The Librarians of Lisbon by Margarida Engracia is a beautiful blend of historical fiction and heartfelt storytelling. The author does a remarkable job of creating a compelling atmosphere, painting a vivid portrait of Lisbon during the war. The city itself almost feels like a character in the story — with its labyrinthine streets and hidden corners, providing a backdrop for the librarians' courage and resourcefulness. Engracia also excels at creating strong, multidimensional characters who feel real and relatable, each of whom brings their own strengths, flaws, and backstory into the narrative.

Thank you to NetGalley for this digital ARC

This was great historical fiction that will keep entertained and pulled into the story.

Selene and Beatrice are best friends, librarians, and spies. They work for the U.S. Intelligence Office and are sent to Lisbon in 1943 where World War II is at full throttle. Their official jobs are to catalog the information the Allies gain, but when night drops on the city, they try to get information from the Axis spy network. Both spies must take large risks for their country. Is there anyone they can trust? What relationships will crash and burn?

The Librarians of Lisbon is a historical fiction thriller that started out great and then fizzled as the story continued. Nelson did a wonderful job creating the backdrop of World War II female spies and the troubles they went through. I liked how many of the characters were based on real people who did similar things to support the Allies’ cause, but there was something missing in the end. This was a different WWII story than usual, so that was a saving grace. This will be a good read for some but not all historical fiction fans.

This captivating novel is WWII espionage at its finest!

Set in Lisbon during the Second World War, Librarians Selene and Bea are each on their first mission working against the Nazis to expose a mole in the neutral country of Portugal.

This fast-paced book had everything an avid historical fiction lover dreams of. It had romance, secrets, covert operations, and all set against the backdrop of a country brimming with spies. The story reminded me of the movie Casablanca and boasted a similar film noir style that all classic movie and WWII historical fiction lovers will enjoy.

If you are a fan of spy fiction, you will enjoy this book.

Many thanks to the author and NetHalley for the ARC. My review is voluntary and all thoughts are my own.

Content warnings: suicide, war, death, miscarriage, sexual content, violence

The Librarians of Lisbon by Suzanne Nelson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Zando Projects
Pub Date: 2-4-25

Thank you @netgalley, @zandoprojects, and @suzannenelsonbooks for this eARC.

Selene and Bea arrive in Lisbon together, but their missions soon take them in different directions. They're ultimately brought back together in a situation neither expected.

"They talked for the next few hours, and the world beyond the library ceased to exist. As Selene sat beside Bea, the books cast a brief spell that returned them to Boston. To the versions of themselves before the war, still strangers to their solitary, hidden destinies in Lisbon."

I really enjoyed the alternating perspectives of Selene and Bea as they immersed themselves in the world of espionage. Their constant uncertainty about who to trust, what to reveal, and what to keep hidden kept the tension high throughout the story.

"This was her battlefield —this was the mission she’d agreed to. She was skilled at espionage, and she could get better. She could make a difference, but there would be a cost to every move she made. And if the cost were human life? Could she be at peace with that?"

This is the first WWII story I've read set in Portugal. I'm excited to dig deeper after finishing the book, reading the Author's Note, and seeing the Further Reading available.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get invested into this story so I DNF’ed it. The history was interesting and the premise of the story was promising, but it felt flat to me, which is sad because I love historical fiction books, especially those based on WWII. I’m really bummed about it, but perhaps I will come back to it when it is published and see if my views are still the same. On to better books!

Thanks to the publishers for the free ARC via NetGalley. All opinions and statements are my own.

Disappointing take on women who become super spies overnight, fall in love, only to be met with disaster around every corner.

“ These women, their determination, and their heroism should never be forgotten. ”

Bea and Selene are American librarians recruited to Lisbon for the Allied effort during WWII. Although Portugal remained neutral during this time, the country was filled with Allied and Axis spies. The county inevitably played a pivotal part for refugees and resources during the war. This story takes us on whirlwind missions for both Bea and Selene; they are both fierce in pursuit of doing their parts to helping defeat the Nazis and gain the upper hand for the Allies . Filled with secrets and betrayal, love and heartbreak, this is an exciting tale for lovers of espionage and WWII history.

It’s clear how much research the author put into this novel; each main character having being inspired by real historical figures. There are also some surprise real life historical figures intertwined to the plot line as well. While Lisbon was very intense at that time, you can also feel the excitement written on the pages for our 2 protagonists as they navigate their perilous missions.

Librarians of Lisbon by Suzanne Nelson is a historical fiction novel set in WWII Portugal. In the story, Bea and Selene take jobs as spies that require them to travel to Lisbon for their first mission. Unbeknownst to each other, they are working different aspects of the same mission.

I found the premise of this very unique as most of the WWII historical fiction I have read takes place in England, France or even Germany. It was interesting to see the perspective of the neutral Portugal in this book.

The Librarians of Lisbon is a beautiful historical fiction novel about the women who worked behind the scenes during WWII to help end the war. Socialite Selene was cut off from her family when she refused to get married, so after working as a librarian in Boston, she joined the OSS to help with the war effort. Her best friend Bea decides to join as well. After all, her brother is serving, and her old flame is lost to the war, but maybe she can find them. Now both are pulled into the world of Nazis, lies, and espionage as they navigate Lisbon in the 1940s. Who can they trust when they can't tell one another their mission?

Told from the POVs of Selene and Bea this novel is full of friendship, love, and betrayal during a war. I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction novels. The characters are believable, and you can't help but root for them.

