I have always hated the news because it is depressing and I vaguely remember hearing about the Irish War of Independence as a young girl. I don’t knowI have always hated the news because it is depressing and I vaguely remember hearing about the Irish War of Independence as a young girl. I don’t know much about the history of the IRA and Bloody Sunday and such other than from the movies. This paramilitary organization was seeking the establishment of a republic, the end of British rule in Northern Ireland, and the reunification of Ireland. This included tension between the Catholic and Protestant communities. I didn’t realize how long this conflict lasted. It seems like it never really ended with any resolution. I am not political at all and I have never understood the greed and fear to the extent of unnecessary fighting over land and ruling over others.
I felt for this mother, Tessa, and her 6 month old newborn son, Finn. I could relate to her feelings as a mother. Their relationship seemed realistic to me. I cannot imagine constantly being on high alert watching for IRA attacks and reassuring yourself “No, that man isn’t acting strangely, no, those people aren’t signaling to each other, no, there’s nothing unusual about that suitcase.” I am so grateful I have not had to live through anything like this.
The IRA was attending funerals of policemen to find another target, another police to kill. One woman became a primary school teacher to ask the kids what their mommy and daddy did for a living to find out if any of them were police. Despicable.
This story was also about two sisters and their relationship—the shock of finding out Tessa’s sister, Marian, was not who she thought she was. Some of their past was shared during the unrest with the IRA. Years earlier, she and her sister thought they’d seen the worst of it, but then they turned the corner and “saw that a block of flats had collapsed, sliding forward into the road, like a slumped cake.” In the end, they had each other and that was what mattered most.
Side note—I didn’t know Northern Spy was a type of apple...more
Fantastic historical fiction about a spy network in France run by intelligent women during World War I. Charlie’s storyline in 1947 was second to Eve’Fantastic historical fiction about a spy network in France run by intelligent women during World War I. Charlie’s storyline in 1947 was second to Eve’s 1915-1918, in my opinion. Eve and Lili were engulfed in secret espionage! I did not know that the “Alice Network” was actually the real deal and Louise de Bettignies—code name Alice Dubois—was known as the Queen of Spies. Under her direction, the vast intelligence network was fast and efficient. These women were incredibly courageous. They were often underestimated and rarely suspected. They withstood betrayal and lies and lived duplicitous lives. There’s a little revenge in there too. I hope this gets turned into a movie. It was so good.
Eve became a sort of raging, hard-drinking, foul-mouthed woman in her older age. Charlie said about sullen Eve "Did she have to be cryptic when she wasn't being profane? It was like traveling with a whiskey-drinking sphinx." She would keep such a calm demeanor in any circumstance, blindsided or not. One of the men she fooled seemed possessive and it creeped me out how he called her “pet.”
As a younger spy, Eve was resourceful, resilient, and stern. She had a stalwart attitude: “What did it matter if something scared you, when it simply had to be done?” Her mentor, Lili (or Alice Dubois), was of the same mind. With dozens of operatives under her command, Lili asserted that the Germans would never be able to find her: "I'm a handful of water, running everywhere." She referred to Fleurs du mal,” We are not flowers to be plucked and shielded, Captain. We are flowers who flourish in evil.” She said, “There are two kinds of flowers when it comes to women, the kind that sit safe in a beautiful vase, or the kind that survive in any conditions . . . even in evil.” She wanted to do something significant in life and something occasionally exhilarating —“Most women are bored, because being female is boring. We only get married because it’s something to do, and then we have children and find out babies are the only thing more boring than other women.” They did not have easy lives. “I believe in revenge... I’ve lost faith in much over the years, but not that.”
Footnotes with English-French translations would’ve helped enhance the enjoyment of this book. I had to google some things to have a better understanding of what was being said. I appreciated the “Author’s Note” at the back end with historical facts about real-life characters and what inspired some of the fictional aspects of the story. Excellent. ...more
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