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.