Two words. Books & Spies. Best friends Selene & Beatrice are enlisted by the U.S. Intelligence Office and sent to Lisbon to be librarians. Liberians who are also are undercover agents tasked with infiltrating the Axis spy network. They are both caught up in separate games of cat and mouse but are they working together or against each other? They both know there is a leak somewhere in the network.

I am going to claim this is a must-read historical fiction book of 2025!

Thank you NetGalley and Zando Projects for an ARC. #LibrariansofLisbon #NetGalley

I couldn't put this book down! It's captivating historical fiction about two heroines who are undercover agents in Lisbon during World War II. I was delighted by the swift pace, the intrigue and secrets, the twists and turns, and the thrilling plot-- it all kept me turning the pages. The characters, Bea and Selene, come alive on the page, and I deeply cared about their friendship, rooting for them along the way. I also found the romance elements to be emotionally compelling and beautifully done. This was such a fascinating time in history, and I learned so much about the important role of the women spies. The setting of Lisbon was wonderfully atmospheric and enticing, brought to life with all the senses. Highly recommend this book!

I love a good historical fiction, especially when they center on points that usually are overlooked. Women resistance fighters during World War 2 was a really interesting choice for this novel and I really enjoyed it. I loved the Victory Red lipstick reference and that the setting was in Lisbon, which is different than most of the other WW2 historical fictions.

My heart broke for Selene and Luca, but death is a part of war. I didn’t love Bea and Gable, especially because Bea seemed so self righteous as times. She knew her friend was on a secret mission and still got involved, thinking she knew better. But the complexity of the characters only added to the story. A really good read!

The books follows two women throughout their venture after enlisting to offer help in the effort of WWII. It’s changed between each POV, offering a glimpse into their life in Lisbon. Both women are close friends before their effort and at first it seems they are both in different paths and later it all connects. This book has espionage, romance, finding oneself, grief, loss and hope. It did give Casablanca meets the spy world. I enjoyed reading the twist and turns, it was fast paced. Reading the efforts women did to help with the war and the risk that librarians took to save documents, books and history is extraordinary. I throughly enjoyed reading this and would pick it up again. It was well written and the research at the end of a great add to bring the story to life.

In books, Lisbon always sounds exotic and captivating with that special mysterious something. During World War II, Portugal was neutral but heaved with covert operations, spy networks, intelligence gathering, code breaking, sanctuary for refugees and the mineral wolfram.

In The Librarians of Lisbon, deceptions are rampant and no one truly knew who was on which side. American librarians were sent there to infiltrate and rescue documents with the MI5. Amongst them were Bea and Selene who were dear friends. Both had secrets and were extraordinarily adept at their intelligence gathering, though extremely different personalities. Gable and Luca had secrets, too, and sparks ignited.

Oh, how I loved the beautifully rich writing! The setting is beguiling, too. However, "romance" was on the steamy side and distracted from what was otherwise a gorgeous novel riddled with interesting information and characters.

The author's notes are extensive and wonderfully informative, loaded with fascinating history.

My sincere thank you to Zando Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this engrossing novel.

Two women are sent to Lisbon, Portugal during WWII to preserve books and manuscripts with the possibility of other "missions". Bea and Selene both quickly become involved in espionage work and love affairs. They were both characters that I enjoyed reading about. I appreciated having a story from both viewpoints. It was a little confusing towards the end because their storied intertwined but you don't find out how until the very end. Some parts of each their relationships were a little cheesy for me, but I have never lived through a war so maybe I don't understand the intensity! Bea and Selene were also put in many situations where they needed to use skills learned on "the farm" but we were never really told enough about the farm for me to feel convinced they would know all these skills. A little more background at the beginning of the story would have made the story more believable to me. I did not know about the wolfram mines in Portugal or how that impacted the war. That part of the story was really interesting and made me want to know more about that. I really appreciated that the prologue started with Bea and Selene meeting in Lisbon in their old age. Since I knew this, I knew they would both survive their experiences and I liked that because I really loved both of them and didn't want to see them hurt. Overall a good peek into an unknown part of WWII involving the sale of wolfram. and women in espionage in Portugal during WWII. Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy of this book!

3,5* rounded up to 4*. I loved the suspense of this novel! I found the setting in Portugal interesting. Indeed, I did not know so much about what was going on in this country during WWII. A nest of spies, whom.to trust, whom to avoid? The plot was full of tension all throughout the novel. What irritated me however was Selene and Bea's immaturity as far as romance in this world of spies. Their training was definitely lacking in this respect as well as their psychological development. I still enjoyed this novel very much, but I could have done without the extent of the romance.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.

This is a dual POV, WWII spy story taking place in Lisbon. While it was interesting to read a book that takes place in Lisbon (which is not frequently a location for WWII historical fiction), this story fell a little flat for me and wasn't as engaging as I had hoped.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Librarians of Lisbon is told from the point of view of Beatrice and Selene. This is a story of secret identities, espionage, and risk. WWII, even in Lisbon and even for two librarians, wasn't without its dangers. Like any WWII story, this book is filled with a deep soul aching heartache that makes it very hard to reach but just as important to read and witness the accounts. While the names might be changed, while the journey or story might be fictional, these events are part of history and as such we must heed the warnings they carry.

This isn't my usual read, not since the chapter of my life when I became a mother myself, but this book was well written and the story is an amazing one. Suzanne did a great job and I am grateful for the opportunity to read it.

I received an electronic copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Overall a well written and well researched story about female spies in Lisbon during WWII. However, the dual love story part of this book did not read authentic to me and almost felt like just a patch in addition to the main plot.