Synopsis: Josephine Baker is born into poverty in racially segregated America. Desperate to escape she flees to France where she embraces the hedonistic lifestyle on offer for those who dare, in the Paris of the Roaring Twenties.
Hitler's rise to power in Germany forces her to face her true self. Determined to protect the Liberty Equality and Fraternity she has found in France, she becomes an 'honorable correspondent' for the French Secret Service. So, beginning a journey which will take her from the Red Cross Shelters in Paris to the cruel deserts of North Africa. She will find love and enduring friendship but she must also face dangers which will threaten not only her life but all she holds dear.....Can she find the courage to fight for what she believes in....no matter what the cost?
This could not have been more timely, having recently watched a documentary (April 2020) on this great woman!
Josephine Baker is the stuff of legends - one of those people whose life experiences one could not imagine belong to a single person. On these pages, McGinness brings to life the story of Josephine from her early childhood to her time in Paris and just after World War II.
The chapters are short and punchy, and I appreciated the dates as chapter headings to give us a sense of where we were in Josephine's story - sometimes we jump ahead by a few years. We get the full sense of segregated America - in fact the opening chapters grab you and hold you firmly in place.
Whilst this may be historical fiction, I urge the read to discover more about Josephine - for her story doesn't end there.
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