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laurenmichellebrock's review
5.0
This book became so much more than I expected from it. There is a quote in Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle where protagonist Cassandra Mortmain describes reading as creating along with the author. “When I read a book,” she says, “I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it–or rather, it is like living it.” I have always had this experience when reading books, but I felt it most acutely reading this one. I will tell you why in a bit. Firstly, this is a story of two girls during WWII–one a wireless operator and eventual pilot, the other an interrogator–who become best friends after ushering a foreign enemy plane onto British territory.
When you first begin to read, you are introduced to a Scottish captive, half naked, tortured, and writing on spare pieces of paper everything she knows about her operation. We learn this narrator to be Queenie, the interrogator, taken into custody by the Ormaie Gestapo after looking the wrong way crossing the road when trying to meet her next contact after having to abandon a dysfunctional plane. She is held in the Chateau de Bordeaux, previously an elegant hotel deemed an unfortunate nickname, Chateau des Bourreaux, or Castle of Butchers. “I am a coward,” are her first words to us, “I wanted to be heroic and I pretended I was. I have always been good at pretending.”
I didn’t realize just how telling the first line of this book was until I reached the very end and reflected on the landscape of the novel. I feel bad even telling you what I’ve already told you, because the unwrapping of each detail is executed so jarringly, and I hate to rob you of that experience because Wein manages it so well. There are things you don’t understand what you’re reading–the underlined sentences, the secret codes, the pages upon pages of Queenie’s story–for the longest time. You are asked to pick up clue after clue and tuck it into your pocket until the appropriate time, which unloads on you in such a way that you struggle to digest all the information, but in the good way, like eating potatoes too quickly and getting them painfully lodged in your throat as they dig against the tender flesh of your esophagus as you try to swallow it all down.
What I liked most about this book, what I came to appreciate so avidly in it from the moment I began reading, was the way Wein suggest certain images to you in her writing. Queenie, as you come to learn, is no coward as she claims to be in the beginning. The grimness of her situation is revealed almost immediately and only becomes more grim as the story progresses. The suggestion that at one point she was so severely starved and tortured that she made a show of standing up in front of her captor, von Linden, because it had been the first time she’d been able to stand in weeks, produced a ghastly image of a thin, gnarled body in my mind as I read. That was one of the scenes I felt I was creating along with the author, because even though it was mentioned briefly in Queenie’s stream-of-conscious writing, my brain isolated the image as though I were watching a scene from a movie–Queenie struggling, perhaps crooked over to the side on thin legs with her wrists bound behind her back, but still with a smirk of defiance, because Queenie is nothing if not defiant.
Another scene I remember coming alive so vividly in my mind was when Queenie begged the captive French girl to lie to von Linden as Queenie listened to her being tortured. Because of her raucous, von Linden dragged Queenie into the interrogation room to tell the French girl what she was saying to her face, and when Queenie belted a few unsavory words that von Linden did not appreciate, he ordered for her mouth to be washed with carbolic acid. But Queenie was not to be punished so easily. Anticipating that a rather intense exchange was about to come between her and von Linden, I imagined a deathly quietness sinking into the room as she yelled.
“Look at me!” I screeched. “Look at me, Amadeus von Linden, you sadistic hypocrite, and watch this time! You’re not questioning me now, this isn’t your work, I’m not an enemy agent spewing wireless code! I’m just a minting Scots slag screaming insults at your daughter! So enjoy yourself and watch! Think of Isolde! Think of Isolde and watch!”
He stopped them.
He couldn’t do it.
I choked with relief, gasping.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “After she’s eaten. Fraulein Engel knows how to prepare the phenol.”
“Coward! Coward!” I sobbed in hysterical fury. “Do it now! Do it yourself!”
“Get her out of here.”
That was one of my favorite scenes of the book. I could just see the mental camera of my mind cutting back and forth between Queenie, von Linden, the French girl, and Fraulein Engel–Queenie crumbling into madness as the other three watched: the French girl, perhaps stubborn with rage; Engel, stoic, but with a glint of sadness in her eyes; and von Linden, quietly seething, both fused with hatred and pity as Queenie forces him to see the parallels between herself and his daughter, both young, the one tucked away innocently from the war and the other ruined by it. And as Queenie calls von Linden out on his cowardice, a somber, elongated stroke of violins sound as Queenie is pulled, resistant and yelling, out of the chamber.
