Natasha Lester uncovers stories of women from history and drapes them in velvet. Her fiction is characterised by intricately researched events and a romantic writing style. Her latest novel, The Mademoiselle Alliance, takes place in occupied France during WWII, yet despite this brutal setting, there is much beauty to be found in the pages.
The book follows the life of the remarkable Marie-Madeleine Fourcade who led a network of 3000 French intelligence agents during WWII. In one memorable incident she conceals herself inside a mail bag in order to be smuggled out of France. It is her second-most hair-raising feat of escaping the Nazis. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, we will not describe the first, but suffice to say, she was willing to undertake grave risks for the sake of her cause, and it makes for a gripping read. If this story was pure fiction, it would be tempting to question if it was a little far-fetched in parts. That it is based on truth makes it all the more enjoyable.
Marie-Madeleine was born into a family of privilege and trained as a concert pianist before moving to Morocco with her first husband, Edouard. Edouard worked in intelligence, and she absorbed the value of such work, and some of the know-how. By the time war breaks out in Europe, she is estranged from her husband and living in her beloved Paris with her two children and working as a journalist.
The book opens with a thrilling scene that captures the peril she endured for years, before slowing down and shifting into the past, where we learn how a young mother became a spy. Our heroine is shrewd and beautiful. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have worn lipstick and a sapphire-coloured Schiaparelli dress,” she thinks as she travels to Marseille to establish a spy network there.
There’s a romantic intrigue courtesy of Marie-Madeleine’s second in command, Léon Faye.
Marie-Madeleine trained as a classical pianist, and it is through her love of music that Natasha conjures her inner-monologue. The staccato of jackboots is followed by long flowing lines contemplating the nature of love and war and a woman’s role in both.
“I’m fleetingly grateful for what subordination has taught me,” Marie-Madeline reflects at one point. And, “Being a woman means either accepting weakness or learning that anything can be repurposed as a weapon.”
The sense of peril is derived not from descriptions of violence and viscera, but from the reason behind the fighting: the keeping together of family units, the raising of children in a beloved country.
The mailbag scene is gripping reading, perhaps because Natasha is able to get inside Marie-Madeleine’s pain. The Alliance leader suffers from hip dysplasia, a condition Natasha was diagnosed with later in life and it was this shared experience that helped the author imagine the inner thoughts of the war heroine.
A mother’s love for her children, her country and her alliance of spies is motivation for the unfathomable risks she takes. Natasha has found a fascinating woman from the past and brought her vividly to life in this entertaining and engrossing read.
Read the interview with Natasha Lester here.
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