Scan barcode
A review by callum_mclaughlin
Spyglass: An Autobiography by Helene Deschamps-Adams
5.0
What a woman. What a life. We often read of wartime experiences from the perspective of soldiers who served on the frontline. Though hearing their voices is of course important, it was so refreshing to read about a whole other kind of war that was being waged at the same time: a war of wits, espionage and courage.
Deschamps' life really is a case of stranger than fiction. Were her accounts to have been presented as a fictional film or novel, no one would have believed it possible that so much could befall one person; that one woman could rise to beat so many odds, from transporting messages between Resistance members, to helping Jews sneak across the border to safety; from courting an Italian soldier to gleam information about his company's movements, to outsmarting captors to escape detention; and from surviving various attacks from both sides whilst undercover, to posing as a secretary for the Milice so that she could steal and destroy files on citizens marked for death, thus sparing their lives.
I really appreciate that Deschamps doesn't glamourize her experiences, nor does she try to paint herself as an unstoppable war machine. Instead, she is not at all afraid to speak openly of how terrifying her life became; to tell us of the times she would cry herself to sleep at night and fall back on pride and honour alone to keep her from giving up her mission. She truly was just a normal young woman trying her best to cope under incredible circumstances. Her writing itself may not be ground-breaking but it's almost theatrical in a way, lending the book a very cinematic and compelling edge.
Deschamps' life really is a case of stranger than fiction. Were her accounts to have been presented as a fictional film or novel, no one would have believed it possible that so much could befall one person; that one woman could rise to beat so many odds, from transporting messages between Resistance members, to helping Jews sneak across the border to safety; from courting an Italian soldier to gleam information about his company's movements, to outsmarting captors to escape detention; and from surviving various attacks from both sides whilst undercover, to posing as a secretary for the Milice so that she could steal and destroy files on citizens marked for death, thus sparing their lives.
I really appreciate that Deschamps doesn't glamourize her experiences, nor does she try to paint herself as an unstoppable war machine. Instead, she is not at all afraid to speak openly of how terrifying her life became; to tell us of the times she would cry herself to sleep at night and fall back on pride and honour alone to keep her from giving up her mission. She truly was just a normal young woman trying her best to cope under incredible circumstances. Her writing itself may not be ground-breaking but it's almost theatrical in a way, lending the book a very cinematic and compelling edge.