A review by danastaples
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell

3.0

The subject matter of Virginia’s life and story is incredible. The writing, however, was lacking. The author dropped a lot of names, places, French terms without translation, organizations, political leaders, or WWII terms without explanation and it was difficult to read. I started with the audio book, but it was too difficult to follow, so I had to switch to a hard copy so I could stop a lot to look things up. So many characters in the story are fascinating, colorful characters. I feel like if the author had painted a picture of them and gotten readers attached, it would have added a lot to the emotional impact, but instead I couldn’t keep them straight
Overall, I’m glad I read it. I learned a lot and it’s so important to research and tell womens stories that have for too long gone untold and unappreciated. I do though want this story to find its way into the hands of a skilled writer who can make it read less like a history textbook and more like a thriller novel.