The Woman with No Name by Audrey Blake
Book 55 of 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The Woman with No Name is the story of Yvonne, a British SOE officer, doing espionage/sabotage work in France during WWII. After surviving a blast on her home, she decides to take her life in an entirely new direction. The novel follows her present day work and also includes flashbacks of her training.

Overall, while I enjoyed the story, I felt it to not really pull my attention or be a book I couldn’t wait to return to/continue reading. I also felt as though the ending was incredibly rushed and the book just sort of abruptly ended.

Audrey writes a very gripping and realistic story base on true story of spies and woman who were behind the resistance. IN 1942, Yvonne lived through tough time including her hours being blown apart but she keeps going her strength and resilience keep her going.

This was a very, very gripping WWII book. It has been a while since I read anything historic, and this was the perfect choice of a book to get back into reading this genre. Loved it.
I have a special love for books where women are written by women, where the women are strong, resilient, and have personality and depth to them, and where their real lives look real. This book absolutely checks all those boxes.

Review: I hate to say that I did not care for this book. I typically love books about WWII, but this one missed the mark for me. I felt the chapters were confusing and going back and forth made it hard to keep up with what was going on. I noticed that a couple of the dates at the beginning of the chapters were wrong, which also made things confusing. The book was hard to get into and didn’t really get exciting until the last 30 pages. A miss for me, but maybe someone else will enjoy. Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebooks for my advanced copy.

Intriguing WWII-novel. Why is it that I never seem to tire from these kind of novels? Well, this one offers you a perspective you don't get that often: that of an active female agent who undermines the enemy. What do you do when your marriage is over, your daughter is grown-up and busy with her war work and you just survived a bomb? French born Yvonne Rudellat decides to retrain as a sabotage agent.

The story switches the whole time between her training in the UK and her adventures with the Résistance in France as the woman with no name who can't be stopped, a pacing method I really enjoyed. It's also very interesting to see the main character develop from a woman who feels overlooked because she's 'old' to a a warrior who gets people enthusiastic while learning about her past.

Audrey Blake is a duo but the novel never feels like it's written by two people. They based the story on the life of the real Yvonne Rudellat. It's very refreshing that war heroines get a voice at last. It's not only about their actions, but also hair dye and clean underwear which makes the story very realistic in my eyes.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

'This is a war of the Unknown Warriors', proclaimed Churchill at the onset of WW2 as her referred to all of the citizens throughout war-torn Europe who would not only be affected by the violence but, indeed would need to become an active part of the everyday war effort.

Yvonne Rudellat was a native Frenchwoman, living in England with her estranged husband, daughter, and son-in-law when a Blitz bombing raid destroyed their house. Homeless, they scatter to find new housing and a new purpose to help bring this war to a close. But Yvonne is already in her forties, and all of the more active volunteer services turn away her offers to help, leaving her sidelined at a desk job. One day she is approached by a man who certainly knows more about her than she knows about him. That one day changed the course of her life. That one day ultimately sends her into France as an SOE who goes on to become a sub-leader of one of France's largest and most effective resistance networks. To the Germans, she is the unknown saboteur who has no name.

I always find stories based on real, historical figures resonate - especially when the author's notes clarify the facts from the fiction. I really enjoyed reading and learning about a middle-aged woman who thought herself purposeless, becoming the first woman to be sent to France as an SOE. And, through her own passion and daring became a respected leader to many.

I know many WW2 historical fiction aficionados will enjoy reading Yvonne's story too.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I do love well-written historical fiction and this book definitely fell into that category. I only wish I'd know when I started that it was based on real people.

I loved the central character of Yvonne and hugely admired her bravery. When her circumstances make her feel lost (divorce, grown-up child, bombed-out house), she doesn't fade away. Instead she trains as a sabotage specialist and arrives in France ready to do everything she can to stop the Nazis.

There are moments of such suspense that you may have to remind yourself to breathe (the train tunnel!) and lots of characters to know and love. As someone who visits France regularly, I'm fascinated by stories of the French resistance and those who worked alongside them. They truly risked everything in their fight for freedom.

I'll look out for more titles from this team of authors.

Love the description of the book, but I would have liked it to be in chronological time order as found it confusing changing about. It distracted me from the story. Still wondering where the novel took me though. But as I like this area of historical literature I still give it 4*

Massively thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-ARC. I can honestly; safely; say that I truly enjoyed this book even though it took more or less five days for me to complete this book. This is my second book by Audrey Blake and I do not regret my decision to request the e-arc of this book. One thing that I always loved about Audrey Blake’s writing is they always wrote everything so perfectly in very specific details, it must have been hard to write something about WWII but they nailed it, I couldn’t put this book down.

