Code Name Hélène

Ariel Lawhon
4.41
66,820 ratings 7,373 reviews
Told in interweaving timelines organized around the four code names Nancy used during the war, Code Name Hélène is a spellbinding and moving story of enduring love, remarkable sacrifice and unfaltering resolve that chronicles the true exploits of a woman who deserves to be a household name. 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. Her success and her remarkable ability to evade capture earns her the nickname THE WHITE MOUSE from the Gestapo. 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, her new comrades are instructed to call her HÉLÈNE. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly MADAM ANDRÉ, where she claims her place as one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, armed with a ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and the 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--become.
Genres: Historical FictionFictionWorld War IIHistoricalBook ClubAudiobookWarFranceAdultRomance
451 Pages

Community Reviews:

5 star
35967 (54%)
4 star
23798 (36%)
3 star
5831 (9%)
2 star
893 (1%)
1 star
331 (1%)

Readers also enjoyed

Other books by Ariel Lawhon

Lists with this book

Dreamland
Cartier's Hope
Code Name Hélène
Historical Fiction 2020
369 books521 voters
The Land Beneath Us
The Socialite
Code Name Hélène
WW2 Era Fiction published in 2020
139 books129 voters
Water for Elephants
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Booktube Recommends 2021
103 books121 voters
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
House of Earth and Blood
The Loop