Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy

A wonderful account of Odette Marie Céline Sansom, A French English spy during WWII. I chose it to fulfill a Kindle Challenge with no expectations of enjoying the read. It is dark, sad, and very tender at times. Odette was so strong her story is inspiring. What a determined woman! Mr. Loftis did an impressive amount of research as evidenced by over 100 pages of footnotes and Bibliography. He unfolds the story at a perfect pace and his descriptions were vivid. I enjoyed this book as much as one can enjoy reading about the events of WWII. I highly suggest this book as a well written story of History focused on a strong woman.

Final Book ReviewMy final book review is on the book “Code Name: Lise”. It was written by American author, attorney, and adjunct professor of law at the University of Florida Larry Loftis. Known for his international best seller “Into the Lion’s Mouth” which is the true story of Dusko Popov a WWII spy and the real-life inspiration for the international nonfiction spy thriller “James Bond”. Among the more known characters of World War II, such as Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, or Eisenhower, there are lesser-known heroes and heroines. Loftis, intrigued by the history of World War II, wants to bring the unsung heroes the honor they deserve for their service, one of these heroines is Odette Samson.Published on January 15, 2019 “Code Name: Lise” captors the life of an ordinary mother who finds that it is her duty to fight against the Germans in the heart of occupied France. This twisted nonfiction thriller shows the courage, love, and determination that any spy during World WarII aspired to have. “Code Name: Lise” captors the reader and makes them feel apart of Odette Samson’s journey.After Loftis wrote the book “Into the Lion’s Mouth” he went to work researching a new hero to write about. He searched for many historical records but came up blank. In one document he read about a woman named “Lise”. He began to search for more information about her. Loftis discovered that she was a french woman and her real name was Odette Samson. But the most interesting fact he came to uncover was that she was World War II’s most highly decorated spy. He collected information from her detailed Special Operations Executive files also known as SOE files, hear she documented her experiences. Other resources were her interview in the Imperial War Museum, the UK National Archives, and from other books written about her like the book “Odette: World War II’s Darling Spy” written by Penny Starns and “Odette” written by Jerrard Tickell. He was amazed that people did not know about her and decided that the world must hear her story.“Code Name: Lise” takes place in the year 1942. World War II is underway and Britain requires new SOE agents to go into occupied France. Samson was born in France, but at the time of World War II she lived in Britain with her three daughters. As a young girl, she learned the importance of joining the fight from her grandfather. Britain was in desperate need of fluent French speakers and French natives. Samson with her knowledge of France was their number one choice. She agreed said goodbye to her daughters and joined the fight on the front lines. The book “Code Name: Lise” creates a story from Samson’s first person view. The book begins with an explanation of why the author chose to write the book and his process in finding the information. Loftis then goes into the prolog where we see a future view of Samson’s life. The chapters in the book follows the process of Samson's life. Join her struggle in making life changing decisions. Her story ends with an epilog of her receiving her medals and her return to Britain. Larry Loftis than proceeds to question some of Samson’s choices in the author's notes. His main question is “How could she leave her children to go fight in a war?” Loftis also includes a section of the book titled “After Words” were we see a glimpse of Samson’s family.This book has many strengths and very few weaknesses. The strengths of this book are that it gives you the ability to feel the emotions of the characters. It also gives you the perspective that you are right beside the character and experiencing their reality. A weakness in this book is that it does not answer some common questions like, “What happened to Samson’s first husband Geoffrey Hallowes?”, “Why did she leave her children to go fight?”, and “What gave her the courage to accomplish what she did”.In conclusion this book expresses the courage, resilience, and patriotism that any World War II spy had but it underlines the fearlessness of Odette Sansom and her coworker Peter Churchill. Odette Samson became the most highly decorated spy in World War II for sacrificing her life in place of her fellow operatives. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading about World War II and what spies had to overcome to accomplish their goals to fight back against Germany.

A captivating true story of a female spy in World War II. In all honesty, I had to read this in a 3 day time span. It was so harrowing, horrific and heart-breaking, I had to take many breaks while reading.'Code Name: Lise' worked for the SPINDLE Circuit (Special Operations Executive) or SOE as it is referred to in this book. She was born in France but moved to England at an early age. Odette was her name at birth.The entire time I was reading this true story, my admiration for her grew. From her recruitment into SOE and the training, her determination to succeed illustrated her true spirit. And, of course, I kept wondering what created her motivation? Despite numerous serious health problems at an early age, she persevered. And, persevered with an open mind and spirit.The depth of the training was intense and was divided into 4 phases. And, it should be noted that 80% of the trainees were disqualified. Not one area was left out....physical, explosives, weapons, ciphers, killing and even included grenades and machine guns. These agents were trained to the maximum and trust me, without this intense training, some would have not survived.Finally in early 1943, she was on her way and SPINDLE was set. Her commanding officer was Peter Churchill and the mission was in Marseilles, France. The beginning of the spy portion in this book.For me, some items really stood out including the rationing of food during the war. Also, on a personal note my Dad was in WW II aboard an aircraft carrier and he had told me years ago that the radio equipment was so heavy. In this book, the radio operator was tasked with carrying the equipment to different locations to avoid detection. As one may surmise, these operators were truly sought after as they had knowledge of many items the other side was extremely interested in.The treatment of the prisoners in the prisons and in the Concentration Camps was just plain horrific. The Gestapo had interrogation fine-tuned to extract the most information. I have never read more details about the interrogation techniques than in this book. And, this is when I had to take frequent breaks...excruciating is the word that comes to mind but really torture at its finest...ouch...Some better moments occurred, however, with the selfless priest, Father Steinert. Thank God, for people of his caliber... Truly a saint put into the cloak of a priest at the right time for the prisoners.And, I also kept wondering where in the world did Odette get her intestinal fortitude to carry on? Where does courage come from? And, why did she join in the SOE in the first place?The author has a most interesting Appendix that explains the awards (including the George Cross) given to Odette and Peter were not without a lot of controversy. And, controversy that continued for many years.Truly an educational read for me...especially the portions on the training aspect for SOE, the treatment of the prisoners by the Gestapo, and the manner in which the missions were carried out.Most highly recommended...

This true story should be taught in schools it is epic. Children today should know the sacrifice of the people that fought so we could be free. Even to the extent that United States did not want to join the European war until Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese

As someone who knows Odette's story well, I was delighted to read this book from Larry Loftis. He writes a faithful account of Odette's recruitment into SOE; her work as part of the Spindle network; and most importantly, her incredible courage, dignity and fortitude. Her story comes alive as the pages turn. 'Code Name: Lise' will take Odette's legacy to a much larger audience, and for this we can only be grateful to Mr Loftis. It will also undoubtedly give younger generations a deep insight into what it is that makes a real heroine.

Still reading this book. Once started hard to put down.

Would make a good story for around Nov. 11th. Enjoyed the story and presented at book club.

A thoroughly good read.