This has been one of the most powerful books I’ve read in a long time where I felt like the author was allowing me the space, as a reader, to create my own visual. It was different when I read Harry Potter, because I had the misfortune of seeing the movies first, so I have to work extra hard to recreate the descriptions from the fabric of my own imagination when I re-read them now. I don’t want to see it like I’m watching the movies all over again in my mind; I want to be able to create the scenes in my head with my own interpretation. It’s possible that I was just focusing more while reading Verity, and so my imagination was more attuned to what was on the page, but I also believe it is because Wein is just that skilled of a writer.
In the spirit of creating with the author, I also had very specific casting in mind for some of the main characters. I imagined Dianna Agron as Queenie, because she has a refined look that I think would work perfectly with Queenie’s posture and, based on her latest role in The Family, diamond-in-the-rough personality. For Maddie, I imagined Emma Watson, because of her sometimes harried disposition as Hermione and her amazing talent of crying on cue. For Jamie, Queenie’s brother, I saw William Moseley of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fame. I could never settle on von Linden, except to say that I imagined a tall, older man with a stiffly set jaw, and Engel came to me in the form of a younger Shalom Harlow. Kayla countered that she would like to see lesser known actors in the film, and while I would be okay with that as well, I will probably always read this book with these actors in mind, because their representations came to me so naturally and quickly.
There is definitely a special place in my heart for all the books I could easily co-create with the author in my mind as I read, because it made the experience that much more intense and memorable. It is an art form to provide just the right information and paint just the right image for readers to get the scenes to come alive so vividly for them in their minds. This is why I believe that reading the book is even more special and more important that seeing the film, because it really is your own creation when you read a book. Everything is left to your devices and imagination in order to make that experience the brightest it can be, and it is a feeling unlike anything I’ve ever experienced when the author’s creation and your creation become a seamless interaction.
When you first begin to read, you are introduced to a Scottish captive, half naked, tortured, and writing on spare pieces of paper everything she knows about her operation. We learn this narrator to be Queenie, the interrogator, taken into custody by the Ormaie Gestapo after looking the wrong way crossing the road when trying to meet her next contact after having to abandon a dysfunctional plane. She is held in the Chateau de Bordeaux, previously an elegant hotel deemed an unfortunate nickname, Chateau des Bourreaux, or Castle of Butchers. “I am a coward,” are her first words to us, “I wanted to be heroic and I pretended I was. I have always been good at pretending.”
I didn’t realize just how telling the first line of this book was until I reached the very end and reflected on the landscape of the novel. I feel bad even telling you what I’ve already told you, because the unwrapping of each detail is executed so jarringly, and I hate to rob you of that experience because Wein manages it so well. There are things you don’t understand what you’re reading–the underlined sentences, the secret codes, the pages upon pages of Queenie’s story–for the longest time. You are asked to pick up clue after clue and tuck it into your pocket until the appropriate time, which unloads on you in such a way that you struggle to digest all the information, but in the good way, like eating potatoes too quickly and getting them painfully lodged in your throat as they dig against the tender flesh of your esophagus as you try to swallow it all down.
What I liked most about this book, what I came to appreciate so avidly in it from the moment I began reading, was the way Wein suggest certain images to you in her writing. Queenie, as you come to learn, is no coward as she claims to be in the beginning. The grimness of her situation is revealed almost immediately and only becomes more grim as the story progresses. The suggestion that at one point she was so severely starved and tortured that she made a show of standing up in front of her captor, von Linden, because it had been the first time she’d been able to stand in weeks, produced a ghastly image of a thin, gnarled body in my mind as I read. That was one of the scenes I felt I was creating along with the author, because even though it was mentioned briefly in Queenie’s stream-of-conscious writing, my brain isolated the image as though I were watching a scene from a movie–Queenie struggling, perhaps crooked over to the side on thin legs with her wrists bound behind her back, but still with a smirk of defiance, because Queenie is nothing if not defiant.
