228:, South Africa, to England to be reunited with her sea-captain future husband. She was intrigued by her stewardess, who "was polite, efficient and distant.... No warning bell rang... to tell me that twenty years later, waking and sleeping, I should try to recall every word, every intonation and every gesture of this woman." Nevertheless, landing at
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sponsorship. This created a natural basis for the author's empathy with her subject. Masson sought out anyone who had known
Skarbek and found her most complete informant in Kowerski. Her account of the information that she obtained from him is so detailed that it reads like a verbatim transcript of
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Madeleine took her surname "Masson" from one of the Baron's subsidiary titles. While pregnant with her first child, she was informed by the Baron's mistress – from whom she had mistakenly supposed he had parted – that not only were they still linked, but it was her fortune that paid for the Baron's
248:
One of the strongest impressions I gained from listening to the talk of
Christine's friends was that she hated any form of oppression, not only for patriotic reasons, but because she translated her own craving for freedom of thought and action into every human sphere. Anything that threatened her
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on 13 June, Masson inquired about the full name of her stewardess and was told that it was
Christine Granville. A few days later, Masson was shocked to read in her morning paper that, on the night of 15 June, Christine Granville had been murdered in a London hotel. Subsequent days brought
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their conversations. To be sure, inaccuracies occasionally creep in, as when the author of the beautiful pastel sketch of
Skarbek is identified as "Pavli Kowska" – it was in fact the work of Polish artist
278:(1901–80). But the essential accuracy of Masson's text is attested by collateral sources. Additionally, she sometimes faithfully presents information that she does not fully understand, including some
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In subsequent years, as Masson sought to learn the fates of her prewar friends and wartime
Resistance comrades-in-arms, she fortuitously met people who had known Skarbek and her partner
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128:. She later recalled this period, during which she carried messages and helped escapees, as a time of "total horror". In later years, she helped Tim Buckmaster, son of
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antecedents". On a trip to Paris with her parents, 18-year-old
Madeleine met 40-year-old Baron Renaud Marie de la Minaudière. As she put it in her autobiography,
47:, "I was a small-town South African who was being offered Prince Charming on a platter, decked with yachts, châteaux, sable coats, jewels, townhouses and a
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firm. All the while, she wrote plays, film scripts, novels, memoirs, biographies. The most famous were her autobiography and her biographies of
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Masson's life story showed similarities to that of her biographee
Skarbek. Both were descended from banker's families, had
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elegant lifestyle. Any disturbance to their relations, it was made clear, would result in withdrawal of her support.
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The Spy Who Loved: The
Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville, Britain's First Special Agent of World War II
392:
The Spy Who Loved: The
Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville, Britain's First Special Agent of World War II
27:, was a South African-born English-language author of plays, film scripts, novels, memoirs and biographies.
152:, Masson met Captain John Rayner. After a courtship, they contracted a marriage that was to last 32 years.
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120:-descended Masson left GĂ©a Augsbourg, intending to return to South Africa. On the train to
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As late as spring 2007, Masson was busy revising an earlier novel about the German
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to a French banker, Emile Levy, and Lili, "a ravishingly beautiful creature with
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in the family (Skarbek's father; Masson's first husband), and had worked during
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237:'s (aka Christine Granville's) legendary wartime exploits and courage.
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468:, "Krystyna Skarbek: Re-viewing Britain's Legendary Polish Agent",
406:, "Krystyna Skarbek: Re-viewing Britain's Legendary Polish Agent",
93:, became the lover of the Swiss painter GĂ©a Augsbourg, got to know
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442:, D.S.O., LĂ©gion d'Honneur, Croix de Guerre, US Medal of Freedom
444:, London, Hamish Hamilton, 1975. (Republished by Virago, 2005.)
71:. She abandoned the aristocratic life and embraced Paris'
23:; 23 April 1912 – 23 August 2007), known professionally as
136:'s F (French) Section, prepare a biography of his father.
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that
Skarbek (or Kowerski) translated metaphrastically –
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liberty or that of anyone else became a personal issue.
438:, G.M., O.B.E., Croix de Guerre, with a Foreword by
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Madeleine Masson was born Madeleine Levy in 1912 in
208:Madeleine Masson died on 23 August 2007, aged 95.
429:obituary of Madeleine Masson, 15 September 2007.
343:obituary of Madeleine Masson, 15 September 2007.
159:, West Sussex, England, Masson started an early
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67:The shock of this revelation caused Masson to
523:South African emigrants to the United Kingdom
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474:, vol. XLIX, no. 3 (2004), pp. 945–53.
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216:Masson encountered one of her biographees,
518:South African people of Austrian descent
190:, France, and working on a biography of
75:, studied history and philosophy at the
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528:South African people of Jewish descent
165:Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma
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182:on 10 June 1944 of the villagers of
83:, wrote for the literary magazine,
412:, vol. XLIX, no. 3 (2004), p. 950.
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538:South African emigrants to France
155:While running the family home in
513:20th-century British biographers
124:, she was persuaded to join the
503:South African women biographers
1:
89:. She had an affair with a
45:I Never Kissed Paris Goodbye
454:, London, Macmillan, 2012,
175:(aka Christine Granville).
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233:sensational stories about
543:Writers from Johannesburg
533:French Resistance members
498:South African biographers
434:Christine: a Search for
373:Christine: a Search for
354:Christine: a Search for
220:, during a voyage on the
140:Personal life and writing
86:Les Nouvelles littéraires
257:heritage and a bankrupt
167:, and of the celebrated
144:During a trip to visit
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224:in May–June 1952 from
197:The Scarlet Pimpernel
51:equal to that of the
466:Christopher Kasparek
404:Christopher Kasparek
244:("Andrew Kennedy").
508:English biographers
436:Christine Granville
375:Christine Granville
356:Christine Granville
192:Baroness Emma Orczy
548:People from Bosham
432:Madeleine Masson,
371:Madeleine Masson,
352:Madeleine Masson,
276:Aniela Pawlikowska
130:Maurice Buckmaster
101:, and met writers
471:The Polish Review
460:978-1-4472-2565-2
440:Francis Cammaerts
409:The Polish Review
267:French Resistance
222:Winchester Castle
126:French Resistance
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299:Krystyna Skarbek
289:– into English.
269:—Skarbek, under
242:Andrzej Kowerski
235:Krystyna Skarbek
218:Krystyna Skarbek
173:Krystyna Skarbek
161:public relations
25:Madeleine Masson
17:Madeleine Rayner
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263:World War II
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150:Saint Helena
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114:World War II
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99:André Breton
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49:coat-of-arms
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37:Johannesburg
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493:2007 deaths
488:1912 births
427:Timesonline
341:Timesonline
230:Southampton
148:'s tomb on
482:Categories
419:References
394:, p. 321.
378:, p. xxii.
259:aristocrat
132:, head of
116:came, the
107:André Gide
31:Early life
287:literally
265:with the
226:Cape Town
79:, art at
293:See also
180:massacre
146:Napoleon
122:Bordeaux
77:Sorbonne
69:miscarry
41:Viennese
304:Poglish
212:Skarbek
188:Limoges
186:, near
184:Oradour
103:Colette
73:bohemia
458:
283:idioms
280:Polish
255:Jewish
171:agent
157:Bosham
118:Jewish
81:Munich
63:Career
53:Valois
310:Notes
204:Death
112:When
19:(née
456:ISBN
105:and
97:and
21:Levy
271:SOE
169:SOE
134:SOE
55:."
484::
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364:^
317:^
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109:.
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