Reviews
"Vera Atkins (1908--2000) was the highest-ranking female official in the French section of a WWII British intelligence unit that aided the resistance. Atkins sent 400 agents into France, including 39 women she'd personally recruited and supervised. Many were caught by the Gestapo and subsequently disappeared and presumed dead. In 1945, after the war, Atkins, fiercely loyal to the memory of her missing agents, took it upon herself to spend a year interviewing concentration camp officials and survivors in order to piece together her agents' fates. Helm, a founding member of London's "Independent," brilliantly reconstructs Atkins's harrowing detective work, shedding light in particular on the fate of missing agent Noor Inayat Khan, whose suitability for the job had been widely doubted. Helm's portrait of Atkins is acute, dwelling evocatively on her Romanian-Jewish origins and their social significance for Atkins within upper-crust British circles, and on Atkins's mysterious personal life. Drawing on interviews with relatives and friends of both Atkins and her agents, and on full access to Atkins's private papers, Helm has produced a memorable portrait of a woman who knowingly sent other women to their deaths and a searing history of female courage and suffering during WWII." --"Publishers Weekly" (starred review) ""A Life in Secrets" is a work of history that is at once a compelling thriller, an intriguing mystery, and a biography of bravery. Vera Atkins selected and ran the 400 agents -- 39 of them women -- who were smuggled into occupied France in World War II. What was the fate of those who vanished? While officialdom was ready to close the files, Vera Atkins was not. Followingthe clues with intellectual rigor and passion, she discovered what happened to the vanished but in the process left another mystery: just who was Vera Atkins? Sarah Helm displays many of Vera Atkins' own forensic arts and a gift for story-telling. Better than CSI because it is all true and inspiring." - Tina Brown "Sarah Helm lays bare the truth about WWII's heroic spymistress, Vera Atkins, and uncovers a story of betrayal, deceit, and unusual bravery at the heart of the secret army. Yet again it has taken meticulous investigative reporting to reveal the horrific realities of war." --Christiane Amanpour, CNN "An absolutely spellbinding story...Sarah Helm uncovers a remarkable story of courage, cruelty, and compassion as the horrors of the war catch up with these brave men and women, who risked everything in the struggle against Hitler and his minions. Helm also sheds light on Atkins's own mysterious past -- she was not everything she appeared to be, even to those who thought they knew her best." --"Library Journal" "A formidably able book . . . lucidly written, and a solid contribution to twentieth-century history." --M.R.D. Foot, "The Spectator" "Impressive and obsessive . . . a bizarrely fascinating--as well as a chillingly horrific--story." --"Literary Review" "What makes the book as fascinating as the best of thrillers is that at every stage we know as much as she does, tracking Vera down clue by clue, contact by contact ... It makes compulsive reading." --"Daily Mail" "Sarah Helm's masterly book ... has exposed much that was never meant to be known. We must never forget it." --"Mail on Sunday" "A truly stunning book--quite thebest by a non-veteran of secret warfare." --"Sunday Times", "Brilliant. . . . One can only admire the way that Helm put together all the pieces of the puzzle." --"The Washington Post" "Fascinating. . . . Compelling. . . . Gripping. . . . A stupendous job of reporting." --"The New York Times" "Helm's account is a chilling reminder of the ghastliness of WWII." --"Entertainment Weekly" ""A Life in Secrets" is a work of history that is at once a compelling thriller, an intriguing mystery, and a biography of bravery. . . . Better than "CSI "because it is all true and inspiring." --Tina Brown, "A formidably able book . . . lucidly written, and a solid contribution to twentieth-century history." --M.R.D. Foot, "The Spectator "Impressive and obsessive . . . a bizarrely fascinating--as well as a chillingly horrific--story." --"Literary Review "What makes the book as fascinating as the best of thrillers is that at every stage we know as much as she does, tracking Vera down clue by clue, contact by contact ... It makes compulsive reading." --"Daily Mail "Sarah Helm's masterly book ... has exposed much that was never meant to be known. We must never forget it." --"Mail on Sunday "A truly stunning book--quite the best by a non-veteran of secret warfare." --"Sunday Times, "Brilliant. . . . One can only admire the way that Helm put together all the pieces of the puzzle." - The Washington Post "Fascinating. . . . Compelling. . . . Gripping. . . . A stupendous job of reporting." - The New York Times "Helm's account is a chilling reminder of the ghastliness of WWII." - Entertainment Weekly " A Life in Secrets is a work of history that is at once a compelling thriller, an intriguing mystery, and a biography of bravery. . . . Better than CSI because it is all true and inspiring." -Tina Brown, "Brilliant. . . . One can only admire the way that Helm put together all the pieces of the puzzle." -- The Washington Post "Fascinating. . . . Compelling. . . . Gripping. . . . A stupendous job of reporting." -- The New York Times "Helm's account is a chilling reminder of the ghastliness of WWII." -- Entertainment Weekly " A Life in Secrets is a work of history that is at once a compelling thriller, an intriguing mystery, and a biography of bravery. . . . Better than CSI because it is all true and inspiring." --Tina Brown, "Brilliant. . . . One can only admire the way that Helm put together all the pieces of the puzzle." -The Washington Post "Fascinating. . . . Compelling. . . . Gripping. . . . A stupendous job of reporting." -The New York Times "Helm's account is a chilling reminder of the ghastliness of WWII." -Entertainment Weekly "A Life in Secretsis a work of history that is at once a compelling thriller, an intriguing mystery, and a biography of bravery. . . . Better thanCSIbecause it is all true and inspiring." -Tina Brown
Synopsis
From an award-winning journalist comes this real-life cloak-and-dagger tale of Vera Atkins, one of Britain's premiere secret agents during World War II. As the head of the French Section of the British Special Operations Executive, Vera Atkins recruited, trained, and mentored special operatives whose job was to organize and arm the resistance in Nazi-occupied France. After the war, Atkins courageously committed herself to a dangerous search for twelve of her most cherished women spies who had gone missing in action. Drawing on previously unavailable sources, Sarah Helm chronicles Atkins's extraordinary life and her singular journey through the chaos of post-war Europe. Brimming with intrigue, heroics, honor, and the horrors of war, A Life in Secrets is the story of a grand, elusive woman and a tour de force of investigative journalism., Once rumored to have been the inspiration for Ian Fleming's Miss Moneypenny, Vera Atkins climbed her way to the top in Special Operations Executive, or SOE, Britain's secret service created to help the resistance efforts in Nazi-occupied countries. Drawing on recently released government files and unprecedented access to family papers, Helm vividly reconstructs a complex and extraordinary life., From an award-winning journalist comes this real-life cloak-and-dagger tale of Vera Atkins, one of Britain's premiere secret agents during World War II. As the head of the French Section of the British Special Operations Executive, Vera Atkins recruited, trained, and mentored special operatives whose job was to organize and arm the resistance in Nazi-occupied France. After the war, Atkins courageously committed herself to a dangerous search for twelve of her most cherished women spies who had gone missing in action. Drawing on previously unavailable sources, Sarah Helm chronicles Atkins's extraordinary life and her singular journey through the chaos of post-war Europe. Brimming with intrigue, heroics, honor, and the horrors of war, "A Life in Secrets" is the story of a grand, elusive woman and a tour de force of investigative journalism.
