Historical Fiction Book Club (August)

Name: Historical Fiction Book Club (August)
Start: 2025-08-13T17:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-08-13T18:30:00-05:00
Location: 14 S. Commercial Alley, Mason City, IA, United States, Iowa 50401

Schedule

Wed Aug 13 2025 at 05:30 pm to 06:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

14 S. Commercial Alley, Mason City, IA, United States, Iowa 50401 | Mason City, IA

Our historical fiction pick for August is The Mademoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester. Meetings last about an hour and discussions are led by one of our staff bookworms. This is a casual, no-commitment book club. There is no fee but we'd appreciate you buying the book club book from us or making another purchase of your choice while you're here. This will help us keep events like this going. Copies of the book are available for purchase now in the store. Reserve your copy online here if you'd like: https://threebellsbooks.com/item/ZoOPMvNQhqY_dZ_D3EyuOQ
About the book:
How did a young Parisian mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in occupied France?
“A passionate, fiery tribute to a historical woman so extraordinary she almost defies belief.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Briar Club
Morocco, 1928. Marie-Madeleine Méric is not the kind of woman who stays quietly at her husband’s side. Polyglot, pianist, and pilot, she is a woman of many skills, with unconventional interests—like driving in car rallies—that earn her a daredevil reputation. But dabbling in intelligence work to assist her military officer husband and the French government helps her recognize who she is at heart: an adventurer.
Paris, 1936. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, Marie-Madeleine is living in France, her marriage now in shambles, when a chance encounter with an enigmatic spy turns her life upside down. He recruits her to help build a resistance network, and she conceals her identity—and gender—as she navigates a perilous double life.
Eventually, she steps into the role of leader of what is now known as Alliance, despite the naysayers who doubt in a woman’s ability to do so. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away for both Marie-Madeleine and the agents under her care. At the helm of Alliance, she achieves seemingly impossible feats of espionage that help turn the tide of the war. But the most impossible, and dangerous, feat of them all? Falling in love.
New York Times bestselling author Natasha Lester beautifully brings Marie-Madeleine Méric Fourcade’s story to life in this powerful, heartbreaking tale of resilience that reminds us what it means to cherish those we love and fight for them with every breath.