Another scene I remember coming alive so vividly in my mind was when Queenie begged the captive French girl to lie to von Linden as Queenie listened to her being tortured. Because of her raucous, von Linden dragged Queenie into the interrogation room to tell the French girl what she was saying to her face, and when Queenie belted a few unsavory words that von Linden did not appreciate, he ordered for her mouth to be washed with carbolic acid. But Queenie was not to be punished so easily. Anticipating that a rather intense exchange was about to come between her and von Linden, I imagined a deathly quietness sinking into the room as she yelled.
“Look at me!” I screeched. “Look at me, Amadeus von Linden, you sadistic hypocrite, and watch this time! You’re not questioning me now, this isn’t your work, I’m not an enemy agent spewing wireless code! I’m just a minting Scots slag screaming insults at your daughter! So enjoy yourself and watch! Think of Isolde! Think of Isolde and watch!”
He stopped them.
He couldn’t do it.
I choked with relief, gasping.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “After she’s eaten. Fraulein Engel knows how to prepare the phenol.”
“Coward! Coward!” I sobbed in hysterical fury. “Do it now! Do it yourself!”
“Get her out of here.”
That was one of my favorite scenes of the book. I could just see the mental camera of my mind cutting back and forth between Queenie, von Linden, the French girl, and Fraulein Engel–Queenie crumbling into madness as the other three watched: the French girl, perhaps stubborn with rage; Engel, stoic, but with a glint of sadness in her eyes; and von Linden, quietly seething, both fused with hatred and pity as Queenie forces him to see the parallels between herself and his daughter, both young, the one tucked away innocently from the war and the other ruined by it. And as Queenie calls von Linden out on his cowardice, a somber, elongated stroke of violins sound as Queenie is pulled, resistant and yelling, out of the chamber.
This has been one of the most powerful books I’ve read in a long time where I felt like the author was allowing me the space, as a reader, to create my own visual. It was different when I read Harry Potter, because I had the misfortune of seeing the movies first, so I have to work extra hard to recreate the descriptions from the fabric of my own imagination when I re-read them now. I don’t want to see it like I’m watching the movies all over again in my mind; I want to be able to create the scenes in my head with my own interpretation. It’s possible that I was just focusing more while reading Verity, and so my imagination was more attuned to what was on the page, but I also believe it is because Wein is just that skilled of a writer.
In the spirit of creating with the author, I also had very specific casting in mind for some of the main characters. I imagined Dianna Agron as Queenie, because she has a refined look that I think would work perfectly with Queenie’s posture and, based on her latest role in The Family, diamond-in-the-rough personality. For Maddie, I imagined Emma Watson, because of her sometimes harried disposition as Hermione and her amazing talent of crying on cue. For Jamie, Queenie’s brother, I saw William Moseley of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fame. I could never settle on von Linden, except to say that I imagined a tall, older man with a stiffly set jaw, and Engel came to me in the form of a younger Shalom Harlow. Kayla countered that she would like to see lesser known actors in the film, and while I would be okay with that as well, I will probably always read this book with these actors in mind, because their representations came to me so naturally and quickly.
There is definitely a special place in my heart for all the books I could easily co-create with the author in my mind as I read, because it made the experience that much more intense and memorable. It is an art form to provide just the right information and paint just the right image for readers to get the scenes to come alive so vividly for them in their minds. This is why I believe that reading the book is even more special and more important that seeing the film, because it really is your own creation when you read a book. Everything is left to your devices and imagination in order to make that experience the brightest it can be, and it is a feeling unlike anything I’ve ever experienced when the author’s creation and your creation become a seamless interaction.
brittmariasbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Ik las Operatie Verity voor de tweede keer maar wat blijft het een knaller van een boek. De emotionele impact raakte me weer ook al wist ik wat er aan zat te komen.
Echt een prachtig boek.
Echt een prachtig boek.
chhimichanga's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
els04's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Operatie Verity. Door: Elizabeth Wein.
