Review: The Mademoiselle Alliance

Title: The Mademoiselle Alliance 

Author: Natasha Lester

Publisher: 26th March 2025 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 450 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction | WW2

Synopsis:

How did a young Parisienne mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in France? A powerful, heartbreaking historical novel by the New York Times bestselling author

Morocco, 1928. Eighteen-year-old Frenchwoman Marie-Madeleine is not the kind of woman who goes through life sitting down, something her new husband can attest. Her unconventionalities - rally car driving, flying planes and dabbling in intelligence work for the government - earn her a reputation, but she knows who she is as an adventurer.

Paris, 1938. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, a chance encounter with a mysterious man codenamed Navarre turns Marie-Madeleine's life upside down. Recruited to help build a resistance network known only as Alliance, she conceals her identity - and gender - as she navigates a perilous double life away from her children and the man she loves. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away.

Bestselling Australian novelist Natasha Lester passionately brings to life the true story of one of history's unsung Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII France. Her story is one of epic love, tragic loss and magnificent leadership.

My Thoughts

If you follow my reviews you know Natasha Lester is an auto buy for me, so get ready for this week her new book is about to be released ... and yes ... it is another five star read! I applaud Natasha once more as she flies the flag for these incredible women from history who so deserve their story to be told. This time we follow along with Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in France during the Second World War. 

'My place is the air, the void, the very edges of existence. And from that place, I manage 3,000 agents, the only network that covers the whole of France'.

Truly an incredibly inspiring woman, Marie-Madeleine helped France and the allies win the war putting her country first above all else. Natasha truly captures not only the time and place but more importantly the voice of the many who battled the Nazis. She brings to life Marie-Madeleine as a resistance fighter, as a leader, as a mother and as a woman in a man’s world. The risks and sacrifices that these heroic people undertook for the love of what was right and just is heart wrenching. Love and loss, bravery and brutality all come together in this fight against tyranny. 

“These women will set the world ablaze. And from their courage, a better one will rise. We have to let them.”

Fans of Natasha will not be disappointed with this latest addition. For all historical fiction buffs this is a story you simply must read for its passion and power, for its inspiring and informative detail. A masterclass in beautifully crafted writing of an incredible tale.  

“What’s happened in Alliance is extraordinary. I don’t know if ever again in history there’ll be another woman like you, Marie-Madeleine.”

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: The Whisperer's War

Title: The Whisperer's War

Author: Jackie French

Publisher: 5th March 2025 by Harlequin Australia

Pages: 450 pages

Genre: | Historical Fiction | Romance | WW2

Synopsis:

Why does humanity cling to warfare when it destroys the land and people the armies try to claim?

Claverton Castle, 1940. Eagles and Spitfires fly in the skies of England as Lady Deanna, the aristocratic granddaughter of the Duke of Claverton, spends her days shovelling manure and her evenings in blue satin, attending dinner parties to gather intelligence from the many Nazi sympathisers among Britain's powerful upper classes. She is an excellent spy: the information she gleans may prove vital in the months ahead. But when she becomes enmeshed in the German plot to restore the Duke of Windsor to the throne of England and ensure an alliance with Hitler, she must feign cooperation and risk her life for the sake of her country.

As war devastates Europe, 'Lady Dee' must solve other mysteries, too. Why do the three orphaned children she has taken into her home and grown to love refuse to reveal their identity? What reason can British Intelligence have to warn her away from Sam Murray, a decorated Australian pilot and the only man she feels she could ever marry? Is the wounded soldier who stumbles along the secret caves below her home truly the missing Duke of Claverton?

From bestselling author Jackie French comes a book about the conflicts between love and duty, and the royal betrayals kept secret from the public for so long.

My Thoughts

Jackie French has done it again with an outstanding her story, ‘The Whisperer's War’.   This book is a blend of fact and fiction with Jackie having researched some incredible and unbelievable facts especially related to the English Royals during WWII. Lady Deanna, or Dee, is an English aristocrat and she makes for an outstanding female lead. The tale revolves around aristocrats, Royalty, orphaned children, soldiers, spies and village living during Germany’s attempt to invade England. Jackie has undertaken extensive research with the inclusion of many actual events that have been documented at the time. 

‘… even those only vaguely fascist before the war to whisper that England should forge an alliance now, before Hitler finally crossed the Channel. How long before those murmurs became demands?’

Each chapter begins with a recipe of the time or WWII jokes that provide a different insight into the social and cultural attitudes of the day. This book really has it all with themes ranging from race and religion, to politics and prejudices; from clandestine plots and secret agent activities, to love and romance, all in perfect synchronicity. It highlights the daily life of the English dealing with wartime rationing, the shortage of luxuries and the fear of bombings. From the English countryside, to the streets of war torn London. Incredibly the reader then finds themselves in outback Australia with a whole other set of discriminating circumstances.  The Whisperer’s War is highly entertaining historical fiction that I found very hard to put down. 

‘There was no eternal safety, not for humans or for eagles, even now that her family was free of the world of whispers.‘

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: The Royal Librarian

Title: The Royal Librarian

Author: Daisy Wood

Publisher: 11th April 2024 by Avon Books UK

Pages: 384 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Romance

Synopsis:

A royal palace. A closed book. A betrayal that will echo through generations…

Windsor, 1940: War rages, and as bombs rain down across Britain, nowhere is safe: not even a royal palace.

Secretly tasked with foiling a suspected plot, Sophie Klein is placed in the Royal Library at Windsor castle, where the princesses reside. But when she learns that Windsor is compromised, Sophie must sacrifice everything she knows to save the future queen of England…

Philadelphia, Present day: Digging into her great aunt’s family tree, Lacey Turner comes across a mysterious book bearing the stamp of Windsor Castle’s royal bindery. But how did it come to be in her family’s possession?

And so begins a journey that will take Lacey from battlefields to Buckingham palace in a quest to reunite the book with its rightful owner…

My Thoughts

I have read and enjoyed previous books by Daisy, so I was excited to see how this story would unfold. This is a dual timeline with the first story about two Austrian sisters at the beginning of Nazi rule in 1938. I found this part very interesting especially with regards to escaping their homeland - one goes to America and the other ends up being the Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle and working in intelligence. The second timeline is in the present when a granddaughter discovers that she does in fact have an aunt and travels to discover her story. 

‘I am the Royal Librarian, she reminds herself, straightening her shoulders, and I have done nothing wrong.’

The story of Sophie, royal librarian, and her work at Windsor castle was the highlight. The whole issue concerning the role of the abdicated Edward and the espionage resulting was very engaging. I did not appreciate the contemporary timeline as much and felt the book would have been better served with just the one timeline and events would have evolved more quickly on the page. Daisy has undertaken a wonderful amount of research surrounding everything from the atrocities to Jews under Nazi rule to what life was like working in the British royal household during the war. The Royal Librarian is an entertaining read with interesting historical details - mystery, romance, family drama provide the icing on top!

‘Oh no, I want a quiet life.’ Sophie made an effort to smile back at him. In that moment, she could think of nothing better: losing peaceful hours in the archive, reading about history rather than living through it.’

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.