Review: Liberation

Title: Liberation

Author: Imogen Kealey

Publisher: 31st March 2020 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 370 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

The must-read thriller inspired by the true story of Nancy Wake, whose husband was kidnapped by the Nazis and became the most decorated servicewoman of the Second World War - soon to be a major blockbuster film.

To the Allies she was a fearless freedom fighter, special operations super spy, a woman ahead of her time. To the Gestapo she was a ghost, a shadow, the most wanted person in the world with a five-million Franc bounty on her head.

Her name was Nancy Wake.

Now, for the first time, the roots of her legend are told told in a thriller about one woman's incredible quest to save the man she loves, turn the tide of the war, and take brutal revenge on those who have wronged her.

My Thoughts

‘No wonder they’d sent her. German soldiers might stop and stare at her, but they’d never believe she was a spy. The best disguise we have is the assumptions other people make about us. Nancy knew that better than anyone.’

Imogen Kealey (Imogen Robertson) (Darby Kealey) have done a fabulous job in my opinion of co-writing this book. Being Australian, I am familiar with Nancy Wake and I found this account to be action packed and fast moving. Together, these two authors regale some of the heroic events that Nancy was involved in, taking place in France during WWII. Nancy was quite the heroine with many courageous acts in her efforts to defeat the Nazis. 

It is first interesting to consider a woman not only being sent out on these missions for the French Resistance in the first place, but also having men listening to and responding to her orders is quite something. That in itself is remarkable. Such strength of character to never cower from her attempts to liberate the French from occupation. 

This book gives a fast, action packed account of some of her exploits. Some readers found this interpretation to be too movie-like, but I really didn’t mind it. Being well written it was exciting and there were a range of characters that were well represented. Although literary liberties may have been taken to make for better reading, there is definite research undertaken here and all is accounted for in the Authors Note at the conclusion. So this is most definitely a fictionalised account of events as the ‘White Mouse’ (aka Nancy Wake) as she seeks to cause havoc among the Nazis. 

Being based on truth makes events truly inspirational in the face of such atrocities. This is  a well paced book and truly heartbreaking at times. I defy any reader not to get behind this eclectic group of resistors, being empathetic to what drove them to face the onslaught of Hitler and the Gestapo. If you enjoy tales set in World War II, would love to learn about a courageous Aussie who sought to assist in the liberation of occupied France, then this action packed, riveting account will surely entertain and educate. 

‘Did he really expect her to back off now? Start quivering in her shoes and leave it to the men to fight back? The Nazis had torn her life apart. It was a life she had fought hard to make and she loved it, and France and Henri, with her gut and her soul. They wanted her just to sit there and wait for someone to fetch it all back for her while she kept herself busy with a bit of typing?’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Code Name Hélène

Title: Code Name Hélène

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Publisher: 31st March 2020 by Simon & Schuster (Australia)

Pages: 464 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

February 29, 1944: I am about to jump out of an aeroplane for the first time … I don’t care that every man is looking at me as though I don’t belong. Besides, I’m hungover. And I think I might throw up …

In 1936 intrepid young New Zealand journalist Nancy Wake is living in Paris after witnessing firsthand the terror of Hitler’s rise in Europe, firing her resolve to fight against the Nazis. When Nancy falls in love with handsome French industrialist Henri Fiocca, no sooner has she become Mrs Fiocca than the Germans invade France and Nancy takes yet another name, a codename – the first of many.

As the elusive Lucienne Carlier she smuggles people across borders and earns a new name ‘The White Mouse’ along with a five million franc bounty on her head, courtesy of the Gestapo. Forced to flee France, Nancy is trained by an elite espionage group under the codename Hélène. Finally, with mission in hand, she is airdropped back into France as the deadly Madame Andrée. But the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed Nancy – and the people she loves – will become.

Based on the true story of an extraordinary woman who saved countless lives, Code Name Hélène is a thrilling tale of danger, intrigue, unfaltering courage, remarkable sacrifice – and love.

