This was great and everyone who read this one and hear her story. The audio was done really well and I couldn't stop listening.

I wasn't able to get through this one. I couldn;t get into the pace of the story on audio or in the print format. I may try again at a later date.

This is a remarkable book about a remarkable person. I recommend this book about a woman that is indomitable and did so much. She endured many things and overcame many things. She saw history unfold before her and this is her story. It is a fantastic telling of her life. If you enjoy learning about history this is a must-read. It is well researched and well presented.

The audio was so well done on this book. The narrator absorbs you with not only the story but the emotion of this Filipino-American WWII war heroine. An amazing courageous unsung hero. You must listen to this woman’s story .

Florence Finch became a War Widow, and then she became a hero. Florence was a Medal of Honor winner, yet her children, grandchildren, and neighbors had no idea. Not a trained intelligence person, she went on her own intelligence and plans. She diverted fuel from the Japanese and used the money to help our POWs. That is just one story of her heroism that is in this wonderful story of a hidden hero of WW II.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and enjoyed the narrators voice and thought he suited the book very well. This book is very well written and I enjoyed learning about Florence's amazing heroic life.

Florence started her life as Loring May Ebersole. Her father, Charles Ebersole, was an American who fell in love with the Philippines and decided to stay. He met Maria Hermoso who he wanted to marry but she was already married. He convinced her to leave her husband and live with him. They have several children together along with her daughter from her marriage. When her daughter, Flaviana, was old enough and got married, Charles decided he wanted her to be his wife instead of Maria. He and Flaviana began living together and had children. Charles wanted his children to be taught by American teachers and sent them away. It was at that time Loring became Florence.

After graduating from high school, she began working for the United States military. It was there she met her husband Charles Edward Smith. They were still newlyweds when he was called to active duty and sent off to fight the Japanese. She left her job and began working for a job authorizing vouchers for fuel. This was her way to help out the U.S. forces.

What an amazing woman! She was so strong and literally went to Hell and back during the war. She was the first woman to be decorated for her part in the war effort. I learned so much about her but still wanted to know more. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in memoirs and especially of strong women.

Not for me.
It's very rare that I abandon a book but I found this just too dense with facts and figures, names and places. I have given the audiobook 10% and it hasn't grabbed my attention at all so I'm reluctantly moving on.
Normally I enjoy biographies but this felt more like a history lesson.

Although Dan Woren does a good clear job with the narration, it was a bit monotone and comes over more like a news report...

I enjoy memoirs, particularly stories of ordinary people and/or places & events that I didn’t know about.
History is often said to be written by the winners, and predominantly by the men – the story of the women is often overlooked because they weren’t on the front line. The story of the Japanese occupation in the Philippines during WW2 is something I don’t know too much about (though I know it is more widely reported in the USA). Before this book, I had not heard of Florence Finch but the tagline appealed: “a war widow turned resistance fighter and saviour of American POWs”. After listening to the audiobook, I will not forget her.
At the start of the book I was getting very confused about who was who & what relevance the complicated family was going to have, but I guess it was necessary to establish Florence’s background as half American, half Philippino, and to explain the fact that she speaks fluent English and is trusted by both locals and Americans.
Once Florence’s story started properly, this book had a great mix of personal stories, background information & facts about what was happening in various places simultaneously. We see Florence as a young woman working for the US Intelligence Headquarters, where she fell in love with an American Naval chap called “Bing” Smith. When the Philippines were invaded by the Japanese, and after learning that Bing had been killed in action, she had to draw on her inner strength to look after herself, her family & friends, and ultimately hundreds of other people. She was careful to keep her American background secret, relying on her birth certificate stating that she was born in the Philippines. She managed to get a job at the Philippine Liquid Fuel Distributing Union, which was controlled by the occupying Japanese forces. Over a 2 year period, Florence conceived and was a key link in a plan to divert huge amounts of fuel from the Japanese army, to be sold on the black market to provide desperately needed medicine and food for hundreds of American POWs. When her involvement was finally discovered, she was arrested, tortured and sentenced to three years of imprisonment before being rescued by the American troops liberating the Philippines. Ultimately emigrating to the USA, Florence never spoke of her early life though she did feel a desire to keep serving & joined the US Coast Guard for a number of years.
This is a true story, built from the stories that the elderly Florence told her children in the years before her death. Stories and secrets that she’d kept for over fifty years, which nobody knew the full extent of. Ultimately, this is an amazing story of survival under Japanese occupation in the Philippines and a story that needs to be heard. The author has done a great job combining the elements, but I can’t help wishing that the book had been narrated, at least in part, by a woman who might have brought even more to Florence’s story.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook free from the publisher via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher & author for the opportunity to listen to it, all opinions are my own.
#FlorenceFinchAudio #NetGalley

