Welcome to Litsy!

'She was a very strong lady,' Marzenna recalled. 'For her, nothing was impossible.
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Recommended history of Polish resistance in WW2.

The descriptions of Agent Zo's personal skills reminded me of my gran. Everyone loved her, but not for her small talk!
Personal gripe: one of those "hidden histories" where actually what the author means/ acknowledges is "*English speakers* didn't know about it...".

#wpnf25

Well, I've read 3 of them! Agree with 2 (Agent Zo & What the Wild Sea Can Be), not so sure about Raising Hare.

I'm glad The Eagle and the Hart didn't make it, but disappointed Sister in Law isn't there.

Will be getting Story of a Heart out of the library!

As far as possible, the women saved each other.

(Magdeburg camp, 1944)

Given the mixed reviews this book had received, I hadn't expected to like it as much as I did. It was definitely weird and I'm sure there was a lot that went over my head, but I was never bored and the snarky footnotes were the best!
#ToB25

"an insane feminist and pioneer of the "liberation" movement and equality of women', the report continued. 'A hysterical woman'.*" '

Got to love the lack of self-censorship in pre-Freedom of Information civil servants' memos.

Zo usually returned from Germany [to Poland] within a few days, bringing back her observations on changing travel regulations, rationing and morale... After one Berlin air raid, Zo was asked to walk around the city and later discreetly mark up a map to help assess the accuracy of the campaign.

'The English know almost everything about the results of their attacks on Germany', Joseph Goebbels... sullenly complained to his diary."

During the Great War the Dutch dancer Margaretha Zelle, better known as Mata Hari, had lodged the idea of femme fatale spies in some romantic minds Although women serving in the resistance deployed whatever skills and resources they had, their distinguishing superpower was not, in fact, irresistible sexual allure, but simply their ability to be consistently overlooked and underestimated.

#CoverStories Day 8: #Trees - entire premise of this book is intriguing - the way the group of translators hero-worship Irena Ray, their beloved author, is almost cult-like, even their regular gathering with all the rules and their calling each other by their languages was strange. While the other #Tob25 title Colored Television was more of a page-turner, this is still holding my interest, though it is a bit of a struggle finishing it. #LitsyToB25

This was one of the books from the #WPNF25 list I was most excited for and it did not disappoint. It‘s a banger of a book, detailing the life of Polish resistance fighter Elzbieta Zawacka in WWII and beyond. She was a remarkable woman. If you love historical fiction but are wary of NF, give this one a try.

First book by this author and won‘t be my last. It‘s such a uniquely bookish feeling when I find a writers whose catalogue I know I‘ll devour. 📖