Violette Szabo: The life that I have: The remarkable story of one of Britain's greatest war heroines

by Susan Ottaway

The story of Violette Szabo is one of the most extraordinary in the annals of World War II espionage and covert operations, but her story is little known in the United States. Violette Szabo was by all accounts extraordinarily beautiful, but also totally fearless and a dead shot. She became a member of the Special Operations Executive, Britain's premier sabotage and subversion organization of the time. On June 7, 1944 Violette Szabo left behind a two-year-old daughter to parachute into France on a special mission for SOE.

Szabo and other British agents were assigned to organize French resistance fighters to hinder the advance of the SS Das Reich Division to the Normandy beaches. Unfortunately, Szabo's party was soon ambushed by the SS.

Unable to walk due to a twisted ankle, Szabo covered the retreat of her comrades with machine-gun fire. Captured, she went through a series of interrogations and changes of confinement before ending up at Ravensbrück, the German all-women's concentration camp. She was finally executed on January 26, 1945. She was 23 years old. This exceptional work has been written with the assistance of Violette Szabo's daughter Tanya, and unravels fact and fiction about one of the most fascinating characters of World War II.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Biography, Espionage, Historical

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Susan Ottaway was born in Windsor, brought up in Egham and educated at Sir William Perkins's Girls School in nearby Chertsey. The daughter of an aircraft engineer, she has had a lifelong enthusiasm for aeroplanes and books. She worked for four different airlines over a period of 20 years, mainly in the UK but also in Germany and Australia, and wrote her first book, a biography of Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, before leaving the world of aviation. She then worked as a freelance editor and has since written six more books.

Her books include Violette Szabo: The Life That I Have, a biography of SOE agent Violette Szabo for which she personally interviewed Eileen Nearne. She has appeared on BBC national television to be interviewed about her work, and she took part in the four-part television series for the Discovery History Channel entitled George Cross Heroes.

Susan is a guest speaker on battlefield tours and in 2008 she delivered the Annual Dambuster Lecture at the Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa, home of the wartime 617 'Dambuster' Squadron.

- compiled from Andrew Lownie Literary Agency and Harper Collins

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Violette Szabo was probably the most glamorous of the British SOE agents sent to France. She was also probably the most headstrong. Her young husband had been killed in North Africa and it was her stated intent “to kill Germans”. She was also rare among female agents in having a young daughter.
Some may know there is an old British Film, Carve her Name with Pride, based on Violette’s life. One thing this biography does is reveal how many liberties the film took with the truth. Strange because Violette was clearly an immensely courageous young woman and there was no need to exaggerate her heroics or invent a fictitious love story. The most far-fetched scene in the film is when she machine guns about twenty German soldiers pursuing her. The truth is, an angry impulsive act on her part may well have been what led to her capture. After the war one or two of her captors at the Gestapo HQ in Paris testified to her bravery and many of her fellow prisoners spoke of her indomitable spirit. She was executed at Ravensbruk concentration camp towards the end of the war after having been worked almost to death with three other female British agents.

Here’s a link to the 1959 film on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Ggi...

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley

Earlier this month, Kate Elliot re-tweeted a thread about little known heroes, women heroes to be exact. And this is true. In America, the story goes women in the Second World War built the planes and nursed. We are usually not taught about the women who dropped into Occupied France, and if it is mentioned, they are British.

And we usually don’t tell. Recently, a student read a selection of Julia Child. He didn’t hate it, but found it a bit boring. It was about food after all, but tell that same student about Child’s wartime work, and he gets more interested.

Violette Szabo wasn’t an American, and she did have a movie made about her. Yet, today, she is not well known by history books. At least the ones used in schools. After the death of her husband, Szabo joined SOE and went into Occupied France twice. Her actions during both missions were heroic.

Susan Ottaway’s biography of Szabo is in many ways, a counter point to Crave Her Name with Pride. Ottaway was able to interview not only Szabo’s brothers but also her daughter Tania. What is presented here is a pretty good and seemingly fair biography. While detailing the heroics of Szabo, Ottaway weighs the validity of stories, looking at not only the narrator but also the possibility of such action.

At times, it does feel that Szabo is just out of reach, but considering the scant sources, this is hardly surprising. What is interesting is looking at what Szabo and her daughter think about Szabo’s work and the “morality” of a mother doing such duty. Ottaway also details life after the war and how the family was treated by the makers of the film.

[Tammy AZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing book, not because of the story but because of the writing. What should have been a compelling human drama was reduced to a litany of he did this, she did that, etc. In the right hands Violette Szabo's life story would be excellent.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though thoroughly researched, this book is a bit like eating saltine crackers without a drink – in one word, dry. To better contribute to the story's flow, the author could have eliminated her editorializing and used footnotes or endnotes to denote differing accounts. Despite the author's technical writing style, I am glad these facts have been incorporated into one source.

[Mark Latchford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like so many brave souls during World War 2, the story of Violette Szabo and her work behind enemy lines is worth telling, especially to an younger audience. Remarkable commitment and bravery despite leaving a toddler at home in the UK, having already had her husband killed in battle.

However, this book does not come together well to tell that important story. Biographies should take the reader on a journey of facts but also insights; extensively researched and with language that excites and draw the reader into the time and place. Unfortunately this book does not do that. It is true many facts are tabled but in such a dry, machine-like manner, it soon becomes a chore to turn the page.
Research is erratic. In some places well done; other significant areas are just left out. As such, the insights on the personality and perhaps her thinking are missing in action. The book also suffers from unfortunate segues. Sometimes the author goes off talking about others (for example, the air crew ferrying the fighters across to France) which adds no value but suggests she found some research that she felt must be captured. More annoyingly, is the author's repeated willingness to divert from the Szabo story telling to poke at other biographers, commentators or even primary sources. If I wanted to read a historiography of writings about Szabo I would have sought one; such commentary should be at best inserted in some appendix not in the core of the story telling. Finally, more effort with preparing the book for publications. The photos are interesting but all over the place and some folk included for little reason and others left out. Maps would have been helpful to, especially of France. I would recommend RM Minney's dated but disciplined story telling.

[Lavenderrose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointing. I love reading about female SOE agents, and after reading the biographies of Nancy Wade and Noor Inayat Khan, I couldn't wait to read about the heroism of the third of these to be awarded the George Cross.
What a let down! Whereas the other two agents chilled my blood with their bravery throughout their task, it seems that Violette's main heroism consists of covering a young agent colleague as he escaped the Nazis after a road check. She was injured so told him to run away. That's it, according to this biography. She was then captured and then executed. OK, I have not come near to anything she did so I may have no right to talk, but compared to other agents who did not receive accolades it all seems a bit thin.
Apart from that, her relationship with her baby seems extremely cold. This daughter later excuses her by saying that 'male soldiers go off to war leaving their babies behind, why not a woman?' But when males leave their babies behind it is usually in the care of a LOVING wife and mother to that baby. This baby was left with a paid carer - although a loving grandmother was available. A paid carer cannot provide love, and babies need love....
Well, who am I to judge, you may say. I just think Violette was far too young for it all. Her motivation for becoming an agent was to avenge her husband's death and 'kill Germans'. I'm sorry, but her husband was a soldier. The risk of getting killed was there from the start, and a mature person doesn't take this personally - especially if you have a young child who needs you more than your dead husband. So no, I do not like this agent very much and was not impressed by her biography. The two agents who were executed along with her are just as deserving of medals.
I would have given it better marks if the writing was at least good, but it wasn't. the research was patchy to say the least; we are given lots of unnecessary details on irrelevant subjects, while more interesting details -such as, for instance, more about her home life, how she actually felt about leaving her child - are glossed over.

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violette Szabo

The Life That I Have



by Susan Ottaway

Thistle Publishing



Biographies & Memoirs , History

Pub Date 05 Sep 2017

I am reviewing a copy of Violette Szabo: The Life That I Have Through Thistle Publishing and Netgalley:

Violette Reine Elizabeth was born on June.26.1921, it is believed that she was born at a British Hospital in Paris.

In 1935 at the age of only fourteen Violette Bushell left school. In 1944 she was a beautiful widow and the Mother of a young daughter when she undertook two secret missions in France as a Special Operations Executive. Shortly after D-Day a few days into her second mission she was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. She was executed at the beginning of 1945.

I give this book five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

[Kazimiera pendrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this book from the book reviewing site NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book is about an undercover agent Viotette Szabo a women who worked for the SOE in France undercover during the Second World War. The book describes her early life in France and how she came to the UK and joined the forces during the war. She married a Frenchman whom she met in England and after his death she was recruited by the SOE due to her fluent French and sent into occupied France. thiis was a great read telling the story of a very brave woman , amust read for anyone who has an interest in the war

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

In view of the exciting and courageous exploits of Violette Szabo, this is a surprisingly bland and pedestrian biography, which, although obviously painstakingly researched, nevertheless relies too heavily on speculation and feels in many ways padded out, with much extraneous detail (about, for example, the workings of SOE which are not always relevant to Szabo herself). Overall I found it quite tedious at times and although I welcomed the opportunity to learn about Szabo and what she achieved, I never really felt that I came to know her. A somewhat disappointing and unsatisfactory biography.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
Violette Szabo lost her life in a concentration camp towards the end of WWII. She was only 23 yrs. old and left a 2 yr. old girl behind at the time of her death. She was very courageous and little is written about her life and work during the war. Her life should be written and read in books, but unfortunately, this book was rather boring for me. Several interesting facts and events were listed in the book, but the book needs a lot of editing to make it a interesting story about a very courageous woman.

[Briar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent; I really enjoyed this! Well researched and very well written. Don't listen to the reviews that say it's dry and boring; it really isn't. I mean, sure, it doesn't read like Sophie Kinsella or Stephen King, but I don't think it's terribly reasonably to expect a biography to do that. It's engaging and interesting to read.

[David Duckworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely reminder

Current events (September 2024) within this supposedly informed world are shaking the very foundations of freedoms and liberty which the unselfish agents of SOE gave their lives to secure.
We must never ever forget the names and deeds of these great individuals that lost everything.
To read about them is a privilege and a duty.

[Aisha Manus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I complain that something is too academic. This is the opposite. This felt like it was an extended high school paper. Bad writing make even the most interesting topics boring. I don’t recommend.

[Robert Weiss, · Rating 3 out of 5]

facts alone don’t make a book

The facts of Violette Szabo’s life and death are told in a narrative that’s more like the reading of the telephone book than a gripping story, which this should have been. More’s the pity.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but it was completely different to the film ‘Carve Her Name with Pride’. Very little was the same, even how she was captured by the Germans. I know filmmakers have free license to change a story but this was too different.

[Andy Blanche · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendously moving and revealing book, revealing because it seems that much of what we now about Violette, mostly drawn from ‘Carve her name with pride’ is inaccurate. This book appears to be very well researched and is a powerful epitaph to this heroic young woman, one amongst many in the SOE.

[Kate Holton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to find out about her real story- and others in the SOE like her. Glad I read it. Lots of names and details.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring. It could have been really good. Things were missed out.
Going to look for another book about Violette

[Denise Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

True heroine's

May we never forget the sacrifices of these brave men and women. Thank you Susan Ottaway for the depth of research and painstaking detail.

[Russell R]

good book

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few years ago I was on a tour of Brookwood Military Cemetery when the guyide stopped at a memorial to Violette Szabo. This author says herself that she did French and German to A level in the hope of one day emulating her hero. A story of quite incredible courage by a woman whose first two decades could not have been more ordinary. I often wonder who of the people I have known could have undertaken such dangerous missions.

[Lorna Dykstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive, if sometimes dry, biography of SOE agent Violette Szabo. Susan Ottaway clearly did a lot of research to write this book about one of WW2's most famous heroines and shed new light on aspects of Violette's s life and work. In doing so she has righted some myths surrounding Violette that have persisted for decades.
However, there were times when the author kept going off at a tangent, describing events and people that had little to no connection to Violette and this marred my enjoyment of this book.

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading about SOE agents and Occupied France, but I feel that this book would have been a lot better if the author hadn't seemed to have been so determined to quibble about what RJ Minney wrote in "Carve Her Name With Pride." - I am sure for some people it's important to know whether Violette Szabo was flown out on the 6th or the 7th of July, for example, but it makes little difference to the average reader such as myself. An otherwise enjoyable read.

[Alison]

This book seems like it might be a useful text book for anyone researching Violette Scabo's life. But for me it is a collection of facts rather than a compelling story honouring a life of bravery and intrigue which I think this woman deserves.

[Judi Ballan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving and addictive read.

An excellent book offering insight into the lives of often very ordinary people who demonstrated extraordinary courage and personal sacrifice during the second world war.
A very well written and addictive read.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daring female European spy who gained many victories for WWII allies but, ultimately, lost her life in Aushwitz where it is believed she was burned alive.

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather pedestrian account of this SOE agent's life.

[DianaAitch]

Didn’t read all of this book. It was interesting but also a tedious read.
I found out what I wanted to know about Violette from Wikipedia and didn’t really need ALL this detail..
Hate giving up. But sometimes it’s the best thing to do.