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About the Book

About the Book

Code Name Hélène

Based on the thrilling real-life story of socialite spy Nancy Wake comes the newest feat of historical fiction from the New York Times bestselling author of I WAS ANASTASIA, featuring the astonishing woman who killed a Nazi with her bare hands and went on to become one of the most decorated women in WWII.

It is 1936, and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name.

As Lucienne Carlier, Nancy smuggles people and documents across the border and earns a new nickname from the Gestapo for her remarkable ability to evade capture: the White Mouse. With a five million franc bounty on her head, Nancy is forced to escape France and leave Henri behind. When she enters training with the Special Operations Executives in Britain, she is told to use the name Hélène with her comrades. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly Madam Andreé, where she claims her place as one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, known for her ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and her ability to summon weapons straight from the Allied Forces.

But no one can protect Nancy if the enemy finds out these four women are one and the same, and the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed she --- and the people she loves --- will become.

Audiobook available, read by Barrie Kreinik and Peter Ganim

Code Name Hélène
by Ariel Lawhon

  • Publication Date: February 2, 2021
  • Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Anchor
  • ISBN-10: 0525565493
  • ISBN-13: 9780525565499