I love how this book follows the life of a woman; a mother; who separated from her family, especially her husband. She decided to get involved in the war because she just felt left behind in the war effort. This book surprised me when I found out that Yvonne Rudellat is a real person ( Britain’s first female sabotage agent ); knowing that this book takes on a different perspective and how it’s partly biographical of real characters. I guarantee everything in this book was so perfectly mesmerising; strong female character, an excellent narrative, and this book filled with excitement and a page-turner throughout.

One thing that confused me was that in this book there are several points of view, and without warning the change in POV makes me a bit confused. Although, this story is told in a dual timeline.

This book comes out on March 12, 2024, so mark your calendars!

WOW. I haven’t read a WWII book like this one, and I always think that’s so special because there are so many out there. This book follows along the life of a woman who was trained to be apart of the resistance against the Nazis. Incredible. No idea there was training, but makes so much sense now. How else would you learn to build explosives? How else would you learn how to truly get by and withstand German Nazis?

Something I really, really appreciated was the lack of blood and gore. So many WWII books really want you to FEEL the horrifying actions that occurred, and while there is definitely a place for that, sometimes you don’t want something so gory.

This novel was so intriguing, mysterious, and suspenseful!

Audrey Blake can do no wrong in my eyes. This book is definitely different than her first series, so it took me a bit to get used to that. no more surgeon stuff. But that does not mean it was any less good! I'm impressed with how she was able to go from writing about 18'th century medical stuff to the 1900's spy craft! I will read anything she writes and I suggest you do the same!

Based on a true story about the life of Yvonne Rudellat, The Woman with No Name takes place during WWII where Yvonne, an ordinary women of French descent living in London, decides she needs to get involved in the war effort. Prior to the war, Yvonne was not particularly focused, had affairs, and ended up back in England after a car accident where her daughter was injured.

One night her house gets bombed in London, and she and her husband whom she is no longer romantically involved with are displaced. She feels so deeply that she must find a way to get involved in the war effort. She tries several organizations, and she is rejected, except for one. Yvonne gets picked to train in espionage and instead of being a secretary, she is sent to France to work with the French Resistance.

The book is well written, fast paced and very absorbing. We are taken into her daily life on the ground in a small village trying to build her network and disrupt the Germans. At first her handler tries to thwart her, but Jacqueline, as her new identity, is steely and refuses to be compromised. She builds around him, and gains trust of the fellow fighters. She trains her group and even performs daring acts of explosions as she builds their admiration for her dedication and acts of sabotage.

Exciting as her wins were, there were so many sacrifices and dangers at every turn that life for Jacqueline was always under great pressure and in the end she proves herself to be true to her cause.

This is a great historical novel, and accurately portrays the life of simple people fighting the Germans with little or no training. Food was scarce, comfort was little and this wonderful book gives you a true feeling of being on the ground and fighting against unbelievable odds. Yvonne Rudellat may not be a famous fighter, but she certainly was a hero and a strong character for us to remember.

The Woman Wirh No Name

Based upon a true story, this tells the tale of a seemingly ordinary woman who became a rermarkable operative in the French Resistance during WWII. Her daring, intelligence and courage became legendary. This novel describes her life before the war, her strenuous training, and her resistance activities. The book is a good read and captures the flavor of excitement that readers want in a thriller.

The Woman with No Name is an engaging, well-paced story that was hard to put down. Set in World War II, the novel follows the true story of Yvonne Rudellat’s heroic and brave efforts to undermine the Germans in Vichy France by joining the world of espionage. The novel starts pre-war with Yvonne’s estrangement from her husband. She has returned to her native France with her daughter, Jackie, and has found a new man with intentions to fully separate from her husband. In the fog of pre-wartime and an auto accident, Yvonne ends up back in England with her husband and daughter in a shared living arrangement that has ceased to be a marriage. Her world is rocked when a bomb destroys their building and sends their personal lives into upheaval. Through circumstances never known to Yvonne, she is sought out by the government for work she assumes will be secretarial in nature but turns out to be teeing her up for a crash-the-glass-ceiling moment as a woman in espionage.

After a grueling training program in England that she crushes except for swimming, which almost leads to her expulsion, Yvonne is sent to France via a questionable boat. She had wanted to parachute in but her age (mid 40s) and diminutive size meant that her higher ups wouldn’t clear her to parachute, imagining her to be too fragile. Once in France, Yvonne becomes her undercover personality. Her new identity provides her with a clunky first name: Clothilde, and she asks instead to be called Jacqueline, after her daughter.

