The Island of Sea Women  by Lisa See. Drawing on her Chinese-American family roots, the prolific See has written bestselling historical novels set both in China and in America. Her books feature strong female characters and a nice sense of culture; her last novel, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane,  tells the story of a mother and daughter who are part of the tiny Akha hill tribe known for the tea leaves it grows.

 

With her newest book, See has shifted her focus to Korea for a sweeping family saga centering around two lifelong friends. It's an Indie Next pick for March, and the bookseller review offers a nice summary of the plot:

   

Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler by Lynne Olson. Author Olson is no stranger to writing about World War II, with titles like Last Hope Island and Citizens of London on her impressive resume. This time out, she tells the little-known but inspiring true story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, a 31-year-old Frenchwoman who headed the largest spy network in occupied France. In 1941, the strong-willed, independent Fourcade - born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour - became the leader of a vast intelligence organization, the only woman to serve as a chef de résistance during the war.

 

No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence - including providing American and British military commanders with a 55-foot-long map of the beaches and roads on which the Allies would land on D-Day. The Gestapo pursued them relentlessly, and Fourcade herself was captured twice by the Nazis. Both times she escaped - once by slipping naked through the bars of her jail cell - and continued to hold her network together even as it repeatedly threatened to crumble around her. Quite a story, no?