What a fascinating read! I was impressed by how she kept bringing up other women who did intelligence work through the war, and encouraged the reader to read about them.

Posthumously published, The Last Secret Agent is a memoir of the incredible life of Pippa Latour. When Latour passed at 103 years old, she was the last surviving member of the SOE, Special Operations Executive. Latour kept her military involvement secret from everyone, however finally decided she needed to share it through this incredible memoir. Gripping, informative, emotional, and full of heart- I highly recommend this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook The Last Secret Agent.

The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour, Jude Dobson. Pippa lived an amazing inspiring life. So many dynamics led her to be a spy. I can’t imagine being that courageous and brave and continue to put her life at risk with the potential to be caught. Another amazing story of courage and survival. Thank you to #NetGalley#Macmillian Audio #TheLastSecretAgent for this Arc. This is my honest review. Releases May 13, 2025

I loved listening to this fascinating true account told by a real WWII heroine. Pippa Latour had one of the most interesting, tragic, and tumultuous childhoods I’ve ever heard, then used her experiences to her advantage as an SOE agent behind enemy lines. I loved the way Pippa told her story, so matter-of-fact but also with some personal details. Her memory is absolutely incredible! I also really enjoyed the narrator, Jilly Bond, for this audiobook. I highly recommend this book to other history buffs. I’m so glad I learned more about Pippa Latour in her own words. What an absolute legend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for free temporary access to this audiobook for review purposes. I post this review with my honest opinions. This review is cross-posted to Goodreads. It will also be published on Amazon and Instagram within one week of the book’s publication.

Content notes: obviously, the peril that comes of being an SOE agent in Nazi-occupied France; mentions of illness, injury, and death, including suicide; brief mentions of abortion and infanticide; discussions of witch doctors and a charmed “lucky” object; questioning whether God is loving after she experiences suffering and loss

Wow!! This book is a personal account of Pippa Latour. She was not going to share her story for her it was a secret. After her son found information on her online Pippa decided to share her story for the first time. I’m so glad Pippa decided to share her story it’s so fascinating and she wanted people to know the truth.
Before she dives into her part in WWII we get her background and even her birth story was an adventure. She shares what it was like growing up in South Africa with her family and how that helped her with training to go into WWII later in life. I really loved hearing about Pippa’s life in Africa. I really felt like I was there. Then she moves to Paris which she talked about how war has changed it and will again.
She then talks about all she did and saw in war and it was very moving.
She then goes back to Africa, and later new zeland.
I highly highly recommend this book

I love reading about strong females during WW2, especially spies and resistance, so this was right up my alley. It was obviously more informative than my typical histfic read but still engaging and eye opening to how dangerous their work was.

The narrator gave me a bit of whiplash though. I did Listen at 1.5, which is a bit slower than my normal, but there were interesting voice inflection choices that threw me off.

4.5 This book was fascinating, and I was hooked into the story immediately. Pippa was resilient in a tumultuous childhood, but she used that part of her story to show us how it prepared her for her role as a spy. I would have enjoyed reading more about her life after the war.

The narrator was fabulous and really helped pull me into the story. My only complaint is that the production itself wasn’t great. The sound dropped a bit and I could tell every time an edit had been made.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

What a life! What a mission! What a woman! Can you even imagine, the bravery, the cunning, the determination, and the grit that it took to parachute and work behind enemy lines, to send back codes, and to risk your life for the greater good? Born and raised in South Africa, Pippa Latour, learned to be brave in the face of danger. She learned to be tough as she experienced loss, grief, and upheaval in various living situations. She was strong, brave, resilient, and intelligent. This served her well when she joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), where he parachuted into occupied France, sending back codes, and using her quick wits and thinking to avoid many close calls and to evade trouble.

She lived quite the life, and I was blown away at the beginning of the book where it is mentioned the no one in her family knew of her brave deeds or involvement with the SOE. It was only after her children questioned her about what they learned about her on the internet in 2000, that she decided to tell her story - her way. It was her story after all and if it was going to be told, she was going to be the one to do it! I so admired her for not needing or wanting public praise and kept her heroic deeds to herself. I also loved that she decided to tell her story on her own terms once her involvement with the SOE became known. This memoir was published after her death and was co-written with journalist Jude Dobson.

It is no wonder that Pippa was the last surviving member of the undercover British female operative in WW2. From her childhood she was strong, brave, and able to adapt to new situations. I love reading books based on real people and events. I also love reading books that teach me new things, evoke emotion, and are thought provoking. This book did all of those and then some. While reading I couldn't help but wonder if I could have been as brave as Pippa and the other women who parachuted into Nazi France during the war. You never know what you have inside of you until you are put to the test. To be a person in extraordinary situations. This is another example of how brave women throughout time have stepped up and answered the call for service displaying great bravery, skill, confidence, and intelligence.

Gripping, informative, and evoking emotion.

What an incredible story of a woman with her comrades fight the Nazis. One always knows there are people secretly fighting so it’s wonderful to get to hear their story. The background information was so helpful to be able to know the character of the spy. Highly recommend especially if WWII is of interest to the reader.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Last Secret Agent" and all opinions expressed are my own. I listened to the audiobook. I'm glad I got to listen to the audiobook. I don't think I could have read the actual book. It was very detailed and probably would not have held my attention. I just find it amazing how these women participated in this way in the war. I did like learning about this moment in history.

This is narrative nonfiction and reads more like an intriguing WW2 espionage historical fiction novel. I expected it to be a bit dry since it’s written by a 100 year old, but it was fun and engaging! I really liked the narrator and her different voices for different characters.

It took a while for Pippa’s job in France to be fully explained. It would’ve been nice if this paragraph came way earlier in the book instead of almost two-thirds through: “It was my job to find information while moving from place to place, especially troop movements, and pass that back to home base. Of course, I would also send and receive messages about parachutages and any other information the circuit needed to communicate about. This information would come via the couriers. Katia and Lise would meet on their own “sked” every two days, to exchange intelligence. Then Maurice or I, as wireless operators, would pass it along as needed, keeping the all-important link to London alive for Scientist.”

Overall a really enjoyable and informative read! I liked that it wasn’t overly dark or sad. Pippa was so real and honest.