Non-fiction review: A Woman of No Importance

Title:  A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Author: Sonia Purnell
Publication Info: Viking Press, 2019. 368 pages.
Source: Library digital resources

Publisher's Blurb:
In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her."

The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and--despite her prosthetic leg--helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.

Virginia established vast spy networks throughout France, called weapons and explosives down from the skies, and became a linchpin for the Resistance. Even as her face covered wanted posters and a bounty was placed on her head, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped through a death-defying hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown. But she plunged back in, adamant that she had more lives to save, and led a victorious guerilla campaign, liberating swathes of France from the Nazis after D-Day.

Based on new and extensive research, Sonia Purnell has for the first time uncovered the full secret life of Virginia Hall--an astounding and inspiring story of heroism, spycraft, resistance, and personal triumph over shocking adversity.

My Review:

I’m not sure where I got the tip-off for reading this book—I think it might have been the collection of brief sketches on women heroes of WWII I reviewed here. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I picked it up. The biography is well-written and historically diligent, with no effort to create thoughts and motives where they aren’t known—which is almost everywhere.

Virginia Hall was an exceptionally private person, perhaps because of her work as a spy, perhaps just by nature (which caused which?). In any case, we have to learn to know her primarily through the eyes of the men she worked with, and official documents. The reward for that research effort is a book that combines all the elements of a spy thriller with a strict adherence to fact. You might even call it a slightly dry spy thriller, except I was never bored. 

The other aspect of the book that makes it both a valuable and at times painful read is the history of sexism it exposes. Virginia Hall was acknowledged by the vast majority of those who knew her work as one of, if not the best spy in France during the war. Yet because of her gender, she was consistently passed over for promotion, and for much of the war the SEO (British Intelligence) and later the OSS (US Office of Special Services) routinely tried to put men with less—or no—experience and qualifications in command of her. After the war, it was even worse.

Happily for all of us—because in the end Ms. Hall performed feats of espionage and guerrilla warfare that may have tipped the balance for the Allies after the D-Day landings—she wasn’t particularly inclined to give in and accept her “place” as a woman. I might say she was a woman ahead of her time, but in fact I would argue that she was one of the women who made our time possible.

My Recommendation:

This is a book that helps to explode the myths not only about what women can do, but also about what they *did* do. And I didn’t even mention the fact that she had a disability, having lost one leg below the knee due to a hunting accident and a case of gangrene. Any time I’m feeling sorry for myself because things hurt when I’m hiking, I’ll be remembering Virginia, crossing the Pyrenees on foot, in winter, with a 1930s-technology false leg (named Cuthbert).

FTC Disclosure: I checked A Woman of No Importance out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

Middle Grade Audio Book: Almost Paradise, by Corabel Shofner

Title: Almost Paradise

Author: Corabel Shofner. Read by Eileen Stevens

Publication Info: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017. 288 pages in hardback. Audio edition by Blackstone Audio, 2017.

Source: Library digital resources

Publisher’s Blurb: 

Twelve-year-old Ruby Clyde Henderson’s life turns upside down the day her mother’s boyfriend holds up a convenience store, and her mother is wrongly imprisoned for assisting with the crime. Ruby and her pet pig, Bunny, find their way to her estranged Aunt Eleanor's home. Aunt Eleanor is a nun who lives on a peach orchard called Paradise, and had turned away from their family long ago. With a little patience, she and Ruby begin to get along―but Eleanor has secrets of her own, secrets that might mean more hard times for Ruby.

Ruby believes that she's the only one who can find a way to help heal her loved ones, save her mother, and bring her family back together again. But being in a family means that everyone has to work together to support each other, and being home doesn't always mean going back to where you came from.

My Review:

Ruby Clyde is one of those characters who captures your heart from the opening lines. Her life has been challenging from the get-go, but waking up in the back seat of the car on her way to who knows where tells her things have just gotten worse. Building from event to event the author creates a story that shows the adults in Ruby Clyde’s life both failing spectacularly to do right by her—and going above and beyond to be sure she is okay.

