Publisher's Synopsis
It's 1942 and German troops have occupied most of Europe. A French woman named Odette Sansom wants to do her part to fight the Germans and manages to become a spy code-named Lise. She joins forces with an English officer named Peter Churchill who will be her commanding officer. Remarkably, Odette had once been married and still had three children but she persuades a relative to take care of them while she fulfills her patriotic duty for France.
Odette is alone in Arles, France on Christmas eve 1942 and joins a group of German officers at their hotel. After a feast of cake and several bottles of Cote du Rhone she persuades the Germans to move a piano upstairs where the sounds can be enjoyed by a greater number of hotel guests. Not exactly a bit of spy craft but it does attest to Odette's cleverness.
Peter, Odette and several compatriots are captured by Nazis and taken by train to one of Germany's infamous prison camps. Odette is subjected to some torture that even made me cringe but she would not reveal any military secrets. Peter and Odette begin to have romantic feelings about each other during this period and told their captors that they were married even though they were not. Because of Peter's last name, the Nazis believed that they had caught a relative of the British Prime Minister; neither Peter nor Odette tried to tell them otherwise. The Nazis sent an offer to England and offer a trade: we'll give you Peter Churchill in exchange for Rudolf Hess. England, however, would not agree to the switch.
Both Peter and Odette survive the war, are released from prison and travel to England where they eventually marry. Because of her heroism during the war, Odette is selected to receive an award. In a large ceremony the George Cross is presented to her by none other than King George VI, the only woman being honored along with 249 men.
" A captivating true story of a female spy in World War II. " - Reader.
