Working as a typist for the War Office, Rose Teasdale, who is fluent in French, is asked to translate at one of Churchill’s meetings. With a British father and French mother, she often spent summers in France and her French is impeccable. Churchill is impressed and suggests that the SOE may want to recruit her for work in France. With her brother killed in action and her parents lost in a bombing raid, she is determined to pass her training and do her part to defeat Germany.

Lazard Aron lost part of his hand in a childhood accident and was rejected for military service. His small acts of defiance come to the attention of the Resistance and he is recruited to take a larger part in their actions. When his parents are taken in a roundup of Paris’ Jewish population he vows to fight until France is liberated. Rose’s Conjurer network works closely with Lazare’s unit in Paris and they are drawn to each other. To cover her work as a courier, she poses as a cosmetics saleswoman. Selling to the mistress of a German officer she discovers that their work has been discovered.. Rose evades capture but her network and Lazare’s partisan unit are arrested. Rose’s actions to contact London and learn the fate of her team show an amazing determination and devotion to duty.

Alan Hlad uses actual events and the stories of several women SOE agents as inspiration for Rose. An assault on a prison in Amiens to free Resistance members who had been sentenced to death plays a pivotal event in Rose’s story. When Rose is eventually captured, her experiences in Ravensbruck are disturbing and the treatment of the women prisoners is brutal. Hlad’s story is an homage to the women who served. It is a story of love and survival that allows the reader to experience the tensions and fears of those who sacrificed their freedom and lives. In the plethora of books that have been published about WWII, this story stands out as an excellent novel of historical fiction. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing this book for my review.

Fantastic piece of WWII historical fiction Mr. Hlad! Thank you so much to Mr. Hlad, Kensington Publishing Corp, and NG for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of “Churchill’s Secret Messenger”.

The story of Rose and Lazare and the various members of the SOE and French Resistance will appeal to any lover of WWII historical fiction. I could hardly put the book down once begun! The entire world owes such a debt of gratitude to these individuals who risked so much and for the most part, were hardly ever recognized for their efforts.

Mr. Hlad is such a talented author...his debut book “The Long Flight Home” was exceptional as well...can’t wait to read his next book coming in April of 2022!

WWII London, War Room typist Rose Teasdale has lost her entire family to the war. She comes to Winston Churchill's attention when she fills in as a translator for a meeting with Charles de Gaulle and Commander Martel. He recommends her to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) program, a secret British agency conducting espionage in Nazi-occupied Europe. After passing the arduous training, Rose is parachuted into France, where she meets Lazare Aron, a Jewish French Resistance fighter who has also lost everything to the war. The love blossoming between them helps them endure the worst the Nazi's can throw at them. The characters were easy to like and their story was engaging and engrossing. If you read the author's afterword, you learn that all of the events are based on real life experiences and events. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

This book was amazing! Filled with historical details and a great story line. Rose is the lead character in this book and she's a bad ass! This story follows her through many trials and tribulations as she does what she can to fight against the war. Her story is filtled with action, adventure, romance, and loss.

Following the trials and tribulations of a group of British SOE agents sent into occupied France during the height of the Second World War makes for very interesting reading. This historical novel entitled “Churchill’s Secret Messenger” by Alan Hlad is a gripping story of those secrete agents sent to spy, sabotage and reconnoiter in the Paris area. The book’s subtitle of “WW2 Novel of Spies & French Resistance” is also very descriptive and the three Special Operations Executive (SOE) sent were to work with the Resistance.

Getting selected for any of the SOE activities was notoriously difficult and the training grueling. There are three agents who are followed closely in the novel, but the focus is mostly on Rose a most unlikely candidate. Her two main desirable characteristics are her indomitable desire to see the Nazis defeated and perhaps, more mundane, her fluency in French.

Rose was working in a top-secret basement bunker as a typist when she caught the attention of Winston Churchill. He took a fancy to her and pushed for her to complete the grueling, arduous training. She does finish, barely and earns the codename Dragonfly.

She and her two compatriots Muriel and Felix parachute into France where they are met by the French Resistance. One of the French fighters is Lazare Aron, a Jewish man who escaped being shipped off by the Nazis with complicity of the French police. His parents were not so lucky.

In keeping with good novel action, Rose and Lazare fall in love although there is much standing in their way of happiness. Capture and torture is often a byproduct of being a spy and that happens in this case. Many individuals in the novel are killed or wounded over the course of time until D-day and liberation.

Rose is tested in many ways but perhaps the most intense is one that will put her personal feelings to the test against justifying the faith that the Prime Minister and the British High Command have exhibited in her.

A wonderful read made more compelling to those who did not live in those years but interested not so much in the damage and destruction of WWII and its aftermath but in the very human people who made things happen – for good and for bad.

Yet another great story about the brave and resilient women and men of WWII.
Rose is a typist in Churchill's War Room, used to long hours, the terror of air raid sirens, and not talking about what she sees when she is typing reports of the war. So when she is approached by a superior after being recommended by Churchill himself, to join the SOE and become a British agent in occupied France, she doesn't hesitate, she accepts the offer. The Nazis are to blame for the deaths of Rose's parents and brother, this is her chance to fight back.
Rose is parachuted into France along with 2 other agents, making up a sub-network code named Conjurer, who, aided by the Paris resistance, perform missions of sabotage against the enemy. Rose becomes close to Lazare, one of the resistance members whose parents were taken by the Nazis. Before they have the chance to secure their relationship the network is infiltrated by the enemy, they are betrayed, leading to the arrests of hundreds of resistance fighters and agents. Rose manages to evade capture and upon hearing of the scheduled executions of the prisoners, including Lazare and Rose's fellow agent and friend Felix, she feels a desperate need to help them escape certain death.
What happens on the day before the scheduled executions impacts Rose's fate for the rest of the war. Does she find a way to rescue Lazare and other resistance members and continue their fight against evil? This, I will let you discover for yourself. Make sure you get a copy, this book comes out today so don't miss it. I highly recommend. It is fast paced, has likeable characters. If you like "The Black Swan of Paris" or The Paris Model", you will love this one!! 5 stars*****.

This was my first book by this author, but I will definitely check out other books he wrote.

This is a very intense, heartbreaking story, but also a story filled with determination, strength, courage, hope and love.

It is a well written and researched WWII story, that will keep you on the edge of your steat from the first page to the last. I really had to control myself not to take a peek at the last chapter to see how it ended.

Rose and Lazare are wonderful characters you come to care about from the first moment they are introduced.

I recommend this book

This unputdownable WWII book utterly captivated me in every way from the era, settings and characters to the heart crushing stories of concentration camps to human resiliency and hope. Talk about suspenseful, engaging and riveting! Though fiction, this could very well be the true story of many heroic young men and women during WWII Europe. The author was inspired by true elements such as Operation Jericho.

Rose Teasdale, a young typist Room 60 of the Winston Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms, packs up and leaves her position without telling a soul. She is being taken to a top secret interview and through a lot of hard physical work (including parachute and explosives training escaping handcuffs), ingenuity and pluck, she becomes a Special Operations Executive agent. She has deep personal reasons to give her all in the war effort against the Nazis. She quickly learns to lead a clandestine life, fraught with constant danger.

Meanwhile, Lazare Anon, a Jewish young man, leaves home to fight for the Resistance. He also has reason for revenge against the Nazis. He is forced underground to work on projects and brainstorm. His path crosses with Rose and the story develops from there. We are told of the unspeakable mental and physical horrors of war from their perspectives and of others. The anguish of isolation and not knowing whether they and their loved ones will live or die any moment seeps through the author's words. Atrocities at concentration camps are not glossed over.

I love that the main characters have flaws but use their strengths to accomplish great things. The pace of this novel is often fast and vividly fascinating and the ending is marvelous! Alan Hlad has a beautiful way with words. Every historical fiction reader ought to experience this.

My sincere thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading an early e-ARC of this beautiful and heart breaking book.

I'm a sucker for WW2 novels and Alan Hlad's 'Churchill's Secret Messenger' was the latest enjoyable read set in London and Paris during the war. The book also shows the important role women played during the war. @KensingtonBooks @NetGalley

This WWII story, like so many others, offers glimpse of life during that time. Also, like so many others, you have those who join the resistance, those who (in many languages) do not wish to leave their country, you have the Jews who cannot believe what is happening to them after all aren't they French, German, Italian and the list goes on. This particular book has a different hook to draw you in...Churchill and the SOE. Yet it is all the same. Is it well written...of course it is!!! Was the research outstanding...of course it was!!! Throw in a bit of a romance and there you have it...another fictional story about WWII. And here I thought this book might be different -- perhaps I didn't read the summary, my bad! However, thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I am like a salmon swimming upstream against the school of fish, but I can't give it more than 2 stars.

An outstanding book based on the British SOE, a secret organization and the French resistance during WWII. The author's words bring history alive through the eyes of Rose, a SOE agent and Lazare with the French resistance. Readers who enjoy historical fiction will not want to miss this well researched book. The author's note is a bonus. Highly recommended!!

I have read a great deal of historical fiction about World War II, but this novel stands out among the best so far. It features Rose, a female heroine who lost her entire family, and vowed to avenge their deaths by serving in a secret mission to fight Germany. The story is also intertwined with a love story between Rose and Lazare, a Jewish member of the French Resistance. It is somewhat predictable that they fall in love while working together towards the same end. All the characters portrayed were well-written and strong. The suspense propelled me towards the conclusion of the story. The events were well-researched, and focused on a mission that is not often written about in historical fiction novels (to my knowledge). Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advance e-reader copy of this book! If you enjoy historical fiction with strong female characters, you will not be disappointed reading this one!

I've heard a lot of good things about this author, but this is the first book I've read. I read a lot of WWII-era novels, but this had plot points I've never read about it other books. Characters are well crafted and realistic. The pace is spot-on to keep the reader turning the pages.

Alan Hlad has been added to my list of ‘go to’ historical fiction authors!

Hlad has written a spectacular WWII-era story of a woman who is recruited from Winston Churchill’s typing pool to become an undercover spy in German-occupied France. “Churchill’s Secret Messenger,” will tick all the boxes for fans of historical fiction and is a must-read come April 27, 2021.

Rose Teasdale has lost everything that matters; her parents, her family home and her only sibling, Charles. Throwing herself into her work, Rose works double shifts typing up confidential documents in Room 60, a cramped bunker in Winston Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms underneath the treasury building. Rose’s hatred of the enemy fuels her desire to defeat the Germans and her dedication catches the attention of Churchill. After filling in as an interpreter during a meeting with General Charles de Gaulle and Commandant Martel, Rose is offered a rare and dangerous opportunity; a position in Churchill’s secret army. Rose is trained by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to be one of the 470 agents in German-occupied France. As one of only 39 women dropped into France, she’s got nothing to lose. Codenamed Dragonfly, she poses as a cosmetics saleswoman while helping the resistance. When her path crosses a Jewish French resistance fighter, Lazare Anon, her hardened heart softens and, while it doesn’t change her direction and focus, the chance at love gives her something to look forward to after the war. Rose’s determination mixed with Hlad’s expert skills, makes this book an unputdownable read!

I learned about the Vel d’Hiv roundup, The Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, Operation Jericho and the Special Operations Executive, none of which I had any prior knowledge. Hlad found a way to impart knowledge from his meticulous research without making it sound like he was lecturing. Furthermore, his deeply layered and lovable characters (based on real people) showed, not told, the emotional toll involved in carrying out undercover ops. I loved Rose and her dedication, determination, and willingness to sacrifice in order to justify Winston Churchill’s faith in her ability.

Please tell us there’s another ‘Hlad historical fiction’ in the works!

