Her life is fictionalized in Ariel Lawhon's Code Name Hélène, a disappointingly generic historical fiction novel with jaunty, gratingly modern prose, and a far too heavy a focus on Nancy's romance with the French industrialist Henri Fiocca.

Nancy Wake was a New Zealand-born nurse and one of the only women to serve in the SOE, or Special Operations Executive, during World War II.

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. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly MADAM ANDRÉE, 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. When she enters training with the Special Operations Executives in Britain, she is told to use the name HÉLÈNE with her comrades. With a five million franc bounty on her head, Nancy is forced to escape France and leave Henri behind. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name.Īs 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. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. 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. 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.

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.

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon