Ida Cook was a prolific author whose literary career encompassed a substantial body of romance novels published under the pseudonym Mary Burchell. Her works frequently explored romantic themes that resonated with a broad readership. Cook was also a co-founder and president of the Romantic Novelists' Association, making significant contributions to the genre. Beyond her literary pursuits, Cook was involved in humanitarian efforts alongside her sister, demonstrating a profound commitment to social justice.
Leonora Culpane found herself transported from having almost nothing in her puse to the heights of unimaginable wealth. And even more incredible, a grim and unknown guardian had been given authority over her. Lora found it difficult to believe she was an heiress, but she would have traded every penny to have her father back! But, if the fortune brought with it excitement, pleasure and luxury, it also brought bewilderment, doubt, and - most astonishingly - real danger. Most important, can it bring lasting happiness?
Gala opera evenings. Sudden wealth and fame. Dangerous undercover missions into the heart of Nazi Germany. Standing up to the perils of the Blitz. No one would have predicted such glamorous and daring lives for Ida and Louise Cook—two decidedly ordinary Englishwomen who came of age between the wars and seemed destined never to stray from their quiet London suburb and comfortable civil service jobs. But in 1923 a chance hearing of an aria from Madame Butterfly sparked a passion in the sisters that became a vehicle for both their greatest happiness and the rescue of dozens of Jews facing persecution and death. Safe Passage is one of the most unusual and inspiring accounts to come out of the cataclysm of World War II. First published in 1950, Ida's memoir of the adventures she and Louise shared remains as fresh, vital and entertaining as the woman who wrote it. The Cook sisters' zest for life and genuine "goodness" shines through every page and explains why the leading opera singers of their day befriended and loved them. Even when Ida began to earn thousands as a successful romance novelist, the sisters never departed from their homespun virtues of thrift, hard work, self-sacrifice and unwavering moral conviction. They sewed their own clothes, traveled third class, bought the cheapest tickets during opera season and directed every spare resource, as well as their own considerable courage and ingenuity, toward saving as many people as they could from Hitler's death camps. Uplifting and utterly charming, Safe Passage is moving testimony to all that can be achieved when conscience and compassion are applied to a collapsing world.
