A review by shirleytupperfreeman
One Woman's War by Christine Wells

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, but in this novel Christine Wells tells the fictionalized story of two real women involved in British intelligence during WWII. Paddy Bennett was a trusted associate in Room 39 of the Naval Intelligence Division in which Ian Fleming (later author of James Bond novels) was a leader. After Paddy marries and leaves the division (mandatory for married women at that time), she still secretly helped out with Operation Mincemeat in which a dead soldier was released from a submarine with highly sensitive plans in tow. The British knew the Germans would get hold of the plans and would do everything in their power to verify the veracity of the body, the plans etc. so everything had to be planned down to the most minute detail. The British plan worked, the Germans were misled and thousands of lives were saved. Paddy became the inspiration for Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond novels and Friedl, the other main character in this novel, had her intelligence roles to play. A decent story.