Liberation is...a touch more Hollywood. In one scene Wake enters a café to meet a contact, despite being warned that the Nazi-collaborating Milice have sealed the town; she coolly introduces herself as the woman pictured in the Wanted poster above the counter before shooting two Milice men dead and killing another with his knife. Another exploit features her disguising herself as a prostitute to infiltrate Gestapo headquarters and then poisoning the officers’ wine. Wake did kill Nazis, but neither of these incidents took place, and these depictions in Liberation of her defiance and courage occasionally feel overly insistent — several scenes ending with her being cheered ... [an] exciting and well-written [account] of wartime valour ... [the] protagonist’s qualities shine through.
...[a] thrilling debut ... What this book lacks in literary panache and subtlety...it makes up for with a fast pace, vivid set pieces, and a believable, larger-than-life protagonist. Featuring plenty of espionage and a memorable female lead, this is a cinematic treat for fans of wartime adventure novels.
...the less successful of two novels this year inspired by the amply decorated, famously high-spirited World War II heroine Nancy Wake ... The facts of Wake’s war participation, working with the Resistance troops in the Auvergne, are dramatized in high-stakes scenes of battle, ambush, and betrayal ... But some aspects of this character’s behavior...seem to strike the wrong note ... We look forward to the movie.
