Michelle Young

The Spy Who Came in from the Burning Picassos Working undercover for the French Resistance, Rose Valland witnessed the destruction of 500 precious artworks by the Nazis.

I loved Greydon Carter’s Vanity Fair and am so delighted to give his publication @AirMail.news the biggest scoop from my book The Art Spy! Check out my article “The Spy Who Came in From the Burning Picassos.” Link in Bio. It’s also in Greydon’s email blast today 😍. buff.ly/C1keAP2

A friend sent me this photo of The Art Spy, a summer reading pick from a Swiss magazine, published by the Barnes & Noble-like chain of Switzerland!

"An enticing spy saga filled with art, war battles and LGBTQ representation,
The Art Spy couldn't have come at a better time."

16 Nonfiction Books Our Readers Are Loving Right Now “A powerful, dramatic portrait of unsung wartime heroism.”

Bookbub included The Art Spy as one of "16 Nonfiction Books Our Readers Are Loving Right Now"! A reader says, "A terrific book, detailing an unsung Resistance hero. Highly recommended.”

Glad to be in such great company! www.bookbub.com/blog/nonfict...

Now that is so cool!!!! Thank you so much!!

She Spied on the Nazis and Saved a Civilization’s Soul | BookTrib. The Art Spy subtitled The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland is the result of four years of dedicated, immersive research by award-winning journalist, author,…

My favorite part of this very thorough review of The Art Spy on @Booktrib.bsky.social is that the author cited my 61 pages of extended endnotes!

Michelle Young (@michelleyoungwriter) on Threads I could not have written my book The Art Spy without the resources of the nypl, where I have a desk as a scholar at the main branch at Bryant Park. Check out this video they made documenting my proce...

I could not have written my book The Art Spy without the resources of the NYPL where I have a desk as a scholar at the main branch at Bryant Park. Check out this fun video they made documenting my process!

www.threads.com/@michelleyou...

The Observer named The Art Spy one of 12 must-read art books for summer 2025, writing "An engrossing narrative of courage and espionage in Nazi-occupied France...both a riveting history and a tribute to quiet heroism in the art world...an essential read." buff.ly/iSzFBYp

The Art Spy with Michelle Young Podcast Episode · The Atlas Obscura Podcast · 07/17/2025 · 29m

Loved recording this podcast with Atlas Obscura and its founder Dylan Thuras! Most of the best interviews have been from outside legacy media. People like Dylan and Hrag from Hyperallergic instinctively know what the story is and how to package it. buff.ly/s8qRG2b
Also listen here: buff.ly/WJCzHqQ

A BIG congratulations to my dear friend @lauriestories.bsky.social on the release of her new book The Aviator and the Showman about Amelia Earhart’s marriage to publisher George Putnam. It’s got it all: sex, death & mystery. I watched her write this book and it’s going to be huge!! amzn.to/4lPD3gb

Thank you! I’m so excited. Am told 400 people are coming 👀

Holding the print version of my NYTimes book review of The Art Spy this Sunday morning here in the Berkshires! Out today! Honored that Rose Valland’s brave and heroic story is known to more and more people as my cross country/ cross continents book tour continues through the end of the year!

Summer Author Series | Michelle Young, The Art Spy - The Mount | Edith Wharton's Home | Lenox, MA On July 7 & 8, Michelle Young presents The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland. Based on troves of previously undiscovered documents, The Art Spy chronicles…

I’ll be kicking off the Summer Author Series & speaking 3 days in a row at The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home where I got married, starting tomorrow! edithwharton.org/event/michel...

THE ART SPY is out in the UK! Thank you @listentotimesradio.bsky.social for having me on with @hugorifkind.bsky.social to launch the book in the UK! I had a blast talking about Rose Valland's spy years and her British partner Joyce Heer.

Let me know how to help!

The Art Spy An excerpt from THE ART SPY by Michelle Young, the extraordinary untold tale of WWII resistance hero Rose Valland and the art she fought to protect.

Read a new excerpt from The Art Spy in The New Historia and learn about Rose Valland's early years and what motivates her to eventually become a spy in WWII

Fire Island denizens: I’m speaking about The Art Spy at the Fire Island synagogue today at 11:30!

Thank you!!!

BREAKING NEWS! The Art Spy has been longlisted for the American Library of Paris Book Award, along with 7 other incredible books!! Finalists to be announced in September. Paris is certainly on my mind, as I'm flying there on Monday.

THE ART SPY. The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland Book talk by Michelle Young, New York and Paris - Fritz Ascher Society In this book talk, author Michelle Young will present WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland (1898–1980), an unlikely heroine who infiltrated the Nazi leadership in Paris during World War II to save the…

I'll be doing a live Zoom talk with the The Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art at noon today! Register and join me here! fritzaschersociety.org/exhibition-e...

“But if we become a society distanced from the cost of war, the romanticism of war may take the form of a self-righteous justification for the use of force. Will nations only desire peace when the risk of war is real?”

Crazy to think I wrote this in 2012

I remain convinced he was visiting me from the afterlife and wasn’t ready to leave us yet. Last year I had another dream where he came back down to the lobby to visit us.

I actually don’t believe in ghosts or the afterlife but these visits from my grandpa are my one exception ❤️ 3/3

My God, What Have We Done?: My Grandfather and Hiroshima Untapped Cities founder Michelle Young recounts the story of her grandfather's survival of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

I often think of the dream I had a few days after he died 12 yrs ago. I found him in the lobby of a big hotel. Every person sat at a solo table with an old school telephone. He told me he was waiting for a call to tell him he could go upstairs. I gently told him it was ok to go upstairs now 2/3

Last year I had another dream where he came back down to the lobby to visit us.

I actually don’t believe in ghosts or the afterlife but these visits from my grandpa are my one exception ❤️ (3/3)

Every person sat at a solo table with an old school telephone. He told me he was waiting for a call to tell him he could go upstairs. I gently told him it was ok to go upstairs now. I remain convinced he was visiting me from the afterlife and wasn’t ready to leave us yet.(2/3)

My God, What Have We Done?: My Grandfather and Hiroshima Untapped Cities founder Michelle Young recounts the story of her grandfather's survival of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Thinking of my grandfather today, Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor, who would have been 100. I miss him terribly still 12 years after he died www.untappedcities.com/my-god-what-...

Also if you have time, reviewing it on Amazon, Goodreads or other places is immensely helpful. Hoping for this book to have long life :)

Michelle Young on THE ART SPY "The true story of a World War II resistance hero."

Over at my Substack, @michelleyoung.bsky.social talks about her research behind "the true story of a World War II resistance hero, Rose Valland, who was an art historian inside the museum the Nazis took over to loot art through."

joepompeo.substack.com/p/michelle-y...

GASP it’s the coveted orange Amazon bestseller flag for The Art Spy!!!

Word of advice to authors: I religiously don’t look at customer reviews because they will make you crazy (experience from my @untappedny world) but I needed to grab my bio today off Amazon and found this!

My creative direction: “make me look as buried as possible in books” 🤣