Jane Thynne

"New York, present day: On a whim, photographer Juno Lambert buys the 1931 Underwood typewriter that once belonged to celebrated journalist Cordelia Capel. Within its case she discovers an unpublished novel, igniting a transatlantic journey to fill the gaps in the story of Cordelia and her sister's loving yet tempestuous relationship. England, 1936: Cordelia's socialite sister, Irene, marries a German man from a powerful family who whisks her away to Berlin. Cordelia remains in England to pursue the writing career she cherishes, but in the male-dominated world of journalism, she can only get hired as a typist. The sisters exchange letters as politics begin to boil in Europe and tensions come to a head when Cordelia discovers Irene's husband is a Nazi sympathizer. Does that make Irene one by proxy? With increasing desperation, Cordelia writes to Irene, seeking to understand her loyalties. But the sisters' letters don't tell the whole story. So Cordelia decides to fill in the blanks by sitting down with her Underwood and--finally--writing the truth. When Juno discovers the trove of letters the two exchanged, a vivid portrait of Berlin in the devastating years during and after the war comes into focus. In this moving novel, Jane Thynne offers an intimate glimpse into a lesser known side of World War II"--

The Words I Never Wrote

"Clara Vine, a half-Jewish Anglo-German, uses her unique access to the upper echelons of pre-war Nazi society to spy for her native Britain. The novel richly fuses fact and fiction with a cast of real Nazis and their British admirers, such as the Mitford sisters and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Clara Vine, through her friendship with Eva Braun, finds herself enmeshed in a plot to assassinate Hitler"--

The Scent of Secrets

Perfect for fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd, Robert Harris, and Susan Elia MacNeal, here is the next thrilling historical novel featuring Clara Vine, the British actress and special agent who glides through the upper echelons of Nazi society, covertly gathering key intelligence and placing herself in mortal peril. In the spring of 1939, the drums of war beat throughout Europe, but nowhere more ferociously than in Berlin. The film studio where Clara Vine works is churning out movies, but each day that she stays in Germany is more dangerous than the last. Spying on the private life of the Third Reich, passing secrets to contacts in British intelligence, falling into a passionate affair any of these risky moves could get Clara shot. So she is wholly shaken when someone close to her is murdered instead. The victim is Lottie Franke, an aspiring costume designer and student at the prestigious Faith and Beauty finishing school that trains young women to become the wives of the Nazi elite. While the press considers Lottie s death in the Grunewald forest the act of a lone madman, Clara uncovers deeper threads, tangled lines that seem to reach into the darkest depths of the Reich and to a precious discovery that Hitler and his ruthless cohorts would kill for. Previously published in the U.K. as "Faith and Beauty" Praise for Jane Thynne s first Clara Vine novel, "The Scent of Secrets" A brilliant tale of spies and secrets, of intense psychological drama, of edgy climax and one extraordinary heroine. Beatriz Williams, "New York Times" bestselling author of "A Hundred Summers" A compelling story of love and betrayal in Hitler s Berlin . . . Peppered with real-life characters, this series offers a fascinating glimpse of the extraordinary world of the Nazi wives. Daisy Goodwin, author of "The American Heiress" An alluring blend of thrills, suspense, historic detail, and seduction. Susan Elia MacNeal, author of the Maggie Hope series An extraordinary, absorbing read with an array of characters so real you re there with them as war looms, and a pace that sweeps you from page to page. This is indeed a winner! " "Charles Todd, author of Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries"

The Pursuit of Pearls

Terrifying secrets, torn loyalties, love versus duty, the gripping story of a young actress caught up in highly dangerous events in 1930s Berlin... Berlin, 1933. Warning bells ring across Europe as Hitler comes to power. Clara Vine, an attractive young Anglo-German actress, arrives in Berlin to find work at the famous Ufa studios. Through a chance meeting, she is unwillingly drawn into a circle of Nazi wives, among them Magda Goebbels, Anneliese von Ribbentrop and Goering's girlfriend Emmy Sonnemann. As part of his plan to create a new pure German race, Hitler wants to make sweeping changes to the lives of women, starting with the formation of a Reich Fashion Bureau, instructing women on what to wear and how to behave. Clara is invited to model the dowdy, unflattering clothes. Then she meets Leo Quinn who is working for British intelligence and who sees in Clara the perfect recruit to spy on her new elite friends, using her acting skills to win their confidence. But when Magda Goebbels reveals to Clara a dramatic secret and entrusts her with an extraordinary mission, Clara feels threatened, compromised, desperately caught between her duty towards - and growing affection for - Leo, and the impossibly dangerous task Magda has forced upon her. Kate Saunders praises Patrimony: 'Two beguiling love stories, past and present, brilliantly entwined. I was mesmerised' And Kate Figes on The Shell House: 'One of those novels you just want to curl up with on a cold afternoon... this is an intelligent woman's love story'

