Ava Glass (a pseudonym for an internationally bestselling author who has sold over two and a half million copies of her books worldwide) is a former civil servant and journalist who once worked closely with spies. She lives in the same town in the south of England as Christopher Steele. But this is, of course, a coincidence.
Her new spy novel is Alias Emma.
At CrimeReads Glass tagged six of her "favorite, stranger than fiction, utterly gripping, non-fiction books about real spies," including:
A Woman of No Importance, by Sonia PurnellRead about the other entries on the list.
I’d heard of Virginia Hall before I read this book but I knew little about her, which is ludicrous because as a child she once wore a bracelet of live snakes toschool, and that alone is reason to make learning about her life a priority. A society girl from a wealthy family, Hall lost her leg in a hunting accident while still young, and perhaps that propelled her to break free of the expectations of her background and choose another path. When World War II broke out, she travelled to France to volunteer as an ambulance driver, but that was just the start. Somehow, she flew under the Vichy radar, working with the French Resistance and the British secret service to undermine and destabilize the Nazi regime with such success that she became the Germans’ most wanted Allied agent in France. Her extraordinary bravery and resilience are inspiring, and Purnell’s writing flows. This is one of those books that make you believe in heroes.
--Marshal Zeringue