Publisher and Publication Date: William Morrow. October 4, 2022.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Pages: 384.
Format: Advanced reader copy, e-book.
Source: I received a complimentary e-book copy from William Morrow and NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review.
Audience: Historical fiction readers of World War II and Britain’s SOE.
Rating: Good.

Link @ Amazon to preorder the book.

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Summary:

One Woman’s War is the story of two young women involved in spying and espionage for the British Government security service.

The women are Victoire “Paddy” Bennett and Friedl Stottinger. Paddy is English. Friedl is Austrian.

The women are as different in character as they are in looks.

The story begins in 1940 but will back up to 1937 to introduce Friedl’s story in 1937, Portugal.

Both women work for the security service, but one of them is working both sides.

My Thoughts:

Even though Friedl is not a likable character to me. She is an interesting character. She is a striking person as far as singing talent, beauty, well-traveled, and savvy. She knows the art of charm and persuasion in dealing with men. However, she fits the mold of a typical female spy. Whereas Paddy is the girl next door who is underrated in ability and possibly overlooked.

It is difficult to feel empathy for Friedl. She is a conner. A user. She is blackmailed into working the other side and for this I have a little sadness for her.

I don’t know if having two main female characters who are opposite work in this story because they are rarely together in order to show the strong differences. To my mind, a single story with Friedl as the main character will work well.

In Paddy’s story I see the civilian life in London during the war, especially the Blitz.

The story did not keep me on the edge of my seat.

It is a pleasing story in that it wraps up fine.

I just finished another story: D-Day Girls by Sarah Rose. This is narrative nonfiction and fabulous.