Ariel Lawhon's Code Name Hélène is a captivating and meticulously researched historical novel that tells the extraordinary story of Nancy Wake, a British-born Australian who became a legendary resistance fighter during World War II. Told in interweaving timelines organized around the four code names Nancy used during the war, the novel paints a vivid portrait of a woman who defied societal expectations and risked her life to combat the Nazis.
Lawhon's writing is both evocative and informative, transporting readers to the dangerous and uncertain world of wartime Europe. She skillfully balances historical accuracy with a compelling narrative, creating a sense of urgency and suspense that keeps the reader engaged. The novel delves into Nancy's personal life, exploring her complex relationship with her husband, Albert, and her unwavering determination to make a difference.
One of the most potent aspects of Code Name Hélène is how it highlights the incredible bravery and sacrifice of women who fought on the front lines of the resistance. Nancy Wake's story is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit, and Lawhon's novel does her justice.
In conclusion, Code Name Hélène is a must-read for anyone interested in historical fiction or the stories of women who have impacted the world. It is a beautifully written and profoundly moving novel that will leave a lasting impression on readers.

Wow - another incredible book by Lawhon! After reading the authors note, im even more impressed with the way she wove the truth into this novel. It’s the best kind of books when it sends you to immediately read other books!

Another WWII book featuring a female spy. Nancy Wake is an Australian living in France. She is recruited to help the war effort so goes by many names. Based on a true story, this novel is about a woman and her husband and the sacrifices made by both in the midst of extraordinary circumstances.

Based in truth on a real woman, Nancy Wake lead a heroic life contributing her entire life to fighting for justice for individuals and a group of people and this book was an epic tale that made me want to read more about this woman. Nancy Wake took on many names and personas to survive the war and not only did she survive but she impacted the war and people who were also trying to survive.

For me, the pacing of this book wasn't consistent and there were times where I felt as though it lagged a bit and it was hard for me to keep my attention focused on the book. I think after finishing the book, I could say that there are a few parts that could have been edited out and the flow of the book would have been spot on.

On the flip side, what I loved most about this book is seeing a woman take command of not only her life but gaining the respect of others and Nancy had the respect of a whole host of men who saw her as the commander of their unit. Watching her take a skill and become a pro and then use it to outsmart the German army was very fun to read.

My first Ariel Lawhon book and after reading this one, I would love to catch up on her backlist. I love how she writes empowering women and shines a light on their story when they may have not made it into the traditional history books.

Genre/Pages: Historical Fiction/ 496 pages

Price: $16.00 on Amazon

Rating: 4.5+/5

*Thank you to Ariel Lawhon, Doubleday Books, and NetGalley for this ARC!
Lawhon does an amazing job portraying this real life hero without taking too many fictional liberties (she explains what she changes and why in a blurb at the very end). Before reading this, I had no idea who Nancy Wake was, but now I hope I never forget what she did for her country, her friends, and the world. This book has a very similar style to “A Woman of no Importance” which also covers the contributions of a ~should be famous~ female war hero from WWII. This book also does an excellent job showing you a glimpse of how horrid the war was, but also how easy it was for some to go along with Hitler. It beautifully captures human resilience, a beautiful marriage where each part sacrifices and supports the other, amazing friendships that last through the worst of times, the harrowing escapes of real people, and the amazing bravery of so many during that time. Thank you for writing this book. It’s truly one you shouldn’t miss.

I loved this book and found the "White Mouse" to be fascinating and heroic. I especially loved Henri and their love story. I do wish it had been a little shorter, but that may have been hard to edit down based on all she did to get the complete story.

Great historical novel. Gripping and well written! I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about a female heroine during World War II. I give this book 4 stars.

I was late to the game with this book, and I regret it deeply. This book is based on the life of Nancy Wake and her heroic actions in fighting the Nazis in WWII. When someone uses the word gripping to describe this book they aren't kidding.

Nancy Wake an American is in Paris trying to get a job as a reporter for the Hearst newspaper. Women were not very well respected in journalism at this time in history, so she really had to do some fast talking to get a job. During this time Nancy meets Henri Fiocca and they marry. Henri was from a wealthy family, and they did not accept Nancy.

The honeymoon was short lived because the Germans invaded France and Nancy is called upon to help the French Resistance. She leaves everything she loved, including Henri and became one of the top leaders in the Resistance. The Gestapo called her The White Mouse and put a five-million-franc bounty on her head. She led thousands of people and lost all that she loved to fight the Nazi oppression.

