A Life on Water - Ardis

A Life on Water
by Timothy Paleczny

Inspired by true stories of espionage in Lisbon in World War II, the new book A Life on Water from author Timothy Paleczny transports readers to Lisbon during wartime, to a remote village lost in time, and to life on an old trawler off the coast of Portugal.

It is fall 1941, the Allies are losing the war. While her fellow students sign up to serve, marine biologist Ardis Lowney pursues the nesting sites of the Kemp's ridley-the Holy Grail of marine biology. But there's a cost. She agrees to carry a radio and monitor Portuguese waters for enemy activity-in effect, become an Allied spy. How dangerous could it be?

Under cover as a visiting academic, Ardis gamely assumes her role as a spy in Lisbon. She takes command of a refitted fishing trawler that she names the Water Dog. She brings equipment to shoot newsreels-a new tool the Allies use to reach movie-goers.

Before Ardis can get out on the water, she must navigate the shifty landscape of neutral Lisbon, the once-regal capital of Portugal that is now the gateway in and out of war-torn Europe for spies on all sides, displaced aristocrats, and Jewish refugees, who wander the streets as they await passage to the Americas.

Ardis has a new friend, Carlos, a priest, whom she meets for dinner at the Tivoli Hotel, where friends and foes alike, even in uniform, eat and drink. Ardis gets a scare when a German officer approaches their table. She holds her breath as he says hello. Carlos makes the introductions. To her surprise, she hits it off with Manfred, a member of the enemy's diplomatic corp. But seeing his Nazi insignia up close frightens her. She discerns that Carlos and Manfred are dealing in wolfram, which the Nazis need to feed their war machine.

Ardis reports this to her superior, who calls it a breakthrough. To obtain details on Nazi supplies, he orders her to follow Carlos to a remote village in the north of Portugal where Carlos will give a sermon about the miracles of Fatima (his cover). She volunteers to go along to film it (her cover). Ardis fears that everything Carlos knows about her may become known by the Nazis.

In the village, Ardis meets Xisco, a stable boy, who learns of his heritage as a Marrano Jew. The Marranos is a sect that practices in secret, a holdover from the Inquisition that officially ended only a hundred years earlier. A grisly revelation disrupts peace in the village. A payment for wolfram in the form of stolen gold puts Xisco's mentor, Sam Meyer, in conflict with the secret police in Lisbon, and upsets Carlos who recognizes his role in the crime.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ardis recruits Carlos and Xisco to accompany her on the Water Dog to the Algarve. On the voyage, they encounter a string of natural wonders and enemies-both mythic and very real, including a U-boat that fires on the Water Dog. To complicate matters, Manfred charms his way on board, putting Ardis and her crew in grave danger. What could come of her research as a marine biologist or her mission as a spy?