The Librarians of Lisbon    by Suzanne Nelson Order:  USA  Can Zando, 2025 (2025) Hardcover, Softcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson In her Preface to The Librarians of Lisbon, Suzanne Nelson explains the part neutral Portugal played in World War II as 'a sanctuary for refugees, a wellspring of wolfram ... and a hotbed of Allied and Axis spy networks.' The mineral wolfram was critical to the manufacture of ammunitions. In the 1993 Prologue, two very old and dear friends, Selene and Bea, meet in Lisbon after fifty years apart, and Bea reveals what really happened the night of murder on a beach. They had met as Boston librarians - Selene Delmont, a beautiful heiress disowned by her family and reserved Beatrice Sullivan who had only enlisted in the Office of Strategic Services (the first US intelligence agency) to be with her friend. Now, in 1943, they are both in Lisbon. Selene uses her beauty and wiles to ingratiate herself in high society, with disenfranchised wolfram magnate Luca Caldeira. Bea has a safer role (at least at first) in desk work filing information and microfilm gathered by the OSS. Because she does such good work, Bea ends up working with double-agent Gable, and not just in the office. Both friends care much more than is safe for the men they work with, but can they be trusted? There's betrayal and tragedy, followed by a long separation at the end of the war - and a secret revealed half a century later. Nelson delivers a fascinating historical novel based on Portugal's role as 'a safe haven and escape route for hundreds of thousands of Europeans' fleeing Hitler's genocide. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Historical books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews