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Women Spies in World War II #1
The Spark of Resistance
As the free world crumbles beneath Hitler’s jackboot, the French Resistance is depending on these women to change the course of history...Daring Mathilde Carré has always dreamed of glory. When the handsome Armand invites her to become his second-in-command of his Resistance network, she jumps at the chance. But when Armand falls for another woman, how far is Mathilde willing to go to exact her revenge?When Odette Sansom , a married mother of three, is recruited to become a spy with British Intelligence, she reluctantly accepts, knowing that she might never see her family again. Living a life in shadows with a false identity, Odette experiences more freedom in Occupied France than she has ever known, and her circuit leader, Peter Churchill, is everything her husband isn’t. But one man threatens to destroy all they’ve achieved...Didi Nearne has always lived in the shadow of her sister, Jackie. Although she dreams of becoming a British agent like her sister, they hire her as a wireless operator instead. As the networks are infiltrated and the on-the-ground agents disappear, Didi is finally given her chance. Will she be able to avoid the Gestapo or suffer the fates of her fellow spies?If you like Ken Follet's Jackdaws, Kate Quinn's The Alice Network, and Sarah Rose's D-Day Girls, you won't be able to put down this meticulously researched tale of love, honor, and deception. Inspired by the true stories of these real-life heroines!
436 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 29, 2020
2699 people are currently reading
1475 people want to read
About the author
Kit Sergeant
17 books97 followersLike her character Addy in Thrown for a Curve, Kit has a practically useless degree in marine biology. A teacher by profession and at heart, she loves to impart little-known facts and dares you to walk away from one of her "light-hearted" chick-lit books without learning at least one new thing. Kit's female leads are all intelligent, strong, and stand fine on their own... but then again, a Prince Charming waiting in the background is always appreciated. As long as he puts the toilet seat down.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
March 22, 2021
Sergeant writes a moving story about the lives of four women who volunteered to be spies for the British government in France during the Second World War. Based on the lives of the women who worked undercover, and despite knowing the outcome of the war, Sergeant has created a page turner, leaving the reader to appreciate the ultimate sacrifices each woman made and if they (the reader) might be so brave.
July 28, 2020
More Inspiring Female Spies
I think I have read every book in the women spies series by this author, and I have enjoyed every one of them. Unlike the previous book about World War I that featured Mata Hari as one of the featured spies, the three ladies featured in this book are all just average women—not a famous (or infamous) spy—who believed passionately in the cause of beating Hitler and the Nazis. Like the other books, these are fictionalized accounts of the real stories of actual female spies. The author does an excellent job sharing these women's stories, making them feel so real—both the women and what they went through. Each woman was in a different place in her life when she got the tap on the shoulder to join the cause, including a young mother with three children. It's hard to imagine relatively young women choosing to go these particular routes and doing such dangerous missions that actually threatened their lives. These are strong ladies, that's for sure. The one thing that I missed in this book, as opposed to the last one, is that we didn't see spies on both sides of the war. I think that made the previous book incredibly fascinating. Still, these stories of ordinary women doing extraordinary things are so empowering and inspirational, even though their stories do not get tied up in a nice bow. Real life is like that, however! Hats off, again, to the author for writing such marvelous stories about these amazing women, just some of the unsung heroes of WWII.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
I think I have read every book in the women spies series by this author, and I have enjoyed every one of them. Unlike the previous book about World War I that featured Mata Hari as one of the featured spies, the three ladies featured in this book are all just average women—not a famous (or infamous) spy—who believed passionately in the cause of beating Hitler and the Nazis. Like the other books, these are fictionalized accounts of the real stories of actual female spies. The author does an excellent job sharing these women's stories, making them feel so real—both the women and what they went through. Each woman was in a different place in her life when she got the tap on the shoulder to join the cause, including a young mother with three children. It's hard to imagine relatively young women choosing to go these particular routes and doing such dangerous missions that actually threatened their lives. These are strong ladies, that's for sure. The one thing that I missed in this book, as opposed to the last one, is that we didn't see spies on both sides of the war. I think that made the previous book incredibly fascinating. Still, these stories of ordinary women doing extraordinary things are so empowering and inspirational, even though their stories do not get tied up in a nice bow. Real life is like that, however! Hats off, again, to the author for writing such marvelous stories about these amazing women, just some of the unsung heroes of WWII.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
July 11, 2020
What a gripping story of so many brave and strong women. Mathilde and the others are Spies in a very dangerous time. I felt like I should try to help. Ready for more.
December 28, 2020
1 of the best books I have ever read about the amazing work of The Resistance during WW2. Fantastically written. Shall definitely read more from this author 😍
August 31, 2025
Fascinating. The strength of women!
April 17, 2021
Read the reviews and thought it would be a book I would enjoy as I love historical fiction. Half way through I thought “ I don’t have to read this in order to write a paper” and put it down. The characters are poorly developed. The writing is mundane and the story is disjointed because it jumps between the four women. Certainly NOT “ The Alice Network “
August 13, 2020
Struggled
Couldn’t finish this one. Disjointed due to so many similar characters that lacked depth. It didn’t have enough to make me wanting to keep picking it up
Couldn’t finish this one. Disjointed due to so many similar characters that lacked depth. It didn’t have enough to make me wanting to keep picking it up
August 11, 2020
They lit the Spark that "Set Europe Ablaze" - Ordinary People who did Extraordinary Things
In 1940, Winston Churchill ordered the establishment of a resistance network in German-occupied Europe to sabotage the Nazis - to "Set Europe ablaze". This instruction resulted in the creation of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance. Most of the SOE's operations were carried out in France (F Section), where British officers were sent to set up networks, or circuits, consisted of a leader, a courier, and a wireless operator. They recruited civilians to act as saboteurs, couriers...farmers who had a place to stay or store weapons...and to stand in a field holding tiny flashlights to guide a plane for an air drop of supplies and weapons...
After reading this book, I wanted to know more - about the SOE, the agents in the book, and the networks. One thing I learned was that James Bond's creator Ian Fleming, with British Naval Intelligence during WWII, partly based "M" on Major Maurice Buckmaster (who assumed command of F Section in September, 1941) and "Miss Moneypenny" on Vera Atkins, head of the ladies of F Section.
The risks were real - SOE trainees were told the average time an agent survives in France is three months. Informers (even inside the network) were everywhere, Vichy sentries were everywhere, German soldiers were everywhere. Radio operators constantly had to move to avoid the Gestapo spy-catchers. The tension never lets up for a minute in this story of three of the women of F Section.
Mathilde Carré was bored - she was stuck in North Africa in a loveless marriage. Her husband was off fighting, & she wound up in Paris, where she met Roman Czerniawski, code name "Armand", a Polish pilot who had escaped from a POW camp. He was starting up a Resistance cell that would become the Interallié network.
So Armand & Mathilde went to the Free Zone, where he sent her, now with the code name "the cat", to be trained as an agent. With her flirtatious ways, she had no trouble getting people to talk to find out if they'd make good team members. They established a system of letter boxes, started up a radio transmission to England, recruited couriers.
Armand, always enthusiastic (but Mathilde felt he was keeping a secret from her) had posted maps all over their apartment, which happened to be across the hall from some in the Gestapo. I thought he was an accident waiting to happen. Although Interallié was the biggest Resistance network in France, they were untrained in SOE ways, & Armand had to be brought to England for training.
Mathilde wondered what would happen if the Germans caught her - would she be strong enough to endure torture, or would she betray her comrades? I was surprised at this turn in the story - read the book to find out.
British citizens Eileen "Didi" Nearne and her elder sister, Jacqueline, had lived in France almost all their lives when the Germans came. It took them six months to escape from Spain & return to England. Jackie and Francis, one of their brothers, became SOE agents, recruited because their French was fluent. Brother Frederick was with the RAF.
