Loyalty, Bravery, Camaraderie

The League Of Lonely War Women by Andie Newton is a powerful historical tale that gripped me from the start. It is a fictional tale that is grounded in facts.

The story has four brave young women at its’ heart. They are American analysts working in Britain during World War II. They are transferred to Rome working for the OSS, which sees them parachuting into the heart of Nazi Germany in order to undertake a dangerous mission. Two of the women are tasked with something even more secret and dangerous, which they cannot tell the other two about. They hope to disrupt the Nazi war effort by lowering morale of the soldiers.

Andie Newton has created admirable characters. We see that trust and bonds formed in war will never break, even if separated for a time. Cunning and stealth is needed especially when they need to flee Nazi Germany.

The book is set in 1944 when it was clear that the Nazis were losing the war. Soldiers are dissatisfied. “He was swimming in unequal parts pain, hopelessness, and hurt.” We also see that boys are being recruited as soldiers. “He looked young, but his eyes had a tormented glaze to them from the war… I hoped he wasn’t one of the boys recruited directly from the Hitler Youth.”

This is a tale of two halves – war and peace – We rejoin the story ten years later as the two women who were on a special mission, now have the chance to complete it. But America is more concerned with the red in the bed than Nazi war criminals. The CIA did not reckon on the drive of the four women to complete unfinished business.