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

Totally a Hero

I had never heard of Nancy Wake prior to listening to this book. She is a true hero. This book is well written and almost perfectly read. I found it very difficult to stop. If this book had been a novel, you might have said "right, who makes this stuff up?" I loved the whole story, from Nancy's time in America and England to her carefree life in Paris. The writing gave the real feel of the Paris streets, the parties and Nancy's step by step change from free spirited wife to resistance fighter. I find it very interesting to read about ordinary people who find themselves in circumstances that bring out extraordinary responses. To see a young woman (not that different from me) who becomes a leader of the French Maquis (thousands of them in fact), and is recognized as having such a great impact on their success is amazing. WWII is full of stories of those who rose to the occasion and did the right thing. What happened after the war was sad in it's anticlimactic return to "normal" life.

Not great literature, but an inspiring read.

A true Australian Heroine

What a joy to listen to Peter FitzSimons's biography of this incredible lady's or maybe larrikin's is a better word, biography and narrated as though by Nancy herself. Having grown up in WW2, with my father and brother participating, my memories are very clear of the stories of courage during that time. Mr FitzSimon writes great books and articles and I downloaded this book with relish and was not disappointed.

Hero, Yes but told in such a boring way.

I did not previously know about Nancy Wake. And it had been a good long time since I learned much about WWII history. So reading about her story and the role of France in the war was probably the only thing that made me finish this book. I found the constant french pronunciation of words to be very distracting. And the narrator does a lot of very audible swallowing at the end of many of the longer sentences.

If you like history, especially when a woman is the subject of the story then maybe this is for you. So many others seemed to have loved this book but for me, it was just too drawn out and hard to listen to.

Worth a listen

I had never heard of Nancy Wake before picking this title up on sale, but it was a very interesting story. She led a courageous life in France during WWII, although it sounds like she may have been underappreciated after the fact for what she did. It also seems like she was one of those people made for adventure and she had some trouble adapting to "boring" civilian life after the war and I feel bad for her for that. I really enjoyed the story though & recommend it.

Inspiring story of an amazing woman

This story gripped me from the beginning. Couldn't stop listening! The courage and tenacity of Nancy and other members of the resistance was inspiring. The characters came to life.

A truly amazing wartime hero!

WOW! This true story biography is what fiction aspires to be. During World War II, Nancy Wake (a.k.a. the White Mouse) became a courier for the French Resistance fighters, was trained as a British SOE agent, joined and led the French Maquis fighters against the Germans, and became the Gestapo's Most Wanted Person. Nancy parachuted out of planes, lived in the forest with the Maquis troops she was sent to coordinate, slept on pine needles, taught Maquis fighters how to use weapons, rode a bicycle 400 km over mountains and through enemy territory, blew up a bridge, led an attack on the Nazi headquarters (throwing grenades into offices and then running away), and even killed a German soldier with her bare hands, all while maintaining a superb sense of fashion, elegance, practicality, and humor, and managing to not lose her cosmetics bag throughout the entire war. This book is a must listen, and Stephanie Daniel does a superb job narrating this truly amazing story.

The best book i’ve heard

Without a doubt the best, most engaging and encouraging history! I want to have the courage and nerve that Nancy had! She was simply outstanding!

Fascinating!

I loved this. Nancy Wake was quite the gal! Rich in detail (which I like, though maybe some wouldn't). The little stories along the way are very interesting. I even listened to a lot fictional story based on Nancy before this one, and there was enough new material that I still enjoyed it.

One problem: I think it's the narration, perhaps, but this can seem dull at times, like the history teacher who isn't into their subject and therefore doesn't bring much life to the subject. She isn't awful to listen to, but you just sort of wonder if SHE is bored. Maybe it's partly the story itself.
Luckily, Nancy herself is interesting enough, as others have said, and I kept listening. I just don't know that I would listen to this to try to stay awake while driving!

My rating: R. Language is infrequent (Nancy was known for having quite the mouth).
Violence is extreme, but thankfully infrequent.
Sex...mostly just a mention of affairs.

a Hero

“Nancy Wake: A Biography of our Greatest War Heroine” by Peter FitzSimons was published in 2010. FitzSimons is an Australian journalist. Nancy Wake was the most decorated women from World War II. FitzSimons’ well-paced and compelling biography is well-documented. FitzSimons drew his research from earlier biographies such as Russell Braddon’s “Nancy Wake: the Story of a Very Brave Woman” published in 1956 and Wake’s autobiography “The White Mouse” published in 1985. FitzSimons also had many interviews with Nancy Wake as well as fellow agents, resistance fighters and Colonel Buckmaster. Buckmaster was head of the British Special operations (BSO).

Wake was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1912. The book covers her early childhood in New Zealand and Australia. After she finished school she moved to England where she learned to be a journalist. She obtained a job as a European correspondent for the Hearst Newspaper and was stationed in Paris. In the 1930’s she witnessed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement. She reports seeing roving Nazi gangs beat Jewish men and women in the streets of Vienna.

In 1937 Wake married wealthy French industrialist Henri Edmond Fiocca (1898-1943). They were living in Marseille, France when Germany invaded. Nancy became a courier for the French Resistance, then help set up the escape network to help escaping allied soldiers and Jews. The Gestapo called her “The White Mouse”. She became the most wanted person by the Gestapo with a reward for her capture. She had to escape to Britain herself where she was recruited by Colonel Buckmaster. She was trained by the British Special Operations and parachuted into Auvergne, France in 1944. She led over 7000 Maquis, equipping them with the latest arms from England, training them and leading them on assigned (BSO) attacks against the Germans. At the end of the war Wake learned her husband was tortured and killed by the Gestapo because he would not reveal her whereabouts.

FitzSimons’ narrative authentically captures the tone and atmosphere of Wake’s hazardous life. He breathtakingly describes her escapades against the Germans. Wake died in a Veterans home in England on 7 August 2011. For those of you who read German, I understand German author Michael Jurgs wrote a biography of Wake called “Nancy Wake and her fight against the Gestapo in France”. It was published October 2012. Stephanie Daniels did a good job narrating the book and pronouncing all the French names. If you are interested in history and women in war you will enjoy this book.

Learn and be impressed

I'd never heard of Nancy Wake so all of this was new to me. She did everything she could to fight against the Nazis. Actually, to fight for humanity and against cruelty. It's amazing to think what suffering some people have endured and here we are in America willing to sell freedom for something as ordinary as cash.