When I tell people that my debut novel is set in Lisbon during WW2, most people give me a confused look. ‘Why Lisbon?’ they ask. ‘Wasn’t Portugal neutral during the war?’
It was. Well, kind of.
Officially, Portugal was neutral, with a dictator as opposed to democracy as he was to communism. Dr António de Oliveira Salazar’s policies were conservative, nationalist, and Catholic and while he distanced himself from German fascism/Nazism, he did consider Germany the last bastion against communism, so maintaining any semblance of neutrality was a balancing act that was perhaps necessary for its survival: lean too close to the Allies, and Germany would give Spain the green light to invade. Lean too close to Germany and Portugal could kiss some, if not all of their colonies goodbye (all of which eventually gained their freedom, but that’s a different discussion).
Wartime Lisbon became a real-life city of spies. It was a magnet for exiled European aristocrats, businessmen hoping to capitalise off the war (from relative safety), desperate refugees fleeing the Nazis (some with help from Portuguese diplomats like Aristides de Sousa Mendes and Carlos Sampaio Garrido), artists, smugglers, diplomats, and of course spies.
The German and British embassies were more-or-less across the street from each other at the time and several real-life spies operated out of Lisbon, or visited the city to meet their handlers. The most famous of which was the charismatic triple agent, Duško Popov, whose lifestyle (and actions) some say was the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s 007. It shouldn’t surprise, then, that Popov’s codename was Tricycle – officially because he was running a trio of double agents, although some claim that it was because he always had a beautiful woman trailing on either side of him.
He had charm and glamour, as well as a keen eye for intelligence. He was, in fact, a lot more glamourous than the Spaniard, Juan Pujol García, (codename Garbo) who, despite his degree in chicken farming, hated chickens. Garbo was recruited as a double agent in Lisbon to pass on misinformation to the Germans (although operated mostly from the United Kingdom).
I imagine that someone living in Lisbon during the time could go to the cinema and watch the German newsreels one day, and the next see the British one depict the same event with a different outcome. It must have been a field day for the intelligence communities.
Likewise, there really was a “secret” passageway between Lisbon’s main train station and the Hotel Avenida next door. Imagine how easy this made the process of sneaking into the city for a dodgy meeting, and exiting the country before anyone knew they were in the country!
And let’s pause and talk about the oldest profession. Let’s follow the “what-ifs”. What if, when sailors dock in port they visit a house of ill repute? Maybe after months at sea, and a battle or three, they get far too comfortable in the presence of a local woman.
What if that local woman is passing on any useful information to the Germans. And what if they in turn, pass on news of a potential target to the Luftwaffe base in the South of France? See where I’m going? And what if this wasn’t fiction?
Sure, it was espionage on Portuguese soil, and Salazar’s surveillance and state defence police, the Polícia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado (PVDE), officially maintained a neutral stance towards foreign espionage – as long as it didn’t intervene in Portugal’s internal policies… In June 1943 when the Criminal Code was finally amended to criminalise espionage of foreigners against 3rd parties in Portugal, although in fact, the practice lasted long past ’43.
With all this going on, how could Lisbon not emerge as its own character?
In City of Spies, my debut thriller, Special Operations Executive agent Elisabeth de Mornay (codename Cécile) had to identify and break a German espionage ring targeting Allied ships before more British servicemen die. Under the guise of Solange Verin, a Frenchwoman of independent means, she gathers intelligence from friend and foe, forging links with the very people who she’s been fighting. The closer she comes to discovering the truth, the greater the risk grows. But in a city where no one is who they claim to be, who can she trust?
LISBON, 1943: When her cover is blown, SOE agent Elisabeth de Mornay flees Paris. Pursued by the Gestapo, she makes her way to neutral Lisbon, where Europe's elite rub shoulders with diplomats, businessmen, smugglers, and spies. There she receives new orders - and a new identity. Posing as wealthy French widow Solange Verin, Elisabeth must infiltrate a German espionage ring targeting Allied ships, before more British servicemen are killed. The closer Elisabeth comes to discovering the truth, the greater the risk grows. With a German officer watching her every step, it will take all of Elisabeth's resourcefulness and determination to complete her mission. But in a city where no one is who they claim to be, who can she trust.
Information about Mara Timon can be found on her website.
You can also follow her on Twitter @maratimon.
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