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    The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
    The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
    The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

    Written by Heidi W. Durrow

    Narrated by Emily Bauer, Karen Murray, Kathleen McInerney and Multiple Narrators

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Orphaned and alone, Rachel is taken under the wing of her strict African-American grandmother and moved to a mostly black community where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and astonishing beauty start to attract a troubling level of attention. As the terrible secrets begin to emerge, Rachel learns to swallow her grief and construct her own self-image in a world that wants to see her as either Black or White.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateJan 7, 2016
    ISBN9781510019157
    The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

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    Reviews for The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

    3.5/5

    212 ratings27 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This is an interesting storyline. A lot of negative slurs.
    • 5/5
      Sad take, well written, wanted it hear entire story in one sitting
    • 3/5
      Good short read. Held my attention. Would recommend to others
    • 3/5
      I’m left conflicted. It had me pulled in until the last few chapters when I felt like I was sputtered out.. beautiful writing. Lost me at the end.
    • 4/5
      An exciting story about an adventurous and brave young woman who joins the Special Operations Executive during World War II and gets dropped into France during the occupation. The story hits some of the usual beats: the recruitment by a mysterious and secret organization, the training, the possible love interest, but once our heroine is parachuted into France the story becomes unpredictable and exciting. As a realistic view of heroism under pressure, of a heroine for our times, of an imperfect but determined secret agent, this is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.
    • 2/5
      It is the second world war and Marion who is in the services is selected by SOE as she can speak fluent French. She is a little reluctant to join at first, but decides that she will. She joins the commandos on their training course with one other woman, and passes with flying colours. After a couple of other courses, including getting her wings, she is ready for her first assignment in France.

      She is approached by another secret organisation that want her to meet with an old flame called Clement in Paris. he is working on atomic research, and the British want him to defect. She is parachuted into France, with a man called Benoit and is met by the resistance and is immersed into the local community awaiting the call from London. Shortly after that, she gets the call and she is to delivery some crystals to another agent in Paris.

      She meets the other agent in Paris, Yvette, who is living in terror as she thinks her cover is blown, and meets with Clement. She is slightly shocked to find that he is married now, but starts trying to persuade him to come to the UK. As the Nazi authorities close in on her, she realises that every wrong step could be fatal.

      Overall is isn't a bad spy thriller. It is loosely based on a female spy called Anne-Marie, who was active during the Nazi occupation of France. It is a little predictable at times, and the beginning is quite slow paced whilst she undergoes training. The pace really does lift at the end, but it doesn't have the subtlety and darker elements that some one like Le Carre has. Ok, but not great.



