by Jacqueline Winspear
Harper, 2023. 336 pages. Fiction
Elinor White lives a white life in a rural English village in the aftermath of World War II, and to her fellow villagers she seems something of an enigma. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation. But the residents of Shacklehurst have no way of knowing how dangerous Elinor's work in both World Wars had been, or that their mysterious neighbor is haunted by her past. It will take Susie, the child of a young farmworker, Jim Mackie and his wife, Rose, to break through Miss White's icy demeanor. But Jim too, is desperate to escape his past. When the powerful Mackie crime family demands a return of their prodigal son for an important job, Elinor sets out on treacherous path to protect her neighbors.
Jacqueline Winspear is beloved for her bestselling Maisie Dobbs mystery series, and The White Lady revisits similar plot points in a new way. Elinor is a brave, no-nonsense character who falls skillfully into her role as a teenage spy in World War I Belgium, but as The White Lady shifts backward and forward in time, you see how her work wears on her and her family relationships. Winspear creates vibrant characters while skillfully navigating the shifting historical timelines. While this book works well as a standalone, I could see it acting as the start of a new favorite series for historical fiction fans and mystery lovers alike.
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by Kristin Hannah
St. Martin’s Press, 2015. 440 pages. Fiction
Viann and Isabelle have always been close despite their differences. Younger, bolder sister Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann lives a quiet and content life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. When World War II strikes and Antoine is sent off to fight, Viann and Isabelle's father sends Isabelle to help her older sister cope. As the war progresses, it's not only the sisters' relationship that is tested, but also their strength and their individual senses of right and wrong.
by Kate Quinn
William Morrow, 2021. 656 pages. Fiction
1940: As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Osla puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Mab works the legendary codebreaking machines and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Beth's shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and she becomes one of the Park's few female cryptanalysts. 1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, the three women are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter-- the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum.
SGR
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