Code Name Verity

Code Name Verity

by Elizabeth Wein

Hyperion, 2012

This is easily the most extraordinary book I’ve read this year. And yet it’s difficult to write about it without giving the story away, and I want everyone to experience it as I did, fresh and without bias.

Code Name Verity is the story of two young women during WWII. One was a pilot, the other a spy, and they were best friends. The spy was captured by the Gestapo. While this book is not overly graphic, it does not pull punches. The Nazis are sadistic torturers and yet they are fully developed characters with secret weaknesses, love for their children and personal dreams. The first half of the book is told by Verity, the spy, and Kitty Hawk, the pilot, tells the remainder. These characters remain in my thoughts.

This is a book for anyone with an interest in Scheherazade, Peter Pan, unreliable narrators or simply fine writing.