Newly emerged, Jacqueline connects with her handler in Paris, a man who does not trust her, who is hesitant to take action, and who tries to sabotage her. Jacqueline has joined the war efforts with a single focus: to fight against the Germans. A risk-adverse handler is no match for her ambition. Jacqueline quickly establishes a trusted group of locals who have been working to undermine the Germans on their own, without training, and she quickly trains them in the use of explosives and other acts of terrorism, to keep the Germans on the defense. In one noteworthy scene – one of many based on the true actions of the real-life inspiration – Jacqueline is lowered via rope into the middle of a train tunnel to place explosives on the track. The reason for her daring entry is that both ends of the train tunnel were guarded by soldiers, who risked seeing her. Her timing is impeccable and hundreds of troops are killed in the resulting explosion and derailment.

Jacqueline has innate leadership qualities that quickly establish her role and garner respect from her co-conspirators. As a group, they are successful in getting under the skin of the local German leader, a fully fictionalized man named Max.

The heroism displayed by Yvonne, alias Jacqueline, in extraordinary circumstances is truly astounding, a story that absolutely deserves telling. And through all her efforts, she dealt with men either undercutting her or thinking she was limited as a woman. Woe to those who underestimate her.

In general, I am neutral at best toward espionage and spy stories; however, this novel really captured me long before I realized how much of it was based on historical fact. That made it all the more compelling. I would recommend this novel to others.

Historical fiction, World War II and a strong female lead. Yvonne Rudellat, aka, Jacqueline is newly separated from her husband and she feels left behind in the war effort. Yet, has more courage, strength and smarts than some of the men. She is a saboteur, spy and sometimes diplomat. She suffers no fools. She is a force in the French Resistance and a force in this story.

I was shocked to learn that Yvonne Rudellat was a real person and that this work of fiction is based on her activities during the war. As such, it is evident that great care was taken in the writing and research if this book.

The story is told in a dual timeline from multiple points of view. It would be easy to get lost with so much going on, but the story just flows and enough time is spent with each character to make them memorable.

This is my first Audrey Blake book and it won’t be my last. This book publishes in March 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars.

The Woman with no Name was a page turner and fantastic story. Thank you to Net Galley and publishers for the great read and highly recommended.

Britain's first female sabotage agent. The book was filled with excitement and definitely a page turner throughout. Never read anything by Audrey Blake before, but it won't be my last. Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I absolutely loved The Woman With No Name! I’ve read many many books about WWII, but this one takes on a different perspective and is partly a biography of real events and characters. Audrey Blake never disappoints and her newest might be my new favorite!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

The Woman with No Name by Audrey Blake is an excellent WWII-era historical fiction that I highly recommend.

I have read my fair share of WWII historical fiction, so at this point I am extremely selective. I am so glad I took a chance on this book.

This one has an excellent narrative, suspense, intrigue, and a strong female character that one couldn’t help but champion.

Yvonne Rudellat is an amazing main character, and was in real life as well. I loved learning her story, and being thoroughly entertained in the process.

Excellent.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Sourcebooks Landmark for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/12/24.

"The Woman with No Name" by Audrey Blake promises an enthralling and evocative journey into the heart of World War II espionage, where a seemingly ordinary woman is thrust into the role of a fearless and cunning saboteur.

Set against the backdrop of the wartime chaos, the book appears to masterfully capture the sense of urgency, danger, and desperation that characterized that era. Yvonne Rudellat's transformation from a disheartened and overlooked woman into Britain's first female sabotage agent is a compelling premise that immediately draws readers into her world.

Yvonne's unconventional attributes, including her tenacity, ability to blend into the background, and proficiency with explosives, make her a captivating protagonist. Her journey to become the "nameless, unstoppable woman" who strikes fear into the hearts of the enemy promises to be a thrilling and empowering narrative.

The book's exploration of the challenges and adversities faced by Yvonne on her mission adds depth to the story. It's likely to shed light on the sacrifices and resilience of individuals who played critical roles in the war effort, often without recognition.

Furthermore, the novel's portrayal of occupied France and the risks faced by Yvonne as she navigates this perilous territory is sure to immerse readers in the rich historical and emotional landscape of the period.

In summary, "The Woman with No Name" appears to be a gripping historical thriller that combines espionage, empowerment, and the indomitable spirit of individuals fighting against overwhelming odds. Fans of wartime fiction and strong female protagonists are likely to find this book both engaging and inspiring.