One of my favourite books of 2025!! I don't even know where to begin to describe how much I enjoyed reading this! I knew nothing of this woman coming into this book and I've just been left in awe of her and the other undercover agents who lived their lives 'under the radar' and even after the War told very few, if any, of their exploits. I'm just so glad her story has been told so she and the others can get some kind of recognition for their services.

Hazel Smith, aka Jicky, was born in Hertfordshire in 1913, to a life of privilege where she was well educated and well read, and that thirst for knowledge and adventure never left her. In the lead up to the outbreak of the War she worked for the British Embassy in Paris, and this led her to live a life you only really see in the movies!

Her personal life was extremely colourful and has the most known about it so that features heavily, and her family story is quite a powerful and emotional one too which just made me admire her even more. But the routine 'high life' after the War didn't suit her active mind and lifestyle, so she soon found herself travelling once more - to do what, nobody is quite sure! - and soon finds herself living a very quiet life in a small house in Italy where the locals came to accept her as one of their own, and there's even a plaque on the wall of her house now to remember her by.

Her collection of Hermes diaries full of destinations and dates proves quite the puzzle as nobody really knows what the information relates to, only the brief bits of information she shared with a very close few, not even her own family. The treatment she endured when captured by the Nazis' was also never shared with anybody so you can only begin to imagine what she went through, especially when she was pregnant at the time.

i also enjoyed the second part of the book which look a little more indepth of the French resistance and the efforts by everyone to save the precious historical artifacts, and just gives a bit more substance to just what was going on at that time. You can't help but be in awe of Jicky, and the many others, who served their countries for no recognition or fanfares, just their sense of duty and it has been an honour to read her story. A really inspirational woman and story to share so I cannot recommend this highly enough!!

I had never heard of Hazel ‘Jicky’ Smith before so I was excited to read a biography about this fascinating woman. It was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed getting into the research and how it was used in this storyline. It was well researched and enjoyed how good Nicoletta Maggi wrote this.