My Thoughts

Being Australian, I am familiar with Nancy Wake and the heroic events she was involved in during WWII in France. I find it interesting that this is the second book to have been released at the same time regarding Nancy. I read and thoroughly enjoyed ‘Liberation’ (review HERE) and although both focus on Nancy with similar events, they are quite different in their approach. Liberation is shorter and I found it to be more action packed. This book is longer and therefore has the time to delve deeper especially involving Nancy’s marriage. I appreciated both. I am a fan of Ariel’s having read and thoroughly enjoyed her book, ‘Flight of Dreams’ (review HERE) and knew she would do a fine job of capturing the essence of the enigma that was Nancy Wake. 

“You’re not the only English rat crawling these hills. I’ll get my weapons from someone else.” He pauses here, then leans in for the kill. “Non, you’re no rat like Victor and Patrice. You are la Souris Blanche, aren’t you?” The White Mouse.’ “But why would you even want to help? War isn’t for women.” I lean very close to him and lower my voice to a dangerous pitch. “And yet we suffer most in them.”

This is a fictional retelling based on real life events of Nancy Wake - the Australian woman who was a spy operating in France during WWII. Nancy was a formidable foe and Ariel takes you on a journey from pre war to its conclusion allowing the reader time to form a real understanding of who and what motivated this courageous woman. Such independence and strength of character, a woman who refused to take the feminine  backseat in this war, instead forging forward, taking a stand for those persecuted by the Nazis. 

“What just happened? I wouldn’t treat an animal that way, much less a human.” “That’s because you are human, Nancy. They are not. Or at least not anymore.”

Ariel has taken the time to build up a cast of strong characters who have interweaving relationships that allow the reader to really get invested at all levels. The strong factor I found in this version was the development of the relationship from beginning to end of Nancy with Henri - it was real and it was heart wrenching - I was invested .... I cared.  The dual timeline approach Ariel adopted allowed the reader to see the Nancy that fell in love and it opened a window to many personal encounters. 

Speaking of the dual timeline - you will either love it or hate it. Many reviewers found the jumping back and forth difficult to follow. I did not. There is something to be said for sequential delivery, however on this occasion, I believe Ariel did the right thing and those windows to the past helped to solidify your understanding of present day events. At times the story does slog through drawn out descriptions of wartime details but I was a fan of the socialite Nancy that I was not so familiar with as she trapsed around the continent. 

Ariel has certainly done her homework through loads of reading and investigation with the  ‘Author’s Note’ at the conclusion making it abundantly clear the lines of nonfiction and storytelling. All up this is a most worthy interpretation into the life of an amazing woman and must read historical fiction

‘The thing about lipstick, the reason it’s so powerful, is that it is distracting. Men don’t see the flashes of anger in your eyes or your clenched fists when you wear it. They see a woman, not a warrior, and that gives me the advantage. I cannot throw a decent punch or carry a grown man across a battlefield, but I can wear red lipstick as though my life depends on it. And the truth is, these days, it often does.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Liberation

Title: The Liberation

Author: Kate Furnivall

Publisher: 3 November 2016 by Simon and Schuster (Australia)

Pages: 560 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

Italy, 1945: as British and American troops attempt to bring order to the devastated cities, its population fights each other to survive. Caterina Lombardi is desperate - her mother has abandoned them already and her brother is being drawn into the mafia. Early one morning, among the ruins of the bombed Naples streets, she is forced to go to extreme lengths to protect her family and in doing so forges a future very different to the one she expected. But will the secrets of her family's past be her downfall? This epic novel is an unforgettably powerful story of love, loss and the long shadow of war.

My Thoughts

I have long wished to sample a Kate Furnivall book, and now I know why. It was amazing. ‘The Liberation’ is an epic tale. Long ... over 500 pages ... but gosh! Does it pack a punch! At no stage are you bored or does the story decline - tension and suspense will easily see you through these riveting pages.