I couldn't put this book down and I spent much of the time reading it ugly crying. I will certainly never forget this character in history. She is someone we should all look up to.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this book and all the history that was learned. Fast paced and kept my attention the whole time.

An amazing book about a female during World War II. I loved how the author explained and showed Nancy Wake’s role in the war and she was a heroine. So many times women aren’t shown in this light and I thought it was a great book to shed light on the role women played in the war.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel.

Ariel Lawhon is on my "must buy" authors list. I thought that I was over reading war books but had to grab this one and sit down with a nice hot cup of coffee.

I will always pick up a book with interweaving timelines. It's one of my favorite types of books to read. This story kept me engaged from beginning to end. I had to stop a few times to "google" things as I didn't know if they were real or made up for the story.

Ariel has done it again and I would gladly read her next novel.

Ariel Lawhon is one of my favorite authors, so anytime she has a new book, I know it is one I will actually purchase, regardless if I have an eBook of it. This is about Nancy Wake, who is the unsung French Resistance leader who was #1 on the Gestapo's most wanted list by the end of WWII. Nancy Wake had several code names, Helene was the one she used for spy work. She is quite heroic and I was so amazed at everything she did. As I do with every Ariel Lawhon book, I spiraled into learning more about her life and looked up pictures and just absorbed all the information I could. I feel like that is a truly great historical fiction book, when it makes you want to learn more.

I love dual timeline historical fiction. Add in a fantastic female main character and you have me. This was thrilling and full of intrigue. I need something a little different if you are going back to WWII and this one had it. What a fantastic story.

4 stars from me and I would recommend it to any and all historical fiction lovers.

Many of the books that I have read about WWII focus on more well known events. The story of Nancy Wake is not one of those tales. Going back and forth in time between Nancy’s life before and during the war, this is the story of a remarkable women in a leadership role in the French resistance in an era where women simply did not do the things that she did. This one is highly recommended.

Nancy Wake. I had no idea who she was or anything about her, but by the time I was finished with this book, she was quite the incredible woman that we clearly do not know enough about, and a huge thanks to Ariel Lawhon for writing this amazing fictional representation of her. Nancy was an Australian expat living in Paris and eventually took on several code names after joining the French Resistance and British Special Operations Executive in WWII. What she did was absolutely incredible, and I cannot go into it all here, you really need to read her story for yourself.

The audio for this one is fantastic, although in the beginning it took me a minute to realize the multiple storylines were all centered on each of Nancy’s code names, and as such were basically all about one person, Nancy herself. Once I had that sorted, I really enjoyed the story and how it was laid out, each ‘persona’ of Nancy was equally interesting and suspenseful, as she did not have an easy task ahead of her with each of these jobs she accepted.

Stories like these are why historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and I highly recommend this one mostly because I think we all should read about Nancy Wake and the amazing things she did, but also because it is such a well written and riveting book overall. The author’s note at the end is a must read too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the digital galley to review.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

My biggest regret with this book is that I waited so long to read it. I've had the ARC on my Kindle for two years. Two years! What was wrong with me? This book was amazing, and I highly recommend it. I just don't know how to review it because I feel like anything I write will be insufficient.

This book was engaging and interesting, and I am so fascinated by Nancy Wake that I've added all of the books the author mentioned in her Note to my reading list. I am in awe of Nancy, everything she did, and everything she endured. What a remarkable woman!

But this book was also difficult to read because of, well, war. It hurts to see examples of people treating each other so abominably, to be reminded that it's possible for people to completely ignore th humanity of others and commit such atrocious acts. And I'm not just talking about the enemy (in this case the Nazis, Gestapo, and Vichy police). Members of the Resistance were not sinless saints--some of them chose to do horrible things, justifying their actions by listing off the crimes of their enemies (some of which weren't even true).

I do love historical fiction, but it's easier to read when the main characters and their stories are placed within the context of historical events instead of the people and events being real. Although the author did say that this is historical fiction, it definitely leans towards nonfiction . . . just written as a novel with a bunch of blanks filled in, as well as some changed dates and circumstances. She definitely did her research, and I feel like her book is true to the spirit of Nancy (she said she included descriptions and some dialogue directly from Nancy's autobiography and other biographies written about her). But because of how real it all was, I couldn't help grieving the losses. I actually cried a little, to be honest. I knew something awful was coming (because I had been trying to look something up online and stumbled across . . . something else), and it hurt so much--knowing it would happen didn't make it hurt less. I'm still sad, and it happened decades ago!

