The Mademoiselle Alliance in Aussie Readers

Mar 24, 2025 Brenda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-on-kindle, aussie-authors, net-galley, 3000-2025, 2025-release, arc, historical-fiction, own-read

It was 1938 in Paris when Marie-Madeleine's life changed forever. The Nazis were devouring Paris and joining the resistance was a no-brainer for the adventurous young woman. A mother with two young children, Marie-Madeleine would soon head the resistance group known as Alliance, where they grew in strength and numbers, receiving aid from Britain. Known only by code names, it wasn't long before the Nazis were aware of Alliance - there were plenty who would betray the group to the Germans - and Ma ...more

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Apr 16, 2025 Helen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-from-library

Natasha Lester has done it again with her new book, taken a true story and turned it into an excellent story that shows the strength and courage of the resistance group, Alliance who worked throughout World War 2 with the backing of the British MI6 team to help bring down the Nazis and it was run by Marie-Madeline, a young mother and adventurer who never gave up.

Marie-Madeline was born in France, spent her younger years in Shanghai and at eighteen married and moved to Morocco, helping her husban Natasha Lester has done it again with her new book, taken a true story and turned it into an excellent story that shows the strength and courage of the resistance group, Alliance who worked throughout World War 2 with the backing of the British MI6 team to help bring down the Nazis and it was run by Marie-Madeline, a young mother and adventurer who never gave up.

Marie-Madeline was born in France, spent her younger years in Shanghai and at eighteen married and moved to Morocco, helping her husband with intelligence work, here her true adventurous self-came out learning to fly, driving rally cars, then giving birth to her son Christian but the marriage was not always a happy one and when she became pregnant for the second time with her daughter Beatrice she returns to France and here she stays with her two children.

1938 and Europe is on the verge of war, meeting a man named Navarre, who recruits her to help with the resistance group Alliance this turns her life upside down but she loves France, her children and her family and is determined to do what she can to save them all, but her real identity and gender is not known to many people. She also meets a man and at first meeting the chemistry is there, Leon Faye hero from the Great War will also become the man she loves.

Alliance is one of the biggest resistance groups there was during WW11 having sectors in every part of France, but there was danger every day, with the Gestapo moving in there are also traitors who cause death and trouble, will Marie-Madeline survive till the end and how many of the other Alliance members will?

This story is absolutely brilliant so many emotions as MS Lester brings to life the true story of Marie-Madeline Fourcade and showed what a truly amazing woman she was, this story is an heroic story of love, tragedy, heartbreak but above all else such courage and strength as we get to know and love the characters in this story and yes there were many tears from me.

I do highly recommend this one to any lover of a fabulous historical fiction, you will not be disappointed, and I loved it.
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Feb 15, 2025 Janine rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review

I fear I may be in the minority here, but having read all of Natasha’s books and a huge fan, I must say this one was a bit of a slog to get through. For me it was too much like reading a non-fiction book, too plot driven and not enough character driven, too many characters to keep track of and a bit repetitive. The last 100 pages the pace picked up but it was not my favourite book of hers. The detail she goes to is commendable but it took away from being a good read in my opinion.

Thank you so m ...more

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May 22, 2025 Bree T rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, book-club-read, world-war-ii

This was our second retreat book club pick for May and Natasha Lester was going to be interviewed about this book on the second day of panels. I had intended to finish it – I had saved it for the plane, which was supposed to be over 4 hours but we had a really strong tailwind so it took only 3.5 but honestly, I had a headache from almost the time I stepped on the plane that only got worse as the trip went on so I didn’t end up getting this one read in time. I didn’t mind hearing any spoilers alt This was our second retreat book club pick for May and Natasha Lester was going to be interviewed about this book on the second day of panels. I had intended to finish it – I had saved it for the plane, which was supposed to be over 4 hours but we had a really strong tailwind so it took only 3.5 but honestly, I had a headache from almost the time I stepped on the plane that only got worse as the trip went on so I didn’t end up getting this one read in time. I didn’t mind hearing any spoilers although I will say the interview didn’t really give too much away, which was good! I did actually start this one whilst I was still in Perth – I read a bit of it in King’s Park (which is beautiful!) and then finished it on my plane ride home where I thankfully did not get a headache!

It’s very, very readable. That was immediately noticeable. You could just sink into this story. It starts off kind of split in two timelines – a young Marie-Madeline marrying and living in Morocco with her husband and then just prior to the war when she’s in Paris with their two children, clearly separated. A chance encounter leads her to become involved with an arm of the French Resistance and then, she ends up leading that portion, eventually becoming responsible for over 3000 agents and lasting until the end of the war. Most leaders lasted about six months – before they were arrested and most likely executed by Nazis. She was eventually extracted to England for work there alongside MI6 but she did return to France and survived the war, eventually dying in 1989 at the age of 80.

Natasha Lester emphasised how much more should be known about Marie-Madeline. For the things she accomplished and what she went through, she’s definitely not a widely known figure. There’s very few books on her, one biography that was translated into English that Lester also read in French, discovering that the English version left quite a bit out. Many of the things that are talked of in this book that Marie-Madeline did are true and they read like fantastical additions by the author – but they’re not. Her accomplishments are incredible.

This is a fascinating story, no doubt about it. World War II is honestly endless for possibilities in stories, there’s a lot of historical fiction and docos and the like revolving around it because it’s just so full of not just political stories in the ‘how we got here’ but also so many personal ones. So many people found themselves in situations during this time that do make for absolutely incredible retellings.

This was hard to put down and I definitely raced through the end of it on the plane. I do feel as though I kind of knew the way it was going to end because there were numerous factors that hinted to that outcome throughout but it didn’t really lessen the impact. It was the reality of this time and so many people lost so much. Marie-Madeline managed to run an entire portion of the French Resistance for years and although she was captured several times, she managed to escape each time. Actually, quite a few people were captured a few times and managed to escape each time. Felt like the Nazis were somewhat careless with their prisoners or perhaps there were just so many of them that it wasn’t possible to adequately incarcerate and guard them all. I did appreciate the little love story that was sprinkled throughout, that people were still able to find things to take joy in during this time even as everything was fraught with danger.

I do always enjoy Natasha Lester’s books and this was no exception. I have missed a few along the way so I need to go back and add those to my tbr.
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Jun 04, 2025 Mary rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Despite previously enjoying the work of this author, this one wasn’t for me, despite the concept sounding appealing.

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May 14, 2025 Marg rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

rtc

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Jun 24, 2025 Kira rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have enjoyed Natasha Lester’s books in the past but this one was a slight disappointment, despite being the one I looked most forward to reading. Marie-Madeleine and her role in leading the French resistance intelligence network is undoubtedly worth reading about, however the ambling introduction to her through her life in Morocco and the jolting time and place jumps once she returned to France made following this particular story difficult. I also found it hard to keep track of who everyone w ...more

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