Two young women become unlikely best friends during WWII, until one is captured by the Gestapo. Only in wartime could a stalwart lass from Manchester rub shoulders with a Scottish aristocrat, one a pilot, the other a special operations executive. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted to each other. But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in "Verity's" own words, as she writes her account for her captors. Truth or lies? Honour or betrayal? Everything they've ever believed in is put to the test...
Code Name Verity
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Product Description
About the Author
Elizabeth Wein was born in New York, and grew up in England, Jamaica and Pennsylvania. She is married with two children and now lives in Perth, Scotland. Elizabeth is a member of the Ninety-Nines, the International Organization of Women Pilots. She was awarded the Scottish Aero Club's Watson Cup for best student pilot in 2003 and it was her love of flying that partly inspired the idea for Code Name Verity.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Set during World War II this is a unique and imaginative Young Adult read. Verity and her friend Maddie are close friends. It's unlikely that without the War their paths would have crossed, coming from such different backgrounds, but War has brought them together.
The story opens with Verity being interrogated by the Gestapo, she's been captured and tortured, and is about to spill the secrets of the Allied Forces. Verity chooses to write her confession down, in detail, and it is in this confession that we learn about her dear friend Maddie - how they met, became friends, and how Verity finds herself just where she is now.
Despite not even knowing Verity's name for some time, and not even meeting Maddie during the story - these are two warm and realistic characters. So very different; a rich girl from Scotland and a working-class Stockport lass, but united in their strong friendship and in their battle to prove themselves in what is very much a man's world.
There are some heart-breaking scenes within this story, yet there is a sense of tremendous strength of character, and a real insight into active service for women during the War.
Elizabeth Wein has produced a inventive, fascinating and emotional story with strong female lead characters.
The story opens with Verity being interrogated by the Gestapo, she's been captured and tortured, and is about to spill the secrets of the Allied Forces. Verity chooses to write her confession down, in detail, and it is in this confession that we learn about her dear friend Maddie - how they met, became friends, and how Verity finds herself just where she is now.
Despite not even knowing Verity's name for some time, and not even meeting Maddie during the story - these are two warm and realistic characters. So very different; a rich girl from Scotland and a working-class Stockport lass, but united in their strong friendship and in their battle to prove themselves in what is very much a man's world.
There are some heart-breaking scenes within this story, yet there is a sense of tremendous strength of character, and a real insight into active service for women during the War.
Elizabeth Wein has produced a inventive, fascinating and emotional story with strong female lead characters.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By Franky
Format:Paperback
I love stories told in two parts, from different narrative viewpoints, and that is just one of many many things to love about this book. The first half is told by 'Verity', a captured female spy being interrogated by the Gestapo in a former hotel in France. She begin her story with the words, 'I am a coward,' but you don't have to read much further before you realise this simply isn't true.
Tortured, threatened and terrified, Verity proves her courage again and again. Under the cover of writing a confession for her captors, she tells the story of how she came to be a spy, how she met her best friend, Maddie ('It's like falling in love, finding your best friend') and how the pair of them came to be in France.
'We're a sensational team', Verity tells us. It's this friendship that drives the story, as we try to piece together the clues in Verity's confession - being made in extremis - to get at the exact truth of what happened to the sensational team.
Elizabeth Wein lays many excellent traps for the reader along the way; expect to have your heart in your mouth a lot of the time. Is Verity really betraying her country (Scotland, not England)? Is she going to die? Is her best friend already dead, or in terrible danger? Will the two young women ever see one another again?
Midway through, the story switches to Maddie's voice. This is the tricky point at which an author can lose a reader, especially one who's fallen in love, the way she helps us fall in love with Verity. But it only takes a couple of pages for us to love Maddie, too, and to marvel at how distinctly different her voice is to Verity's.
These women are *alive*. They leap off the page and grip you by the hand, and then the heart. You desperately want them to have a happy ending, but at the same time you sense it would be cheating, or lying, to arrive at this after the harrowing and entirely believable scenes which have unfolded.
To move the reader without resorting to sentiment. To arrive at an ending that is both honest and uplifting. To make you think afresh about a part of history you thought you knew. To transport you, for the time it takes to read the book, to a different time and another world, while showing you so clearly *why* these stories matter and how they can resonate. These are proofs positive of a gifted, compassionate and generous author.
I doubt I'll read a better book this year.
Tortured, threatened and terrified, Verity proves her courage again and again. Under the cover of writing a confession for her captors, she tells the story of how she came to be a spy, how she met her best friend, Maddie ('It's like falling in love, finding your best friend') and how the pair of them came to be in France.
'We're a sensational team', Verity tells us. It's this friendship that drives the story, as we try to piece together the clues in Verity's confession - being made in extremis - to get at the exact truth of what happened to the sensational team.
Elizabeth Wein lays many excellent traps for the reader along the way; expect to have your heart in your mouth a lot of the time. Is Verity really betraying her country (Scotland, not England)? Is she going to die? Is her best friend already dead, or in terrible danger? Will the two young women ever see one another again?
Midway through, the story switches to Maddie's voice. This is the tricky point at which an author can lose a reader, especially one who's fallen in love, the way she helps us fall in love with Verity. But it only takes a couple of pages for us to love Maddie, too, and to marvel at how distinctly different her voice is to Verity's.