    • 2/5
      I had expected more.
    • 2/5
      Prague Spring much better. Kind of boring with all the scientific jargon. Heroine did not have much of a spark. No "star" quality. . As always I wonder why she didn't dye her hair, cut it off, dress like a boy etc. But then, it would have been a different story. Skimmed last 20 pages.
    • 4/5
      A very good WW2 spy novel that reads with lots of suspense. Well developed characters create a story that is both dynamic and engrossing. I definitely will be reading the next book in the series. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      I appreciate the author’s obvious research into WWII in France, the Resistance movement, and women in SOE operations. I really got into the danger of the situations and the intensity of the secretive and suspenseful events. That intensity is vital to spy thrillers and Mawer delivers here. I especially liked some of the details in how Marian performed her Resistance work like delivering the radio crystals. Clever!I did find it a bit hard to connect with Marian, though. I found her cold and distant at times. Given some of the situations she was in and the circumstances of the world at the time, I guess I could see where she might keep her emotions buttoned down. But far too often I had to wonder at her calm reserve. Also, let me just say….. Holy crap, that ending!!! My brain imploded when I read the last few paragraphs and not in a good way. It’s a MASSIVE cliffhanger and one that has no foreshadowing that it was coming (at least to my piddlely little brain). I hate when books do this, especially with no indication that a follow up book will be coming down the tailpipe. The book lost a star right there.Mawer does a great job in bringing Nazi-occupied France to life and making us live the struggle for freedom and liberation. The main character is hard at times to connect with, portraying a cold exterior. But I think that could be due to the time and circumstances. But that ending…. Oy vey!! Just be forewarned going in that you’ll be tempted to chuck the book at the wall. So not a bad read but not the best either.
    • 5/5
      "Trapeze" (US title, the more appealing Brit title is "The Girl Who Fell from the Sky"), and I enjoyed it very much. It's 1943, Marian in her very early 20's is fluent in French and recruited by the Brits for some work in France. Good writing - Mawer was short-listed for a Booker a few years ago - good story-telling and plenty of tension. "Trapeze" came in at about 370 pages, "Tightrope" about 517, and I will tackle it in the spring. Hopefully Mawer will write a third whose title doesn't begin with "T" and is not a circus word.If Hitchcock had done serials, he would have loved the ending of "Trapeze" and used it somewhere....I finished "Trapeze" the same night I watched the end of the 1/9/16 Steelers-Bengals playoff game where the Steelers won after Cincinnati had the lead, the ball, a first-down, less than two minutes to play, and the injured Steeler QB on the bench. I would say that the "Trapeze" ending was more stunning.
    • 4/5
      I was given the sequel, Tightrope, to this book but hadn't read this one so I wanted to get to it first, and I'm quite glad I did. As Hitler tries to take over the world, this young woman is recruited in England to be part of an espionage network, dangerous work to say the least. And at first, it seems like it will be a bit of a lark.The story moved along rapidly, with lots of interesting characters. I especially appreciated the bits of history women into the story, and found the parts about the development of the atomic bomb to be fascinating. The ethics of war, what is right, what is wrong even during war, is part of the story. That this is a fictionalized about of real women involved in this undercover work made it all the better.This story ended on a cliffhanger, and while the book was satisfying in itself, I can't wait to dig into Tightrope.
    • 3/5
      I found this book disappointing. I was expecting a dramatic, tense thriller with a daring and loveable heroine, and got a dull, by the numbers WWII story with a protagonist who, frankly, I don't think I would care to spend 5 minutes in the same room with. She comes across as a rather selfish, nihilistic person, who uses others for her own purposes. I wasn't really interested in her romantic life, such as it was, she was carrying a torch for someone she hadn't seen for donkey's years, and the only interesting relationship in her life was with her brother. I just wanted a lot more action. There was a modicum of suspense, as is to be expected in Occupied France, but excitement was distinctly lacking. I have gotten hold of the sequel, which deals with the Cold war, and I'm hoping Marian has grown up a little bit and there some decent spy antics.
    • 3/5
      A story of WW2 spies, specifically Marriane Sutro. The story is a little slow with not much suspense and a fairly predictable ending. Mildly entertaining, but never lives up to it's back cover promise
    • 4/5
      London WWII: Would you be willing to risk your life to help stop the Nazis?Marian Sutro would. Being bilingual, she is recruited to for a special mission—to train in espionage and aid the French Resistance. Once her training is complete she is airdropped into the French countryside and eventually makes her way into Paris on a secret mission. Working in intelligence is tough; never knowing who or what might be waiting around the corner for you. Whom do you trust? Yvette, a classmate from training in Scotland, Benoit, a good looking Frenchman or Clement, an old family friend living and working in Paris? While I did find some of the plot predictable it kept me wondering what would happen next, hoping for a twist or more interaction between certain characters…unfortunately it did not come. I wish there had been more development between Marian and one of the two main male characters; I do not think their story lived up to potential. Overall, the book piqued my interest but I felt a bit let down at the end. Good book but a bit unsurprising…
    • 5/5
      This is a book about self determination. It covers a subject visited already by other authors - Ian McEwan's 'Sweet Tooth' is an example - concerning the training, deployment and adventures of a female British spy in WWII. Perhaps inevitably, the plot is driven by questions concerning the blurring of lines between desire and duty, and all this is kind of cliched - but the writing has a hard clarity and the female lead is a realistically drawn human being. The choices she makes, and why she makes them, are the real interest of the book and this makes the ending especially work well.
