Ariel Lawhon has outdone herself with this one. This novel is about Nancy Wake, a woman with many different identities who was integral to the French Resistance's fight against Nazi Germany. Lawhon's interpretation of Wake's life made for compulsive reading. I spent most of the book on the edge of my seat anxious about what was going to happen next. Nancy Wake was someone I'd like to be friends with - smart, funny, bawdy, and unabashedly feminine even in inconceivable circumstances. Ms. Wake would be proud to see her story in this novel.

I could not put this book down. Thanks to the author for introducing Nancy Wake to her readers. It is a remarkable story of an astonishing strong and brave woman.

Another World War II novel to add to the growing shelf which leads us into the lives of that period's heroines and tragedies. Once again, as she has in previous novels, Ariel Lawhon sparks a moment in time to life, with a story that will stick like a burr in your brain. Enthralling.

WOW! I love WWII stories and this one is no exception!

The book is told by the 4 different code names that was used by Nancy Wake during WWII to assist the Resistance in smuggling people away from the Nazi's. This book was extremely well done and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for this advanced readers copy. This book is due to release in March 2020.

I had very much enjoyed Ariel Lawhon's previous novels which was why I gave this book a chance, despite my World War II fiction exhaustion. I enjoyed this based-on-a-real-person novel of an Australian socialite turned spy. The timeline switched back and forth a bit too much, in ways that didn't always serve the story. This was a solid world war two novel.

I love books about strong women characters. Based on a true story. I learned so much and enjoyed this book immensely! Love historical fiction books like this. Put it on your tbr book now.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me the ARC.

This is an amazing book and incredible story of strength and resilience during such a devastating time. I read this book quickly, but didn't want it to end. I had to take some time away from of it really soak up ever ounce of what I had read. Nancy is an incredible woman and did so much good during WWII. Her story was one that I hadn't known much about and I feel like this book is one that anyone who enjoys reading about WWII will enjoy.

I was really surprised and intrigued by this story. The narratives were well interwoven and the pacing was great. I really enjoyed learning about this particular facet of history, as it was one I wasn't familiar with and felt like a unique topic for a WW2 story. This book also balanced levity with the seriousness of the topic in a way that this book didn't feel oppressively dark or heavy. Overall this was a really great read.

Code Name Helene is a fascinating novel based on true events, about an incredibly courageous woman during World War II. The stories of WWII espionage in this book are so interesting. I was not familiar with Nancy Wake's story before, and am glad this book introduced me to her life.

After meeting and marrying a wealthy French man, Nancy Wake embraces life in France. When WWII begins, Nancy is determined to help those around her. She begins by small smuggling jobs, until she has advanced to smuggling people out of the country. Alternating, it is the end of the war and Nancy has parachuted into France from England to arm and run pockets of French Resistance members. The book ultimately merges the two stories, showing how Nancy ended up in England.

This was a well told and interesting story. I had a hard time putting the book down, and found myself reading late into the night. Nancy was quite the hero and went above and beyond what most did during the war - what a fascinating person. I can only hope that I would have a fraction of her courage. Overall, highly recommended.

Thank you, NetGalley and Doubleday Books for this amazing ARC!

Nancy Wake falls in love with a French man just before World War II breaks out. She finds herself drawn into the resistance and eventually leads the effort to sabotage German targets once the Allies land in Normandy. The story is told in two timelines: Nancy's experiences leading up to the war and beginning to join the resistance, and Nancy returning to France to lead resistance forces in the lead-up to D-day. The two different timelines meet up in the end for a truly gut-punching ending. This book kept me at the edge of my seat. I read the last half all in one sitting!

Nancy was a super realistic and fascinating character. I feel like tough, independent women are often portrayed as one-dimensional. They have no fears or conflicting emotions. Nancy is absolutely 3-D. Yes, she is tough and says what she thinks, but she is also afraid, like any other person in her situation would be. She gets nervous for big operations and indignant when people around her make mistakes. She is 100% a real person that you could encounter on the street.

