code name verity

My favorite film is an obscure one, and it is based on a novel by Sebastian Faulks (I’ve never read the book, actually).  Charlotte Gray features actress Cate Blanchett in the titular role as a Scottish woman who parachutes into France as a WWII intelligence operative, only to see her mission crumble around her.  It’s not a light or happy story, but it makes for a beautiful film, and is both visually and emotionally vivid.  Given that my favorite movie is about a woman sent to France as a spy, Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity was either going to succeed or fail in spectacular fashion.  My heart will never be the same, because Code Name Verity is PERFECT.

Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. 

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. 

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.

When a young Scottish woman is arrested by the Nazis for spying in France, her interrogation and confession become not only a desperate revelation of secrets that might keep her alive for a few days longer, but also an unspooling of her memories and friendship with Maddie, a female pilot and mechanic who should not have been flying to France.  In tense moments and amid various reprisals, her testimony shines as brightly as her spirit, and the reader cannot help but hope that somehow, someway she’ll make it home.

What can I say about this book without ruining it for another reader?  It is one of the most convincing, beautiful stories of female friendship that I have ever seen put to paper – it is straight magic in that regard.  Maddie and ‘Verity’ come alive in each other’s eyes; they are real, beautiful young women with hearts and heads, idiosyncrasies and weaknesses.  They are possessed of such courage, determination and ferocity that it is impossible at the end of it all to remember that they are only fictional characters. 

Let me try again to make this sound professional and impartial: Code Name Verity is a taut, moving novel of friendship forged in the midst of World War II, when girls were being called upon to pilot planes, take on intelligence missions and serve their country in ways they never had been before.  This is a story of the line between truth and lies, of the intensity of human existence, of the importance of the family you make for yourself, and a patchwork of those indelible moments that scar, mold, and change a person forever.  It is beautiful and dangerous and heart-rending.

Ah, I don’t think I succeeded.  Here are a few other things I’ll say: I’ve owned this book since May (thanks to @Ginger_Clark’s badgering and many, many retweeted rave reviews), but I held off on reading it until yesterday.  I missed my book club meeting in the afternoon to finish it without spoilers.  Charlotte Gray happened to be on television as I finished the book (so. many. coincidences!), and then this morning it was awarded a Printz Honor.  All those rave reviews, the awards?  Deserved.  Code Name Verity left me a sobbing wreck of a human being, in the best way.

Recommended for: everyone (well, everyone age twelve and over), but especially those partial to historical fiction, WWII accounts and aviatrixes, and anyone who appreciates a haunting and wonderful story.

recreational austen

I upped my Netflix plan this month, thinking that I’d get all of the movies I’ve signed up to watch for the Everything Austen Challenge out of the way quick-like, and then settle down to read the books. This also seems like a sensible plan at the moment because I have over twenty novels out from the public library alone, not to mention the titles I own and haven’t gotten to yet. So last night I watched (translation: made myself sit still through, no negative connotation intended) the 2007 BBC made-for-television movie version of Persuasion.

First off, Persuasion is one of my favorite books of all time, and straight-up my favorite Austen. I own the 1995 film version with Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds, and I tend to re-read the book about once a year. I’m not sure I can explain its appeal, but I’ve always been drawn to characters who have a rich inner life without being self-absorbed or withdrawn, and I think Austen does a wonderful job of satirizing society and the foibles of love and family expectation in this novel.

But on to the movie! Brief description: Anne (played by Sally Hawkins) and Captain Wentworth (played by Rupert Penry-Jones) were once engaged, but Anne was persuaded by a family friend to end the alliance, he took off, and we’re now at nine years later. Captain Wentworth enters the scene again, but is decidedly NOT looking at Anne for his matrimonial hopes. Chaos ensues.

Things I liked: Sir Walter Elliot (Anne’s father) is suitably arrogant and annoying. He’s great, stays true to the Austen character, and is very convincing as a vain, self-obsessed popinjay of an aristocrat. Mary (Anne’s younger sister) is a credible hypochondriac in this film version. And Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth…**sigh**. He’s gorgeous, and he does a decent job of playing Wentworth to boot. I had a déjà vu moment when he appeared on screen…I thought, I KNOW this guy! What movie is he from? Courtesy of imdb.com, I found that he plays one of the love interests in Charlotte Gray, my favorite movie of all time. +10 points for that connection!

Things I didn’t like: While I mentioned above that Mary (Amanda Hale) is a believable hypochondriac, that’s the only thing I liked about her character and the actress’ performance. For most of the film Hale’s acting was so overdone that it was difficult to watch. I also thought that the early scenes in which Anne and Wentworth become re-acquainted were almost too fraught with emotion. And finally, this Anne was a bit of a crybaby. Granted, she was the one on screen 2/3 of the time, and you want a variety of emotion, but the little half-sobs and frowns of shock were slightly irritating.

All in all, I give it a C+. Okay, but not going on my movie shelf.