Thank you to Alan Hlad, Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this phenomenal advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Scads have been written of late about Churchills’s secret agents and the French Resistance during WWII. Yet I found author Alan Hlad’s treatment thrilling and was glued to the pages as we meet Rose Teasdale, who becomes a British spy after her family perishes in the Blitz, and Lazare Aron, a Resistance member in Paris, whose parents are sent to a Nazi concentration camp. How their lives intertwine as they work against a common enemy makes for one engrossing story I dare you to put down. Highly recommended for WWII hist fic fans!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 27 Apr 2021
#ChurchillsSecretMessenger #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

Churchill’s Secret Messenger by Alan Hlad is an excellent WWII era historical fiction novel that kept me enthralled from beginning to end.

This is the second book I have read by Mr. Hlad, hello The Long Flight Home was awesome!!!), and this new book has cemented my star-struck opinion and admiration for this author.

From London to France and Europe, this book covers so much within its narrative.

I loved the concept of two people, their lives intersecting, both in France on secret missions, trying to right the wrongs done to not only their own people and nations by the Nazis, but also the wrongs done to their own respective families. Now, Rose and Lazare are together with a purpose (Rose from London working with the SOE and Lazare with the French Resistance) and are fighting for justice in whatever ways they can and are more alike then their pasts that brought them to this present would suggest.

The story from that point on is nothing but sheer bravery, fortitude, selflessness, and heroics. The reader is placed literally within the thick of it. It is an excellent and gripping read, and I will leave the rest for the readers to discover for themselves.

A wonderful novel and historical fiction at its finest.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Kensington for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.

I thoroughly enjoyed this plausible and exciting story of Rose Teasdale, a young woman in WWII Britain who takes a chance to fight the war as a SOE agent in occupied France. A counterpoint story is developed around a young French Jew, Lazare Aron, who decides to join the resistance over his naïve parents' objections. His story collides with Rose's as they work together in a Paris network that becomes compromised. The graphic depictions of Gestapo torture and killings, the complicity of French officials, as well as the horrific concentration camps, may be difficult for some readers. However, the poignancy and authenticity of Rose's situation - her solider brother killed by enemy fire and parents killed in the London bombings - and Lazare's family - parents sent to their death at camps - compels such a depiction. In addition, the author notes that much of the story was based on true events and people. This novel will appeal to fans of WWII history, particularly espionage, French resistance networks, and SOE work.

I adored Alan Hlad's previous book "The Long Flight Home" and was beyond excited to be approved to read the upcoming "Churchill's Secret Messenger." This book is just as well written and emotionally taxing as Hlad's previous book. I thoroughly enjoyed the historical component as it was something I was not overly familiar with, yet. I enjoyed the characters and was on the edge of my set waiting to read what would happen. Alan Hlad has become an auto-buy author for me!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

WWII in occupied Paris brings a female British spy and a French resistance fighter together. Both young and having lost their families to the war, they have much in common. Nicely written and interesting. I would recommend to someone wanting an introduction into this piece of history.

Air raids are a nightly terror in London. Rose Teasdale is working in the war room underground and proud to be doing her part. An interpreter is needed late at night when Winston is having a discussion with General Charles de Gaulle and Commandant Martel. The latter speaks no English. Rose volunteers to assist and Rose’s ability to flawlessly translate English to French does not go unnoticed.

Her brother Charles was shot down over the English Channel and never recovered. Her parents and the house she grew up in are destroyed in one of the nightly blitzes. She is very heartbroken and angry because her entire family is now dead due to the Battle of Britain and she would like to do more to aid the war effort.

Meanwhile a young man, Lazare Anon, is preparing and posting flyers suggesting the population resist Nazi occupation. He is crossing a river when he witnesses an old man reading one of his posters executed by an SS officer in front of his wife. Lazare is devastated.

Being an enemy agent in a foreign country is a death sentence if caught. Rose is taught how to survive and is dropped into France to assist in clandestine operations and communications. Should she be caught her death will be slow and painful as the Nazi’s try to extract as much information as possible.

This book is an excellent example of the trials of many volunteers who served during WW II. The characters are well vetted and believable as saboteurs. The book ended with my having a much deeper appreciation of the people who did everything they could to defeat the enemy. CE Williams