Dit boek is zo speciaal: uitgever Myrthe Spiteri (Blossom Books) aasde 10 jaar op de rechten omdat ze zo dol is op dit boek. Wil wat zeggen hé!? En iedereen die het uit heeft zegt dat je direct van vooraf aan wil beginnen en dat kan ik nu ook beamen. Het is geweldig! En met niets te vergelijken.
Operatie Verity is een verhaal over de Tweede Wereldoorlog, over de luchtvaart, feminisme, gesnapt worden door de Gestapo, in het verzet zitten, spioneren, martelen, balpennen, hooizolders,… maar bovenal is het een prachtige ode aan de vriendschap.
In dit geval de ontroerend mooie, grappige, moedige vriendschap tussen ‘Verity’ en piloot Maddie. Verity wordt opgepakt door de Gestapo en probeert haar leven te verlengen door een verslag te schrijven over alles wat ertoe geleid heeft dat ze toch is opgepakt. Dat verslag is soms gruwelijk (maar nooit te eng voor de lezer), vaak grappig en heel fascinerend.
Ik wil zo weinig mogelijk over de plot vertellen omdat die zo goed in elkaar zit. Je blijft met verstomming achter en wil daardoor inderdaad weer van vooraf aan beginnen om te zien hoe en wat en… Je kan het maar één keer voor het eerst lezen (ik ben jaloers op jou als je daaraan begint) maar het herlezen maakt het boek nog beter.
Geniet ervan, dit is een parel die je nooit meer vergeet. En de 2 hoofdpersonen sluit je voorgoed in je hart. Zakdoeken klaar en genieten maar! Eén van de beste boeken van 2024 voor mij.
heathercottledillon's review against another edition
5.0
This book totally blew me away. For some reason it took me a little while to get into it, but then I was totally swept up and could not stop reading the thing. I was totally surprised by the plot twists, but when it all fell into place and I looked back, it all made sense—with a few minor exceptions. And honestly, by the end I just didn’t care about figuring everything out and making sure everything fit, like I usually do. Julie and Maddie became real people to me. Their dialogue and behavior seemed to fit with the time and place, yet I also felt like they could have been the girls next door. The writing is beautiful but not too flowery. Some readers might be turned off by all the details about airfields and flight codes and such, but I thought they were interesting and made the story more realistic. It’s refreshing to read a book that’s about friendship instead of romantic relationships, and it shows that the bond between friends can be as strong and beautiful as any other kind. I have a feeling that “Code Name Verity” is going to stand the test of time and become a classic.
bookgirl_71's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
stephintoadventure's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
First in the Code Name Verity historical fiction series for young adults about women serving in World War II. The focus in this story is on the bravery of Queenie Beaufort-Stuart and Maddie Brodatt. This is an ARC I received from NetGalley and Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.
My Take
I almost didn't get a fifth of the way into this book. I didn't like how the main character was acting. The betrayal she was performing, and I couldn't bear the thought of going there. I don't like people like that.
And I'm glad I did persist as Code Name Verity was a very tricksy tale.
Wein uses the beginning to set up a friendship between two girls from two different classes within their society. Two girls who would not have met any other way except through serving their country during wartime. It begins with Maddie and her passions for tinkering, for flying and her pursuit of those passions, how they lead her to Queenie.
Weaving back and forth between each girl's point-of-view, it can be a touch confusing and awkward at the start as it begins with the present and flips back and forth between now and then, between Queenie and Maddie, until at last we catch up at the point where her confession brings both lives together, existing in the current time. I can only imagine how difficult it was for Wein to keep track of when and where she is in the narrative.
Wein begins with the confession, the betrayal of her country. It's a clever way to postpone more torture, to hold off on being executed or shipped out to a concentration camp which would only be a slower and more miserable way to die.
As the reader, you too must keep going. Keep reading past the betrayal, for Wein slowly reveals more and more of the truth, tiny bits at a time, leading to an ending that will leave you weeping. Even for the bad guy, shockingly enough. It's a betrayal of an individual's humanity, and I hated the circumstances and the bullies who forced this type of behavior onto people. You may say that these people had a choice, and certainly von Linden didn't have a hostage being held against his behavior. However, I suspect he was struggling with Ferber's demands, his own honor, and his thoughts of family. It was very much an ending full of surprises.
