The flashbacks in the book are set during and directly after World War II – 24 years before I was born would be in the mid 40s so that’s why I went with a wartime book. In fact, my mother was born in 1945 and she was 24 when I was born in 1969.
The present day part of the book is about Sylvia Benson’s life, seen through the eyes of her life-long friend and caregiver Peg as she discovers things about her after she has passed away, things she never told her. Like the young woman, Phyllis, who was sent to France to spy on the Germans by Sylvia. Unbeknownst to Peg, Sylvia was employed by the SOE (Special Operations Executive) as a recruitment officer.
The flashbacks are from Sylvia’s point of view. She goes to France and then to Germany to find out what happened to Phyllis, one of the girls she sent off to France to spy for Britain. Phyllis was captured by the Germans, and then vanished. Sylvia is aided by a chap called Charles/Charlie and his Great Dane Prinz. Charlie and Sylvia were an item though they were never official and he married (I believe more than once). I did get the feeling they were soulmates, or at least he was the love of Sylvia’s life and the feeling was mutual.
I enjoyed this book, I too wanted to find out what happened to Phyllis. It was interesting to see how it affected Sylvia, even decades after the war. The present day narrative by Peg is a bit boring
Read for the PopSugar Reading Challenge 2024.
Prompt 16: A book set 24 years before you were born.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
