and they begin helping these soldiers it is riveting. But Goodman's telling of the facts can be sometimes repetitive and slow at times. There was a lot of time spent recounting the details of the book deal Etta makes when the ordeal is over. But otherwise I thought he did a good job of summing up their lives and the details of the exploits of these war heroes. This is definitely a must-read for historical nonfiction (and fiction) fans.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

[Shawna Seed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paris Undercover chronicles the exploits of two women living in Paris during World War II and working with the Resistance on an escape line. The first section of the book is a riveting account of how they became involved in helping stranded Allied servicemen escape Nazi-occupied France. Etta Shiber, an American, and Kitty Bonnefous, an Englishwoman, were friends in their 60s -- unlikely candidates for derring-do. And yet they built a network that saved many lives. Ultimately, they were caught by the Gestapo and imprisoned. They lost contact.

The second section of the book covers the period after Shiber was released in a prisoner exchange and returned to the U.S. She wrote a memoir about her activities, and the author details all of the publishing industry intrigue involved in the book's production and publication. This section of the book has a less compelling narrative arc and seems weighed down by details.

In the third section of the book, we learn what happened to Bonnefous after she disappeared into the Nazi prison system. This puts the second section of the book in context, because the publication of Shiber's book intensified her friend's suffering at the hands of the Nazis.

Paris Undercover is a fascinating, inspiring and heartbreaking look at what happened when two ordinary women found themselves in extraordinary circumstances.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy.

[Kate Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinary true account of the lives of two middle-aged women who quietly resisted the occupying German force in World War II Paris.

English expat, Kitty Bonnefous and American expat, Etta Shiber, share a flat in Paris at the time Germans move in to occupy their city. Along with so many French folks, the women's initial response was to flee the city with their three cocker spaniels. After long arduous days of attempting to reach the liberated zone, these women threw in the towel and headed back home to Paris. Kitty and her black Peugeot 402 signed on with a French Relief Agency which delivers gift parcels to captured injured soldiers. Kitty asked Etta to join her and eventually, they're smuggling downed British pilots and other military personnel out of the occupied zone toward safety. This lasted a few months before they are both captured and interred. What followed is horrific and shows great courage, resistance, and endurance by these women.

Author Matthew Goodman has delivered a most compelling read based on his Herculean research which clarifies and corrects the previously overstated record. The writing is solid and engaging. His scene settings are concise and horrifically informative. The story of these women, their friendship, heroism, endurance, and the ultimate betrayal, is rich and one which must be told. Sometimes truth is truly stranger than fiction.

I am grateful to Ballantine Books for having provided a complimentary copy of this book. Their generosity, however has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.


Publisher:‎ Ballantine Books
Publication Date: February 4, 2025
Number of pages: 448
ISBN: 978-0593358924

[Deborah Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paris Undercover

A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal

By: Matthew Goodman

Publish Date: February 4, 2025

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine/Ballantine Books

History

#ParisUndercover#NetGalley

200 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to thank both NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine/Ballantine Books for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts are my own.

Book Review:

I gave this book 3 stars. I feel bad about this rating because it is a piece of history I didn’t know about. This book had a lot of information, and it just didn’t flow right and at times it was hard to get through.

This book is about two women during the 2nd world war, and they created an escape route for Allied servicemen. I liked how he went into each of their background and their back story. I liked the friendship of both women. Even though they were opposites they still enjoyed being together and doing things.

Etta was a nervous lady who lost both her husband and her cousin in America. She met Kitty in Paris when she visited several times with her husband. She also had no clue how to take care of herself because her husband took care of everything.

Kitty is an outgoing person who has been married a couple of times and had one son. She owned a business where she met Etta. Just before Etta’s husband passed away, she promised him that she would look after her for him.

Etta moved in with Kitty before the war began. They traveled and had fun and owned three dogs which went with everywhere. When the war broke out Etta could have gone back to America, but she didn’t want to leave Kitty. Since America hadn’t joined the war, she figured she was safe.