    • 3/5
      As with other reviewers, I was pulled in by the premise but then left disappointed. I felt Mawer did manage to crank up the tension, but I'm not sure that was due to his writing or just because I was anticipating the ending - which was predictable.
    • 4/5
      Based on the true story of a group of young women who were recruited in Britain, during WWII, to serve in the French Division of The Special Operations Executive, the book is filled with historic facts about their training, innocence and bravery in the face of enormous danger. The SOE trained these women for espionage and all types of weapon use. Dropped into France, in secret, they became different people, and they performed whatever assignments they were given, often completely on their own, facing untold danger. Many did not survive the effort.The author, Simon Mawer, introduces us to Marian Sutro when she is a young girl of 19. A member of the WAF, she is recruited into this spy machine and parachuted into France with several new identities. She enters the maelstrom of war, young and a bit naïve, however, she is forced to mature quickly. She and other recruits become romantically involved with each other, although it is against regulations, so in addition to this exciting tale of espionage, there are forbidden romantic liaisons and love stories taking place. Romance can fog the mind and compromise their ability to think clearly, but the constant danger makes them behave carelessly and foolishly sometimes. There is always so much at stake; this behavior becomes a release for tension. Marian’s mission is of the highest priority and her life is always in danger. There is no shortage of mystery or intrigue. We witness murder and betrayal, fear and courage, in the face of monumental danger. If caught, awful consequences await them.This historic piece of fiction, about a group of people engaged in the effort to end World War II that I had never heard about before, is really engaging and eye opening. Working alongside freedom fighters who often believed that the women were unworthy of the task, whose beauty was distracting, they must nevertheless prove themselves and do their job in the face of the resistance, rudeness, and mistrust.I particularly liked the descriptive use of language. It made what might have been a mundane spy story, leap off the page. There was little use of crude language, inappropriate sex and whatever other contrivance other writers of late seem to be wont to do; instead, Mawer uses the language effectively to tell the story by creating images that are revealing. For instance, body odor is the scent from an armpit, an image the reader can appreciate.I found the reader of this audio to be excellent. Her vocal expression made the content clear. Her use of voices brought the characters to life and her tone seemed pitch perfect to me.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book with its focus on the daily risks and fears confronted by the Resistance in France during WWI as well as the "ordinary" people who assisted them. While Marian was naive, she was also very courageous, and her character was an emotionally confused young woman. While I wasn't entirely surprised by the ending it left me with so many questions. Can't say more than that without giving it away.After reading other reviews I'm also going to find Charlotte Grey.
    • 3/5
      During World War II, 39 British women were recruited and trained to work in Nazi-occupied France, providing intelligence and supporting the local resistance movement. Of these, only 26 survived; 12 were murdered following capture by the Germans and one died from meningitis.The Girl who Fell from the Sky traces the war-time experience of Marian Sutro, a fictional member of that group who is recruited from the Women’s Air Auxiliary Force.The novel begins as Marian is parachuted into France to begin her mission with a Resistance cell in the south. It then backtracks to her training in spycraft, weaponry and self-preservation techniques as a result of which she becomes a highly trained killer. Her official mission is to act as a courier but she is given an additional and highly secret assignment: to track down Clement Pelletier, an old family friend living in Paris, and persuade him to escape to England. The future of the war could depend on whether she succeeds for Clement is a leading authority on nuclear physics and the Allies need his help to develop an atomic weapon before the Germans do.It’s a story that should make for a compelling novel, particularly when the author is as experienced as Simon Mawer. It should be compelling. But it isn’t. It’s just rather ordinary, particularly when compared to Sebastian Faulks’ Charlotte Grey which covered similar territory.It’s not the writing that’s at fault here. It’s smooth and professional. The plot is well controlled and the detail about dead drops; false passports, border controls etc has the ring of authenticity. All the technical elements are there; it’s just that the novel doesn’t sing.Part of the problem lies in the character of Marian. She is a rather naive girl who constantly thinks of her self as an outsider’ particularly because she doesn’t really understand the science analogies of the games her brother and friends play. Special operations training in the arts of espionage and combat, toughen her up but otherwise she remains rather immature in her view of the world and in her relationships with men. Though intelligent and resourceful she takes foolhardy risks including forcing her brother to reveal top secret information.As a spy thriller, there is meant to be considerable suspense but the ending felt rather predictable to me though by then I didn’t particularly care one way or another whether Marian’s quest succeeded.
    • 4/5
      Nineteen year old Marian Sutro, who is a native French speaker, is trained by British Special Operations to become a secret agent behind enemy lines in German-occupied France. She receives commando training and sets out on her mission to connect with the Resistance and also persuade a past friend and love interest that he must return to Britain to help with work on the atomic bomb. Filled with adventure, fact and fiction, it takes the reader on a roller coaster ride as it follows Marion's growth into spy and womanhood. There is a certain amount of French included in the book.
