Really excellent read - I have a personal interest in Josephine Baker because I live near Chateau Milandes. Josephine is a faithful and bold fictional-led representation of a significant part of her life. Kudos to the author.

Josephine Baker is truly a fascinating historical figure. She is a singer, dancer, and a spy. However, this retelling of Josephine Baker did not have much spark. Some scenes dragged, and some were rushed. I could connect with the characters. I recommend this book for fans of Josephine Baker. However, I found Sherry Jones’s version to be more superior.

I enjoyed this. Thank you Net Gallery. I learnt new information and formed a clearer picture of Josephine.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. I have read many books on Josephine Baker and I am still surprised by the things she endured. This was a great book.

i really enjoyed reading this book, I liked the fictional novel based on fact. I enjoyed getting to know this version of Josephine.

I knew very little about Josephine Baker before starting this novel, and the book arose my interest in finding more about her.
She grew up in a racially segregated America and was forced to start working as early as 12 yo (and got married at 13), but dreamed of dancing and singing and become more than what she saw around. So at 19, already a divorcee, she sailed to Paris, which became her new home and France her adopted country. Here, she became an exotic celebrity by dancing and singing almost naked on famous stages, her fame extending soon all over Europe.
During the WWII, she helped the French Resistance through any means at her disposal, endangering herself. She also provided entertainment for the troups, refusing though to perform for segregated audiences. After the war, she was awarded the Croix de guerre and was a civil rights activist.

I think Josephine Baker's life was fascinating, how she escaped segregation and poverty and got so famous and did so much good!
What stopped me enjoying this book more was the capricious and very childish tone attributed to Josephine - I don't know if that was how she really was or how the author perceived her, but nevertheless, I will recommend this book as a means to get to know a little of her life and deeds, 'cos it's worth it, in my oppinion.

Really fascinating. I've always loved Josephine Baker, and this was an interesting way to pay homage to her legend.

This was a really engaging tale spun from the real facts of Josephine Baker's wartime service to the Allies. This historical fiction novel gives a sense of the kind of pain and pressure that Josephine endured from her earliest days, over which she found a way to triumph--on her terms. A born entertainer, she refused to be held back by the forces of segregation, injustice, and poverty as she pursued her destiny of being a dancer, even though she had to go to Paris to do it. When war came, she was in a unique position to be a military operative.

This book adds a new perspective to the vast collection of WWII literature, memoirs, and historical fiction. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the chance to read a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley for a fair an honest review.

While I did enjoy this book, I felt that it wasn’t really what I thought it was going to be, and there really wasn’t much of a storyline. I know that sounds strange, so let me explain.

The beginning was good, and got me hooked, although the opening prologue of a lynching was shocking and not what I expected, and frankly, now having finished the rest of the book, doesn’t fit. I understand the tone the author was trying to set, and the beginning is dark, shows the racially divided America at the beginning of the 20th century, the America that drove Josephine to France. But once she got to France her life is portrayed as being all butterflies and rainbows, even during the war, which I found hard to swallow.

Don’t expect there to be a lot of spy craft going on. It is a fictionalized imagining of her life as a spy. Honestly the majority of the book, at least the WWII part, has Josephine traveling across North Africa entertaining troops. There is mention every now and then of her having a hand in the politics of the region, being friends with the various local rulers in the region. I understand that most of what she did during this time is unknown, but it was really just sort of glossed over.

The book is well written, it flows well, and I don’t have issue with short chapters. But the story jumped very quickly from the US to France to the war. Not a lot of details given as to how she got involved in the resistance.

In all honesty, this book reminded me of books I used to read as a kid that I would find in my Grandma’s attic, where they would make movie stars the lead characters in novels. I remember a series of mysteries “starring” Betty Grable. Overall not a bad book, but just not as detailed as I usually enjoy. It’s a shame that more isn’t known about Ms. Baker. She was an amazing person who we can’t let history forget.

Thank you to a Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for allowing me to preview this book.

Such a fascinating life, made even more fascinating by this well-written and intriguing novel. Recommended.

This could not have been more timely, having recently watched a documentary on this great woman!

Josephine 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.

I didn't know too much about Josephine Baker before reading this book, but this fictional account of her life made me research her online and she lived quite a fascinating life. This book focuses on her work with the French Intelligence Service during the War. The author did a great job of describing the time period and the story moved along at a quick pace.

