It's unusual for me to read two books back to back set in the same time period but when I saw that this novel was finally available at our towne library, I had to check it out! I read most of it during our vacation and finished it up this morning. It's based on historical facts but the author points out that just the characters are based on the actual people during WWII and the SOE. Everything else is entirely created by her excellent writing skills. I've read every novel this author has written...she is one amazing historical fiction writer.
STORY SUMMARY
In 1946, just after Christmas, Grace Healey is walking to work through Grand Central Station in NYC, when she trips on an abandoned suitcase left near one of the benches. She's curious so she opens it. She finds 12 photos of 12 different women...some in army uniforms! She takes the photos with her. As she leaves the station, rushing to work, she comes upon an accident in the streets. An older woman has just been struck and killed while crossing the street.
Little does Grace know, at that point, that the woman is the owner of the suitcase! She was Eleanor Trigg, a director of the women's unit in the Special Operations Executive (the SOE) which sent female secret agents into Occupied France from England. Twelve of the women, the ones in the photos, were sent to northern France. Most were couriers and radio operators helping the French Resistance against the Germans. They never returned home and their whereabouts and fates were a mystery.
Grace wants to learn the truth about these women....and she is drawn into it by the story of one of the women named Marie Roux. Marie was a young, single mother of a little girl about four years old named Tess whom she left behind with an aunt so she could do her duty as a secret agent.
Grace, a recent widow, runs into her husband Tom's best friend Mark. Mark is actually a lawyer in Washington, D.C working on the War Crimes Trials. He is interested in helping Grace learn the truth about the female agents. He happens to know people in the Pentagon.
What Grace finds out about the British government and the SOE will lead her to uncover truths that the world didn't know....but in which the world needed to learn.
MY THOUGHTS
This book is very believable! In fact, the author has a notes section in the back along with a discussion section of questions and she has definitely done her research. She bases Eleanor Tripp on the real-life Vera Atkins and the missing agents. She gives the titles of two books readers can check out to learn about this very real piece of history that we don't learn about here in the United States history classes.
The character development is superb. I loved the characters of Josie and Marie and I felt drawn to Eleanor's passion and underlying reason for wanting to thwart the Germans and their horrible acts against human beings. I won't reveal why Eleanor felt so passionate about doing damage....that would ruin things for you, but pay attention to her character in the beginning of the book.
I liked that the author brought out that the girls defied common expectations of the female gender for that time period (the 1940s/WWII).
The main characters, Grace, Marie, and Eleanor, are all from different countries with different backgrounds...yet all have some commonalities. I loved this and it helped to push the story forward.
This story points out that during war times, the war often makes regular people do extraordinary things.....either in trying to survive, or sacrificing a life to save someone else's. All of the women in the book have choices to make. The choice that Josie made brought tears to my eyes. (the author does point out in her notes that the fates of the women in the story are entirely fictional).
If you enjoy reading books set in the WWII or 1940s era, you will enjoy this story.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.
2 comments:
Going on my list. Sounds good.
It was great, Susanne!!
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