“She didn’t recognise her own life any more. It was as if she had fallen into someone else’s and she needed a new map to find her way around it.”

Firstly there is the setting - post war Italy - how they survived one trauma (WWII) to be faced with an ongoing crisis of survival. Here is a tale of tragedy, as people are forced into things, against often insurmountable odds. What an amazing character Caterina is! Out to prove her father’s innocence and protect what remains of her family, you will be floored by her strength. She is a heroine in every sense of the word. In fact, each and every character has real substance, a strength and honour in their convictions and the lengths they will go to in achieving them. This is not a romance, but one cannot help but love the chemistry between Caterina and Jake.

“We think we know the people we love. But what if she were mistaken? What if the father she had loved all those years was not the man behind the bright laughing eyes and the easy way of smiling? What if she had got it all wrong?”

The way Kate Furnivall describes life in Italy, down to the smallest detail, truly captures all the fears and failings, love and compassion. Even though the war was over, its effects were still being felt and the fallout made surviving a struggle. Her writing is at times poetic in the rich descriptions of Naples and Sorrento and you will be lost back in time to this place and culture. You will be crawling over the rubble, running with the street kids and fearing for your life - such are the writing skills of Kate Furnivall.

“But here in the deep shade of old Italy, she could hear the ancient pulse of Naples, feel it vibrating in the smooth black lava slabs beneath her feet. Bombs. Gunfire. Death and starvation. Blood in the streets. Defeat and destruction.”

This is a fabulous book. A story filled with intrigue and violence, set against Italian passions of family and love. I highly recommend you embark on this journey with Caterina, dangerous as it will be, in an effort to both survive and honour all the good that remains in this war torn country.

“ the Allied Army had invaded to save the country from Hitler’s forces, but who would save Naples from itself when the soldiers were gone?”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Review: The Last Hours in Paris

Title: The Last Hours in Paris

Author: Ruth Druart

Publisher: 12th July 2022 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 443 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre:  historical fiction, World War II, romance

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

1940s: Elise is a young French woman secretly helping the resistance in German-occupied Paris. Sebastian is a young German soldier working as a translator. They meet, fall in love, and are relishing in the unforeseen happiness they have found in one another, despite being on opposite sides of the war. After liberation, however, the young couple is tragically torn apart, with Sebastian arrested by the French resistance and Elise captured and shamed as a ‘collabo’ by her own people, before being sent to Brittany for her own protection.

The lovers are parted, each believing the other to be lost forever. 

1960s: Elise and her 18-year-old daughter, Josephine, live in Brittany, France, with Brigitte, a gruff and bitter Frenchwoman who took Elise in after the war. Josephine has always been told that her father was a Frenchman who died when she was a baby—but when she discovers she is, in fact, the daughter of a German soldier, she travels to England to find out more about her real father. To her shock, she learns he is not dead, but living in the U.K. where he settled after the war and made a new life with his wife, Margaret, an Englishwoman who knows nothing of his past.

When Josephine reveals that her mother Elise is still alive, Sebastian must make the most difficult decision of his life: honor his duty to his new family, or return to his first great love?

My Thoughts

Much like her first book, While Paris Slept, this is a dual wartime historical fiction narrative with an enticing twist that poses difficult questions. Ruth has once again delivered her readers with a tale that is uniquely moving and sure to pull at your heartstrings. 

‘It's a funny thing, nationality. What does it really mean to be French? Or to be German?’

Inspired by family history, I loved the character of Sebastian - an ordinary man with unbearable choices. Forced to become part of the German army as a translator and in so doing, partake in an ethos he did not believe in. Elise became his reason for living. The Last Hours of Paris is about love, loss, sorrow and hope. Much like her first novel, Ruth takes you on a journey through Parisian war torn streets where near impossible decisions will need to be made. It will be difficult to have an ending that can avoid heartbreak. 

‘… he hardly knows himself. He's never been free to make his own choices. He

was an obedient son who became an obedient soldier. But there's more to him than that. He's a troubled soul.’