Captain Jepson, the recruiting officer for F Section, that handled SOE's network in France, had Didi come in, but told her that, at 21, she was too young to be sent to France, but that she could be trained as a radio operator or a decoder.
So Didi learned Morse code, & how to decipher the messages radioed from France. She learned to identify the agent's "fist" - his personal touch on the key, that made her sure who was sending the message. She learned poem codes, security codes, & dummy codes that would warn of an agent transmitting under duress - perhaps with a gun to his head. And Jackie got Vera Atkins, Jepson's assistant & the head of the women's section, to promise not to send Didi to France.
Odette Sansom became an agent for SOE by accident. The Admiralty had requested postcards and photos of people's vacations at Calais beaches. Odette mistakenly addressed her pictures to the War Office.
Captain Jepson, having asked Odette to come in to talk, said they needed her help. But Odette had three children, whom she'd taken to Somerset to avoid the London blitz; her English husband had joined the army at the outset of the war. "What would the War Office want with me?" she asked.
He brought her to meet Miss Atkins, who explained that Churchill wanted a network in German-occupied territories to sabotage the Nazis, to ‘Set Europe ablaze.’ The British military didn't want to commit to guerilla fighting, so the SOE was established to create secret soldiers.” They needed French natives because the British had notoriously bad French accents, and they needed women to serve as couriers and wireless operators, because they could go travel more easily than men. But, civilian or not, if captured, the Germans would treat her as a spy. Shopping for French-made clothes (no British labels to give her away), Odette chose a gray suit, saying that it wouldn't show the dirt in prison...it was better to be prepared.
Odette was born in 1912. Her father had been killed at Verdun, and she had rheumatic fever and was paralyzed by polio, which had left her blind for three years. (My mother, born that same year, had polio at five, and remembered the pain all her life). That made Odette (and my mom) the strong-willed woman she was, and made her able to endure the torture in Fresnes prison in Paris and later, when in Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Besides rigorous physical training, Odette had to learn about daily life in occupied France, how to identify German uniforms, Morse code. The trainees were watched constantly, to make sure they did everything "the French way", down to how they cut their meat. They were subjected to mock interrogations.
Given a code name, Lise, her cover was of a childless widow. After numerous failed attempts to fly to France, she wound up on a troop ship to Gibraltar, finally reaching Cannes, where she was taken to Captain Peter Churchill (no relation to Winston), code names "Michel" or "Raoul", the leader of SOE's Spindle Network. Odette seemed to be annoyed that she was sitting around on the Riviera - she told Peter she wanted to work.
So he sent her to Marseilles - crawling with Germans - to escort four new operatives. She had nowhere to spend the night, so her contact sent her to a brothel, saying it couldn't be raided because it was full of Nazis.
Odette was suspicious of some members of the cell, fearful that they would betray the group.
Whether speaking to her SOE superiors, her Spindle boss, or her German captors, Odette never lost her sense of humor. Her orders were to go on to Auxerre, but Peter requested that she be assigned to Spindle. He asked her if she could ride a bicycle. She said, “I’ve just endured a night in a Marseille brothel. I think I can manage a bicycle.” He gave her an envelope to deliver. She wound up in a ditch with the bicycle on top of her. When she returned, Peter pretended to ignore her bloody knees, and introduced her to Alec, Spindle's wireless operator. After Alec left, he asked if she knew her knee was bleeding. “Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t know how to ride?” Odette turned to him. “You seem to take for granted that everyone is as competent as you are. I couldn’t let you be wrong.”
To learn why Odette became Britain's most highly-decorated spy of World War II, get the book!
By the end of the war, most of the women of F Section sent to France were missing. Vera Atkins spent almost all of 1946 in France and Germany, vowing to learn the fate of every one of these women who had lit The Spark of Resistance.
I was a beta reader for Kit's The Spark of Resistance - three French women living in England trained to be sent to France because their accents won't give them away as spies, one working with messages being sent from France & much later being sent there. I was shocked to learn that her propaganda instructor was Kim Philby - right away I thought "wasn't he the Soviet's double agent, along with Burgess & Mac Lean? - yup!