Kitty tried to get Etta to leave and head back home because she knew that Etta had a Jewish background. Still Etta refused. Soon Paris is taken over by the Germans and that is where the story of this book is about.

The author did a lot of research and with help from other people; you can tell he really got into the history of it. I just wish he told the story in a more exciting way so that it didn’t feel like a history book. It is a story that needed to be told because we don’t always hear about the civilians who made a difference in this terrible war.

I would recommend this book with the warning it is slow going and there is a lot of violence. You would think that they would go light on the females, oh no they were just as mean with the women as the men.

[Mme Forte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, meticulously researched, educational (in a good way), heartbreaking, and I'm sure there are more adjectives to describe this book that I'm not thinking of right away.

Etta Shiber is an American widow. Kate Bonnefous, an Englishwoman, is separated from her French husband. They share an apartment in Paris with their dogs. Kate is a Red Cross volunteer, and when World War II breaks out, and the Germans eventually occupy Paris, she continues her work with that organization and with le Foyer du Soldat, which brings comfort and supplies to Allied prisoners of the Germans. This work gives her a travel pass that she can use to move through zones of France that are restricted to travelers. She's able to move about relatively freely and comes into contact with POWs in the course of her activities.

Kate sets up an escape line for these men, "evaders," as they're known. A couple she helps escape from a prison; some she encounters at the American embassy as they seek aid; some are brought to her by a priest and a couple working in the north of France. She figures out how to get the men into the Unoccupied Zone; from there they're spirited out of the country altogether. In the span of a few short months, she -- with Etta Shiber's help -- moved about 20 British airmen and soldiers to safety.

One day, when Kate is away in the south working on her contacts there, Etta answers the door to find Nazi agents standing outside it. She is arrested and taken to prison, where she is interrogated and jailed. (She does manage to get the concierge to take in the dogs before she's hauled away.) Kate is also picked up, as are a few of her associates and the passeur who actually conveyed the fugitives across the demarcation line into the Unoccupied Zone. All are tried; most are imprisoned; Kate is condemned to death.

This begins an odyssey of sorts through the Nazi equivalent of the Gulag Archipelago. Etta Shiber is jailed in Paris, then moved south to another prison. Her health begins to fail, and she is (I guess?) granted a sort of compassionate release. She returns to Paris and is eventually exchanged for a woman who spied for Germany in the US, and sails back to America on a ship full of refugees and swapped prisoners. Once there, she writes a book about her experiences (this book covers the issue of that one's veracity) which is published despite some misgivings about its potential to harm those mentioned in it who are still in German custody or in occupied territory. The book, Paris-Underground, is a great success in the US and England, a Book of the Month Club selection, and Etta becomes a minor celebrity. Mind you, this whole time Etta does not know Kate's whereabouts or even if she's still alive.

Kate, meanwhile, has moved into the Nacht und Nebel -- Night and Fog -- where Hitler wanted some political prisoners to vanish. Her friends and associates don't know where or how she is. While her death sentence has been commuted, she is at one point re-interrogated and severely beaten when she cannot or will not answer questions about her escape line and those who benefited from it or helped her with it. This was during her time in Jauer prison, in Silesia, where she would remain until the war ended -- escaping a long march westward due to a broken foot suffered during a beating. But even after the German guards fled, the women of Jauer were not safe. Soviet troops arrived to free the prisoners, but turned out to be bent on rape and murder. After three weeks of that treatment, some of the women were able to leave the grounds and found an Allied officer who could help them by posting armed guards at the prison gates, and by offering the women routes to return home. Kate eventually sailed home from Odessa on a ship bound for Marseille. She was met in Paris by relatives and did her best to pick up the threads of her life there, but with her physical and mental health compromised by her years in captivity and the privations and harm she suffered there.

Shortly after her return to Paris, Kate received a copy of Paris-Underground from one of its ghost writers. She read the book and considered a lawsuit against Etta Shiber for the torture that the information it contained caused Kate to suffer. She did not go through with the lawsuit, but in her address book she lined out Etta's information -- something she usually did when a person listed there died. They never spoke again.

In her later years, Kate was honored by both the UK and France, and was awarded lump sums of money for her pain and losses.

This story reads almost like a World War II thriller. There's espionage, smuggling (of human cargo), resistance, and suspense -- but it's not made up; it's all absolutely real. The most striking aspect of the story is that all the people involved in Kate's escape line were ordinary folks. They were simply unwilling to do nothing when human lives might possibly be saved by action, and they undertook those actions at great risk to their own freedom and well-being. Unlike the majority of those under Nazi rule -- and no shame on them, as all had reasons for the decisions they made (no shame, that is, unless we're talking about actual collaboration) -- they didn't wait and see, they moved. Lives were lost, but lives were also saved. The effects on the world at large are like ripples on a pond.

[Paul Wagenbreth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Goodman’s “Paris Undercover” is both an absorbing nonfiction account of two middle-aged women’s courageous rescues of downed Allied fliers in World War II as well as something of a corrective of an earlier book attributed to one of the two women.
So courageous, indeed, were the two women, Etta Shiber, an American and the identified author of the earlier account, and Kitty Bonnefous, a British-French woman nine years her junior, that they were even compared to Edith Cavell, the British nurse who was executed by the Germans for helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium during the First World War.
Both women balked at the comparison, though, with Etta, the self-acknowledged less courageous of the two, insisting, “I am certainly not Edith Cavell,” though she allowed that the comparison might well be appropriate for Kitty, who so impressed the Germans at her trial that the presiding officer was given to expressly comment on her courage, the sort of courage that Etta saw as making appropriate the comparison to Edith Cavell.
Kitty was the one, after all, who first set the women on their course of rescue work when, in Etta’s account, after learning of a downed British officer at a French hospital and another more seriously wounded compatriot, she put together a plan to get the officers to safety by hiding them in the luggage compartment of her car. The compartment was small enough, though, that two trips were necessary, with the first going off without a hitch, but the second proving a scarier affair when two Nazi officers flagged down the women’s car seeking a ride and their weight in the back seat, which was over the luggage compartment, pressed enough on the more seriously injured man’s leg that it reopened his wound.
A gripping story, to be sure, the stuff of one of those old ’40s black-and-white spy movies (indeed, a movie was made of the women’s heroism), although as Goodman’s book notes, there are ways in which Etta’s account doesn’t square with archival accounts.
There’s no doubt, though, that both women showed great courage in their rescue efforts which would eventually become part of a vast network that would rescue more than eight thousand Allied servicemen and make for the women’s eventual arrest and trial by the Germans, who in fact ended up sentencing them both to death despite the presiding officer’s admiration of Kitty’s courage.
The sentences were later commuted to prison terms, though, with both women enduring freezing cells with only slim straw mattresses, and in Kitty’s case, having her fingernails pulled out and cigarettes put out on her arms. And just when salvation seemed at hand, with her camp liberated by Russians, the supposed liberators turned out to be worse in their way than the Germans, unleashing a spree of rape and terror that must have seemed, in Goodman’s description, a “visitation of hell of earth,” with one observer telling of a group of twenty soldiers standing in line to rape the corpse of an elderly woman, making for “the most horrible thing” he’d ever seen.
Meanwhile, Etta, who’d been imprisoned separately from Kitty and who’d suffered no small torments herself, was eventually able to make it back to New York, where, in the second part of Goodman’s book, the convoluted path to publication of her book is traced – a book which, with diffused authorship including another writer brought in to make for greater readability, had some authenticity issues.
All in all, though, an absorbing account of true courage, Goodman’s book, even if to my mind the amount of description was occasionally excessive – pages and pages, for instance, on the background of one of the men who assisted Etta and Kitty.