Black Roses

TO SAVE HER OWN LIFE, WILL SHE SACRIFICE ANOTHER? June 1940: the first summer of the war. Berlin is being bombed and nightly blackouts suffocate the city. Then France falls and a shadow descends. A shadow has fallen over Clara Vine's own life, too. She is an Anglo-German woman in a country that hates England. Then she is summoned to meet the Propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, who has decided that Clara should adopt a new role - as his spy. Much as she dislikes the idea, Clara realises this might be the chance to find an escape route to England. But Goebbels has other ideas and soon Clara is drawn into a web that threatens to destroy her. As everything she holds dear is taken as ransom, she must fight to protect her family - and to survive... Solitaire delivers brilliantly engrossing wartime fiction for fans of Sadie Jones, Rosie Thomas and Irene Nemirovsky. Praise for Jane Thynne's Clara Vine novels: 'An absolute cracker of a read...fast-paced and gripping from the start' Sunday Times 'A thoroughly enjoyable read: fast-paced, atmospheric and genuinely suspenseful' Mail on Sunday 'Terrific' Elizabeth Buchan

A Captivating Novel of Intrigue and Survival in Wartime Paris. Clara Vine 05

Solitaire

Berlin, 1937. The city radiates glamour and ambition. But danger lurks in every shadow… Anna Hansen, a bride-to-be, is a pupil at one of Hitler's notorious Nazi Bride Schools, where young women are schooled on the art of being an SS officer's wife. Then, one night, she is brutally murdered and left in the gardens of the school. Her death will be hushed up and her life forgotten. Clara Vine is an actress at Berlin's famous Ufa studios by day and an undercover British Intelligence agent by night. She knew Anna and is disturbed by news of her death. She cannot understand why someone would want to cover it up, but she soon discovers that Anna's murder is linked to a far more ominous secret. With the newly abdicated Edward VIII and his wife Wallis set to arrive in Berlin, and the Mitford sisters dazzling on the social scene, Clara must work in the darkness to find the truth and send it back to London. It is a dangerous path she treads, and it will take everything she has to survive… The Winter Garden is published as Woman in the Shadows in the US.

A captivating novel of intrigue and survival in pre-war Berlin

The Winter Garden

August, 1938. Paris is a city living on its nerves and the threat of war hangs heavy as a distant thunderstorm on a summer's day. British actress, Clara Vine, is in Paris to film her latest movie, having left Berlin under a cloud. Joseph Goebbels has become increasingly suspicious that Clara has been mingling in Berlin society and passing snippets of information to her contacts in the British Embassy. It would have been absurd, if it hadn't also been true… With war becoming increasingly likely, Clara is approached by an undercover British operative, Guy Hamilton, who asks her to perform a task for her country: to befriend Eva Braun, Hitler's girlfriend, and to pass on any information she can gather. Clara knows that to undertake this task is to put herself back in danger. But she also knows that soon she may have to do everything in her power to protect her country… Praise for A War of Flowers: 'A tale of suspense and intrigue. Thynne's grasp of the period is first class, and she has woven in a tender wartime love story' Daisy Goodwin, Mail on Sunday Praise for The Winter Garden: 'An absolute cracker of a read…fast-paced and gripping from the start. Thynne expertly maintains the suspense, while evoking the tension of Berlin as the city gathers its strength for war' Sunday Times 'A thoroughly enjoyable read: fast-paced, atmospheric and genuinely suspenseful' Mail on Sunday 'Pre-war Germany's atmosphere of repression, terror and Nazi hubris is vividly evoked in a gripping but sad tale' Literary Review Praise for Black Roses: 'Terrific' Elizabeth Buchan 'The perfect fusion of history, suspense and high romance….the pace is relentless, the background brilliantly evoked and the sex gorgeously spiced with danger.' The Times 'A compelling story of love and betrayal in Hitler's Berlin' Daisy Goodwin, author of The Last Duchess

