Code Name Verity
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
A novel that will capture your heart and then shatter it into a thousand pieces.
“Code Name Verity wrecked me.” LEIGH BARDUGO
“Genuinely stunning.” MAUREEN JOHNSON
'‘It has been a while since I was so captivated’', THE GUARDIAN
‘‘Remarkable’', DAILY MAIL
“Will soar into your heart”, LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON
“Had me gasping out loud” GAYLE FORMAN
I have two weeks.
You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.
October 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. But their love will have the power to change everything.
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 her in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, reflecting on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?
‘I was so captivated’- Guardian
‘Heartbreaking’ – Kirkus starred review
This heartbreaking World War II novel of adventure, love and female friendship from award-winning Elizabeth Wein is perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Women, Laura Nowlin’s If He Had Been With Me and Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief
About the author
Carnegie shortlisted author, Elizabeth Wein learned to fly in Scotland and took her private pilot's license in 2003. Inspired by this new skill, flying became the core theme of her writing over the past decades. She has now written numerous aviation-inspired fiction and non-fiction books for YA readers, including her no.1 New York Times bestseller Code Name Verity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wein (The Empty Kingdom) serves up a riveting and often brutal tale of WWII action and espionage with a powerful friendship at its core. Captured Scottish spy Queenie has agreed to tell her tale and reveal any confidential information she knows in exchange for relief from being tortured by Nazis. Her story, which alternates between her early friendship with a pilot named Maddie and her recent sufferings in prison, works both as a story of cross-class friendship (from an upper-crust family, Queenie realizes that she would likely never have met Maddie under other circumstances) and as a harrowing spy story (Queenie's captor, von Loewe, is humanized without losing his menace). Queenie's deliberately rambling and unreliable narration keeps the story engaging, and there are enough action sequences and well-delivered twists (including a gut-wrenching climax and late revelations that will have readers returning to reread the first half of the book) to please readers of all stripes. Wein balances the horrors of war against genuine heroics, delivering a well-researched and expertly crafted adventure. Ages 14 up.
