Editorial Content for One Woman's War: A Novel of the Real Miss Moneypenny
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
If you enjoy learning about real historical events through captivating fiction, then I recommend you read ONE WOMAN’S WAR. Christine Wells’ new novel is about the WWII espionage operation known as Operation Mincemeat. The premise seems so outlandish that it's ingenious. Take a dead body, dress it in a military uniform with identity papers, and handcuff a briefcase filled with fake secret documents about the Allied plans to the corpse's wrist. Be sure that Spanish officials find the body, and the Germans will be informed.
"The details [Wells] includes seem to take us into the very rooms where the war efforts were taking place, describing the people and their mannerisms. It's both fascinating and gripping."
The narrative in this action-filled novel is presented from two women's points of view. Paddy Bennett is the inspiration for Ian Fleming's brilliant Miss Moneypenny of James Bond fame. Paddy worked with Fleming for British Naval Intelligence during the war, and she was a socialite from a well-to-do family. Friedl Stöttinger is an Austrian double agent; her story is the one with which Wells admits she took the greatest liberties. However, she stuck to the facts as much as possible when it came to Paddy's actions. This allows us to see the dichotomy regarding the importance of women's efforts during the war and how they were relegated back to "womanly" pursuits after the war.
As we read about both ladies and their wartime efforts, we feel empathy for them and the sometimes difficult decisions they had to make. Born upper class, Paddy especially works long hours and is completely dedicated to her job. Once a woman married, all efforts at a career were halted, no matter how much she loved her job. Thus, when Paddy eventually marries a man she loves very much, she must quit the job she adores. In an unusual twist, her supervisors ask her to return to work --- albeit in secret --- to help with the same plan that she had ridiculed when it was first broached by Fleming: Operation Mincemeat.
In addition to seeing British bravery and ingenuity, we are treated to a study of how the British, at least the upper-class ones who could afford it, celebrated life in the middle of bombings and death. Drinking, partying and living to excess became the norm for many young people. We feel very much a part of British life through the dialogue and the British terms of affection that give the book authenticity. "Old chap" and "darling" are generously strewn throughout. We also see the British stoicism, cracking jokes and putting on a brave face no matter what.
ONE WOMAN’S WAR is historical fiction at its finest, and Wells’ previous novel, SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE, is no different. The details she includes seem to take us into the very rooms where the war efforts were taking place, describing the people and their mannerisms. It's both fascinating and gripping.
Teaser
From the author of SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE comes the story of WWII British Naval Intelligence officer Victoire Bennett, the real-life inspiration for the James Bond character Miss Moneypenny, whose international covert operation is put in jeopardy when a volatile socialite and Austrian double agent threatens to expose the mission to German High Command.
Promo
From the author of SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE comes the story of WWII British Naval Intelligence officer Victoire Bennett, the real-life inspiration for the James Bond character Miss Moneypenny, whose international covert operation is put in jeopardy when a volatile socialite and Austrian double agent threatens to expose the mission to German High Command.
About the Book
From the author of SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE comes the story of WWII British Naval Intelligence officer Victoire Bennett, the real-life inspiration for the James Bond character Miss Moneypenny, whose international covert operation is put in jeopardy when a volatile socialite and Austrian double agent threatens to expose the mission to German High Command.
World War II London: When Victoire “Paddy” Bennett first walks into the Admiralty’s Room 39, home to the Intelligence Division, all the bright and lively young woman expects is a secretarial position to the charismatic Commander Ian Fleming. But soon her job is so much more, and when Fleming proposes a daring plot to deceive the Germans about Allied invasion plans, he requests the newlywed Paddy's help. She jumps at the chance to work as an agent in the field, even after the operation begins to affect her marriage. But could doing her duty for King and country come at too great a cost?
Socialite Friedl Stöttinger is a beautiful Austrian double agent determined to survive in wartime England, which means working for MI-5, investigating fifth column activity among the British elite at parties and nightclubs. But Friedl has a secret --- some years before, she agreed to work for German Intelligence and spy on the British.
When her handler at MI-5 proposes that she work with Serbian agent, Duško Popov, Friedl falls hopelessly in love with the dashing spy. And when her intelligence work becomes fraught with danger, she must choose whether to remain loyal to the British and risk torture and execution by the Nazis, or betray thousands of men to their deaths.
Soon, the lives of these two extraordinarily brave women will collide, as each travels down a road of deception and danger leading to one of the greatest battles of World War II.
Audiobook available, read by Saskia Maarleveld