After a lifetime of being the adult to her mother’s inability to function, Ruby Clyde meets up with something too big for her to handle. Her successes—rescuing Bunny, reaching out to her aunt—come from a combination of her own gumption and adult help, and don’t always work quite as planned. There is no illusion here: Ruby can’t go it alone. But neither can she sit back and do nothing in hopes that the adults will take care of matters.

The ending took me a bit by surprise, and I’m still not sure what I think of it. The book does leave the reader all too aware that the criminal justice system sometimes fails spectacularly, and sometimes drastic measures are necessary to fix it (more than that I won’t say, lest it be a spoiler).

The narrator is superb, capturing Ruby Clyde’s voice perfectly. As I listened I could see the whole thing, the result of a lovely combination of good writing and good reading.

My Recommendation:

I’d save this one for somewhat older kids, who are ready for the idea that “the system” is broken. Be prepared to discuss the ending with your young reader. I’ll say 10-12 years old for this, though aside from the difficult issues, the writing is quite accessible without talking down to the reader at all.

Full Disclosure: I borrowed an electronic copy of Almost Paradise from my library, and received nothing from the author or the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."   

Middle Grade Monday: The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate

By the way, I love this cover:

Title: The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate
Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 2015. 315 pages (hardback)
Publisher’s Blurb:
Callie’s younger brother Travis keeps bringing home strays. And Callie has her hands full keeping the animals—Travis included—away from her mother’s critical eye.

When a storm blows change into town in the form of a visiting veterinarian, Callie discovers a life and a vocation she desperately wants. But with societal expectations as they are, she will need all her wits and courage to realize her dreams.

Whether it’s wrangling a rogue armadillo or stray dog, a guileless younger brother or standoffish cousin, the trials and tribulations of Callie Vee will have readers cheering for this most endearing heroine.

My Review:
As a sequel to a Newbery nominee and winner of multiple awards (see review), this book had quite a bit to live up to. To my mind, it did it, though it left me looking for another sequel, which I do hope Jacqueline Kelly will write. The story continues to show Calpurnia as a girl who has a sharp intellect and the kind of curiousity that leads to either trouble or a good education.

Calpurnia manages to do both. Thanks to her grandfather, who is almost as marginalized in the family as Callie Vee is, she is getting a solid scientific education. But there’s a lot to overcome, even besides the tendecy of her younger brother to try to make pets of the most inappropriate animals. No one besides Grandfather takes Callie’s desire for an education seriously, and I kept getting frustrated on her behalf (not that she needed my help—Callie is perhaps unrealistically aware of the unfairness of the social limitations of her position).

It’s not that so much really happens in the story. It’s that every step of the way she is getting closer to needing to break out and insist on having her own way, and the process is fascinating to watch. I hope that there will be more books, and that Callie will get to go to school in defiance of everything that her parents assume about her future.

My Recommendation: 
This is a worthy sequel to The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, and a good book to remind us that the “normal” thing to do isn’t always the right thing to do, and social expectations can be a prison.

Full Disclosure: I borrowed an electronic copy of The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate from my library, and received nothing from the author or the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."   

Middle Grade Review: Riding Freedom

Title: Riding Freedom
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan; illustrated by Brian Selznick
Publisher: first published 1998 by Scholastic, 144 pages. Ebook published 2013; on my Nook it had 75 pages.
Source: library (digital)

Summary:
Based on a real person, Charlotte Parkhurst, this book tells of a girl who disguises herself as a boy to escape a workhouse (masquerading as an orphanage). Unlike most who did that sort of thing (at least in books), she did not resume her female persona. Now known as Charley, Charlotte went on to become an expert stage driver, emigrated to California, and became--50+ years before it was legal--the first woman in the country to vote (so far as we know!). Note: the summaries on Amazon and Goodread talk about her being married and losing husband and baby, then resuming her male role. Nothing in the book suggests any such thing, including the historical note at the end, though there is mention of a time spent in Atlanta which isn't covered in the book.

