Nancy Wake

By: Peter FitzSimons

Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

In the early 1930s, Nancy Wake was a young woman enjoying a bohemian life in Paris. By the end of the Second World War, she was the Gestapo's most wanted person. As a naive, young journalist, Nancy Wake witnessed a horrific scene of Nazi violence in a Viennese street. From that moment, she declared that she would do everything in her power to rid Europe of the Nazis.

What began as a courier job here and there became a highly successful escape network for Allied soldiers, perfectly camouflaged by Nancy's high-society life in Marseille. Her network was soon so successful – and so notorious – that she was forced to flee France to escape the Gestapo, who had dubbed her 'the white mouse' for her knack of slipping through its traps. But Nancy was a passionate enemy of the Nazis and refused to stay away.

Supplying weapons and training members of a powerful underground fighting force, organising Allied parachute drops, cycling four hundred kilometres across a mountain range to find a new transmitting radio – nothing seemed too difficult in her fight against the Nazis. Peter FitzSimons reveals Nancy Wake's compelling story, a tale of an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things.

©2002 Peter Fitzsimons (P)2010 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Most amazing true story I've ever heard!

This is a great listen! Very riveting, and all true!! The bicycle story is one of my favorite.

War heroine

Many other reviewers have better put into words what I am endeavoring to do. Nancy Wake was an incredibly brave young woman during World War II, leading a platoon of soldiers in the middle of nowhere, facing gunfire, no communication, and the deprivation of war.

Peter Fitzsimons obviously researched her life, spoke with her at length, and got to know his subject well.

Stephanie Daniel, with the exceptionof some awkward pronunciations ("Es-cuh-peees"), did a wonderful job narrating this book. I have read some unfavorable views of her narrating novels, but found as a biography narrator, she did an excellent job.

I am very glad I read this book, and will be looking for more Peter Fitzsimons, and Stephanie Daniel narrations (biographies) in the future.

Exciting Life and Times

If you could sum up Nancy Wake in three words, what would they be?

Bold, courageous, charismatic

What was one of the most memorable moments of Nancy Wake?

The 400 km bike ride journey to secure a replacement radio

Which character – as performed by Stephanie Daniel – was your favorite?

Nancy--of course

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes--but I couldn't

Any additional comments?

Great book if you love non-fiction that's bigger than life

Wow!, What a woman!

Attractive, gritty, brash, fearless patriot! I would want her to be on my side for sure! However, she is/was quite profane. Didn't mind sleeping around, drinking profusely, and using excessive profanity. A true soldier, however, worthy of the medals she received!

awesome reading

loved this book of woman who let nothing phase her.
great determination to not let freedom be destroyed.
great read

A truly good "read

I really enjoyed the story of Nancy Wake. This book was well written and the narration was very well done. I could not stop listening and almost completed the book on the first day I had it. Unfortunately my Mp3 player ran down and I had to recharge the battery. I truly appreciated the no frills approach to the realities of war, and the respect the author showed for the attitudes of the day; neither apologizing for the anger many people felt toward the German people and their supporters nor trying to bring modern rationalization to bear on the role those people played in the war. I would recommend this book to anyone and will!

Happy Ending

The amazing Nancy Wake lived life LARGE. But unlike a tale of simple heroics, Peter Fitzsimmons doesn't shy away from the trouble she had reintegrating into a world not at war, how she never felt at home in Australia, her financial worries, her failure at politics and her tumultuous relationship with her mother, amongst other things that made her seem terribly human. I admired her bravery and her cleverness, but I felt for her because of her faults. But she had the last laugh! Well played, Nancy. Recommend.

Remarkable Tale of a Strong, Courageous Woman

Peter FitzSimons tells the life story of an extraordinary Australian heroine in Nancy Wake. Nancy Wake grew up poor in Australia after her father abandoned the family about 1915 when Nancy was 2 or 3. At 16 she ran away from the city to the outback and worked as a nurse.

At 18, she inherited a small sum from an aunt and went by ship to New York, where she learned to party, and then on to London, where she became a journalist and continued the party life. While on assignment in Vienna during the 30's, Nancy watched Nazi gangs beating Jews at random in the streets and vowed she would do anything she could to defeat Hitler. In 1939, she married a wealthy Frenchman and lived in Marseilles, living the high life of drinking and parties.

After the fall of France in 1940, Nancy acted as a courier for the Resistance, and also became part of an escape network which helped thousand of Allied troops escape to England. Despite the danger, she continued the work after Marseilles was occupied and became the Gestapo's most wanted person, with a reward of 5 million francs offered. After being arrested and rescued, she escaped to Spain by crossing the Pyrenees mountains on foot.

Back in England Nancy trained with Special Operations and parachuted back into the Auvergne region of France to liaise with the local maquis group. She gained acceptance and respect from the fighting men by drinking them all under the table and then by being braver than all of them. By the end of the war, her maquis group had grown to 7,000 plus, and had a remarkable fighting record.

How can you not like a woman who, while dangling from a tree by her parachute, replies to a Frenchman's remark about the beautiful fruit of the tree, "Don't give me that French s---!"

FitzSimons tells Nancy's story in a somewhat journalistic style. Nancy lived to be 98 and died in 2011, so he had the opportunity to talk with her many times and make it a more personal story than a straight biography. She was a very colorful, down to earth person, and her personal recollections add to the enjoyment of the narrative. Stephanie Daniel does an excellent job of narration.

Fascinating and entertaining.

A Rip-Snort of a Good Tale

What a great story. A girl with more curiosity and determination than sense left her home in Australia and found herself in the middle of France during WWII.

This is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride, but one of the things I most enjoyed about it was that the author did not paint Nancy as a saint. She smoked and swore and could out-drink most men. She was willful and had some definite personality quirks. I had to keep reminding myself how young she was and the attitudes of the time. (She was just a few years older than my mother.) All this made it much more interesting for me.

I am so glad that I saw this book. It would make great reading for young women, late high school and college age.

Great story, great character

This was a great story, full of adventure, drama, intrigue. The main character, Nancy Wake, had a larger-than-life experience. She lived through a period where there were clear delineations of good and evil and she fought for the right because it was the right thing to do and it had to be done.