I listened to Odette's audio on the Imperial War Museums website.
She may be the most remarkable woman / person I've ever heard of. Each time the interviewer spoke of her courage in enduring the torture & deprivations, she said she was just doing her duty, she just makes up her mind to do something, her children were on her mind constantly, she didn't know why she survived when so many did not; she was not bitter & didn't hate her captors - she was healthy, they were sick. That the Germans used French to torture French prisoners, Polish to torture Poles, so that it wasn't the Germans torturing anyone.
And this interview was in 1986 - she spoke so calmly, although she said she didn't want to think about what she'd gone through, but of course she did. Asked if she'd do it again, she said no.
As they say, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The Greatest Generation.
In 1940, Winston Churchill ordered the establishment of a resistance network in German-occupied Europe to sabotage the Nazis - to "Set Europe ablaze". This instruction resulted in the creation of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance. Most of the SOE's operations were carried out in France (F Section), where British officers were sent to set up networks, or circuits, consisted of a leader, a courier, and a wireless operator. They recruited civilians to act as saboteurs, couriers...farmers who had a place to stay or store weapons...and to stand in a field holding tiny flashlights to guide a plane for an air drop of supplies and weapons...
After reading this book, I wanted to know more - about the SOE, the agents in the book, and the networks. One thing I learned was that James Bond's creator Ian Fleming, with British Naval Intelligence during WWII, partly based "M" on Major Maurice Buckmaster (who assumed command of F Section in September, 1941) and "Miss Moneypenny" on Vera Atkins, head of the ladies of F Section.
The risks were real - SOE trainees were told the average time an agent survives in France is three months. Informers (even inside the network) were everywhere, Vichy sentries were everywhere, German soldiers were everywhere. Radio operators constantly had to move to avoid the Gestapo spy-catchers. The tension never lets up for a minute in this story of three of the women of F Section.
Mathilde Carré was bored - she was stuck in North Africa in a loveless marriage. Her husband was off fighting, & she wound up in Paris, where she met Roman Czerniawski, code name "Armand", a Polish pilot who had escaped from a POW camp. He was starting up a Resistance cell that would become the Interallié network.
So Armand & Mathilde went to the Free Zone, where he sent her, now with the code name "the cat", to be trained as an agent. With her flirtatious ways, she had no trouble getting people to talk to find out if they'd make good team members. They established a system of letter boxes, started up a radio transmission to England, recruited couriers.
Armand, always enthusiastic (but Mathilde felt he was keeping a secret from her) had posted maps all over their apartment, which happened to be across the hall from some in the Gestapo. I thought he was an accident waiting to happen. Although Interallié was the biggest Resistance network in France, they were untrained in SOE ways, & Armand had to be brought to England for training.
Mathilde wondered what would happen if the Germans caught her - would she be strong enough to endure torture, or would she betray her comrades? I was surprised at this turn in the story - read the book to find out.
British citizens Eileen "Didi" Nearne and her elder sister, Jacqueline, had lived in France almost all their lives when the Germans came. It took them six months to escape from Spain & return to England. Jackie and Francis, one of their brothers, became SOE agents, recruited because their French was fluent. Brother Frederick was with the RAF.
Captain Jepson, the recruiting officer for F Section, that handled SOE's network in France, had Didi come in, but told her that, at 21, she was too young to be sent to France, but that she could be trained as a radio operator or a decoder.
So Didi learned Morse code, & how to decipher the messages radioed from France. She learned to identify the agent's "fist" - his personal touch on the key, that made her sure who was sending the message. She learned poem codes, security codes, & dummy codes that would warn of an agent transmitting under duress - perhaps with a gun to his head. And Jackie got Vera Atkins, Jepson's assistant & the head of the women's section, to promise not to send Didi to France.
Odette Sansom became an agent for SOE by accident. The Admiralty had requested postcards and photos of people's vacations at Calais beaches. Odette mistakenly addressed her pictures to the War Office.