I thought the two timelines helped contribute to this impression. We start off seeing Nancy at her peak: ready for anything. All she needs is some red lipstick and she's ready to jump out of a plane. I loved seeing Nancy slowly become more and more involved in the resistance. in the second timeline. At first, she's nervous to deliver papers, and then she works her way up to more and more dangerous tasks. This explained "current day" Nancy to me in a way that made a lot of sense.

I loved this book and I would definitely recommend it!

2.5 stars.

The real Nancy Wake was a fascinating woman, and the story of her feats during World War II are truly unbelievable and inspiring. After reading the summary I felt like I was in for a thrilling spy novel, full of heart pounding excitement and fast-paced adventure. But somewhere along the way, Nancy's story got bogged down in all the details, resulting in an overly long book that covered too much of her life and crawled at a snail's pace. A lot of Nancy's first person narration felt flat, lacking any spark at all. And the italicization was extremely overdone and quickly became very irritating. Where the story shined was in capturing the essence of Nancy's personality. She was incredibly brave and self-sacrificing, but she could also be brash and vulgar as well. I've read three of Lawhon's books now, and I found that Code Name Helene was more well-written than Flight of Dreams but not as intriguing as I Was Anastasia.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had never heard about Nancy Wake until I read this book. Hers is a fascinating story about love and guts and fighting for what’s good and right when the odds are stacked against you. The author does an absolutely phenomenal job of weaving a chunk of time with a lot of details into beautiful prose. The chapters switch back and forth between the different code names Nancy Wake used during her time leading up to and as an SOE agent in WW2 and different times and places those names were utilized. It could have easily been confusing but it wasn’t- on the contrary, it was a much different way to tell the story and I could not get enough. Highly recommend!

This novel had me completely captivated from start to finish! Code Name Hélène is a historical fiction novel based on the incredible life of Nancy Wake! Nancy Wake was a secret agent during WWII with a journey that will knock your socks off!! Going by several code names, she ultimately went on to become a fearless leader in the French Resistance! Ariel Lawhon took Nancy’s inspirational story and created an unputdownable novel!

First off, I want to thank Ariel Lawhon for introducing me to Nancy Wake, a true WWII hero! How on earth is it that I’ve never heard of Nancy prior!?!?! Since finishing Code Name Hélène, I have done some online research and I am truly in awe of this remarkable women—at one point, Nancy was the Gestapo’s most wanted person with a 5 million franc bounty on her (WOW)! Code Name Hélène hops between years (and code names) to ultimately create a novel that I promise will stay with you! Ariel Lawhon really wow’ed me with I Was Anastasia, but she has really outdone herself with Code Name Hélène. A complete 5 star must read!

I've been a fan of all of Lawhon's books and I predict this will be her most successful yet.The main character in Code Name Helene is so charismatic and she accomplished such phenomenal things even when she was in grave personal danger. It's amazing how she's based on a real person in history. The novel's narrative structure is compelling and sustains the reader's interest as we learn more about Nancy's different personas and missions. Lawhon's writing, as always, is crisp and flows beautifully. Readers are sure to fall in love with Nancy's spunk and entertaining life story.

*Code Name Hélène: A Novel* by Ariel LawHon is inspired by the true story of Nancy Wake a spy for the SOE and military leader for the French Maquis. Nancy was one woman with four names, three were code names the most infamous of these was the "White Mouse", whom the Nazi's wanted a very high price for.... dead.

This book alternates between the story of Nancy and how she came to work for the Maquis and each of her different identites while working for the SOE. It tells of her many sacrifices and the work she did. Nancy was a firecracker and a free spirit so if you are interested you will learn some French curse words along the way, because Nancy was not your average frenchwoman. This is a wonderful read and I loved learning about a war heroine I'd never heard of before. She was one of the great women who fought against the Nazi's in occupied France. This is her story in novel form and it is a book I couldn't put down. I put other books aside to read this one. I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.