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The War We Won Apart: The Untold Story of Two Elite Agents Who Became One of the Most Decorated Couples of WWII

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Love, betrayal, and a secret the untold story of two elite agents, one Canadian, one British, who became one of the most decorated couples of WWII.


On opposite sides of the pond, Sonia Butt, an adventurous young British woman, and Guy d’Artois, a French-Canadian soldier and thunderstorm of a man, are preparing for war.

From different worlds, their lives first intersect during clandestine training to become agents with Winston Churchill’s secret army, the Special Operations Executive. As the world’s deadliest conflict to date unfolds, Sonia and Guy learn how to parachute into enemy territory, how to kill, blow up rail lines, and eventually . . . how to love each other. But not long after their hasty marriage, their love is tested by separation, by a titanic invasion—and by indiscretion.

Writing in vivid, heart-stopping prose, Ayed follows Sonia as she plunges into Nazi-occupied France and slinks into black market restaurants to throw off occupying Nazi forces, while at the same time participating in sabotage operations against them; and as Guy, in another corner of France, trains hundreds into a resistance army.

Reconstructed from hours of unpublished interviews and hundreds of archival and personal documents, the story Ayed tells is about the ravaging costs of war paid for disproportionately by the young. But more than anything, The War We Won Apart is a story about two secret agents who were supposed to land in enemy territory together, but were fated to fight the war apart.

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Published May 28, 2024

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Nahlah Ayed

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
744 reviews4 followers
December 24, 2025
This is the story of two agents during WWII who got married before being separated to each carry out missions, and then reunited after the war. I was expecting the book to focus on their war experiences, but it follows their lives after the war ended as well, and it was an interesting window into their lives.
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853 reviews
October 4, 2025
Interesting subject but dry and repetitive writing. I was also frustrated that the author never seemed to really display Sonya’s personality or motivations. She had done impeccable research which provided many details but little emotion.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews

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