Book: Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America’s Greatest Female Spy
Basic Information :
Synopsis :
Characters :
Expectations :
Thoughts :
Evaluation :
Book Group :
New Words :
Good Quotes :
Table of Contents :
References
Basic Information:
Author:
Judith L. Pearson
Edition:
Hardcopy from Mountain View Public Library
ePub on Overdrive from Fresno County Public Library
Publisher:
Lyons Press
ISBN:
159228762X (ISBN13: 9781592287628)
Start
Date: February 8, 2019
Read
Date: February 12, 2019
288
pages
Genre:
History, Biography, World War II, Spies
Language
Warning: None
Rated
Overall: 3 out of 5
History:
3 out of 5
Google
Earth file (kmz) – I have mapped out a kmz file with the
different places mentioned in the book to get a feel for where
Virginia Hall went.
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
The
billing on the book is that Virginia Hall is America’s greatest
female spy. The book leads us through growing up in an affluent
Virginia ranch, then trying to work her way into the foreign service.
Along the way, she shoots her own leg off in Turkey, disqualifying
her for the foreign service.
But
World War II is heating up. She is in France and works as an
ambulance driver when the Germans overrun France. She sees the
horrors of the war. But it is too hot to stay and fights. So she goes
to London and works at staff in the American embassy.
But
she is itching to do something more productive. If the Americans do
not want her, maybe the British will. She is in London working at the
embassy when certain British recruiting agents look her over and
entice her to for for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). She
gets trained, then sent back to France. Her cover is as an American
journalist in Vichy France.
She
sets up cells to help move endangered people such as Jews, Resistance
fighters or Allied pilots to England. She also provides intelligence
to the Allies as well. But the Germans realize something is going on.
This comes to a head when Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and America comes
into the war.
Hall
escapes pretty much when the Germans figure out who she is and comes
to her residence. But she is being guided across the Pyrenees to
Spain. After a stent in a Spanish jail, she goes on to England. The
SOE feels she is too hot in France to send her back. So she talks
with the American’s OSS, which is delighted to have her.
While
in the SOE she has gotten additional training to be a radio operator.
The OSS brings her back to France with a companion. She feels he is
too talkative and separates from him. She makes her way to her point
of operation. There she gathers Resistance fighters. When D-Day
happens, they are ready and start to provide ambushes as well as
blowing up infrastructure which was aiding the Germans. Eventually,
the Allies conquer and the Resistance can come out in the open.
Once
the war is over, Virginia tries to enter the foreign service and is
rejected again. But she finds a place in the forerunner to the CIA
and serves out her career there.
Cast of Characters:
Virginia
Hall-American spy. Code name Diane
See
the Epilogue for a full list of major players and what the outcome
was
Expectations:
Recommendation:
Osher Book Club
When:
December 2018
Date
Became Aware of Book: December 2018
How
come do I want to read this book: Osher Book Club book
What
do I think I will get out of it? Another World War II book about a
woman who played a part in winning the war.
Thoughts:
Prologue
Hall
had a lot of will to be able to fall into another character without
coming out of it by mistake. Such as her limp she changed into a
shuffle.
Title
comes from a coded message of The
Wolves Are At The Door.
Meaning, the Nazi’s are close by.
Chp
1 - Altered Course
Hall
is posted to Poland, then transferred to Smyrna, Turkey. There she
shows excellence. But a hunting accident destroys her foot and she
has her leg amputated below her knee.
Chp
2 - First Steps
She
was a grad students at the American university in Washington, DC. Got
her first job as a clerk at the American Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.
There was a failed romance there-the Polish man she loved, his mother
did not approve of her-not Polish.
The
chapter then transitions to her family home at Box Horn Farm near
Baltimore. She is learning to adjust to life without her lower left
leg. She then gets fitted for an artificial leg. After getting used
to the leg, she requests a post in Spain, Estonia, or Peru. But she
gets Venice.
Chp
3 - Vanished Dream
After
the accident, Hall goes through rehab, then gets assigned to Venice.
But she still is not in the foreign service, instead she is a clerk.
She is frustrated that she is not moving up and her supervisor is
unappreciative of her. Before quitting the foreign service, she is
transferred to Estonia.
Chp
4 - The Blitzkrieg
After
resigning from the foreign service, Hall goes to Paris to have a
vacation. Here she was wondering what the next chapter of her life
would be. Europe was hot with anxiety over Hitler’s plans. Jews
were fleeing Germany, many going to Paris where they faced resentment
for taking away from the French. She came to Paris in early 1939.
Hitler invaded Poland on Sept 1, 1939. She was wondering what
happened to her Polish lover when she was stationed in Warsaw. France
declared war on Germany on Sept 3, 1939.
Hall
and her French friend Claire enlisted with the Red Cross and became
ambulance drivers. She was stationed 20 miles from the Magnot Line.