I do wish Wein had provided some indication as to why this mission was so important. I don't see how it was worth all the loss.
At one point, Wein mentions that World War II is leading to a leveling of the classes, and this truth is particularly poignant in Queenie's mother's letter to Maddie.
As a editor, I did enjoy the bit when von Linden slaps Engel down and tells her how the prisoner is using literary techniques to write her confession.
In spite of the deep horror of it, Code Name Verity is subtle, and it beautifully conveys how people cope and the camaraderie they share in a desperate situation. Of course, it also serves to deepen your connection to the characters.
The Story
Caught by a silly mistake. Worse, she's caught by her own fears and bargains her way to less pain with the spilling of all she knows about codes, planes, names, and locations.
It's in the spilling that we learn how Maddie and Queenie become friends and how the path of their lives moves and blends, leading to their final destinies in France.
The Characters
Second Officer Maddie Brodatt of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), code name "Kittyhawk", becomes fascinated by machinery and a chance crash landing sets off her love for flying. When Britain enters the war, she does everything she can to help. Beryl was one of her friends.
Flight Officer Queenie Beaufort-Stuart, a.k.a., Eva Seiler, a.k.a., Lady Julia Lindsay MacKenzie Wallace Beaufort-Stuart, is an aristocratic-appearing young lady who speaks German and is very cool under fire. Jamie Beaufort-Stuart is her favorite brother, a.k.a., the Pobble Who Has No Toes, and one of her greatest fears as he's a bomber pilot. After his rescue, he's helping his mother, Esmé, Lady Beaufort-Stuart, babysit eight young evacuees: Ross and Jock, Angus, Mungo, Rabbie, Tam, Hamish, and Wullie.
Katharina Habicht is Queenie's cover name in France. There is an old lady in Ormaie who helps the Resistance, and she buries the bodies and doesn't know.
SS-Hauptsturmführer Amadeus von Linden is the Gestapo officer in charge of her torture at Ormaie, France. In civilian life, he was a headmaster; he has a daughter, Isolde, safely tucked away in a school in Switzerland. Fräulein Anna Engel is a sadistic civilian who translates her confessions into German. Schaurführer Etienne Thibaut is French but joined the Gestapo; a fact his family uses. SS-Sturmbannführer Nikolaus J. Ferber is von Linden's commanding officer.
Dympna Wythenshawe is the pilot Maddie and Beryl rescued; she returns the favor by recommending Maddie to Special Duties flying. All a part of paying it forward. Maidsend Squadron Leader "Creighton" is actually Leland North. Sir John Balliol is the intelligence officer who recruited Queenie and Maddie.
Georgia Penn is an American radio announcer for the Germans, broadcasting propaganda for them.
The Damask spy circuit in France includes:
Paul is the handsy SOE organizer in France. Mitraillette is his second-in-command and Papa and Maman Thibaut's elder daughter, Gabrielle-Thérèse. La Cadette, Amélie, is her younger sister. The Thibauts are farmers.
Nacht und Nebel, Night and Fog, is a Nazi policy whereby people are "disappeared", toyed with, experimented upon.
The Cover
The cover is perfect: two hands clasping each other's wrists, the ties that bind.
The title is the mission: Code Name Verity.
My Take
I almost didn't get a fifth of the way into this book. I didn't like how the main character was acting. The betrayal she was performing, and I couldn't bear the thought of going there. I don't like people like that.
And I'm glad I did persist as Code Name Verity was a very tricksy tale.
Wein uses the beginning to set up a friendship between two girls from two different classes within their society. Two girls who would not have met any other way except through serving their country during wartime. It begins with Maddie and her passions for tinkering, for flying and her pursuit of those passions, how they lead her to Queenie.
