Love historical fiction with a dash of mystery and friendship? You won't want to miss my chat with Suzanne Nelson about her compelling new novel, THE LIBRARIANS OF LISBON. Set in World War II Portugal, this story follows two female spies navigating a glittering world of exiled royalty while carrying out dangerous missions. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and join us as Suzanne shares the fascinating real-life inspirations behind her characters and takes us on a journey through the glamorous yet perilous streets of wartime Lisbon.
Jennifer Vido: What drew you to set your novel in Lisbon during World War II?
Suzanne Nelson: Before I wrote this novel, I knew very little about Lisbon and Portugal’s role during World War II. Once I learned that Portugal was neutral during the war, and that it was a “playground” for Allied and Axis spies, pieces of the story began to fall naturally into place. Lisbon, Estoril, and Sintra also became these surreal social meccas for Europe’s exiled royalty, celebrities, artists, and writers. People like the Prince of Romania, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Peggy Guggenheim, and Marc Chagall stayed in this area, hobnobbing in some of Lisbon’s and Estoril’s most opulent hotels and gambling at the elegant Casino Estoril. But while this glittering atmosphere of glamour existed, people from occupied Europe were also pouring into Lisbon seeking asylum and an escape route from Hitler’s horrifying regime. So as some people wined and dined, others lived in a state of fear and desperation. It was that dichotomy, and the story possibilities it opened up to me, that helped pave my pathway for writing THE LIBRARIANS OF LISBON. In addition to that was the role Portugal played in the wolfram trade during the war. Wolfram (a mineral mined from the metal Tungsten) played a vital role in the manufacturing of artillery and machinery during the war, and both the Allied and Axis powers vied for an upper hand in Portugal’s wolfram trade. I knew I needed to include that in the story. The wolfram trade isn’t an aspect of the war that many people know about. I certainly didn’t until I started doing research into it for this book!
Jen: Selene Delmont and Beatrice Sullivan are fascinating characters. How did you craft their journeys, and were they inspired by any real historical figures or events?
Suzanne: What became essential in crafting their stories was making sure that their dual storylines converged in an important and meaningful way, and that their friendship played a key role in decisions they made regarding their missions. In some ways, they reverse roles in their friendship over the course of the story, which made it more interesting and allowed for some interesting plot twists.
Both Selene and Bea are very loosely inspired by several women spies who worked for the Allies during World War II. In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt created the IDC (the Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publication) to help gather intelligence on the Axis powers and also to help preserve and protect rare books and manuscripts facing destruction by the Nazis. Scholars and librarians, like the real-life Adele Kibre and Maria Josepha Meyer, were recruited by the IDC for espionage work overseas. Kibre ran a division of the IDC in Stockholm, Sweden, gathered aerial maps, artillery manuals, and information about Germany’s bombing raids, and sent thousands of reels of microfilm back to the United States for processing. Maria Josepha Meyer operated in wartime France, collected vital information about the Nazi’s looting of libraries and bookshops, and worked with resistance groups to document the Nazi’s activities in occupied Europe. These spies helped to inspire Bea’s character. For Selene’s character, I researched spies who used their beauty and charm to gather information, like the real-life Marie Christine Chilver and Aline Griffith. Chilver worked for the British SOE and helped train future agents by “testing” them to see how much information they might give up to a beautiful woman. Griffith was sent to Madrid as an agent, where she used her skills as a charming socialite to gather information about the Nazi’s movements.
All of these spies were extraordinary women. It was the idea of them, and the way they operated, that served as inspiration for Bea and Selene. If you want to learn more about them, read Kathy Peiss’s Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II, and Elyse Graham’s Book and Dagger: How Librarians and Scholars Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II. Aline Griffith also wrote a series of entertaining novels based on her own time as spy, including The Spy Wore Red.
Jen: Espionage and romance are key themes in your novel. How did you weave these elements together to create a compelling narrative?
Suzanne: Because of the uncertainty and atmosphere of danger in times of war, people tend to feel a deeper need for connection and love. Spies lead a particularly lonely existence, especially when they take on aliases and fictitious lives. That’s part of the reason why it felt natural to give Selene and Bea love interests, and what made it even more compelling was the knowledge that any romances they did have would have been tinged with the danger of discovery and exposure. Balancing the espionage and romantic elements of the narrative was challenging at times, and I asked myself as I wrote which element needed to be at the forefront of any scene. Making sure that the romances played key roles in the story arc also helped me weave in those elements. And (really) romance between spies is just plain fun to write! James Bond wouldn’t be half as entertaining if he didn’t have his paramours!
Jen: Your depiction of wartime Lisbon is rich and evocative. How did you go about researching the historical backdrop for the story? And, what was the most surprising discovery you made about the city during your research?