When the German blitzkrieg swept through Belgium and Holland, Hall
became very busy with almost no rest.
Chp
5 - Vive la France
The
French retreat before the invading German army. Hall and Claire
continue to do what they could for the wounded. France then fell to
the Germans. There was disappointment in the French from Hall. This
was not the French spirit she loved. Her unit was disbanded once
France fell. She joined Claire at Claire’s family home in Cahors.
Chp
6 - The Dark Years Begin
The
confusion of living in a conquered nation-take on the values of the
conquerors? Resist? Or become complacent? Germans were taking the
best places. Also the police who were in bed with the Germans did the
same. Claire’s family was Jewish so they were subject to the new
laws concerning Jews.
When
Claire’s family moved to safer areas, Hall became an ambulance
driver again, this time in Valengay. Hall figured out that the
Germans were using the disabled-those whom she was ferrying around
with her ambulance-to displace workers so they could fight for the
Germans.
[Claire
is mentioned at the end of Chp 9, but only in wondering where she
is.]
Hall
decided that going back to Great Britain would be a better way to
resist the Germans. She meets a British person, George Bellows who
gives her some contacts in Great Britain which she may want to meet.
Hall
goes to the embassy after finding lodgings. The embassy quizzes her
and offers her a job. The Battle of London started while she was
there. Hall meets a Vera Atkins at a party.
Interesting
comment that those who feared war, when war came to them were
remedied of their fear. As much as they could, people returned to do
their work each day after the bombings.
Chp
7 - The Makings of a Spy
Vera
worked for the British secret spy agency, SOE-Special Operations
Executive. She recruited Hall. Several sections under this agency
included:
-
Section
AMF - Based in Algiers and worked in the southern part of France
-
Section
D - irregular warfare
-
Section
DF - those escaping France, mostly through Spain.
-
Section
F - dealt with things France. But could not recruit French people
A
whole network was needed on the ground in France. Stations were in
Great Britain, but concerned all things in the war-cryptologists,
transportation, sabotage, counterfeiters, …
Hall
was interviewed by SOE and passed. She would be trained as a spy. The
training was extensive, even more so with a woman with a wooden leg.
She resigned her position with the embassy.
One
must never look as though he were searching for someone or something,
unless of course, one wanted others to think precisely that.
He
that has a secret to hide should not only hide it, but hide that he
has to hide it.
They
were instructed not to kill a German, only incapacitate them. He is
more of a bother to the Germans in the hospital.
Pushing
someone to learn something they feared hindered their learning.
Does
Hall ever meet up with Delphine again? Pearson leaves that hanging
after asking the question. She never says what happened to her.
If
captured, not all is lost. If they are interrogating you, they do not
know what you know. The Gestapo was built on ruthlessness and
terrorism, not intelligence.
Chp
8 - Into the Wolves’ Lair
Once
ready, Hall needed to get papers as an American to go to France as a
non-combatant journalist. She used this time to brush up on her
skills.
She
finally gets in, registers with both the Vichy government as a
journalist and with the American embassy. She is then moved to Lyon.
Her job here was to organize resistance, not to fight.
When
she gets to Lyon, she meets with a gynecologist who is part of the
Resistance. From him, she meets others and organizes a cell. Hall
also meets a madame who is able to gather intelligence from some of
her clients.
Chp
9 - Resistance is Born
Describes
activities Hall would engage in: cell building, providing resources
to the Resistance, helping pilots escape, … Pearl Harbor is bombed
and America enters the war. By January 1942, Hall was realizing her
time in France was short.
Chp
10 - No Rest for the Weary
Hall
goes to Marseille, France with Peter Churchill to help arrange the
escape of Allied prisoners. This was not successful initially, but
the process was started. Hall also got involved in freeing other
prisoners. Finally, she helped an escape to the border.
Pearson
talks about the types of prisons or concentration camps.
Part
of the conversation is about Hall’s wooden leg. She seems abit shy
about the leg and moves him off to another subject.
Chp
11 - And the Walls Close In
Success
breeds attention. In the spy business this is not good. Hall
organized the prison escape. Shot down Allied flyers were escaping.
Messages were being sent. Klaus Barbie became the Gestapo in charge
of the area where Hall was stationed. Barbie was hearing about a
Canadian woman who was prominent in the area. Barbie decided he would
find her.
Chp
12 - Flight
There
is a bit about what the US did before entering the war to help Great
Britain. What does this have to do with Hall’s story?
Hall
was seeing a lot more traffic at her apartment. So she is in the
process of moving. When she runs into a friend from French
Intelligence which says the Germans are moving in early the next
morning. Hall packs hastily and heads to the Spanish border. She
meets up with a Resistance coordinator who gets her intouch with a
guide across the Pyrenees.
Her
concern now is her prosthetic. She would not be used to hiking 20-30
miles in the snow with it. It probably would become irritated.
