You might have seen this book featured in my home page gallery and for good reason. I’m sure it’s not difficult to understand that those six images, those six chosen books represent a culmination of my reading genres, favourites and favoured writing styles. Codename Helene by Ariel Lawhon is precious in its own right as it is the story of an iconic Kiwi during WWII, Nancy Wake, aka the White Mouse. She was a member of the French Resistance and an SOE agent, earning her nickname through evading capture time and time again. She is an inspiration and Codename Helene is one of many amazing dedications in her name.

The book’s blurb is as follows: In 1936 intrepid young Australian journalist Nancy Wake is living in Paris after witnessing firsthand the terror of Hitler’s rise in Europe, firing her resolve to fight against the Nazis. When Nancy falls in love with handsome French industrialist Herny Fiocca, no sooner has she become Mrs Fiocca than the Germans invade France and Nancy takes yet another name, a codename – the first of many.

As the elusive Lucienne Carlier she smuggles people across the borders and earns a new name ‘the White Mouse’ along with a five million franc bounty on her head, courtesy of the Gestapo. Forced to flee France, Nancy is trained by an elite espionage group under the codename Hélène. Finally, with a mission in hand, she is airdropped back into France as the deadly Madame Andrée. But the closer to liberation France gets the more exposed Nancy – and the people she loves – will become.

Now, I will answer the question that’s tickling your brain. Is she a Kiwi or an Aussie? Nancy was born in Wellington, New Zealand before her family moved to Sydney when she was 20 months old. As a nation, we are very proud of Nancy and like to claim her as our own. There was also some beef between Nancy and the Australian Government after WWII as she was recommended for decorations and medals for the service she did for the Allies but the government turned it down. When they tried to award her decades later, she is quoted saying “The last time there was a suggestion of that I told the government they could stick their medals where the monkey stuck his nuts. The thing is, if they gave me a medal now, it wouldn’t be love so I don’t want anything from them.” As I said, she is an icon.

The story is told in split chronology with two interweaving timelines which I hadn’t seen done this way before. The two timelines are the start and the halfway point and travel parallel to each other, sharing themes and motifs and leaving you desperate to know what happens to these characters and the beautiful seaside town of Marseille. The parts are aptly titled by her nicknames, showing a transition from one version of Nancy to another, and the chapters share these nicknames to mark the moment in the timeline. It may sound confusing, but I promise it makes sense and flows easily from one chapter to the next.

I am a sucker for Ariel Lawhon’s writing style, in particular, her description and the keen use of all the senses when painting a scene. There’s something indulgent about reading dialogue and internal monologue and getting those honey-like drips of life coming through. The tastes, smells and sounds of a place in as much detail as the sights and feel. It draws you in and immerses you in the scene, placing you right with the characters, and isn’t that the best way to hook a reader in? Isn’t that what you want from a good book?

If I try to say more I fear I will either scare you away with my adoration for Nancy or spoiler Codename Hélène for you and I don’t want to do that. I implore you, more than I implore in other reviews, to pick Codename Hélène up and get stuck into it. It is intriguing and alluring and will have you reading all day without breaks.