Captain Jepson, having asked Odette to come in to talk, said they needed her help. But Odette had three children, whom she'd taken to Somerset to avoid the London blitz; her English husband had joined the army at the outset of the war. "What would the War Office want with me?" she asked.
He brought her to meet Miss Atkins, who explained that Churchill wanted a network in German-occupied territories to sabotage the Nazis, to ‘Set Europe ablaze.’ The British military didn't want to commit to guerilla fighting, so the SOE was established to create secret soldiers.” They needed French natives because the British had notoriously bad French accents, and they needed women to serve as couriers and wireless operators, because they could go travel more easily than men. But, civilian or not, if captured, the Germans would treat her as a spy. Shopping for French-made clothes (no British labels to give her away), Odette chose a gray suit, saying that it wouldn't show the dirt in prison...it was better to be prepared.
Odette was born in 1912. Her father had been killed at Verdun, and she had rheumatic fever and was paralyzed by polio, which had left her blind for three years. (My mother, born that same year, had polio at five, and remembered the pain all her life). That made Odette (and my mom) the strong-willed woman she was, and made her able to endure the torture in Fresnes prison in Paris and later, when in Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Besides rigorous physical training, Odette had to learn about daily life in occupied France, how to identify German uniforms, Morse code. The trainees were watched constantly, to make sure they did everything "the French way", down to how they cut their meat. They were subjected to mock interrogations.
Given a code name, Lise, her cover was of a childless widow. After numerous failed attempts to fly to France, she wound up on a troop ship to Gibraltar, finally reaching Cannes, where she was taken to Captain Peter Churchill (no relation to Winston), code names "Michel" or "Raoul", the leader of SOE's Spindle Network. Odette seemed to be annoyed that she was sitting around on the Riviera - she told Peter she wanted to work.
So he sent her to Marseilles - crawling with Germans - to escort four new operatives. She had nowhere to spend the night, so her contact sent her to a brothel, saying it couldn't be raided because it was full of Nazis.
Odette was suspicious of some members of the cell, fearful that they would betray the group.
Whether speaking to her SOE superiors, her Spindle boss, or her German captors, Odette never lost her sense of humor. Her orders were to go on to Auxerre, but Peter requested that she be assigned to Spindle. He asked her if she could ride a bicycle. She said, “I’ve just endured a night in a Marseille brothel. I think I can manage a bicycle.” He gave her an envelope to deliver. She wound up in a ditch with the bicycle on top of her. When she returned, Peter pretended to ignore her bloody knees, and introduced her to Alec, Spindle's wireless operator. After Alec left, he asked if she knew her knee was bleeding. “Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t know how to ride?” Odette turned to him. “You seem to take for granted that everyone is as competent as you are. I couldn’t let you be wrong.”
To learn why Odette became Britain's most highly-decorated spy of World War II, get the book!
By the end of the war, most of the women of F Section sent to France were missing. Vera Atkins spent almost all of 1946 in France and Germany, vowing to learn the fate of every one of these women who had lit The Spark of Resistance.
I was a beta reader for Kit's The Spark of Resistance - three French women living in England trained to be sent to France because their accents won't give them away as spies, one working with messages being sent from France & much later being sent there. I was shocked to learn that her propaganda instructor was Kim Philby - right away I thought "wasn't he the Soviet's double agent, along with Burgess & Mac Lean? - yup!
I listened to Odette's audio on the Imperial War Museums website.
She may be the most remarkable woman / person I've ever heard of. Each time the interviewer spoke of her courage in enduring the torture & deprivations, she said she was just doing her duty, she just makes up her mind to do something, her children were on her mind constantly, she didn't know why she survived when so many did not; she was not bitter & didn't hate her captors - she was healthy, they were sick. That the Germans used French to torture French prisoners, Polish to torture Poles, so that it wasn't the Germans torturing anyone.
And this interview was in 1986 - she spoke so calmly, although she said she didn't want to think about what she'd gone through, but of course she did. Asked if she'd do it again, she said no.