The Indomitable Florence Finch is brilliant on audio, so let’s start there, and mark that down as a definite recommendation.

On the whole, this is a brutal and factual book. It doesn’t shy away from the realities and violence but it’s also not embellished or needlessly gory or cruel. And because of this, the book was exactly what it should be... real.

Amazingly researched, and much of this was because of Finch’s recorded recollections, but also the author’s clear exploration of military movements and records to fill in all the gaps. It was a complete picture from beginning to end.

It should also be noted that this book felt like half Florence’s story and half Carl’s. It was all aweful and awe-inspiring and there were many other people who fought and deserve their recognition and our remembrance, but Carl absolutely deserves to have at least a mention in the synopsis, if not the title.

The way the story is bookended though, clearly makes this Florence’s book, however, and it’s worth the read. To make it from beginning to end, to learn so much about the Philippine occupation, and about such an incredible woman, you’re left with a sense of wonder and love. Which is an amazing feeling to have at the end of a hard, though wonderfully written, WWII novel.

4.5 Stars and I absolutely recommend it.

*I received a free audio copy from the publisher via netgalley.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Florence Finch was the daughter of an American serviceman and a Filipina woman, raised in the Philippines. In the days leading up to World War II, she fell in love with an American serviceman, Flip Smith, and married him. When he died shortly after the US joined the war, Florence used her wartime job to sneak help to the American soldiers being held as Prisoners of War by the Japanese on the island, getting them food and medicine that saved hundreds of American lives. Her story has largely been unknown until now.

Most of the stories we hear about World War II are what happened on the Western front, fighting the Germans. I learned a lot about what happened in the Philippines during World War II from this book. Florence's bravery is astounding; she is a true heroine! I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator did a great job reading the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes learning more about World War II.

This is an amazing, tur story of women and men living through a most horrific part of WWII. It tells the story of Florence Finch who helped the resistance in the Phillippines even though she knew if she was caught she would probably be executed. I will never forget this story.

I confess that I knew very little about WWII in the Asiatic-Pacific theater before listening to this excellent audiobook about a remarkable woman named Florence Finch. In 1915, she was born to an American father and Filipino mother in Santiago, Philippines. After excelling in school, she was excited to begin a career in a U.S. intelligence office. But when the Japanese occupation started in 1942, Finch chose to represent herself as Filipina so that she could aid her countrymen. As the war intensified, she found a job with a Japanese fuel company. Knowing the incredible danger, she collaborated with the resistance movement by helping them obtain fuel and divert supplies meant for the Japanese. She also smuggled food and supplies to POWs including her former employer at the intelligence office. The occupation was terrible, the Japanese military was merciless, and Finch was eventually caught. After spending time in a hard labor camp and finally gaining her freedom, she felt compelled to return. She enlisted in the Coast Guard with hopes of defeating the Japanese. Ultimately she won a Presidential Medal of Freedom. I won’t reveal too much, but if you enjoyed Unbroken (the story of Louis Zamperini), you will enjoy this, too. I sped through it in just a few days and was mesmerized by her courage and bravery. She was a true heroine. The fast pace of Mrazek’s writing was thrilling and kept me on the edge of my seat. The narrator’s rich voice was pleasing to listen to and he moved the story along well. Highly recommend!

This book is absolutely stunning. I've tried to read books about World War II in the Philippines and biographies of General Douglas MacArthur... they've been kind of dry and...

It seems I needed a biography of an incredible woman to pull me in. This book had battle plans and behind the scenes politicking and lengthy lists of MacArthur's accomplishments but it also had the story of Florence Finch as a running thread that linked it all together.

