The Woman with No Name by Audrey Blake ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

1942. Though she survived the bomb that destroyed her home, Yvonne Rudellat's life is over. She's estranged from her husband, her daughter is busy with war work, and Yvonne—older, diminutive, overlooked—has lost all purpose. Until she's offered a chance to remake herself entirely…

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

March 2024; Sourcebooks Landmark; 978-1728270821
audio, ebook, print (384 pages); biographical fiction

I love WWII and I really enjoy all the new stories that have been coming out the last few years about bits of history that we hadn't heard about. Particularly, I've been fascinated by the stories of American and British women who trained with the Special Operations Executive and then went into France to assist the Resistance.

I absolutely loved Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon and Erika Robuck's The Invisible Woman and unfortunately every other book about female spies has to live up to them. It's a high standard and when I started The Womane with No Name I wasn't sure if it would measure up.

I had trouble connecting with the main character Yvonne Rudellat. I don't think we would have been friends if I had met her. She was a real person unlike some of the other women I've read about she is older - in her mid-40s. She wasn't allowed to parachute into France like the other agents. They felt she was too fragile.

While her bones may have been fragile her spirit and determination were not. 

The book lacked tension through most of the story. There should have been tension and worry about whether the characters would survive. But I didn't really feel that even knowing that the Germans are on her trail. Towards the end, I did start to worry about the characters.

Usually when I read a WWII story, at some point in my reading my curiosity gets the best of me and I have to go searching for information on the characters. But I never got that itch and didn't even realize Yvonne was a real person until I read the notes at the end of the book.

I really wasn't sure if it was going to meet the bar I set but somewhere around the halfway mark I didn't want to put the book down. I read through this novel pretty quickly. I do believe I will remember Yvonne along side Nancy and Virginia. 

If you are looking for something to read for Women's History Month, but don't want to read nonfiction, then you should pick up this book.

Buy The Woman with No Name at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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