Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, award-winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads into the unsuspecting world, she now spends her time writing fiction, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books . . . to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
FF: Can you tell us more about the true story that inspired this book? What did the writing process look like?
Absolutely! The Spy Keeper of Marseille is inspired by the real adventures of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the historical head of Alliance, France’s largest intelligence network during WWII. She helped found the organization with an acquaintance, a military officer known in Alliance by the code name Navarre, and was his second-in-command as they formed the group. Most of their founding members were other military men . . . who certainly didn’t expect to have to answer to a woman. But Marie-Madeleine proved herself to them all and became known as la patronne: the boss. One of her best weapons was the fact that her adversaries continually underestimated her, seeing only a beautiful young woman, a mother, and never thinking she was capable of being more than that.
For this story, the process began by reading a biography of Madame Fourcade, taking notes on all the amazing (and occasionally unbelievable) escapades she was involved in, and then trying to condense them down into one cohesive narrative. It required leaving out a lot, consolidating a lot of real-life people into a single character, and condensing time as well. Because of all those considerations, and the fact that I was inventing a romance for her, I opted to create a fictional name for her as well. The editorial process was a huge help, too, as we pared the story and characters down still more. And I hope the result is a cast of characters and a story that give honor to the brave men and women who really fought these battles for freedom.
FF: Music plays an important role in the story. What drew you to include it as part of Zelie and Marcel’s journey?
I’d been binge-watching videos of concert musicians who give surprise concerts in public places and was enamored with the idea of having a hero who did the same. I thought it would be especially fun to put such a hero in WW2 France, where audiences were made up of German soldiers as well as Frenchmen. What if my hero actually chose not to keep performing on stage because of that? What if he found a way to serve and resist with his music? I did a lot of reading about the arts, including music, in Paris especially and found several historical people whose roles I combined into Marcel.
And my decision to do this made me fairly giddy when I learned that Marie-Madeleine was in fact a gifted pianist and had been accepted at a premier conservatory—though she ended up choosing marriage instead. Even so, having that as part of my fictional Zelie’s backstory provided an instant bonding experience for Zelie and Marcel. And as any music lover can attest, there are things we can say through music that we cannot always say in words, and that too was something I loved exploring through their relationship.
FF: What themes do you focus on in this book?
One of the biggest themes is worthiness—being worthy of love, worthy of respect, worthy of the paths we are called to. Zelie understandably struggles with all of these after a rocky marriage that ended in her husband’s death in the war, being cast in a role no one expected her to take, and having to decide over and again whether it’s worth it, when it means separation from her children.
And then, on the other side, we have themes of trust. Can we trust the Lord to make clear our path? Can we trust Him even when everything goes wrong? Can we trust that what He gives is enough?
FF: What will fans of WWII historical fiction love about this story?
WWII fans are going to love the rich French setting, learning more about both the Resistance and intelligence gathering, and especially this peek into how a young mother helped change the tides of the war and became one of the most important assets for the Allies. Most of all, they’re going to love seeing a soul-deep romance with a swoony hero and a bold heroine play out against real historical adventures.
FF: How does faith influence the characters?
Marcel’s faith has always been strong and deep, though as he’s freed from a POW camp, he realizes that he’d fallen into thinking that God had been trapped there with him, that he’d put Him in a box. Zelie, however, has drifted away from the faith she’d been raised in, so for her, her adventures also serve to remind her that in the darkest of nights, God is there. When she is trapped, God is there. When all seems lost, God is there. It’s in learning to lean on Him and trust Him that she figures out how to do the work He’s called her to.
FF: What do you hope your audience learns from The Spy Keeper of Marseille?
My prayer is that as readers get to know Zelie and Marcel and read of the incredible sacrifices that they make, we’ll all pause to remember that though we cannot control our circumstances, we do get to choose our reactions. The choice is always before us—so do we choose light or darkness; boldness or shadows; love or loneliness; ourselves or others? Do we choose to play the song of our hearts even when all seems lost . . . or do we let our melodies fade away?