Weaving back and forth between each girl's point-of-view, it can be a touch confusing and awkward at the start as it begins with the present and flips back and forth between now and then, between Queenie and Maddie, until at last we catch up at the point where her confession brings both lives together, existing in the current time. I can only imagine how difficult it was for Wein to keep track of when and where she is in the narrative.
Wein begins with the confession, the betrayal of her country. It's a clever way to postpone more torture, to hold off on being executed or shipped out to a concentration camp which would only be a slower and more miserable way to die.
As the reader, you too must keep going. Keep reading past the betrayal, for Wein slowly reveals more and more of the truth, tiny bits at a time, leading to an ending that will leave you weeping. Even for the bad guy, shockingly enough. It's a betrayal of an individual's humanity, and I hated the circumstances and the bullies who forced this type of behavior onto people. You may say that these people had a choice, and certainly von Linden didn't have a hostage being held against his behavior. However, I suspect he was struggling with Ferber's demands, his own honor, and his thoughts of family. It was very much an ending full of surprises.
I do wish Wein had provided some indication as to why this mission was so important. I don't see how it was worth all the loss.
At one point, Wein mentions that World War II is leading to a leveling of the classes, and this truth is particularly poignant in Queenie's mother's letter to Maddie.
As a editor, I did enjoy the bit when von Linden slaps Engel down and tells her how the prisoner is using literary techniques to write her confession.
In spite of the deep horror of it, Code Name Verity is subtle, and it beautifully conveys how people cope and the camaraderie they share in a desperate situation. Of course, it also serves to deepen your connection to the characters.
The Story
Caught by a silly mistake. Worse, she's caught by her own fears and bargains her way to less pain with the spilling of all she knows about codes, planes, names, and locations.
It's in the spilling that we learn how Maddie and Queenie become friends and how the path of their lives moves and blends, leading to their final destinies in France.
The Characters
Second Officer Maddie Brodatt of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), code name "Kittyhawk", becomes fascinated by machinery and a chance crash landing sets off her love for flying. When Britain enters the war, she does everything she can to help. Beryl was one of her friends.
Flight Officer Queenie Beaufort-Stuart, a.k.a., Eva Seiler, a.k.a., Lady Julia Lindsay MacKenzie Wallace Beaufort-Stuart, is an aristocratic-appearing young lady who speaks German and is very cool under fire. Jamie Beaufort-Stuart is her favorite brother, a.k.a., the Pobble Who Has No Toes, and one of her greatest fears as he's a bomber pilot. After his rescue, he's helping his mother, Esmé, Lady Beaufort-Stuart, babysit eight young evacuees: Ross and Jock, Angus, Mungo, Rabbie, Tam, Hamish, and Wullie.
Katharina Habicht is Queenie's cover name in France. There is an old lady in Ormaie who helps the Resistance, and she buries the bodies and doesn't know.
SS-Hauptsturmführer Amadeus von Linden is the Gestapo officer in charge of her torture at Ormaie, France. In civilian life, he was a headmaster; he has a daughter, Isolde, safely tucked away in a school in Switzerland. Fräulein Anna Engel is a sadistic civilian who translates her confessions into German. Schaurführer Etienne Thibaut is French but joined the Gestapo; a fact his family uses. SS-Sturmbannführer Nikolaus J. Ferber is von Linden's commanding officer.
Dympna Wythenshawe is the pilot Maddie and Beryl rescued; she returns the favor by recommending Maddie to Special Duties flying. All a part of paying it forward. Maidsend Squadron Leader "Creighton" is actually Leland North. Sir John Balliol is the intelligence officer who recruited Queenie and Maddie.
Georgia Penn is an American radio announcer for the Germans, broadcasting propaganda for them.
The Damask spy circuit in France includes:
Paul is the handsy SOE organizer in France. Mitraillette is his second-in-command and Papa and Maman Thibaut's elder daughter, Gabrielle-Thérèse. La Cadette, Amélie, is her younger sister. The Thibauts are farmers.
Nacht und Nebel, Night and Fog, is a Nazi policy whereby people are "disappeared", toyed with, experimented upon.
The Cover
The cover is perfect: two hands clasping each other's wrists, the ties that bind.
The title is the mission: Code Name Verity.