Matthew Goodman (1) (1960–)

Paris Undercover is a remarkable book, so riveting I couldn’t put it down. It begins describing the history and friendship of two fairly unremarkable middle-aged women who decide after many life changes for each of them to share an apartment in Paris. With World War II soon raging around them, they begin to volunteer in different ways to support the resistance to the Nazis and Germany. What was so recently just an entertaining, social existence becomes deadly serious and dangerous. Among show more other things, Etta and Kate are heavily involved in helping to rescue British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. Suddenly these two ordinary older women become strong, brave and daring freedom fighters.

Unfortunately, they are eventually captured by the Gestapo and put in prison. Etta returns to the United States after eighteen months in a prisoner exchange. Whenever anyone calls her a heroine, she redirects that admiration and declares Kate is the real heroine. She admires Kate; so far so good.

Etta publishes a memoir hoping to bring attention to Kate’s achievements, and it is at this point that this reader’s estimation of Etta starts to go down, because bring attention to Kate she does. And not in a good way. Kate is kept in prison for the rest of the war and knows nothing about this memoir, but it’s a bestseller and certainly the Germans become aware of it very quickly. The memoir is full of fabrications but also contains enough information about Kate that her identity is obvious and she suffers the consequences without having any idea what has suddenly prompted even worse than normal prison treatment; she is tortured in ways that are hard to even read about.

Even if Etta wanted to highlight Kate’s activity to give her credit she felt Kate was due, surely she was smart enough after her own wartime experiences – and time spent in prison – to have realized what would happen to Kate. Etta enjoys the success of a memoir, a movie and a peaceful life in the United States while Kate’s life is ruined. As you can tell from my review, Paris Undercover is a book that causes strong opinions and emotion. It’s fascinating reading both about the war in general and Kate and Etta’s activities in particular.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group for providing an advance copy of Paris Undercover via NetGalley. It was an amazing read. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. show less

Damn, this book is good. The topic -- two female newspaper reporters (a rarity at the end of the 19th century) racing around the world against each other and against Jules Verne's fictional 80 day standard -- was enough to attract me. The careful research and fabulous writing make it one that I will highly recommend.

Goodman didn't fictionalize any of this. If it wasn't in Bly's or Bisland's memoirs or other original sources, it didn't go in the book. Using just the fact, he paints a vivid show more picture of these two very different young women, the world of journalism, New York City and other American points of interest, trains, steamships, and the many locations visited by Bly & Bisland during the height of British colonialism. There's a lot going on, but he blends it all seamlessly into a narrative that only lags for the tiniest occasional moments.

I was fascinated to the end of the epilogue. How differently these women perceived the world they'd never seen before, and how this experience affected each of them, was a story in itself.

Reread to my boys, 2021, after reading [b:Around the World in Eighty Days|54479|Around the World in Eighty Days|Jules Verne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308815551l/54479._SY75_.jpg|4537271]. They really enjoyed it, too, although they felt like it went on too long after the end of the race. show less

Matthew Goodman's previous book, "The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York", was a fascinating look at newspapers, journalists and an astounding cast of characters in 1830's New York. Goodman returns to New York journalism a half century later to relate the almost too outlandish to be true tale of two women who, sent out by their respective publishers, attempt to beat in real life the show more fictional accomplishment of Jules Verne's protagonist Phileas Fogg.

The first thing that strikes the reader is the size of the book. This is no breezy summertime read. As in his previous book, Goodman fills his pages not only with the basic story, in this case the race between the two women, but with details large and small. For instance, it is not simply related that Nellie Bly, at the start of her journey, left New York on a German steamer. Goodman tells us how Bly took a ferry, costing three cents for a one-way ticket, to Hoboken, where the steamers of the Hamburg-American Packet Company are based. And not only is the reader told that she was introduced to the captain, but the reader also learns that Captain Albers “had a full beard and a genial manner that inspired confidence”. And these examples barely do justice to the astounding amount of tidbits of information in the book.

Is this level of detail and nuance a good thing or a bad thing? Some readers will find it all too much of a burden to get through, but there shouldn't be too many of those folks. For the book is very readable, perhaps surprisingly so. The author moves back and forth between the two woman and their journeys, but in a clear way that makes it easy to avoid getting the reader confused. And he avoids distracting the reader with long passages on barely related subjects, although he does switch away from the race at times; at one point, for instance, he discusses Joseph Pulitzer for a few pages, but since Pulitzer was the publisher of Bly's paper, it wasn't too much of a stretch.

And really, this level of detail can be so intriguing for any self-respecting narrative history reader. In another example, after relating how Bly never went down to the fire room of a steamer, like many passengers did, to watch the stokers at work, Goodman then spends the next two and a half pages telling the readers all about the stokers, the conditions they worked in, and the resultant health problems they had. It sounds... well, boring, yet it's not, it's intriguing. Or it will be for many readers.

Be reassured! There aren't too many of those diversions. Overwhelmingly the author does keep his story focused on the women and the race. And it's a great story; the readers see the world of 1889-90 as they follow Nellie and Elizabeth through storm, sun and a rather bizarre encounter with a... well, that would be telling.

In summary “Eighty Days” should be of great interest to those readers who enjoy their narrative histories rich in detail, packed with characters and well leavened with amazing tales that in this case, just happen to be true. show less

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 show more 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 show less