“The weapons of warfare are different for women. Rarely do we have the luxury of bullets and bombs. Our tools are benign. Silk stockings and red lipstick. Laughter. Cunning. The ability to curse in foreign languages and make eye contact without trembling.”
Synopsis above provided by the publisher.
Fictionally, Nancy is presented as a chic tough heroine who never fights without a fresh application of lipstick. The character of Nancy Wake holistically is interesting and I enjoyed her unapologetic nature.
A lot of the past, 1936, is about how Nancy met her husband, Henri. The development of their relationship takes the limelight for the first half of the book.
Nancy’s different identities, totaling four, are not exactly told chronologically. The book is told in dual timelines, but two of her identities are not described until much later in the second half of the book. But, what happens is kind of all over the place. The story of Nancy as the WWII heroine was scattered and rambling. The telling of what she did under each identity isn’t balanced, and the reader sees more from her as the fighter Madame Andrèe.
Every little thing seems to be dictated in the narrative, making it much much longer than it needs to be. As an example, a detailed description of hair color and hair texture is specified for nearly everyone that Nancy Wake meets or sees whether a significant character or just a character passing by.
There was excessive dialogue that didn’t progress the plot about day to day things unrelated to the major storyline. The book is 464 pages, but probably could have been 100-200 pages shorter if these extraneous details were cut. Because of this, I was often bored and the prose didn’t flow for me.
Read Publisher Weekly’s Review for Code Name Hèlène.
Read Nashville Scene’s article about Code Name Hèlène.
This is Ariel Lawhon’s fourth book. Visit her website to learn more.
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.