These women are *alive*. They leap off the page and grip you by the hand, and then the heart. You desperately want them to have a happy ending, but at the same time you sense it would be cheating, or lying, to arrive at this after the harrowing and entirely believable scenes which have unfolded.
To move the reader without resorting to sentiment. To arrive at an ending that is both honest and uplifting. To make you think afresh about a part of history you thought you knew. To transport you, for the time it takes to read the book, to a different time and another world, while showing you so clearly *why* these stories matter and how they can resonate. These are proofs positive of a gifted, compassionate and generous author.
I doubt I'll read a better book this year.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Angela
Format:Kindle Edition
This was an extremely well written and well researched book set during World War II and I did enjoy reading it for the most part but unfortunately some of the content just did not hold my attention. I have little to no interest in pilots or engineering so I did find my mind wandering at times, particularly during the first part of the book.
The narrative techniques that Wein embraces were very interesting. I enjoyed Verity's voice in the first part of the book; I thought she was a funny, intelligent and strong character but sometimes she did grate on me with what felt like her superiority complex. I also found some of the things she wrote about it in her confession/memoirs to be rather dull so I stopped reading this book for a few days and read some short stories instead. Once I picked 'Code Name Verity' up again though, my mind felt refreshed and I am glad I did not leave it completely unfinished.
The second part of the book was by far, in my opinion, the better half. It was much easier to read and had far less technical terms and did not focus heavily on pilots and engineering. Maddie was another interesting and strong character and the friendship between the two girls was written by Wein with such care and realism.
The second part of the novel was much more engaging for me and where I had problems getting through the first part, the second part more than made up for it. The writing seemed to flow a lot easier and there was a lot more action to keep my attention focused. The ending was excellent and pieced together a lot of the mystery from the first part so all questions the reader had were completely answered.
I am purposely not discussing the content or plot of this book as it would be difficult to do so without spoiling it for potential readers. This was a good book; it was extremely well written and Wein's prose is simple but lyrical and would appeal to many readers, old and young.
Although I had a few problems with my attention wandering through the first part, this would not stop me from recommending this book, nor would it stop me from picking up any other books by Wein as I particularly enjoyed her style of writing.
*An advance reader copy was kindly supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.*
The narrative techniques that Wein embraces were very interesting. I enjoyed Verity's voice in the first part of the book; I thought she was a funny, intelligent and strong character but sometimes she did grate on me with what felt like her superiority complex. I also found some of the things she wrote about it in her confession/memoirs to be rather dull so I stopped reading this book for a few days and read some short stories instead. Once I picked 'Code Name Verity' up again though, my mind felt refreshed and I am glad I did not leave it completely unfinished.
The second part of the book was by far, in my opinion, the better half. It was much easier to read and had far less technical terms and did not focus heavily on pilots and engineering. Maddie was another interesting and strong character and the friendship between the two girls was written by Wein with such care and realism.
The second part of the novel was much more engaging for me and where I had problems getting through the first part, the second part more than made up for it. The writing seemed to flow a lot easier and there was a lot more action to keep my attention focused. The ending was excellent and pieced together a lot of the mystery from the first part so all questions the reader had were completely answered.
I am purposely not discussing the content or plot of this book as it would be difficult to do so without spoiling it for potential readers. This was a good book; it was extremely well written and Wein's prose is simple but lyrical and would appeal to many readers, old and young.
Although I had a few problems with my attention wandering through the first part, this would not stop me from recommending this book, nor would it stop me from picking up any other books by Wein as I particularly enjoyed her style of writing.
*An advance reader copy was kindly supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.*
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly crafted story
A heart-stopping story of espionage and friendship set against a backdrop of Gestapo interrogation in WW2. Very worthy of its Carnegie shortlisting.
Published 7 hours ago by Anne Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent read with a twist.
A really good read, I was sorry when I came to the end. To say too much about the story would spoil it for the reader. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Miss Joan I Farley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really good read.
This story was slow start but soon picked up pace and excitement. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Would definitely recommend. :-)
Published 22 days ago by cheryl parkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lou
A lovely read, thoroughly enjoyed, would highly recommend.xxx. Will be looking for more books from this author. Good read can't wait to read more
Published 24 days ago by Louise w
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
Amazing book. First half of book very detailed and all becomes clear in the second half of the book. Read more
Published 27 days ago by CanadianCuz
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great insight into women's roles in WWII
I read this book as it is shortlisted for 2013 Carnegie Award. Although I enjoyed this book I only gave it 4 stars as initially I found it difficult to get into but persevered and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kim
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nearly didn't read this
The title of this nearly put me off - but its wonderful, clever and compelling. Definite tears in the eyes and lump in the throat, beautifully crafted.
Published 1 month ago by L. Adkins
4.0 out of 5 stars
A beautifully written story of friendship
Code Name Verity is set during the Second World. Split into two parts the first section is `written' by one of two friends, though we don't find out her name until the end of her... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Big Book Little Book
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting
Great, have not seen the film but this was very good kept me interested until the end would recommend to anyone
Published 2 months ago by Lynda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Code name Verity
Very different story. Entertaining, and a surprising ending. A story where you are not able to predict the outcome at all
Published 2 months ago by Patricia Woodman
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