3.5*

Well documented biography of Odette Sansom. I appreciated all the footnotes. ( )

The Publisher Says: The true story of the woman who became WWII's most highly decorated spy

The year is 1942, and World War II is in full swing. Odette Sansom decides to follow in her war hero father’s footsteps by becoming an SOE agent to aid Britain and her beloved homeland, France. Five failed attempts and one plane crash later, she finally lands in occupied France to begin her mission. It is here that she meets her commanding officer Captain Peter Churchill.

As they successfully complete mission after mission, Peter and Odette fall in love. All the while, they are being hunted by the cunning German secret police sergeant, Hugo Bleicher, who finally succeeds in capturing them. They are sent to Paris’s Fresnes prison, and from there to concentration camps in Germany where they are starved, beaten, and tortured. But in the face of despair, they never give up hope, their love for each other, or the whereabouts of their colleagues.

In Code Name: Lise, Larry Loftis paints a portrait of true courage, patriotism, and love—of two incredibly heroic people who endured unimaginable horrors and degradations. He seamlessly weaves together the touching romance between Odette and Peter and the thrilling cat and mouse game between them and Sergeant Bleicher.

A LITTLE FREE LIBRARY FIND. IT'S GONE BACK THERE NOW.

My Review: I like spy stories because it never ceases to fascinate me why people who obviously think they're good, solid, honest people tell themselves it's okay to lie, cheat, and steal. "The end justifies the means" said Ovid 2,000+ years ago. A very consequentialist viewpoint that I worry about promoting, since it presupposes the agent knows what "good" really is and thus empowers lowlife scum to act in the bad ways they want to act to achieve something they think is "good."

Well, anyway.

This woman's life is one that, absent documentation, I'd say was a myth. If someone wrote it exactly like this as fiction, I'd snort mightily and tell 'em to rein it in and make the story believable. The author's prose is adequate to the task at hand. The reason to read the book is the story not the storytelling. For spy-story lovers it's proof that truth is still weirder than fiction. For history readers, the same. For all its fascinating turns and proofs that women lie, cheat, and steal with the same verve as men do, it fails the Bechdel Test dismally, as Odette is motivated and manipulated by LUUUV for men. Don't think she's some fempower icon, y'all. Literally everything she does is for some man or another, living or dead.

My rating is based on how much fun I had reading it not necessarily on its objective merits. ( )

Odette by all accounts was a strong, patriotic person who put her country (both France & England) ahead of herself and her family. Though her spy career was relatively cut short by being captured, her real story is after her detainment, the inhumane torture she endured, manipulating the enemy to focus on her in order to save her team. The story also focuses on her capture, Hugo Bleicher who was able to track her down, catch and then tried to protect her as best he could. I didn't rate it as high as others because I felt more could be written on why Odette would leave 3 young daughters behind, how Hugo Bleicher was to learn so much about Odette, not referring to how he caught her as that was explained, but how he knew so much about her history. It seemed to me both questions were left a bit of a hole in the story. Otherwise a totally remarkable person who seems to have withstood more physical and mental torture without breaking than just about any other person could. ( )

Powerful read and well documented. In places it was hard to read what the Germans did to their prisoners, but people need to be reminded what can happen when a dictator tries to take over.
The author writes how Odette is recruited into the SOE and her work in the Spindle network. It took a lot of courage to leave 3 little girls in England to help her native France and her adopted England. She was married and the author doesn't say much about her husband (only that he was fighting in the war). Evidently their marriage was not good as she forms an attachment to Peter who leads the network. ( )

Odette was truly a remarkable person. In 1942, while WWII is in full swing, she follows in her father’s footprints and signs up with as a SOE agent. She is sent to France where she meets Captain Peter Churchill, as the two of them completely many missions, ultimately catching the attention of the Germans. They are both captured by Hugo Bleicher, Germany’s too spy-catcher. They are both in Germany’s hands until the Allies liberate the concentration camps they are at. This book is nonfiction but reads like a fiction book. Odette’s story should’ve been taught in classrooms as she was a truly remarkable individual. Highly recommend this book for a different perspective of WWII History. ( )