Code Name Helene
Ariel Lawhon novelizes the real life of Nancy Wake, called the White Mouse by the Gestapo for her ability to disappear in plain sight. Born in New Zealand, raised in Australia, Wake married a wealthy French industrialist in Marseille just before the German invasion, ran an escape line for downed Allied airmen, fled across the Pyrenees with a price on her head, trained with Britain's Special Operations Executive, and parachuted back into Auvergne in 1944 to coordinate seven thousand Maquis fighters in support of D-Day. Lawhon braids four time periods, journalist, lover, courier, and saboteur, into a single propulsive narrative, anchoring the action in Wake's voice. Romantic, harrowing, and meticulously sourced, the novel makes the case that one of the most-decorated women of World War II is also one of the least remembered.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Code Name Helene
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Drawn from Nancy Wake's life, Australian-born journalist and French Resistance courier Helene runs escape lines, parachutes back into occupied France for SOE, and ends the war as the Gestapo's most-wanted woman.
Yes. Code Name Helene is based on the real life of Nancy Wake, a New Zealand-born journalist who became one of the most decorated women of World War II for her work with the French Resistance. Ariel Lawhon used Wake's autobiography and extensive archive research.
No. Code Name Helene is a standalone novel. Ariel Lawhon has written several other historical fiction books featuring real women, including The Frozen River and I Was Anastasia.
Code Name Helene was written by Ariel Lawhon, published in 2020 by Anchor.
Code Name Helene is 600 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Code Name Helene takes most readers 9 to 13 hours to finish.
Code Name Helene is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.