The Brass Compass

By: Ellen Butler

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

A beautiful American spy flees into the night. On her own, she must live by her wits to evade capture and make it to the safety of the Allied forces.

Lily Saint James grew up traveling the European continent, learning languages as she went. In 1938, her mother's abrupt death brings her back home to Washington, DC, and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Lily comes to the attention of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Her knowledge of German, French, and Italian makes her the perfect OSS Agent, and her quick thinking places her as a nanny in the household of an important German Army Colonel, where she is able to gather intelligence for the Allies.

After her marketplace contact goes missing, she makes a late-night trip to her secondary contact only to find him under interrogation by the SS. When he commits suicide, she flees into the frigid winter night carrying false identification papers that are now dangerous and a mini film cartridge with vital strategic information. In order to survive, Lily must make it out of Germany, into the hands of Allied-controlled France, through a path fraught with peril.

©2017 Ellen Butler (P)2018 Tantor

Lovely historical novel

Lovely book. Well worth the read in you like historical fiction especially WWII era. Would definitely recommend.

Quite a ride

Very interesting and great homage to the women who fought in their own way to help win WWII.

Behind the scenes of war ~ WW11

I don't think I can do justice of this well written book of experiences during WW11. It was outstanding in all ways. It gave true experiences through the fictional woman Lily, based on the true stories of 3 women who fought for our country. What bravery and courage shown by the character Lily and so many others.

What fabulous story. Loved it.

The bravery of our American men and woman is what saved our world from pure evil. We should always honor their sacrifices. TEACH OUR CHILDREN WELL SO THEY HOPEFULLY WILL NOT HAVE LIVE THEIR FATHERS HELL.

Awesome book all the way to the end.

I started this book with trepidation because it didn't have many reviews. I'm sure glad I did. I couldn't stop listening. The suspense just kept coming. I loved it and I bet you will to.

5 Stars

Loved this historical fiction of WWII. I really appreciated the author explaining the 3 brave women & their wartime experiences that the main character was based on. It was hard to put down!

I loved the Brass Compass!

This was a fabulous audio book. I loved every second of it! It’s good to know that the main character was based on 3 real female agents during WWII. I highly recommend it!

the brass compass

Great story, wonderful "reading" performance the same. Story line was great. I really like true books. this was in the fact of things happened.

WWII espionage, wild escapes, and a love story

Lilian St. James is a photo journalist in Nazi occupied France when she meets Charlie McNair at a cafe. A weekend love affair ends with the exchange of talismans and promises for the future.

Shortly afterwards, Lily is in Germany as a nanny for a high ranking Nazi officer gathering intelligence for the OSS. Her cover is blown and she flees into Black Forest torward France.

The story was engaging, but I thought it went longer than necessary. The other odd part was that as an American Lily uses British English like boot for trunk and bonnet for hood. She also uses metric measurements, which is neither British nor American.

Not a fan of the Narration

I like the book and the story.

However, I am definitely not a fan of the narration. A lot of the sentences seemed to end in the air and at times was very difficult to listen to. I do not know how else to explain it. There is a tone that someone holds as they speak. If you were to say, "I hear foot steps at the door." not "I hear foot steps at the door....." Like there is more to the sentence and leaves you hanging anticipating something more to be said.