A War of Flowers

"1937. A sinister evil lurks behind the glamour and ambition of Berlin's dazzling social scene. When a young woman is murdered in the gardens of the Nazi bride school she attends, Clara begins to investigate her disturbing death"--

Woman in the Shadows

Berlin, on the eve of war… As soldiers muster on the streets, spies circle in the shadows and Lotti Franke, a young woman from the Faith and Beauty Society - the elite finishing school for Nazi girls - is found in a shallow grave. Clara Vine, Anglo-German actress and spy, has been offered the most ambitious part she has ever played. And in her more secret life, British Intelligence has recalled her to London to probe reports that the Nazis and the Soviet Union are planning to make a pact. Then Clara hears of Lotti's death, and is determined to discover what happened to her. But what she uncovers is something of infinite value to the Nazi regime - the object that led to Lotti's murder - and now she herself is in danger. In a drama which traverses Berlin, Paris, Vienna and London, Clara Vine tries to keep her friends close, but finds her enemies are even closer. Praise for Jane Thynne's Clara Vine novels: 'An absolute cracker of a read…fast-paced and gripping from the start. Thynne expertly maintains the suspense, while evoking the tension of Berlin as the city gathers its strength for war' Sunday Times 'A thoroughly enjoyable read: fast-paced, atmospheric and genuinely suspenseful' Mail on Sunday 'Pre-war Germany's atmosphere of repression, terror and Nazi hubris is vividly evoked in a gripping but sad tale' Literary Review 'Terrific' Elizabeth Buchan 'The perfect fusion of history, suspense and high romance….the pace is relentless, the background brilliantly evoked and the sex gorgeously spiced with danger.' The Times 'A compelling story of love and betrayal in Hitler's Berlin' Daisy Goodwin, author of The Last Duchess

Faith and Beauty

June 1940: the first summer of the war. Berlin is being bombed and nightly blackouts suffocate the city. Then France falls and a shadow descends. A shadow has fallen over Clara Vine's own life, too. She is an English citizen in a country that hates her. Virulent anti-British propaganda is everywhere. Then she is summoned to meet the Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels who has decided that Clara should adopt a new role - as his spy - and that she must go to Paris on a mission. Much as she dislikes the idea, Clara realises this might be the chance to find an escape route to England - but Goebbels has other ideas.

Terrifying secrets, torn loyalties, and dangerous liaisons in pre-war Nazi Germany Clara Vine, fresh from her Adventures in Black Roses, is now deeply entrenched in the secret services in pre-war Berlin. Trusted for her good work and quick thinking she is asked to go deeper undercover. This time she finds herself in a Nazi Bride School, where innocent young German women are schooled on the art of being a wife - and their future husbands are none other than the top ranking officials of the Nazi Party. With danger on every corner, it will take everything Clara has to survive this time.

The winter garden

Berlin, 1933. Aspiring actress Clara Vine arrives in Berlin to find work at the famous Ufa studios. Through a chance meeting, she is unwillingly drawn into a circle of Nazi wives, led by Magda Goebbels. British Intelligence officer Leo Quinn sees Clara as the perfect recruit to spy on her new elite friends. But then Magda reveals to Clara a dramatic secret and entrusts her with an extraordinary mission.

