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1944: An unknown location, occupied France.
1944: An unknown location, occupied France.
Dropping silently behind enemy lines, Sylvia Crichton, codename Monique, is determined to fight for the country of her birth and save it from its Nazi stranglehold.
As one of the dancers at the nightclub Mirabelle, Sylvie’s mission is to entertain the club’s German clientele and learn their secrets. In a world of deception and lies, she can trust no one. Not even Mirabelle’s enigmatic piano player Felix… a part of the resistance or a collaborator?
But despite her SOE training, nothing can prepare Sylvie for the horrors she is about to face – or the pain of losing those she grows closer to undercover…
The author explains that she set her story in Nantes as there wasn’t a SOE cell in Nantes and so she could write freely and mix in stories from other parts of the country. Nantes is a representative setting but as the author says, it’s a lovely city to visit and if you can do so, this book will help it come to life in a very interesting way.
The locations mentioned such as the Jardin des Plantes, Passage Pommeraye and Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne and the Machines de L’Ile (where there is now a mechanical elephant apparently)
The author also explains that she knew little of the SOE at the start of this novel but she read about figures in real life such as Noor Inayat Khan, Violette Szabo and Odette Samson. She hopes that her Sylvie will be judged by readers as a worth tribute to their work and memories.
Destination/location: France, Nantes Author/guide: Elisabeth Hobbes Departure Time: WW2
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