the lipstick bureau a novel michelle gable

But her work is also a way to escape devastating truths about the family she left behind in Czechoslovakia and a future with her controlling American husband.Īs the war drags on and the pressure intensifies, Niki begins to question the rules she's been instructed to follow, and a colleague unexpectedly captures her heart.

“A gripping, fascinating read.” -Kelly Rimmer, New York Times bestselling author of The Warsaw Orphanġ944, Rome. Loosely inspired by real-life OSS operative Barbara Lauwers, The Lipstick Bureau is about a woman challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the cost.Inspired by a real-life female spy, a WWII-set novel about a woman challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the cost. But one step out of line, one mistake, could mean life or death. But her work is also a way to escape devastating truths about the family she left behind in Czechoslovakia and a future with her controlling American husband.Īs the war drags on and the pressure intensifies, Niki begins to question the rules she's been instructed to follow, and a colleague unexpectedly captures her heart. Inspired by a real-life female spy, a WWII-set novel about a woman challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the cost.

One of the OSS's few female operatives abroad and multilingual, she's tasked with crafting fake stories and distributing propaganda to lower the morale of enemy soldiers.ĭespite limited resources, Niki and a scrappy team of artists, forgers and others - now nicknamed The Lipstick Bureau - find success, forming a bond amid the cobblestoned streets and storied villas of the newly liberated city. The novel opens in May 1989 as Niki and her daughter Andrea are attending a black tie dinner in. Newlywed Niki Novotná is recruited by a new American spy agency to establish a secret branch in Italy's capital. I truly enjoy a good historical novel based on real people, and after reading Michelle Gables last novel, The Booksellers Secret (which featured a fictionalized Nancy Mitford), I knew I would want to read her new novel, The Lipstick Bureau.

The lipstick bureau a novel michelle gable