"A perfect summer read; gripping, original, well-drawn and
compassionate"--Joanne Harris
"Celia Rees is a superb writer, and this novel has one of the most
irresistible and unique story hooks I've ever come across. This book
deserves to be huge!"--Sophie
Hannah
A striking historical novel about an ordinary young British
woman sent to uncover a network of spies and war criminals in post-war Germany
that will appeal to fans of The Huntress and Transcription.
World War II has just
ended, and Britain has established the Control Commission for Germany, which
oversees their zone of occupation. The Control Commission hires British
civilians to work in Germany, rebuild the shattered nation and prosecute war
crimes. Somewhat aimless, bored with her job as a provincial schoolteacher, and
unwilling to live with her overbearing
mother any longer, thirtysomething Edith Graham applies for a job with the Commission—but she is
also recruited by her cousin, Leo, who is in the Secret Service. To them, Edith is perfect spy material...single,
ordinary-looking, with a college degree in German. Cousin Leo went
to Oxford with one of their most hunted war criminals, Count Kurt von Stavenow, who Edith remembers all too well from before the war. He
wants her to find him.
Intrigued by the
challenge, Edith heads to Germany armed with a convincing cover story: she's an unassuming Education Officer sent to help resurrect German schools. To send
information back to her Secret Service handlers
in London, Edith has crafted the perfect alter ego, cookbook author Stella
Snelling, who writes a popular magazine cookery column. She embeds crucial intelligence within the recipes she
collects. But occupied Germany is awash with other spies, collaborators, and
opportunists, and as she's pulled into their world, Edith soon discovers that
no one is what they seem to be. The closer she gets to uncovering von Stavenow's whereabouts--and the network of German civilians
who still support him--the greater the danger.
With a unique, compelling
premise, Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook is a beautifully
crafted and gripping novel about daring, betrayal, and female friendship.
Celia Rees is an award-winning YA novelist who is one of Britain's foremost writers for teenagers. Her novel Witch Child has been published in 28 languages and is required reading in secondary schools in the UK. Rees’s books are published in the US by Candlewick and Scholastic. Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook is her first adult novel. A native of the West Midlands of England, she lives with her family in Leamington Spa.
