Celadon Books is excited to announce the acquisition of narrative nonfiction FAMILY OF SPIES by Christine Kuehn. Crafted from family confessions, long hidden photos and correspondence, FBI files, and archival research, FAMILY OF SPIES is the genealogical detective story of Kuehn's grandparents, who were swept up in the Nazi party and sent by Joseph Goebbels to Hawaii as spies. They lived an extravagant lifestyle there, while helping to lay the groundwork for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Kuehn's grandfather was the only person ever convicted for the bombing; Kuehn's father denounced the family, eventually serving the U.S. in the Battle of Okinawa.
"Untold, fresh World War II narratives are so few and far between," says VP Editorial Director Ryan Doherty, who acquired the book. "But I was blown away at how unbelievable Christine's Kuehn's family story is: her aunt romancing with Goebbels (!), her family sent to Pearl Harbor as Japanese spies (!), being hunted by the FBI, then her father heroically turning his back on his own family to join the U.S. and fight in the Battle of Okinawa. The book unfolds as a detective story as Christine is tipped off to the hidden past of her family, and she investigates her own FAMILY OF SPIES."
Doherty acquired the book at auction from Susan Canavan at Waxman Literary Agency (World English).
