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girlscandrum's review
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. Nancy Wake is hilarious and fascinating. It was very interesting to read an actual first hand account of WWII after reading so much historical fiction. In fact, I learned of her story and this book because I read Code Name Helene. You won't get beautiful prose or any fluff with this book. It is straightforward with lots of names and places that can sometimes get confusing. Yet, her personality still comes through and some stories made me laugh out loud. A very unique and interesting read.
keepingupwiththepenguins's review
4.0
You can read my full review of The White Mouse on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
I’ve been obsessed with the story of Nancy Wake ever since a friend told me about her a couple of years ago. She was one of the most highly decorated women of WWII, and the stories of her exploits in resisting the Gestapo are legendary. In The White Mouse, she only gives us a page or two about her early life; she speeds right ahead to the ascendancy of Hitler and the beginning of WWII. She was living in Marseilles with her French husband at the time, and she found increasingly inventive ways to help the French efforts resisting the Germans, helping sneak refugees out of France when the Occupation began. She went on to become a leading figure in the Resistance, using her “native cunning and beauty” to overcome the suspicions of German guards and get through checkpoints.
Nancy Wake’s autobiography isn’t a romantic narrative, so if you’ve come here looking for a non-fiction version of The Book Thief or All The Light We Cannot See, you can move right along. The White Mouse is not a work of art, it’s not going to win any literary awards, but it’s deeply – unavoidably! – charming. It’s a story of incredible bravery and hardship, told without any sentimentality or self-effacing nonsense.
I’ve been obsessed with the story of Nancy Wake ever since a friend told me about her a couple of years ago. She was one of the most highly decorated women of WWII, and the stories of her exploits in resisting the Gestapo are legendary. In The White Mouse, she only gives us a page or two about her early life; she speeds right ahead to the ascendancy of Hitler and the beginning of WWII. She was living in Marseilles with her French husband at the time, and she found increasingly inventive ways to help the French efforts resisting the Germans, helping sneak refugees out of France when the Occupation began. She went on to become a leading figure in the Resistance, using her “native cunning and beauty” to overcome the suspicions of German guards and get through checkpoints.
Nancy Wake’s autobiography isn’t a romantic narrative, so if you’ve come here looking for a non-fiction version of The Book Thief or All The Light We Cannot See, you can move right along. The White Mouse is not a work of art, it’s not going to win any literary awards, but it’s deeply – unavoidably! – charming. It’s a story of incredible bravery and hardship, told without any sentimentality or self-effacing nonsense.
annabelleweberg's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Amazing book! Loved learning more about Nancy Wake!
j00j's review against another edition
https://dragonlady7.dreamwidth.org/3880684.html
capellan's review
3.0
Nancy Wake's autobiography is very readable but if you hope to get a good sense of her wartime adventures you won't find it here: she might spend two pages on a month of operations and then five on the celebration they had at the end. Though one certainly can't begrudge her preferring to remember the happier times!
janvpals's review
3.0
The book's style and wording are a bit drab, especially compared to [b:Code Name Hélène|50089336|Code Name Hélène|Ariel Lawhon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572993343l/50089336._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71956932] , but that doesn't lower the value of courage and grit demonstrated by Nancy Wake. Nancy narrates her experiences in a plain and straightforward way, never unnecessarily glorifying herself yet remaining truthful in the essence of the incidents. I reccommend reading [b:Code Name Hélène|50089336|Code Name Hélène|Ariel Lawhon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572993343l/50089336._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71956932] before reading this one, so as to both get better acquainted with Nancy's timeline and get more interested in the story of her extraordinary life.
whimsyful's review against another edition
4.0
A bit brief and vague in parts, but overall an engrossing story of an incredible woman.
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