Josephine Baker is an american woman who flee the racial injustice of her country for Europe. She will spend the rest of her life in France. She was a dancer,singer but also a spy. She liked her life in France where she felt accepted despite her color and when world war 2 start she decided to join the resistance and help them in their fight against the Nazis.
She seems to be a strong woman, brave who fight for what she believes.

I already knew a little of her story. In this book the Author shares mostly about her works in the Resistance.
I have a some difficulties to get through this book, I think it's the way it is written the story went too fast sometimes, sorry.

I had always heard tales of the great Josephine Baker. This is a close up look at her and her legacy written to draw you in as though you were there. I really enjoyed this story.

Not really knowing much about Josephine Baker, this was an eye-opening look at a brave, courageous woman. From racially-segregated America, Josephine travelled to Paris as an entertainer, wildly popular and beloved. As the Nazis closed in on France, Josephine became both soldier and spy for the life she believed in. Recommended and an excellent read.

I thought this book was a wonderful story. Fiction based on fact it tells of the bravery of Josephine Baker who was a member of the French resistance during World War 2. Josephine was born into a racially segregated America.- St Louis. The story tells of her life from living in abject poverty to becoming a successful dancer and performer which took her to New York and then onto Paris. Josephine loved the hedonistic lifestyle of Paris but with Hitler's rise to power she wants to defend the Liberty, Equality and Fraternity that she holds dear in France.. Her homeland represented fear, humiliation and misery. She joins the French Intelligence service. This takes her from France to North Africa. During her travels she forms long lasting friendships and finds love.but all of these are challenged at various times.

Josephine Baker was decorated with Legion d'Honneur and the croix de Guerre and the French Government provided a 21 gun salute at her funeral. So much respect was felt for her.

'Josephine's story has woven fact with fiction which I feel has brought it to life The characters are very strong and it is clear that she was a brilliant women. Such bravery and grit to defend what she believed in. Having been exposed to humiliation growning up as a black, poor child in a whilte America France gave her the opportunity to blossom and she wanted to repay the country that she loved.

I felt that this was very poorly written. The narrative is of high school "report" quality, the areas of spoken dialogue just terribly amateurish in particular. I have been interested in Josephine Baker for decades but I just couldn't get into this style of story telling. It is told in the past tense, which is perfect for me, as I want to hear it in the guise of History, but the writing is just so very amateurish. It never grabbed me and I found it a real chore to carry on with it. I read a couple bios of Josephine many years ago and they were much better.

I enjoyed this book. I had heard of Josephine Baker but never knew about the amazing things she did to help France during WW2. I especially liked the appendix with the time line of her life. I found it quite fascinating. I was a little thrown off by the short chapters. I was reading on my ebook so I don't know for sure but it seemed like some chapters were only one page. I found that took me out of the story a little bit but chapter length is an entirely personal preference. I don't fault the book for that :) overall a really great addition to the historical fiction genre.

Josephine by Eilidh McGinness is Fact based novel. What follows is a brief description.



Josephine Baker was decorated with the Legion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre with Palme. At her funeral the French Government provided a 21 gun salute, the only American born woman to be so honored.

Fiction based on Fact this novel follows the work carried out by Josephine Baker during World War 2 for the French resistance.

Born into poverty in a racially segregated America, Josephine flees to France. She embraces the hedonistic lifestyle available in Paris of the Roaring Twenties

Overall, I found the novelization to be a bit off putting especially when the author attempts to recreate Josephine's early years in the states. The dialogue seems almost based on old American films about African American speech patterns and behaviors. While I love Josephine Baker’s story I’m hungry for the real truth of what she never chose to reveal to us. Somehow this book is an even more watered down versions of the earlier biographies and autobiography.

I can clearly see how much the author admired Josephine and her attempts to honor her memory are honorable.

biography, France, historical-fiction, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, dance, spies

Josephine's beginnings are brought out in disgusting clarity portraying the horrors that irrationally frightened men do to others and make it exceptionally clear that it was not just fame and fortune that pushed her to leave the US, but a desire for freedom that she could not find in the country of her birth. Of course, her need to dance and aspects of her career are clearly presented, but not as the only important part of her legacy. Time is spent on how well she was treated in her adopted country and how that impacted her need to work to protect France from the evils of Nazism in any way possible and at any personal cost, including capture, torture, and death as a spy. As this is fictionalized biographical history, there is significant time spent on her private life and is appropriate to the story. I knew that she had been decorated as a war hero by France and that she had been a spy for the Resistance, but this book made it more real. Not a book to be missed!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from BooksGoSocial via NetGalley. Thank you!