The Invisible Woman
The Nazis called her “The Limping Lady.” They also called her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies.” She was an American named Virginia Hall.
From an upper-class Maryland family, Hall tried to join the WW2 war efforts, only to be turned down because she had lost the lower part of one leg in a hunting accident, and had an artificial leg. (She dubbed the prosthetic “Cuthbert.”) So Hall abandoned her attempts to join the American forces and became an SOE agent for England. In 1941 she was sent to France, where she survived for fifteen months – a considerable achievement since the average lifespan of SOE operatives in Occupied France was six weeks. She fled France just ahead of the Gestapo, only to return again in 1944 as a wireless operator. From then until the end of the war she worked with the Resistance group known as the Maquis, sabotaging the Germans and preparing for the final military drive by the Allies into Occupied Europe. For her work during the war, Hall was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Service Cross, and an OBE. And she became one of the early female employees of the newly-formed CIA.
The Invisible Woman is a novel of Hall’s work during the 1944-1945 period. Her earlier efforts for the SOE and the Resistance are covered in flashbacks, which I consider a weakness in the book. I would have dearly loved to read about Hall’s 1941-1942 exploits in fuller detail. However, this is a fine novel; intense and gripping. The often-evocative prose reveals a courageous, complicated woman, and the author has an excellent grasp of the dangers and difficulties the Resistance faced, and of daily life under Nazi occupation. She’s done a great job of bringing Hall’s services to the Resistance to vivid life. It’s great seeing Virginia Hall get some of the attention she so richly deserves!