As they say, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The Greatest Generation.
July 9, 2024
Interesting fictional story about famous women of the French resistance during WW II.
January 24, 2025
It was ok.
October 21, 2021
Bravery
This extraordinary, true story reveals the strength and loyalty of women who aided the war effort during WWII. The strange and cruel tales of the Germans and their compatriots are testimony to the forces of evil they confronted.
This extraordinary, true story reveals the strength and loyalty of women who aided the war effort during WWII. The strange and cruel tales of the Germans and their compatriots are testimony to the forces of evil they confronted.
July 27, 2020
As someone with a great fascination with World War II I enjoyed this story of these three real life women who were members of the British SOE during WWII.
The characters were amazing in that they showed both extreme courage and bravery in the face of the most dangerous circumstances. I particularly loved the fact that stories are remembered and told of the women who risked it all, of their strength, character, sacrifice and courage to complete their missions at all costs.
I think it extremely important to remember those who sacrificed, lived and died to ensure a better world. The choices these women made were not done so lightly. It’s vital that we remember and teach our children that they may be warned and lessons learned.
Thank you Kit for such a fascinating and thought provoking reading experience.
The characters were amazing in that they showed both extreme courage and bravery in the face of the most dangerous circumstances. I particularly loved the fact that stories are remembered and told of the women who risked it all, of their strength, character, sacrifice and courage to complete their missions at all costs.
I think it extremely important to remember those who sacrificed, lived and died to ensure a better world. The choices these women made were not done so lightly. It’s vital that we remember and teach our children that they may be warned and lessons learned.
Thank you Kit for such a fascinating and thought provoking reading experience.
July 17, 2020
I loved The Spark of Resistance just as much, if not more, than the rest of the books Kit Sargeant has written about women spies. This book combines suspense, amazing characters, incredible stories, courageous acts, cowardice, betrayal, love, sibling rivalry, sacrifice, etc into a captivating insight in an important part of history featuring otherwise neglected and forgotten acts of heroism and the everyday women and men who put their lives and safety at risk in the fight against the Nazis. Obviously war stories are not to be read in the hopes of happily ever afters, but I still cried when things went wrong. Thankfully more things went right than not, and there were many survivors in the group. I honestly believe these books should be required reading.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
June 29, 2020
This interesting novel about espionage in WWII told the tale of three real life women. I found Odette's story to be the most suspenseful. Didi was my second favorite as the persevering younger sister longing to do more. From the beginning I found Mathilde immature and boastful, but I still found her an important part of the story. It surprised me how reckless the spies (and their higher ups too) could be, as if no one realized how truly dangerous the work was.
I would recommend this to readers who like books about spies and/or WWII.
Though my review is based on an E-ARC I received, I enjoyed this enough to pre-order my own copy.
I would recommend this to readers who like books about spies and/or WWII.
Though my review is based on an E-ARC I received, I enjoyed this enough to pre-order my own copy.
January 30, 2021
My opinion of the book changed considerably after I decided it was "just barely" a novel. My early complaints revolved around the simplistic description of how, at least, Mathilda was recruited and I naively expected all three ladies to be "Wonder Women."
This is a book that belongs in a non existent genre called almost historical fiction or not quite nonfiction.
I read a few of the reviews and noticed one mentioned this was a story about three real women. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed the book sooner had I known that sooner.
This is a book that belongs in a non existent genre called almost historical fiction or not quite nonfiction.
I read a few of the reviews and noticed one mentioned this was a story about three real women. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed the book sooner had I known that sooner.
January 11, 2021
WWII Historical Story
Finally just gave up, was a slow read in which seemed repetitive, not that descriptive of places and people. The writing didn't stir my imagination. Slow read for me, nothing kept me wanting to read on. Am usually a high rater so am disappointed.
Finally just gave up, was a slow read in which seemed repetitive, not that descriptive of places and people. The writing didn't stir my imagination. Slow read for me, nothing kept me wanting to read on. Am usually a high rater so am disappointed.