    • 4/5
      Mawer based his book on the actual experiences of the 39 women who were sent by the British Special Operations Executive into France as undercover operatives during WWII. It moved along quickly and held my attention. Unfortunately, the ending didn't make sense to me. It didn't seem a reasonable thing for the main character to do. For that reason alone it would make a great book club discussion book.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful and enthralling novel that seems to defy categorisation. Is it a war story, a spy novel or a romance? Well, quite simply it is all three yet also succeeds as high quality literary fiction.At the simplest level it tells the story of Marian Sutro, a young Anglo-Swiss woman who halfway through the Second World War finds herself summoned for interview by an unnamed organisation, which turns out to be an early incarnation of the Special Operations Executive. The SOE is interested in Marian because of her natural dexterity with French, and is interested to see if she could be trained for more challenging activities than her current role of cypher clerk in the RAF offers. She passes muster and is sent to train in the Scottish Highlands where she learns how to use (and, indeed, construct and maintain) a covert wireless set, how to encrypt securely, how to tail targets (and also how to spot anyone who might be trying to tail her), how to use a wide range of explosives and how to kill anyone who might pose a threat to her or her network.Having amassed these heterodox skills she is prepared to be dropped by parachute into German-occupied France where she will have to liaise with a branch of the French Resistance.However, as if all this were not enough, she also finds herself being competed over by different branches of the British military intelligence community once it emerges that she had previously known a prominent French physicist who has been identified as a potentially valuable resource in the chase to develop atomic weapons before the Germans.Mawer captures the tension of Marian's tale excellently, and I found myself unable to put the book down. The novel has that pleasing (but all too rare) mix of a tautly constructed plot, completely credible and empathetic characters and beautiful prose. I am looking forward to making my way through the rest of his works.
    • 3/5
      The premise of this story is very intriguing - English upper class women being trained to aid the French Resistance because they can speak fluent French. The novel was very well researched and there is alot to absorbed as the first half goes through the recruitment and training of these women. The second half deals with our heroine, Marian, being dropped into France. I enjoyed the novel as there is quite a bit of intrigue and the tension on the ground with the occupation and the constant threat of discovery by the enemy is very realistic. The writing style was a bit disjointed and the reader must pay attention to every detail in order to follow the action which picks up quite a bit during the second half. In the end I suppose the writing style mirrors the tense existence of these women as they faced a very real danger. The ending was a bit of a surprise but also expected. A thought provoking read to say the least.
    • 5/5
      Mr. Mawer is a learned and wise gentleman who spends most of his time in research and writing. His novel "Trapeze" is reflective of this. While he is an intellect and scholar, his book is infinitely readable and moves at a fast pace. I enjoyed it very much."Trapeze" is a love story and a crow's eyed view of the behind the scenes during WWII in France. It is a tribute to the many women who served and died in the Resistance. I believe it's a tribute to all women who brave the front and hidden alleyways of war even today, and may never get the recognition they deserve. It always strikes me hard that the heroines (and heros) of war are so often young people in their latter teens and early 20's.There is violence, there is a daring in events, requirements of bravery; and. not so much a "coming of age" as a story of learning the hardships and harsh realities of life in this novel. There certainly is a story of "bucking up" under terrifying situations for the young woman protagonist, 19 year old, Marian Sutro.We learn the ever true story that war creates heroes and survivors, or those who are destroyed and wounded. A wise man once said that "courage is simply fear bolstered by prayer." In "Trapeze" we find this sort of courage. Marian Sutro, just a simple young woman of no apparent genius, learned to draw from a courage she didn't realize she had, and that meant everything in a world gone crazy with violence and desperation. The love story between Marian and research physicist Clement Pelletier is poignant and, at the same time, filled with tension. It is through this relationship we feel the impact of the war and the human tragedies and risks played out. Their chemistry leaps off the pages, and I don't mean physics!All in all, I loved "Trapeze." It's not an ordinary historical fiction. It's a novel with contemporary relevance; one with a universal message and a tribute to not only the women of the French resistance, but of all women who fight behind the scenes for their country, for freedom.
    • 3/5
      Her training was the best part.
    • 4/5
      Hitler invades France and France becomes a pl;ace of tension and horror, food shortages although good wine can still be had. We know many of the names of the villains of World War II but few of the heroes, especially the regular people who stepped outside of their comfort level in an attempt to change a small part of history. For me the strength of this novel is that it made me think. A young woman of a privileged background joins the WAAF when England declares war on Germany. She is picked to join a covert unit and the reader follows her through her training and her mission as a courier in France. Paris is extremely dangerous and when she is sent there things start to go terribly wrong. This is the first novel I remember reading that features an ordinary person, who chooses to take on a mission she never thought she would have to face and does it with an amazing strength of will. Suspenseful and engaging reading.