Berlin, 1937. The city radiates glamour and ambition. But danger lurks in every shadow… Anna Hansen, a bride-to-be, is a pupil at one of Hitler's notorious Nazi Bride Schools, where young women are schooled on the art of being an SS officer's wife. Then, one night, she is brutally murdered and left in the gardens of the school. Her death will be hushed up and her life forgotten. Clara Vine is an actress at Berlin's famous Ufa studios by day and an undercover British Intelligence agent by night. She knew Anna and is disturbed by news of her death. She cannot understand why someone would want to cover it up, but she soon discovers that Anna's murder is linked to a far more ominous secret. With the newly abdicated Edward VIII and his wife Wallis set to arrive in Berlin, and the Mitford sisters dazzling on the social scene, Clara must work in the darkness to find the truth and send it back to London. It is a dangerous path she treads, and it will take everything she has to survive…

August, 1938. Paris is a city living on its nerves. British actress, Clara Vine, is here to film her latest movie, having left Berlin under a cloud. Joseph Goebbels has become increasingly suspicious that Clara has been mingling in Berlin society and passing snippets of information to her contacts in the British embassy. It would have been absurd, if it hadn't also been true... With war becoming increasingly likely, Clara is approached by an undercover British operative, Guy Hamilton, who asks her to perform a task for her country: to befriend Eva Braun, Hitler's girlfriend, and to pass on any information she can gather. Clara knows that to go back to Germany is to put herself back in danger. But she also knows that soon she may have to do everything in her power to protect her country.

Rich with political intrigue and authentic period details, this historical crime novel--the first of three--is perfect for fans of Roberta Rich, Charles Todd and Robert Harris. In Berlin, 1933, British actress Clara Vine finds herself dangerously involved with the British intelligence service. Clara Vine, a half-Jewish Anglo-German, uses her unique access to the upper echelons of pre-war Nazi society to spy for her native Britain. The novel richly fuses fact and fiction with a cast of real Nazis and their British admirers, such as the Mitford sisters and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Clara Vine, through her friendship with Eva Braun, finds herself enmeshed in a plot to assassinate Hitler. The setting of pre-war Germany is a treasure trove, and the irresistably fresh perspective of Nazi wives puts a new spin on an ever-fascinating era, fraught with glamour, political tension, tragedy and romance.

Berlin, 1937. La ville respire la séduction et l’ambition. Mais partout, le danger rôde... Anna Hansen, future mariée, est pensionnaire d’une de ces fameuses écoles créées par Hitler pour former les jeunes femmes dans l’art de devenir la parfaite épouse d’un officier SS. Mais, une nuit, elle est sauvagement assassinée dans les jardins de l’école. On fait vite disparaître le corps. La nouvelle de sa mort est étouffée, son existence oubliée. Clara Vine est actrice dans les fameux studios de la Ufa à Berlin. Mais cette activité en masque une autre, clandestine celle-là : elle est agent au service du Renseignement britannique. Or elle connaissait Anna et la nouvelle de sa mort l’inquiète. Elle n’arrive pas à comprendre pourquoi on l’occulte ainsi. Elle enquête donc, et découvre peu à peu que le meurtre d’Anna est lié à un lourd secret, compromettant les plus hauts dignitaires du troisième Reich. Avec la prochaine visite à Berlin d’Édouard VIII – qui a récemment abdiqué – accompagné de sa femme Wallis – et la présence des célèbres sœurs Mitford qui rivalisent pour occuper le devant de la scène mondaine, Clara se doit d’œuvrer dans l’ombre pour découvrir la vérité et en informer Londres. C’est une voie périlleuse, d’autant qu’elle bénéficie de l’aide d’un de ces artistes juifs taxés de « dégénérés » par Goebbels. La survie de Clara ne tient qu’à un fil... Un mélange très réussi où se rencontrent Histoire, suspense, amour et liaisons dangereuses... Sur un rythme soutenu et avec la montée du nazisme en toile de fond. Traduit de l’anglais par Sophie Bastide-Foltz

Le jardin d'hiver

August, 1938. Paris is a city living on its nerves and the threat of war hangs heavy as a distant thunderstorm on a summer's day. British actress, Clara Vine, is in Paris to film her latest movie, having left Berlin under a cloud. Joseph Goebbels has become increasingly suspicious that Clara has been mingling in Berlin society and passing snippets of information to her contacts in the British Embassy. It would have been absurd, if it hadn't also been true… With war becoming increasingly likely, Clara is approached by an undercover British operative, Guy Hamilton, who asks her to perform a task for her country: to befriend Eva Braun, Hitler's girlfriend, and to pass on any information she can gather. Clara knows that to undertake this task is to put herself back in danger. But she also knows that soon she may have to do everything in her power to protect her country…

Jane Thynne

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