Escape from Paris: A True Story of Love and Resistance in Wartime France

In this thrilling WWII history from Harding (Dawn of Infamy), two lives collide in a story of bravery, sacrifice, and love. Joe Cornwall was an American B-17 crew member flying missions into German territory. Yvette Morin was a member of the French Resistance. On July 14, 1943, Cornwall participated in one of the Allies’ largest bombing missions. His plane was shot down, and he went on the run in Nazi-occupied France. Resistance members helped him reach Paris, and that’s where he crossed paths with Morin. Long-term caretakers of Hôtel des Invalides, the large historic veterans hospital and Napoleon’s tomb in the center of Paris, the Morin family had been using their roles as keepers of the keys to the complex’s secret passageways and underground tunnels to hide members of the French Resistance and downed Allied airmen. It didn’t take long for the American airman and the beautiful French Resistance fighter to fall in love, before tragedy separated them. Drawing on interviews with a still-feisty Yvette, now 90, and unfettered access to the Joe’s papers and letters, Harding masterfully recreates thrilling details of air combat, the intrigue of the French Resistance, and the horrors of war. This masterfully told and dramatic tale will keep readers spellbound until the final page. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group. (Oct.)