The Art Spy

The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland

By: Michelle Young

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

A riveting and stylish saga set in Paris during World War II, The Art Spy uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the world's most treasured masterpieces.

On August 25, 1944, Rose Valland, a woman of quiet daring, found herself in a desperate position. From the windows of her beloved Jeu de Paume museum, where she had worked and ultimately spied, she could see the battle to liberate Paris thundering around her. The Jeu de Paume, co-opted by Nazi leadership, was now the Germans’ final line of defense. Would the museum curator be killed before she could tell the truth—a story that would mean nothing less than saving humanity’s cultural inheritance?

Based on troves of previously undiscovered documents, The Art Spy chronicles the brave actions of the key Resistance spy in the heart of the Nazi’s art looting headquarters in the French capital. A veritable female Monuments Man, Valland has, until now, been written out of the annals, despite bearing witness to history’s largest art theft. While Hitler was amassing stolen art for his future Führermuseum, Valland, his undercover adversary, secretly worked to stop him.

At every stage of World War II, Valland was front and center. She came face to face with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, passed crucial information to the Resistance network, put herself deliberately in harm’s way to protect the museum and her staff, and faced death during the last hours of Liberation Day.

At the same time, a young Free French soldier, Alexandre Rosenberg , was fighting his way to Paris with the Allied forces battling to liberate France. Alexandre's father was the exclusive art dealer for Picasso, Matisse, George Braque, and Fernand Léger. The Nazis had taken everything from their family—their art collection, their nationality, their gallery, and their home in Paris.

Vivid and atmospheric, The Art Spy moves from the glittering days of pre-War Paris, home to geniuses of modern culture, including Picasso, Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Le Corbusier, and Frida Kahlo, through the tension-riddled cities and resorts of Europe on the eve of war, to the harrowing years of the Nazi occupation of France when brave people such as Valland and Rosenberg risked everything to fight monstrous evil.

In the spirit of Hidden Figures, with the sweeping narrative of The Rape of Europa and the depth of The Resistance Quartet, The Art Spy is an extraordinary tale of a female hero whose courage and tenacity in a time of violence and terror is an inspiration for us all.

©2025 Michelle Young (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

Fascinating and inspiring story

I first learned of Rose Valland from the 2014 movie “The Monuments Men” in which the character based on Rose is played by Cate Blanchett. I was intrigued to learn more about her story and was delighted to find this book. It is a story full of twists and turns, disasters and lucky breaks, and the amazing courage, tenacity, canniness, and dedication of one woman facing seemingly impossible odds during the four years of Nazi occupation of France. The narrator does a superb job, letting the author’s words and the inherent drama of the story speak for themselves, Highly recommended to anyone interested art history and this critical period in the 20th c.

French resistance in WW2 and Art history. Gripping and well researched

Nonfiction that reads like a novel. Great detail and scene setting. Lays out facts in an engaging way.

Little known story of extraordinary hero

This story tells of the workings of art historian, Rose Valland, from inside French museums to resist the Nazi looting of art in France. The story tells of her daring work both during the war and after the war.

Learned a lot about stolen art WW II in France

The heroism & persistence by Rose Valland & others to track & save art stolen by Nazis from France was incredible.