[Bookreporter.com Biography & Memoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

In June 1942, Etta Shiber was headed back to New York and away from Paris, where she had been a visitor, a citizen and an eventual inmate. Her liberation from Nazi captivity took over a year, but a compassionate release due to her failing health combined with diplomatic maneuverings paved the way. While free from the spartan conditions and harsh treatment of the Nazis, Etta ruminated on the well-being of her best friend and roommate, Kate Bonnefous. Kate was the initiator of the bold decision to aid in the escape of captive Allied soldiers in the early days of World War II.

Etta was a New Yorker who had lived an unassuming existence until Europe descended into a martial environment and Paris was soon occupied. She had met Kate in 1926 when she was on vacation in Paris with her husband. The pair became fast friends, and Kate was a source of emotional support when Etta suffered the dual loss of her husband and a close cousin. She encouraged Etta to relocate to Paris, where the two resided until 1940.

Kate was born into an affluent English family but was forced to cope with adversity when she lost both her parents in two years. As the eldest child, she needed to step up and arrange the care and guardianship of her siblings when her extended family balked at taking them in. Kate was a determined woman full of vigor who bucked social norms. Whereas Kate could be bold, Etta was timid and often beset by crippling anxiety.

Kate was a person of action, and she dove headfirst into volunteer work at the commencement of the Second World War. Whether working at hospitals or serving as a defense warden, her devotion was unquestioned. Upon reading about wounded British soldiers being held by the enemy, Kate set upon an intrepid course of action with deadly consequences if caught. She would visit a convalescent soldier and make her proposal to abet in their flight for freedom. Etta would be fraught with anxiety when Kate informed her of this, but her loyalty to her friend outweighed her nerves.

The operation would be unraveled within six months of its initiation as Kate, Etta and others were arrested. However, the impact of their contribution couldn’t be minimized, and while the Nazi government sought retribution, the press would see banner headlines meant to win hearts and minds.

PARIS UNDERCOVER is a magnificent and in-depth re-examination of atypical heroines carrying out acts of gallantry. The historical record was flawed, but author Matthew Goodman’s comprehensive research elucidates the actions of Kate Bonnefous, Etta Shiber and others in 1940 when Europe was being overrun by the blitzkrieg of the Third Reich. The number of soldiers given shelter and assistance by Kate and her network was impressive.

Kate and Etta’s story was meant to be told, but foolhardy decision-making coupled with greed led to a whitewashing of the truth. The compelling nature of the narrative is consistent, from the women’s path into each other’s lives to their subversive activities in a locked-down city to their harrowing incarcerations. This impressive effort functions as both a dual memoir and a wartime story, and you will not want to miss it.

Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro

[scifishm · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this work of history that reads like a novel, Matthew Goodman rights a historical wrong and gives us the true story of two middle-aged women, Katherine Bonnefous and Etta Shiber, whose unlikely heroism in WW II has never been properly acknowledged until now.

Goodman shows us how Bonnefous’s large Paris apartment becomes a base of operations for a clandestine network that the two women organize to provide an escape route via Paris for British soldiers who were left stranded in France in 1940 when the German army overran the country.

We also see how the apartment becomes a hiding place and way station for soldiers who Bonnefous and Shiber themselves smuggle into Paris as stow-aways in Bonnefous’s car.

In this section of the book Goodman displays his skill in portraying suspenseful situations. He also brilliantly conveys what it felt like to live in Paris during the German occupation.

And then, when Shiber and Bonnefous are inevitably betrayed by an informer, enabling the Gestapo to capture them separately and isolate them so completely that they can never see or communicate with each other again, Goodman gives us a close-up view—at times too close—of the horrible tortures and inhuman treatment inflicted by their German captors.

Goodman then takes the story into the postwar era. This section of the book is an account of unintentional betrayal of Bonnefous by Shiber, and unscrupulous publishing in which a book titled Paris Underground, supposedly written by Shiber, becomes a best seller and the accepted narrative of two women’s exploits during the war. It also is an account of Bonnefous’s miraculous survival from longer imprisonment and more terrible treatment than Shiber experienced. We see that Bonnefous goes on to live a happier and longer postwar life than Shiber. And in fact they never do communicate with each other again.

