An interesting love story at the dawn of WWII between an American driving ambulances for France and a British RAF pilot.

“It’s not the Phony War - it’s the Twilight War.” ~ Winston Churchill

𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐥𝐚𝐝’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐏!

In addition to American SOE agent Virginia Hall and French Nurse Nancy Wake’s experience in France, Fleeing France was inspired by the secrecy surrounding the RMS Lancastria disaster. Although masterful in its entirety, Hlad’s writing particularly shines in his crafting of the personal stories of hardships faced by refugees. I won’t forget James “Jimmie” Quill, Ruth Lacroix, Lucette Soulier, or Aline Cadieux and her grand-père, Pierre, any time soon.

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚:

I was capably placed:
✔️ in the shoes of a 9-year-old French Jewish girl as she walked hundreds of miles in anticipation of safety.
✔️in the Cabinet Room feeling the tension between Churchill, Ismay, and Chamberlain
✔️in the cockpit of a Hurricane bomber experiencing sorties and ejection over enemy territory
✔️in an ambulance retrieving fallen soldiers in enemy territory
✔️in the shoes of a courageous woman who served for both Britain and France in WW2

Added to my knowledge base:
✔️Operation Royal Marine, Operation Wilfred, Operation Cycle, and Operation Aerial (I already knew about Operation Sea Lion mentioned, too)
✔️the term ‘Twilight War’
✔️the United States Neutrality Act
✔️Kriegsmarine
✔️Saar Offensive
✔️France’s invasion of Germany
✔️the tragedy of the largest loss of life in British maritime history

I was surprised
✔️to read that refugees feared being left behind more than they feared being killed in an air raid!
✔️to find myself reading Churchill’s words in his distinctive accent (in my head) as I read!
✔️how much I loved Piglet and watched to see if he’d show up when needed
✔️how Ruth was initiated!

Hlad’s spectacular book honors those courageous individuals who served and is a reminder that huge successes in wartime came at a great cost.

I was gifted this copy by Kensington Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This had everything that I was looking for from a World War 2 setting. The characters felt like they were supposed to and thought the story worked well in this setting. I thought this felt like a realistic concept and enjoyed how good the characters were. Alan Hlad has a great writing style and can’t wait for more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I enjoy historical fiction, especially the World War II era, this book did not disappoint, as always I learned more about the Dunkirk invasion than I had previously known. This book centers on a young American woman Ruth Lacroix who lives in Paris and entertains in a nightclub as a singer, when her French cousin dies in the early days of the war she leaves the nightclub scene and becomes an ambulance driver with her best friend . The main focus of this book is how Ruth and her friend transport patients to the French coast so that the patients can be transported to Britain. The story focuses on Ruth, her friend and the injured RAF pilot they rescued and the harrowing trip they undertook to escape France. This story was excellent, it was well written, it had great character development, excellent pace for the story, it kept me interested. This book had it all, great historical fiction, bit of romance, it showed the grit, determination and the fortitude of people who were impacted by the war. I would highly recommend this book.

Another thrilling WWII novel by the author, who makes the heroic effort to save soldiers at Dunkirk come fully alive. I could not put FLEEING FRANCE down, nor will fans of daring WWII fiction. Recommended!