Charlotte's story is both expanded and compressed. Expanded, because very little is known of her life (for obvious reasons), so the author had to invent small incidents, dialog, and feelings. But it is also compressed, in that the author chose to put all the key events into far fewer years than they actually encompassed for the sake of a more coherent narrative.

Review:
I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and finding a book like this, based on a remarkable real person, is a delight. Though I enjoyed it a great deal, the writing style is not to everyone's taste--it is definitely written in the style of a children's biography, with more "showing" and made-up dialog than an adult book would have, but still with a certain distance and a great deal more "telling" than we consider optimal in a novel. Frankly, I didn't care. The story is compelling, and well-told. Selznick's illustrations only add to the delight.

Like many readers (based on a scan of the reviews), I would have liked to know more about what happened after the book ends. Charlotte had a great friend at the orphanage, Hayward, and she invites him (according to their childhood plan) to join him on the ranch she eventually buys. What becomes of that relationship? I believe that the author does not pursue this because he is not an historical character, but the possibilities are tantalizing.

Recommendation:
This is a book that offers a good look at issues faced by women in the 1800s, as well as being an inspiring story of perseverance in the face of great odds. I recommend it for those who like history and historical fiction, biography, and stories of strong women.

Full Disclosure: I checked Riding Freedom out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

G: Dorothy Gilman, Kerry Greenwood

Monday Mysteries!  This time, not a specific book review, but a couple of authors (filed under "G") whose work I have enjoyed a lot.  Also, on reflection, we could call it "Girls Gone Independent" (sorry, couldn't think of a "g" word to finish the alliteration).

First: Dorothy Gilman, author of the Mrs. Pollifax series and a number of stand-alone books.

I have to admit it, though it probably marks me as a fogey: I love Mrs. Pollifax.  There she is, 60-something, bored with retirement, so she becomes a spy for the CIA.  Realism?  Check that at the door and get a load of fun instead.  This isn't gritty and hard-core, this is the head of the garden club (and from New Jersey, at that!) stumbling her way through mysterious spy rings and capture by evil-intentioned enemy agents and coming out on top because she doesn't know the meaning of defeat. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, the first book in the series (also the first Gilman wrote, I believe) is my favorite, even though structurally it violates most of the rules.  Fully 1/3 of the book could be called set-up, before the action really heats up.  But what a set-up it is!  And then to see Mrs. Pollifax blithely corrupting communists with ideas about democracy, trusting all sorts of dubious people--and getting them to do exactly what she wants.

Despite the essentially light nature of the Mrs. Pollifax stories, Gilman is no pussycat about hairbreadth escapes and flirting with death.  Mrs. Pollifax does it all, and is no stranger to carving victory painfully from the iron grip of defeat.  In many books, she faces death with a calm born in part of her age: she's been there before, and knows it's only a matter of time.  In fact, on reflection, Mrs. Pollifax is a great role model in several ways.  Heck, she even takes up yoga and karate so that she can be better at what she does.  Plus: taking volunteerism to a whole new height (did I mention she just walked into the CIA and volunteered to be a spy?).

For an extra treat, get hold of the Recorded Books versions of the stories read by Barbara Rosenblatt.


Second: Kerry Greenwood, author of the Phryne Fisher mysteries, set in Australia in the 1920s.  Another female who doesn't follow the rules,  Phryne (pronounced "fry-knee"), the daughter of an English lord, has moved to Sydney, Australia just to get away from a family that would insist she be modest and chaste and marry the man they chose.  She has no plans to do or be any of those things.  Rich now, but from a poor background, she has her own unique take on the world of both the rich and the poor.

Phryne parties hard, sleeps with her Chinese lover (and at times with any other attractive young men she wants to), and drives fast cars to chase the bad guys, all the while dressed to the nines.  Like Mrs. Pollifax, she's not terribly realistic, but she's a lot of fun, and her adventures are fast-paced, entertaining, and occasionally thrilling (I wonder how Phryne and Emily Pollifax would feel about being lumped together this way?  Maybe less upset than you'd think).  However, while Gilman keeps her writing PG, Greenwood definitely embraces an "R" rating.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 Cocaine Blues is the first of the Phryne Fisher mysteries.


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