The Woman in the Spotlight

When everyone is watching, survival will be her greatest performance ... A gripping, utterly absorbing novel about survival and art as defiance on the 1930s Berlin stage, from the bestselling author of The Woman from Saint Germain

Berlin 1932: With Germany in chaos, Monika Varády, a young Bavarian actress, arrives in the capital with high hopes - to one day, just maybe, be a great star of the stage and screen.

But with the rise to power of Hitler and his brutal Nazi regime, the theatre scene falls under the control of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, becoming a minefield of political machinations that Monika, in love with a Bolshevik Jewish actor, must now navigate. As her star rises from the smoky bars of the demi-monde to the city's prestigious stages, most dangerous of all is Goebbels himself who takes a more-than-artistic interest in her.

While staying true to her beliefs and to those she loves, Monika must employ all the skills of her craft to outwit Goebbels and with her close friends, to resist the regime's attempts to rewrite German theatre and culture, by hiding in plain sight - even in the glare of the spotlight.

PRAISE

'A rich, slow-burn thriller that grips the heart and shakes the soul' BLANCHE D'ALPUGET

'Monika Várady is a poster girl for our own troubling decade, as much as her own ... The very inspiration we need' LUKE DEVENISH, author of The Heart of the Ritz

'Immediately absorbing ... A unique perspective on artists who remained in Germany as a totalitarian state closed in around them, featuring sensational, unforgettable characters' BOOKS+PUBLISHING

© 2026 HarperAudio (Lydbog): 9781038102621

Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 28. januar 2026