Goodman is generous in his Prologue where he provides an almost complete overview of the book. But if you read only the Prologue you will miss a meticulously documented yet easily readable narrative that tells you the real story of these two women and especially tells you why Bonnefous more than Shiber should be seen as the extraordinary person she was.

Thank you, Matthew Goodman, for your own heroic effort to set the record: searching out every relevant document, enhancing the main story with collection of notes that in themselves comprise a worthwhile book, even taking the trouble to provide a list of names of the twenty soldiers who Bonnefous and Shiber helped escape. I think this book will be a lasting contribution to the literature on France under German occupation and on unsung women who should be remembered for their heroism.

Thank you Random House for providing an advance copy in galley form for review consideration via NetGalley. Please note: Quotes taken from a galley may change in the final version.
All opinions are my own.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley

I have said more than once, we need more productions that showcase what women and people of color did during World War II. In some ways, the story of Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous seems ideal for a streaming series.

Goodman’s book isn’t so much a biography of the women, but a look at what they did during the Second World War and the fallout from Shiber’s account of the work, an account that was published while Bonnefous was still imprisoned by the Nazis.

Shiber was American, and Bonnefous was an English woman who married a Frenchman. Prior to the war and after the death of Shiber’s husband, the two women lived together with their dogs in a Paris apartment. Once the Germans invaded, they fled and then returned. It was during Occupation that the two women decided to help British soldiers escape the death.

Though according to Goodman, it seems that Kate Bonnefous decided she would work to aid her countrymen, and Shiber went along with it. To be fair, Shiber had to a bit more to risk considering that she was also Jewish, though secular. But the driving force does seem to be Bonnefous. The two women do manager to aid a few soldiers before their discovery and arrest by the Nazis. Shiber was arrested in Paris before Bonnefous. Her status as an American does give her a bit of edge because she is eventually released for health reasons and allowed to return to the States. It is there that she writes an account of the work she and Bonnefous did. The problem was that the book was published while Bonnefous was still under arrested, making her more at risk to not only abuse but to be executed. The book was still published in both the US and Britian even after Bonnefous’s brother, worried about his sister, objected.

There are parts of the book that are extremely interesting – the escapes that Bonnefous arranges (sometimes with the help and funding of/from US officials), the discussion about the crafting of Shiber’s book and its accuracy – the two women still seem distance. This isn’t so much Goodman’s fault, more like available sources, but it does stand out. In some ways, the men that helped stand out a bit more, undoubtedly because there are more sources about them. Outside of Shiber’s book and what Bonnefous told family, there is no source that seems to be the voice of the women themselves. This is, strangely, particularly true of Shiber as Bonnefous comes across as the more interesting and active woman.

At times, there does feel like there should have been a bit more analysis, especially in regards to why Shiber wrote the book and whether or not it was strictly a money grab (and as she had little money, can you really blame her?).

Still the story is worth knowing and is ripe for adaption.

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal by Matthew Goodman

This was such a difficult story for me to read. There are the sections that are true, real people and real events, and that's what I want when I'm reading Nonfiction. But the details are so hard to take, the torture, but also the ravishing of babies, girls, children, women of all ages, no matter how young or old, entire communities. And as I now know happens throughout the ages, the ravagers can be the army that is supposed to be the one that is rescuing those very people.

Etta Shiber was a well educated American women who suffered from anxiety and shyness all of her life. She did well while her beloved cousin and husband were alive. At some point she met Kitty Bonnefous, a British women whose heart also belonged to France. Kitty was so different from Etta, a go getter, brave, daring, sometimes reckless, and willing to give everything she had to British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines.