This is a story about all the victims of war and the ultimate cost of following your heart. Like I said, it raises difficult questions for which there are never any easy answers - but I love that it makes you think. Emotional turmoil involving family, lovers and in time, their children. This is a well written story ranging from the days of occupation, to liberation to the ramification of collaboration. Historical fiction fans are sure to find The Last Hours in Paris an appealing book. 

‘Not excuses, Élise. Reasons. When you get to my age, you see the world differently, you realise there's the story and then there's the story behind it … don't be so quick to judge.'

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: One Hundred Years of Betty

Title: One Hundred Years of Betty

Author: Debra Oswald

Publisher: 4th March 2025 by Allen & Unwin

Pages: 448 pages

Genre: General Fiction | Historical Fiction | Women’s Fiction

Synopsis:

One ordinary extraordinary woman living through a century of massive change, from the bestselling author of The Family Doctor.

Meet storyteller, feminist, eternally curious and phenomenally old. On the eve of her 100th birthday party, Betty tells us her story.

Born into poverty in pre-war London, and growing up fast during the Blitz, Betty grabs the chance at a bigger life by migrating to Australia. On board the SS Asturias she meets three people who will influence the course of her life – Pearl, a good-hearted party girl, Athena, a Greek woman on her way to marry a man she has never met, and Leo, a German Jew who lost his family in the war.

In Sydney, Betty is making ends meet as a waitress at the famous Trocadero dance hall when she stumbles into a rushed courtship with Donald, a wealthy businessman, and dedicates herself to being the ideal 1950s suburban housewife. But life has other plans for Betty, and soon she must find a way to do more than survive. 

This is the story of a strong, intelligent woman born too early in time to make the most of her talents without having to fight for everything. It's about the defining force of motherhood, the family we make, and how the determination to live life to the hilt, with all the joy and sorrow that entails, can lead to a life beyond one's wildest imaginings.

Set against a century of world events and social upheavals, Betty's story takes us to the frontlines of the anti-war protests and the women's liberation movement of the 1970s, to the AIDS crisis during the 1980s, to living in Mexico and eventually becoming a TVscreenwriter. Even in her nineties. Betty is still passionately engaged with the world, still surprising us.

One Hundred Years of Betty is the sweeping saga of one particular ordinary, fabulous woman living through a century of massive Betty as a child, teenager, lover, worker, friend, mother, activist, writer, recluse, angry woman, loving woman, from the creator of Offspringand bestselling author of The Family Doctor.

My Thoughts

One Hundred Years Of Betty is epic in every sense of the word, an incredible read. Author, Debra Oswald, has taken one seemingly ordinary woman and regaled how her life played out over a century of world events. Each step of Betty’s life from child to teenager, from lover to mother, to recluse and old age, readers hold her hand and embark on an incredible journey. With events of the Blitz, Australian migration, Vietnam war, women’s liberation movement, the AIDS crisis, living in Mexico - Betty does it all! It is an incredible story. 

‘There have been points in my life when I’ve been impulsive, diving in without doing any forward plotting, and there have been junctures like this one, when I mulled over all the likely repercussions of a choice and thought myself to a standstill.’

Told in a conversational way it’s like the reader is sitting at the kitchen table having a cuppa with Betty. It’s so inviting. The blend of historical and personal events is seamless as seen through the eyes of one woman’s humble resilience. As you can well imagine all the emotions are present for this journey of a century. As in each of our lives, there are triumphs and tragedies. The honesty of this story is what will capture your heart and remain there long after you have turned the final page. 

A book that covers history, friendship, family, motherhood, love affair, racism, feminism … I could go on. It is such an amazing story, I adored it. 

‘I could scoop in fistfuls of anger and frustration and shame from my life and gather them into a form I could then reconfigure and understand in a different way. It wasn’t just about my own failings. It wasn’t only me. It was all women. It was the whole damn thing. And it was liberating to envisage that things could be otherwise.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.