It's a biography, and one I think any student of history and heroic women absolutely needs to read.

Please read this book if you want to find a hero to inspire you.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books for the chance to listen to a advance copy of this incredible book.)

The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs
Robert J Mrazek

What a wonderful recounting of yet another brave and selfless hero of WWII who the world just lost three years ago. The author starts from her beginnings and leaves out no detail of this amazing woman’s personal happiness’s and tragedies. Nor does he leave out the brutalities brought on to not only her but also the horrors to the thousands of POWs, and Philippine citizens during the occupation by the Japanese captors. Readers will learn about her first marriage to Charles (Bing) Smith and his courageous death saving a life at the beginning of the war. About her sacrifices to help the POWs during the occupation and her eventual capture and torture and the fact that she weighed less than 80lbs when she was finally and miraculously rescued by American troops in 1945. The audience will also learn about her move the to states, her second marriage, the birth of her daughter and son and the fact that when in 1995 the Coast Guard announced that they were naming a building in Hawaii in her honor her children knew nothing about her heroics during the war. This is the life story about the importance of never forgetting these heroes from the war the world must never forget about either. If you’re a history buff especially a lover of WWII non-fiction this is definite must read for you. And if you love to read about the heroism and the indomitable spirits of women put this high on your must read list and it will be a fixture on your keeper shelf.

Narration:
The narration by Dan Woren is wonderful his clear resonant voice punctuates all the highs and lows of this incredible woman’s life, her sacrifices and her successes.

Born in 1915 to an American father and Pilipino mother little did Florence Ebersole know that she’d play a major role in saving lives and in aiding the war effort in the Philippines during WWII, yet this indomitable fierce spirited woman did just that. She not only worked behind the scenes for US military intelligence before the start of war, but aided the POWs and Philippine civilians during the Japanese occupation until eventually getting arrested that led to her own torture. She lived to be 101 and died peacefully in 2017, she was twice widowed and survived by two children and grandchildren.

I listened to this book and it was outstanding. I had no knowledge of the depths that the Philippines were involved in WWII. This is a story of Florence (born from an American father and Philippine mother) and her roll in helping divert fuel rations to support the resistance and to help get supplies to POW camps. Her bravery and the torture that she endured was indescribable. This is also a story of all - including American officers and Philippine residents who sacrificed so much for freedom from the Japanese. This is a thoroughly researched and even though a heavy subject - a listen that is easily understood and followed!

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook on my drives to and from work. The subject matter is exactly what I am enjoying reading right now. The narrator was very good at giving a voice to this author’s words. It was not boring at all.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this audiobook provided by NetGalley.

The remarkable true life story of Florence Ingersoll Smith Finch, a hero in the fight for freedom in the Philippines.

Written in an engaging style, evocative of a novel, Florence’s story is told is told in thrilling, raw, gritty detail. I was inspired by her humility and sacrifice for her country and people. There were so many times that she could have cracked or given in, but she stayed strong, with quick wit and iron resolve in the face of torture.

Riveting storytelling, brings Florence’s amazing story to life, as well as that of her friend Carl, as their efforts and endurance of inhumane cruelty are recounted. Highly recommend this incredible biography.


I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

didn't even get to listen to yet because every time I tried to it wouldn't download at all and I tried 4 four times even came here and found out that it had been archived.

Children grow up learning about war heroes—the men who fought and died for freedom. Unfortunately, school children rarely learn the just as thrilling stories of the women who made the men’s victories possible. This book shows how it takes both men and women to fight for freedom.

Florence, a mestiza (her father was American and her mother a Filipina), left home at age seven and soon learned to rely on her intelligence and intuition to make her way in life. After finishing high school, she found a position working as a secretary for Carl Engelbart, the deputy chief of intelligence for the Americans in the Philippines.

Florence met her husband while working in the intelligence office, and they married shortly before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. This book chronicles Florence’s acts of heroism during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Her acts of bravery saved American lives not only in the prisoner of war camps (where her former employer, Carl Engelbart was imprisoned) but those citizens living in imprisonment in Manila.

Readers young and old will enjoy the story of heroism and bravery by an ordinary woman who saw an opportunity to do her part to fight for freedom and never backed down.