Over the holidays I checked out a number of books for my husband. He was relegated to the recliner for a time, recovering from some knee surgery and wanted something to read to pass the time. A big fan of Lee Child, he read everything we had in the library so I checked out "The Foreign Correspondent" by Alan Furst. It came highly recommended by a patron who said it was the best espionage book that he had ever read. Unfortunately, Roger could not get "into" the book, but he suggested I read it because of its historical content. Folks, it is the best espionage book I have ever read!

Alan Furst espionage novels are set in Europe during the years immediately preceding World War II. He frequently uses Paris as his backdrop because of his love of the city and because he says every spy organization imaginable was operating in Paris before the war. "The Foreign Correspondent" revolves around the exploits of Carlos Weisz, a correspondent for Reuters News Service. Weisz is an Italian ex-patriot and member of the Italian resistance. He writes articles for the anti-Facist newspaper, "Liberazione". The novel begins with the assassination of the newspaper’s editor and his mistress during a tryst in a Paris hotel. The Italian secret police, OVRA, murdered them as a warning to the other contributors to the "Liberazione". As you can imagine, this incident causes a major crisis for Carlos and his compatriots. Who will be next? Should they keep publishing? Who else are they putting at risk?

Carlos’ love interest is Christa von Schirren. They broke off their relationship when she married a German aristocrat, ironically for security and stability. Her hatred of the Nazis leads to her involvement in the doomed German underground. A Reuter’s assignment takes Carlos to Berlin where they renew their love affair. As a favor to her, Carlos smuggles information, which is damaging to the Mussolini government, out of the country. When Carlos asks her why she risks her life for this cause, she answers, "How can I not?" As time goes by (get it—"Casablanca"), her involvement in the resistance endangers her life, and Carlos makes perilous concessions to other foreign interests in order to save her.

Besides Paris "The Foreign Correspondent" takes the reader to many sites of danger and resistance in pre-war Europe— Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War, Nazi Germany, and Mussolini’s Italy. I could not read this book without thinking of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca". The novel has that kind of atmosphere about it. It contains enough tension and suspense for an Alfred Hitchcock movie and even includes a sinister spy, wearing a rubber raincoat and lurking about in rainy Paris with water dripping from his hat.

The atmosphere and historical setting of "The Foreign Correspondent" is terrific. Furst’s historical research is right-on. He does a marvelous job of setting a scene and getting his facts straight. As my husband suggested, some knowledge of pre-war European history might be helpful and increase a reader’s enjoyment of the book, but if you like "Casablanca" you should enjoy "The Foreign Correspondent". At present the library has one other book by Alan Furst. Others are on order.

"You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by."

"As Time Goes By" music and words by Herman Hupfeld

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