Suzanne: For my research, I read many books and journal articles about Portugal, and in particular, Lisbon during the war. Neill Lochery’s Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-1945, is a fascinating non-fiction book, and it helped me tremendously in getting a thorough overview of the city during this time period. I also studied Lisbon travel guides and maps from the time period, and even found some primary sources in articles written in Life magazine from the early 1940s. Last November, I was fortunate enough to travel to Lisbon to see the city firsthand, during the same time of year that Bea and Selene were in Lisbon themselves. I visited all of the locations I included in the novel, and that helped solidify the city in my mind and gave me a sense of the “flavor” of the city itself. One of the most fascinating places I visited was the Museum Aljube Resistencia e Liberdade, the Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom (https://www.museudoaljube.pt/en/). This museum takes a deep dive into Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar’s dictatorship, the Estado Novo, which ruled Portugal from 1926-1974, an astonishingly long time. It highlights the terrifying ways in which censorship and control of the media played in essential role in Salazar’s establishment of power. Salazar’s administration during World War II was dedicated to the country’s neutrality, but there were a lot of morally grey areas created by the dictatorship, and this allowed for Axis spies and the Nazi’s Gestapo to wield some power within Lisbon’s social structure as well.
Tens of thousands of refugees came to Portugal, especially Lisbon, during the war, but what surprised me was learning about the difficulties many of these people faced in living in and leaving Portugal once they arrived. In November 1939, Salazar issued Circular 14, which restricted the entry of “stateless” persons into Portugal. Unfortunately, Circular 14 effectively denied many Jewish people entry into Portugal. The refugees who had already entered Portugal prior to 1939 (or who entered after despite Circular 14) sometimes waited for months, or even years, for the proper paperwork to leave for the United States, Canada, Brazil, or other countries. Many of these people weren’t permitted to work in Portugal while they waited, and because the Gestapo and the PVDE (Salazar’s secret police) operated in Lisbon, they didn’t know who they could trust. Although Portugal was a safer place to be than occupied Europe, often refugees still experienced loneliness, distrust, and fear for their futures as they waited to depart from Lisbon’s ports. This is something that’s so important for all of us to keep in mind, with refugee crises continuing to happen all over the world today.
Jen: The friendship between Selene and Bea is at the heart of your story. What do you hope readers will take away from their relationship?
Suzanne: Female friendships are such a crucial part of women’s lives, and there is nothing as essential and powerful as the bonds between women. There are always those friends who seem to know us even better than we know ourselves, who you can go for years without seeing, but then reunite with after decades apart and pick up just where you left off, whether it be in laughter or in tears. I wanted portray Selene and Bea as having that kind of evergreen friendship. They meet as younger, more naïve women, and then see each other through the brutal realities of war that change them both forever. I hope every woman is fortunate to have at least one tried-and-true friendship like that in her life. I’m grateful for mine each and every day.
Jen: What key advice would you offer to new writers?
Suzanne: One of the hardest lessons I had to learn as a young writer was that I couldn’t just write for myself. I had to also keep a prospective audience in mind. When I was first honing my writing skills, I wrote some cathartic adult short stories, and even some young adult novels that I had to “get out of my system,” which were never published. What I hadn’t realized yet was that I needed to write on topics that readers wanted to read about if I wanted my work to find an audience. This doesn’t mean writing to the market. If you try to do that, in my opinion, you might never be able to get ahead of book trends. Instead, write for readers; keep your audience in mind as you write. What is the age range of your readership? What will keep them turning pages? I wrote several work-for-hire manuscripts under pseudonyms at the beginning of my career, and that process taught me how to plot and keep the forward momentum in a story. It’s easy to get caught up in the beauty of language and the act of writing itself, but make sure it’s also serving the purpose of taking the reader from Point A to Point B. Above all else, try to write every day in some form or another, and be persistent! Even the most successful writers face rejection, even after decades of writing. Don’t give up. Make connections with other trusted writers for a support community, and they’ll sustain you through the disappointments and help celebrate your successes.
Jen: What upcoming books are you most excited to read?
Suzanne: Oh, I could go on for pages and pages with this question. I’m going to have to try to limit myself to a handful, but in truth, my reading wish list is over a hundred books deep! Patti Callahan Henry’s The Story She Left Behind, about mothers and daughters and one woman’s discovery of a book written by her mother in a secret language, comes out on March 18th. This one grabbed my interest when I heard Patti Callahan Henry discussing how Beatrix Potter wrote a book in a secret, made-up language when she was a child, which helped give Henry the idea for this novel. Laura Resau’s The Alchemy of Flowers, which is a contemporary, adult fiction reimagining of The Secret Garden, complete with a mystical garden, a grieving woman, and a possible ghost. It comes out July 29th. Kristin Harmel’s The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, coming June 17th, is about a jewel thief who helps fund the French resistance alongside her mother during World War II. It sounds utterly fascinating and fresh. And then there’s Jane Healey’s The Women of Arlington Hall, about women codebreakers during the Cold War, which comes out July 8th.
Jen: Can you share a fun or unexpected fact about yourself that might surprise your readers?