Pearson’s
story telling seems to be out of order. She has them leaving
Lavelanet, which is 1,800’ by car. But exerting themselves by
climbing up to 4-5,000’. But then they get out of the car at
Ax-Les-Thermes which is at 2,500’ and then start walking. The next
several places mentioned is only about a couple hundred feet gain. It
is only after they have gone at least five miles on foot do they get
to the 4-5,000’ range. Some of the elevations on Google Earth do
not quite match up with what Pearson says, but close.
But
then Pearson sort of glosses over another problem. She is very
descriptive about how they get from Ax-les-Thermes, France to
Meranges, Spain. But going from Meranges to San Juan de las
Abadesas, Spain it sounds like they cover that 28 miles in no time
and on foot.
After
arriving at San Juan de las Abadesas, Spain and getting rest, the
plan was to take the train to Barcelona. But at the train station,
Spanish guards apprehended them.
Hitler
never failed to incorporate irony into his strategic planning.
Chp
13 - Biding Time
Klaus
Barbie considered Hall as the Limping
Lady
and the most dangerous Allied spy. Abbe Alesh got on the trail of
the contacts which Hall had established and pretty much knew the
whole operation.
Hall
was in prison for 20 days for crossing the border improperly. Her
cellmate was a prostitute. When she got released, the prostitute took
Hall’s letter to the American consulate. This got Hall released.
When
she was released, Hall went back to England. There she wanted to get
back into the frey of what was going on in France. But back in
France, much of her network had been rounded up through the work of
Abbe Alesh. So she was assigned to work in Madrid, once again as a
news correspondent. Compared to her work in France, the work in
Spain was very low keyed and consisted of finding out about tungsten,
setting up safe houses and a few other more trivial tasks. She
appealed to the home office and got an offer to come back to England
as a debriefing officer.
The
Free French second in command, Jean Moulin, was captured and tortured
to death. Pearson’s comment summed up his loss: They
had lost a great leader, but they had gained a martyr and symbol of
their cause.
Seems like a rather callous equation.
Chp
14 - Return to War
Hall
was returning to France under the auspices of the American OSS
instead of the British. She is partnered with a man named Aramis-code
named. But he is rather talkative. She does not like that is is
cautious.
He
seemed even more attached once they got to France. Instead of sending
messages through couriers, he came himself. Finally, after a radio
transmission, the Germans searched Hall’s place. She left for
Creuse and Cosne. There she found a resistance group who were eager
to cause issues with the Germans, but which lacked the resources.
Hall was able to gather that from England.
I
did not realize there was the kind of hatred for the Jews in France
as what was shown by this book. I knew that some things happened, but
I thought it was more instigations by the Germans with some
assistance by the Fresno, rather than French lead.
This
Dr Stanley Lovell sounds like an interesting person. Developed
various “dirty tricks” which would put James Bond to shame.
 |
| Les Marguerites Fleuriront ce Soir - Virginia Hall transmitting |
Chp
15 - Le Jour J
Hall
thrives as a lone wolf. She has made contacts with the resistance.
When she feels that there is heat she moves to new villages. There
was a gradual escalation of sabotage as the unknown date of D-Day
approached.
Hall
moves on after D-Day to an area in the South East part of France to
organize resistance there. Here she makes contact with a group who
seem to be part of the Swiss Reformed Church. They had protected
Jewish children.
Described
several airplane drops. Also the Normandy advances. It is here where
Pearson casually says that Hall’s men killed 150 men and captured
500 more.
To
hall, Incessant
waiting was unnerving. It gave her too much time to think, ….
Not about herself but about others. Pearson says that Hall was a
people person, yet she seems rather abrupt and cuts off access to
herself, which is a requirement for her trade, spying. Still there
does not seem to be cracks in this.
It
is never wise for saboteurs t hang around after an explosion.
To
the Swiss Reformed the war had become a sort of blessing in
disguise-it allowed them to act like Christians-being their brothers
keeper.
What
a person was far outweighed what a person had.
To
die for one’s country is still to die.
Chp
16 - Aux Armes, Citoyens
The
war heats up where Hall is and then just as quickly it is over. She
tries to find another place to be of use, but is unable to. But she
has received an Allied officer and falls in love with him. The Allies
make it to Paris-the Resistance having cleared the way. There is not
much else to do.
There
Hall meets the officer’s family. Then she goes back to London and
it looks like she is done for the war.
Chp
17 - Death of the Wolf
But
she cannot sit still, so she goes to Austria via Naples. They were
to go to Innsbruck and be part of the resistance there. The principle
aim was to provide disruption to the German Air Force. At the last
moment, this mission fell through, but another came along. But
before they could crossover, the war in Europe ended.