I loved Nancy and Henri. I know the book isn't solely about them, but I don't believe Nancy could have done much of what she did without their relationship. Yes, she had already done quite a bit before meeting him (she interviewed Hitler at one point during her tenure as a journalist, for example, and got herself in and out of numerous dangerous situations). But they made each other better, stronger. They had such love and respect for each other. In case you're wondering how much older Henri is than Nancy, he was born in 1898/1899, and she was born in 1912.

Note: Swearing in both English and French, including several f words. Violence and torture, including some truly horrific acts. Heartbreak. Somewhat lengthy disrobing leading up to sex but no actual sex.

This book was fabulous. I never had heard of this woman, and loved her story. She was a remarkable woman. This would have been a five star book for me, but I thought the back and forth structure of the story was not the best decision for this book. I feel it would have been better told in a chronological order. It became more confusing than it had to be and lost some steam because of it. I will highly recommend this book, though. 4.5 Stars

Nancy Wake is one of WWII’s most recognizable spies. There have been movies and television shows based on her. In Code Name Helene, Mrs. Lawhon attempts to retell her story through the four operations she worked with through her code names. Nancy Wake has been under operations using different pseudonyms. Will the enemy ever find out that these four pseudonyms are the same woman?

Nancy Wake is a fascinating historical figure in her own right. She started out as a journalist. Eventually, she became a socialite and a spy for the Resistance. She worked tirelessly to free many allied forces and Jews. She even killed a German with her bare hands. With a larger-than-life historical figure, Mrs. Lawhon certainly had juicy material to work with. Nancy Wake is indeed an admirable protagonist. Mrs. Lawhon proves that she is an incredibly brave and daring woman. She is a woman that fights for justice. She is also independent and can stand on her own against male chauvinism. Through her bravery, she begrudgingly earns the admiration and respect from her male colleagues. Thus, Nancy Wake is a perfect heroine whose only flaw is that she cannot get enough of her red lipstick.

Overall, this novel is about courage, choices, and inner strength. Besides Nancy Wake, I found all the characters, especially her husband, to be flat. I thought the beginning was slow and parts of the novel were drawn out. Therefore, I would have loved it more if it was shorter. I also had a hard time keeping her story together because it was written in a non-linear format. It would have been more comprehensible if the story was told in a linear format. Still, Code Name Helene does justice to a captivating woman! I hope that there will be more books written about her! I recommend Code Name Helene for fans of The Alice Network, Resistance Woman, and Code Name Verity!

<i>Code Name Hélène</i> is a fictional book about real-life World War II heroine Nancy Wake, who worked as a freelance reporter for Hearst newspapers in Paris in the 1930s. She found love with wealthy industrialist Henri Fiocca and married him at the beginning of the war. Unwilling to sit back and let the Nazis win, she becomes the number one Nazi target in France, known as the White Mouse. In London, she is given the code name Hélène, and among the maquis fighting the Nazis, she is known as Madame Andrée.

Ariel Lawhon did a phenomenal job telling the story of this real-life hero. I am simply awestruck by Nancy Wake. I recommend not giving into the temptation to turn to google for more information about a part of the story while you’re in the middle of reading it like I did, though, as you’ll get spoilers for the book! This story makes me want to read Wake’s autobiography and find out exactly how much of all of it was true (though the author does sort some of it out in her note at the end). I recommend this book for historical fiction fans!

I love WWII historical fiction books. And I was excited at the opportunity to read this one since it was about Nancy Wake. I was looking forward to story that was full of danger, bravery, and intrigue. Unfortunately, this was focused more on Nancy’s relationship with Henri Fiocca…more of a romance novel. The author should be commended on the amount and quality of research she conducted. However, the manner in which she presented Nancy Wake drew away from the extraordinary influence she had on bringing an end of Hitler’s horrendous acts. I felt like Nancy’s reputation was tarnished by focusing on aspects that did not highlight her extreme bravery and willingness to be such an integral part of the French Resistance. I believe I am in the minority in my low opinion of the book, so I would encourage you to read it for yourself to see if it appeals to you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.