Suzanne: There was a time in my high school years when I wanted to be a Disney animator. I even wrote a letter to the Walt Disney company asking for advice on how to become an animator (I actually received a lovely, very encouraging letter back, which I’ve kept since I was sixteen!). Ultimately, I decided I was better at writing than drawing. But I still love art and, when I’m not writing, am creating wet and needle-felted paintings, playing with acrylics and inks, or sculpting with felt or clay. I love working with my hands to make things. Who knows? Maybe there’s an Etsy shop in my future. Ha.
Jen: What are your favorite ways to engage with your audience online?
Suzanne: I love hearing from readers and connecting with them on Instagram, Facebook, and on Booktok. I’m a big reader and try to make reading recommendations whenever I can, too. There are so many talented writers in the world, and we’re all on this journey together. As a fellow bookworm, I love being able to share other authors’ books with my audience. I’m also happy to do online book talks with book clubs whenever my schedule allows. For anyone interested in having me chat with your book club, there’s a form you can fill out on my author website to request a Zoom book talk.
Jen: Thank you for stopping by to share an inside peek into your latest release!
Suzanne: Thank you so much! I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to share more news about my next historical fiction book with readers soon, too! Be sure to stay tuned on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates and announcements.
A WWII Story of Love and Espionage
The romance of Casablanca meets the spy world of Ian Fleming in this WWII love story for the ages.
In a glittering city of secrets and shadows, love is the most perilous gamble of all.
Lisbon 1943. As two American librarians are drawn into a city of dangerous subterfuge and unexpected love affairs, they are forced to choose between their missions and the men they love. Brimming with evocative writing and meticulous research, award-winning author Suzanne Nelson spins a web of secret aliases, sweeping romance, and great sacrifice. Inspired by real historical figures, this is the captivating story of two remarkable young women, their bravery and heartache, and a friendship that withstands the ravages of war.
With World War II raging across Europe, best friends Selene Delmont and Beatrice Sullivan are enlisted by the US Intelligence Office and sent to Lisbon—a sparkling city and hotbed of trouble, harboring exiled royalty, hunted refugees, and spies trading double-edged secrets in seductively dark corners. In official capacity, librarians Selene and Bea have been recruited to catalog the vast mountain of information gathered by the Allies, but by night, both women are undercover agents tasked with infiltrating the Axis spy network.
Where Selene is confident and brash, Bea is bookish and careful. Selene longs to escape her family’s impossible expectations and embrace her independence, while all Bea wants is to heal from heartbreak and keep impulsive Selene out of trouble. But soon, both librarians are caught up in treacherous games of deception alongside two of Lisbon’s most notorious men—the outcast Portuguese baron, Luca Caldeira, and the lethal double agent, Gable. As Selene charms her way through lavish ballrooms and fêtes with Luca, Bea is plunged into Gable’s shadowy underworld of informants.
Victory depends upon the joint success of their missions, but when an unexpected betrayal throws a carefully spun web of lies into chaos, everything they’ve sacrificed is put at risk. As Selene and Bea are pushed to their breaking points can their friendship, and their hearts, survive the cost of war?
Women's Fiction Historical [Zando, On Sale: February 4, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781638931652 / eISBN: 9781638931669]
Librarian Spies!
When she was in kindergarten, Suzanne Nelson jotted down in a school keepsake album that she wanted to be a “riter.” Though she clearly had issues with spelling, she persisted, composing cryptic poems about rainbows, fairies, mud, and even "Star Wars" in spiral notebooks all through elementary school. When she was seventeen, she filled four journals with her handwritten first novel, titled “The Dream Keeper.” To escape her chores, she often lied to her parents about what time her shift started at the local fast food joint so that she could spend an extra hour writing in the parking lot in her mom’s faded Buick. Her first published novel was The Sound of Munich, followed by Heart and Salsa, The Ghoul Next Door, Cake Pop Crush, and Dead in the Water. She is a shameless fan of “The Sound of Music,” Hershey’s kisses, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane Austen, and can often be caught daydreaming of romping about gothic castles in lovely Victorian gowns. She was born in New Jersey, grew up in Southern California, attended college in Texas, and spent eight years as a children’s book editor in New York City. She now lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut with her family.
Jennifer Vido writes sweet romances set in the Lowcountry, earning acclaim as the award-winning author of the Gull Island series. Her debut novel, "Serendipity by the Sea," secured the prestigious Best First Book award from the New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Contest. In 2024, Vido's talent garnered further accolades, with Baltimore Magazine readers naming her Best Local Author in their annual Best of Baltimore poll, while the Baltimore Sun acknowledged her with an Honorable Mention in their Best of 2024 Author category. When not writing fiction, she interviews authors for her weekly Jen’s Jewels column, leads water exercise classes, and directs a legal nonprofit. Currently residing in Maryland, she and her husband are proud parents to two grown sons and a rescue dog named Fripp.
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