In
the meantime, the OSS and the SS were in negotiations. This would
allow the SS to escape, but would withdraw them from combat and from
the hands of the Russians. Also they would provide people to
infiltrate the communist controlled areas.
Chp
18 - The Dawn of a New World
Hall
went back to Lyon to visit those who had helped her in her work. Most
were tortured. Some died. All were glad to see her.
How
do you treat your enemies? Many traitors were killed on the spot.
Alesh had been captured towards the end of the war. While no official
record was given, it is suspected he was executed by the French.
Hall
was awarded Distinguished Service awards by the British, Americans
and French. She was hired on with the CIG, forerunner to the CIA as a
field representative. In this position, she traveled around Europe
reporting back on the type of work needed in each area. The CIA did
not want her as an operative, but more as a desk job in Washington,
understanding the situations out in the field.
Epilogue
Summary
of what happened to the main characters in the book.
Evaluation:
This
is a biography of Virginia Hall. Who? You might ask. According to the
cover, she was America’s Greatest Female Spy. That is both the
attraction to the book and the standard the book needs to meet. The
cover also raises this standard by noting she
was responsible for killing 150 Germans and capturing 500 others.
From the cover, she sounds like a regular Audie Murphy. But is she?
For me, this is a biography of an exciting life told in somewhat of
an uncompelling way.
Let
me backtrack a little and tackle the book, then talk about the hype.
First, the book is a pretty straightforward rendition of the life of
Virginia Hall. Pearson tells of Hall’s story from childhood through
the end of World War II, and a little beyond. There are not
end/footnotes to go back and understand the particular statements
which Pearson makes (she does list a bibliography and references
films. But I suppose that may be the nature of how Hall’s life was
(I am comparing Pearson’s rendition with another biography about
secretive female,
Jason Fagone’s biography
of Elizebeth Friedman). The reading was quick and easy. While
satisfied with the book’s rendition, I wonder how Sonia Purnell’s
biography of Hall stacks up.
Now
on to the hype. While it is literally true that Hall planned the
activities which lead to the death or capture of many soldiers, how
you read the hype it sounds like Hall went in blazing guns to
accomplish this herself. It was not so-she did go out on raids, but
I cannot remember where she either shot anyone herself. This does
not take away from Hall’s accomplishments. Hall’s accomplishments
shine brightly without polish. The hype raises the expectations which
were not met.
So
the three I gave this book is due to three things: 1) not meeting the
hype; 2) the lack of reference material; 3) sort of a drabness in
Pearson’s story telling.
Notes from my book group:
Read
for the OSHER book club in March 20019
If
the United States was overrun by a foreign power, how do you think
our citizens would react? What would you do? From the book, France
which was a proud nation, it sounded like in the beginning, only a
small percentage was willing to be part of the resistance. Also about
the same percentage were collaborators. The rest were on the
sidelines. Would the citizens of the United States be about the same?
What
do you do with those people who collaborate with the enemy?
Many
of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
-
Why
the title of The
Wolves at the Door?
-
Does
this story work as a history?
-
Which
character was the most convincing?
-
Every
story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s
world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
-
Was
there anybody you would consider religious? Why or why not?
-
Why
do you think the author wrote this book?
-
What
would you ask the author if you had a chance?
-
What
“take aways” did you have from this book?
-
Describe
the culture talked about in the book.
-
How
is the culture described in this book different than where we live?
-
What
economic or political situations are described?
-
Does
the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the
arts, religious beliefs, language or food?
-
Talk
about specific passages that struck you as significant—or
interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
New Words:
-
Sangfroid
(chp 9): composure or coolness, sometimes excessive, as shown in
danger or under trying circumstances.
-
Reseau
(chp 9): a network or grid.
-
Wolfram
(chp 13): tungsten or its ore, especially as a commercial commodity
Good Quotes:
-
First
Line: Virginia Hall was once asked why she never told her story.
-
Last
Line: And I am reminded how fortunate we are today to have had
Virginia Hall on our side.
-
What
a person was far outweighed what a person had (chp 15)
Table of Contents:
-
Prologue
-
Chp
1 - Altered Course
-
Chp
2 - First Steps
-
Chp
3 - Vanished Dream
-
Chp
4 - The Blitzkrieg
-
Chp
5 - Vive la France
-
Chp
6 - The Dark Years Begin
-
Chp
7 - The Makings of a Spy
-
Chp
8 - Into the Wolves’ Lair
-
Chp
9 - Resistance is Born
-
Chp
10 - No Rest for the Weary
-
Chp
11 - And the Walls Close In
-
Chp
12 - Flight
-
Chp
13 - Biding Time
-
Chp
14 - Return to War
-
Chp
15 - Le Jour J
-
Cho
16 - Aux Armes, Citoyens
-
Chp
17 - Death of the Wolf
-
Chp
18 - The Dawn of a New World
-
Epilogue
References:
