Book Summary

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II-Sonia Purnell; A Book Critique

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Book Summary

Published in 2020, Sonia Purnell’s book A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II follows the story of one intelligent and courageous lady, Virginia hall and her role in helping American win world war II. In Summary, Gestapo sent out a transmission that was urgent in 1942, saying that Virginia Hall was the biggest threat of all allied spied and she had to be found and destroyed. Hall was a socialite from Baltimore who worked her way through to the Special Operations Executive, a spy organization which was known as Winston Churchill’s “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Welfare.” Hall was the first Allied woman to be deployed to enemy lines. Although she had a prosthetic leg, she played a crucial role in revolutionizing the French resistance to the secret warfare that we know today. Hall developed vast networks for spies throughout France. She was a linchpin for the Resistance movement and she called explosives and weapons down from the skies. Virginia Hall’s face was the cover of all wanted posters and she had a bounty on her head. Despite this, she ignored order after order to vacate. After Hall’s cover was blown, she defied the odds and managed to escape across the Pyrenees into Spain through hiking (Purnell, 2020). However, after a while, she returned to France adamant about the many lives she had to save. After her return, Hall led the guerilla campaign that successfully liberated France swathes from the Nazis. For the first time, based on extensive research, the book’s author Purnell manages to bring to light Hall’s entire secret life, who has been deemed the most notorious spy of the time. This book is an inspiring story of spy craft, resistance, heroism, and personal triumph over adversity.

Book Critique

What I find most appealing and captivating about the book is that it seeks to change women’s negative stereotypes. I like the fact that Purnell makes the story revolve around Virginia. This is a powerful aspect because at the time, and even in some current societies, women were deemed subordinate beings and people did not think they could achieve anything meaningful. However, the author uses Hall to change this barbaric mentality that people have of women. She proves that women are just as much capable as men. The fact that Virginia was fighting for liberation at a time when very few could speaks to her character. She put her life on the line just to be able to save people’s life. The fact that she was doing all this with a prosthetic leg shows she is a strong woman deserving of a hero’s title. Another good thing I like about the book is Purnell’s meticulous research. It is evident that she put a lot of effort and time into developing the book. The text is thoroughly crafted with accurate details and a complete account of every action that Virginia Hall was involved in. I respect the author for doing such a tremendous job. She did not disappoint the readers. Purnell uses her voice and platform to showcase more formidable women in society. This book is a testimony that they are capable and deserves recognition for their bravery and talents.

One of the aspects of this book that I do not like is that Purnell does not fully develop the characters of the supporting casts. After reading the book, one feels that the author did not go the nitty-gritty when it comes to other characters. She left out important information about the supporting characters that could have helped the main plot take shape. This is the only thing that can make me not give the book a ten-star rating. I would have appreciated if the author took more time to develop the characters in detail. Towards the end of the book, the author throws around many names that the reader had not encountered before. Personally, I struggled because I could not remember who these characters were. I had to pause and go back to the beginning of the book to see if I could remember the characters and if they helped Virginia in her mission or if they were against her. This can be confusing and uncomfortable for the reader. Moreover, I would have appreciated it if Purnell had employed more tactics in writing the book. For instance, she should have put more thought into explaining to the reader how Virginia’s mission fits into the larger context of World War II. A person who has read this book will agree that it reached a point when the reader feels like the story was moving too quickly. It was almost as if Purnell was writing while skimming just to push the plot further. Time would pass and the author would mention that Virginia Hall had completed many tasks and achieved a lot, yet there is no mention of the exact work that she did. Nevertheless, these negative aspects do not take away from the fact that Sonia Purnell did an impeccable job in crafting an informative and gripping read. I would advise the people that are yet to read this book to kindly do so as they are missing out on a lot.

References

Purnell, S. (2020). A woman of no importance: the untold story of the American spy who helped win world war II. Penguin Books.