It's after the death of Etta's cousin and husband that she eventually moves into Kitty's flat in France and is present during Kitty's work to smuggle British and French soldiers to safety. In the first part of the book we see Etta's sometimes/often reluctant assistance of Kitty's efforts. Etta wanted to help but she was also rightly terrified of the real dangers the two women were courting in all that they did. That is why Kitty kept much of what she was doing from Etta. Kitty was involved in more than Etta would ever know. Eventually both women are imprisoned, Etta is finally released, and goes back to the United States.

The second part of the book details what brought about the writing of Paris Underground, a memoir written by Etta Shiber in 1943. But we learn that so much of that book is fiction, so much is extremely embellished, and even Etta began to get fuzzy on the facts, when she discusses them, exaggerating how many men Kitty and Etta saved. It's sickens me that this 1943 book was published while the war was still on and while some of the people mentioned in the book (even though most names were changed, details altered) could still be alive in the hands of the enemy. But the fault lies less on Etta and mostly on those behind the actual writing and publication of this book.

The third part of the book takes us back to Kitty, still imprisoned and suffering greatly on starvation rations, scant clothing, no heat, no amenities at all, often in solitary confinement. Kitty had already been beaten and tortured during her captivity but on the publication of Etta's "memoir" the beatings and torture was even worse. This part of the book also details the "rescue" of the prisoners but the rescuing army was no salvation, as they ravished everyone they could touch. I knew about these things, including in other areas of the world and even now, and I think this was the hardest part of the book for me to read.

Overall, both women were brave and did save many. Kitty was willing to give her life for others but Etta did her part, a smart, gentle woman, not meant for heroics, very much wanting to live the part of the kindly old aunt, sitting in her rocking chair but instead thrust into the middle of the war in France. I'd really rather know the truth than to have a book such as the 1943 Paris Underground be published as a memoir when so much was made up and exaggerated. Seeing the process of how that book came about and why certain things were done (often just excuses), was interesting, but so wrong to the people still alive and in danger.

Pub February 4, 2025

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a free advance digital review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

In the last several years, we’ve seen an explosion of novels about young women in Europe during World War II. I tend to avoid these, since they are so often unrealistic and avoid the harsh truths of war, impossible choices, and its long grind. But Matthew Goodman isn’t writing fiction here, so I thought I’d give the book a try.

Unlike in most of today’s fiction about women in WW2, in Paris Undercover, the featured women are middle-aged. Etta Shiber moved from New York to Paris after her husband and cousin died, to live with her friend, a British divorcée named Kate (a/k/a Kitty) Bonnefous. They’re shocked when France is quickly invaded by the Germans, but like so many, they return to Paris after initially fleeing south.

Kitty is a volunteer with aid services, and gets the idea to use that status—and her car—to help smuggle downed Allied pilots out of France. She persuades the hesitant Etta, and they succeed in numerous of cases, but are finally caught by the Nazis. Both were sentenced to death, but had their sentences commuted to life in prison. Of course, the prisons were the dreadful Nazi kind. Etta was lucky enough to be sprung in a prisoner exchange after 18 months, but Kitty was transported to a German prison.

Back in the US, Etta is persuaded to give interviews that will be made into a novel about Kitty. To avoid spoilers, I won’t say how that turned out; just that it isn’t what Etta (naïvely, at best) anticipated, and just as you’d expect today, the book (and later movie) people make the lead characters younger and the plot sensational. In this book, Goodman presents the real story, discovered through painstaking research, details how Etta’s book came to be, and reveals Kitty’s life after arrest. It isn’t the kind of story you usually read in historical fiction, where all the female leads are attractive and unflinchingly brave young women who find time for romance in the midst of war, there are no moral ambiguities, and all plot threads are neatly tied up in the end. This is a true story, populated with all-too-human characters, filled with moral frailty. My only quibble is that Goodman has seemingly put every bit of research on the page, which means the read can be plodding at times. Still, it’s better to read a real story about WW2 than the historical dress-up romance novels that glut the book market.