July 5, 2021
While I usually love stories about heroic female spies during WWII, there were large parts of this book that I found very hard to read through. Not because the story was especially horrific in those parts but was unbelievable.
February 19, 2022
An emotional journey with true hero’s and some vile creatures…SPOILERS included, but if you know the history, it doesn’t really affect the story.
As a mid-life man with a lot of real life experience, it’s often very difficult for me to connect with emotion. This book made me feel, breathe and sense the utterly compelling array of mind stretching thoughts provoked by the stories within a story. We have a great number of brave, selfless and faithful human beings here willing to give their very lives in pursuit of defeating abject evil. The writing is very, very good. I found myself so on edge with the tales of each hero character; I was reading as fast as my eyes could scan the page to find out what was happening next!
Conversely, the reading of the vile, traitorous and selfish narcissists was very difficult. Some were manipulated very well, but ultimately, going by what history has written and recorded of them, they too had a choice to ‘not co-operate/collaborate’. Yes, I wasn’t there. I didn’t have to make those awful decisions to ‘save my skin’, but, when you read how the hero’s chose to act, you cannot help but… despise those who collaborated and caused the death and misery of so, so many people. Couple this with the seemingly petty, narcissistic and self-interested reasons that the collaborators had for their actions - well, it’s breathtaking that ‘bitchiness and pi*sing contests’ caused the loss of so many lives!
I was welling up when I read the post script of what happened to key characters after the War. This is really good story telling and adaptation of real life War.
As a mid-life man with a lot of real life experience, it’s often very difficult for me to connect with emotion. This book made me feel, breathe and sense the utterly compelling array of mind stretching thoughts provoked by the stories within a story. We have a great number of brave, selfless and faithful human beings here willing to give their very lives in pursuit of defeating abject evil. The writing is very, very good. I found myself so on edge with the tales of each hero character; I was reading as fast as my eyes could scan the page to find out what was happening next!
Conversely, the reading of the vile, traitorous and selfish narcissists was very difficult. Some were manipulated very well, but ultimately, going by what history has written and recorded of them, they too had a choice to ‘not co-operate/collaborate’. Yes, I wasn’t there. I didn’t have to make those awful decisions to ‘save my skin’, but, when you read how the hero’s chose to act, you cannot help but… despise those who collaborated and caused the death and misery of so, so many people. Couple this with the seemingly petty, narcissistic and self-interested reasons that the collaborators had for their actions - well, it’s breathtaking that ‘bitchiness and pi*sing contests’ caused the loss of so many lives!
I was welling up when I read the post script of what happened to key characters after the War. This is really good story telling and adaptation of real life War.
February 6, 2021
The Spark of Resistance: Women Spies in WWII: A Novel is by Kit Sergeant. This novel is based don the true-life existence of women spies during World War II. The British set up a special unit to handle these women who set themselves up to spy on the enemy and connect the battle front with the station behind the lines. The characters are either original members of the spy link or were made up by the author in order to bring the deeds these women did to the attention of his readers. Some of the women and their actions are real life situations. Women were first accepted into a program to produce operators who took down telegrams and decoded them. They were accepted because of the lack of men in Great Britain due to the war. Later, French-speaking women were selected as agents to be placed in France because they were less likely to be suspect than men and they could move around much easier. Many of the spies in World War II were arrested and executed or placed in the camps where they were slowly murdered. This novel takes several women and shows how they became spies and how they were trained. Then, they left home, families, and all they held dear to be placed in a foreign country to do a dangerous job and hopefully not be caught. The book is good; but it does get bogged down in spots.
December 5, 2022
I don't do book reviews
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way
I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.
My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.
If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I give
If the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.
Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.
Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way
August 7, 2020
This is the first book I have read by this author. It was a very exciting and gripping story about courageous, everyday people putting their lives at stake to stand up for what's right and fight against the Nazis. This book had suspense, danger, and adventure, and all while portraying an important part of history. The characters were all amazing, strong and courageous heroes who showed a great amount of bravery in difficult and dangerous circumstances. The book does a great job of not letting us forget the sacrifices that were made by these brave people during WWII. An excellent and entertaining book - I will for sure be looking for more by this author!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 30, 2020
These women are incredible. These spy stories are unfathomable. I can’t imagine doing what they do. I love this series of women spies in our past wars. The very best of historical fiction. I love learning at the end what happened to our characters in real life after everything we read. There is so much research put into this book. It’s amazing.
I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
March 22, 2021
This book consists of very well written stories of the women of the SOE who were trained in various capacities and many were sent to France as spies.
This book is so well written that I felt that I was with the women and men fighting the Nazis! Each woman's story was so interesting and full of intrigue! I will read more books by this author. And to this I these stories the brave women are true.
This book is so well written that I felt that I was with the women and men fighting the Nazis! Each woman's story was so interesting and full of intrigue! I will read more books by this author. And to this I these stories the brave women are true.
April 15, 2021
An excellent WWII novel!
This was a well written, very interesting story of the men and women of Churchill's SOE and the "resistance" in occupied France. I have read previous accounts of the women of the SOE so many of the names were familiar to me. An excellent tale of heroism and sacrifice by these brave souls and the cruel and tragic fate that befell so many of them. A truly excellent novel.
This was a well written, very interesting story of the men and women of Churchill's SOE and the "resistance" in occupied France. I have read previous accounts of the women of the SOE so many of the names were familiar to me. An excellent tale of heroism and sacrifice by these brave souls and the cruel and tragic fate that befell so many of them. A truly excellent novel.
January 26, 2022
I read this book only to fulfill a prompt, but it was fantastic. The author really allowed you to get to know the characters and feel what it was like for them in their individual roles. At first it was difficult to keep up with who was who, but by the middle I was able to follow each woman's storyline. I love that she also included the real-life endings of the women whose stories she was telling.
January 25, 2024
This book tells the story of three women spies in France during Nazi occupation. I started it thinking it was historical fiction, but it's not. These women were real. They were brave, impetuous, honorable, and willing to give their lives for what they believed in. I'm so glad the author added a section at the end, telling us what happened to them after the war. They, and all of the members of the Reaistance, were truly inspiring. Fantastic read.
August 22, 2020
This book will keep you jumping! Absolutely loved the women characters, they had strength I could only hope for! Excellent read. Kudos to the resistance and all those who tried to kill the Nazi machine!!!
The story line was terrific. You will love the strength and fortitude of these women! Bravo to all of them!!
The story line was terrific. You will love the strength and fortitude of these women! Bravo to all of them!!
January 2, 2021
Amazing story of many of Britain's finest women who risked their lives for the Allies. Carefully chosen and training, many of them didn't survive though they certainly caused some damage to the Nazis. This is their story, written so beautifully, to tell others what they did and how they endured. I simply can't imagine the chances they took nor the tortures they received.
January 14, 2021
Women of the SOE WW2
Kit engages the reader with detailed time and place to encourage additional research. It was important to know more details of the different camps and work locations. The epilogue helped to put some closure to the named women in the book. The Spark of Resistance is a great introduction into the world of women of WW2.
Kit engages the reader with detailed time and place to encourage additional research. It was important to know more details of the different camps and work locations. The epilogue helped to put some closure to the named women in the book. The Spark of Resistance is a great introduction into the world of women of WW2.
January 25, 2021
Sacrifice for freedom
So much has been written about allied espionage during WWII, particularly in France. Kit S argent brings to life the stories of women, as heroic as combat troops, dedicate aging their live so the world remain free of Adopt Hitler. Their stories should be told to remind future generations of their heroism!
So much has been written about allied espionage during WWII, particularly in France. Kit S argent brings to life the stories of women, as heroic as combat troops, dedicate aging their live so the world remain free of Adopt Hitler. Their stories should be told to remind future generations of their heroism!
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