My favorite books about courageous women and girls in war time

Virginia Hall was an American spy in Nazi-occupied France during WWII. The genre is non-fiction, but the book flows like historical fiction. Hall is caught up in a male chauvinist world of spies. She is physically handicapped with a limp, but ingeniously turns the defect into an effective disguise. When her supposedly superior male spy handlers fail to provide effective guidance, Hall employs street smarts and courage to create her own spy network. They, of course, take credit for her success and only hamper her operations. This work hits nearly all of my favorite attributes of a story—a woman with superior abilities and courage is stymied and dishonored by prejudice. Irony and empathy for the character abounds. The reader is highly satisfied knowing these are the actual experiences of a real woman. 

The story unfolds somewhat mysteriously, in that WWII historians may be a bit confused. The annihilation of Dresden, Germany through intense fire-bombing by the allies leaves little hope that anyone could survive long, yet a young girl is moving through the neighborhoods unscathed. She steals books from the library of a rich, sophisticated lady who has all but surrendered to her fate. The premise provides a nice counter to the book burning by the Nazis in the years leading up to military action. Although the girl is hardly a military hero, her persistence and courage renders her a testament to the raw power of the human spirit. In her own way, she is defiant of the aggressors attacking her home and threatening her life.

During WWII, a natural beauty with a keen intellect finds a way to become an indispensable tool for the war effort. Hedwig Kiesler was a Jewish, Austrian girl. She married an Austrian industrialist who later supported the Nazi war effort. She was a naturally brilliant inventor. Hedwig proposed a communications technology concept to create an un-jammable signal for torpedo guidance. Her cycling, multi-frequency signal concept is used today in wireless technology. At the start of WWII, she was an aspiring actress. Yet unknown, Hedwig used her innate acting abilities to spy for the Allies. She hosted her husband’s important Nazi officers and industrialists, gleaning valuable secrets and passing them on to her handlers. After the war, she became a major Hollywood star with the stage name, Hedy Lamar.

A fictional account showing the raw power of the human spirit when set against nearly insurmountable odds. A teenage girl is thrown into a warlike environment fighting for her life. This reluctant heroine must deal with wave after wave of emotional stress. Yet in those telling moments rises an inner strength, even more impressive as this is a teen still trying to find herself. Katniss Everdeen is born into this depressed world, fighting for more than her own survival. With an emotionally crushed mother and vulnerable sister, Katniss takes on evil adversaries with character and cunning. An expert hunter out of necessity, she utilizes her skills to combat a relentless enemy. But does she have the will to survive? 

The success of the D-Day invasion of German-occupied France was highly dependent upon spy-gathered information. The stories of three young women, unlikely heroes, are set against a complicated historical backdrop of spy networks in Nazi-occupied France leading up to the Allied invasion. These are the stories of Andree Borrel, Odette Sansom, and Lise de Baissac. The British spy organization, Special Operations Executive (SOE) hired, trained, and utilized these and other women as field operatives. Without the covert work they accomplished, the Allied invasion could have been disastrous. Although the work is non-fiction, it flows like a novel with quotes and personal anecdotes of the real agents. The courage and valor of these everyday women turned heroines are inspiring.