A Woman of No Importance

I knew of Virginia Hall via the Rejected Princesses series, which gives a good overview of her life and how utterly badass this woman was. This book pays effective tribute to her, and gives a better view of her life, including just how frustrated this poor woman must have been on such a regular basis.

Fascinating book. You could make a half dozen movies out of her life and adventures during WW2.
But nobody would believe they were true.

A true hero of the Allies that I had never heard of.

Tireless, brave, highly skilled, and incredibly lucky, Virginia Hall was one of the most effective allied agents operating in France during WW2. A Woman of No Importance tells her story in great detail.

She was an exceptional woman who never got the credit she deserved. In addition to fighting alongside the French Resistance, she set up and controlled intelligence networks that fed back vital information on German dispositions and plans -- first for the British SOE and then for the US OSS.

Working undercover, setting up cells, recruiting active agents, suborning enemy operatives, establishing escape routes, sometimes bluffing, sometimes just escaping with her life -- her activities were myriad. There is enough material in this book for many Hollywood movies.

The only drawback, IMO, is that it is a bit dry at points, but overall this is a very good narrative. 4+ stars.

Being a woman in the early 20th century was no picnic, especially when it came to getting a job. Add a disability to the mix and getting someone to hire you was near impossible. Virginia Hall broke down barriers and excelled over her able-bodied male counterparts. At the start of World War II, Virginia was hired as a spy and was deployed to France. As the war carried on, Virginia (under a number of aliases) became a touchstone for people under occupation and fellow resistance workers.

The more her reputation grew, the more the Nazis wanted her captured. Despite several warnings and close calls, Virginia was reluctant to leave her post in France where so many people had come to rely on her. When staying was no longer an option, she continued to prove her strength both mentally and physically — achieving things that most people without a prosthetic leg couldn't. She continued to do what she could for the war effort no matter where she had to go.

There seems to be no end to the fascinating figures of WWII. Virginia Hall is now among my favorites. The book flowed wonderfully. Nothing dragged and there was always something interesting going on. I appreciated that it went in a linear timeline. I've noticed a lot of non-fiction books like to jump around even if it's following a chain of events. A must-read for WWII buffs.

This biography of Virginia Hall tells an amazing story of a tough, independent young American woman who was out to blaze a trail for herself in the 1930s working abroad for the State Department when she suffered a disabling accident that effectively ended any chance she might have had to become a diplomat. However, she went on to distinguish herself working for first British and then American intelligence during World War II by organizing and aiding the French Resistance as an undercover agent. She endured physical and emotional hardships living in occupied France, evaded capture by the Gestapo and the French police in spite of their best efforts to find her, and was instrumental in helping to liberate France from the Nazis. There are many edge-of-your-seat moments, both for Virginia Hall herself, and for her many comrades who weren't able to evade capture. The book has an index, end notes, and a bibliography, plus photos.

The one thing that disappointed me was that at times the tone of the book was a little too much like a fan magazine. I thought the facts spoke well enough for themselves that I didn't need to be told repeatedly in so many words what a hero she was, and that sexism held her back in her career. Otherwise, highly recommend this book about a war hero I had never heard of before.

I had never heard of Virginia Hall before, but wow...she was an incredible woman and such a force for freedom while behind the lines in France during WW2. I highly recommend this detailed history of all the incredible things she endured and accomplished and how many great things she did to defeat the Nazis in their own territories, and without backup.

Content: while the story is very matter of fact, there's no denying that the Nazis are guilty of incredible atrocities, and even just a sentence about something they did can have an incredible impact.

Thanks to the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.