Friday, November 8, 2013

Review: Code Name Pauline

 When Pearl Witherington was 29, she parachuted into France, joining the Resistance. She surprised many operatives as being one of 40 females in the Resistance. In time, the men grew to respect her.

For the next year, Agent Pauline (her code name) helped organize the Resistance, worked as a courier, and worked to make sure the guerrilla warriors had what they needed to sabotage the Germans.

After two years and many close calls, Pearl left France and continued to work bringing the Resistance members and their actions into the public eye.

My Thoughts: It took me a little bit to get into the book, but it's a very impressive account from a real spy. I'm a sucker for spy novels, so it's really neat to read from someone's perspective and I loved hearing the first hand account of the conditions, the danger, and the networks. I would have loved more details on the actual missions themselves and some more background information. I kept confusing people and while there is a section on key figures, it's in the back of the book and I didn't notice it until the end. I loved the aftermath of the war and how Pearl worked to have people recognized for the role. Pearl's a great role mode and a real hero.

Cover Thoughts: Good
Source: Sent for Review.

2 comments:

Driving Anxiety said...

Interesting! I like spy novels too, and anything from that time period. In fact I just finished Code Name Verity, so when I saw this title,it immediately caught my attention. Of course Code Name Verity is fiction, but includes accurate details of true events. I will have to check this out.

Driving Anxiety said...

This title immediately caught my attention because I just finished reading Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein which was excellent. While it was fiction, Wein did include many accurate details of true events. This book looks like something Wein might have based her book off of. I love historical books set in this time period. I will def. have to check this out!