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By: CHCH 591
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2025-04-30 11:41:34 |
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Our overall opinion of this book was that it was well-written and painted a factual picture of Nancy Wake, of her energy, bravery and strength. One person thought it read like a Mills & Boon - nobody else agreed! |
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By: TAUR 043
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2024-10-17 14:44:22 |
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The group all enjoyed the read. Found that Nancy was an incredible woman, complex, passionate, self-reliant and confident. Some traits such as the lying and stealing obviously not useful in peacetime, but invaluable for her survival in war time. It is easy to understand how she found war exhilarating and ordinary life dull. We were amazed that the majority hadn't heard of her, and that she hadn't really been acknowledged by N.Z. and governments for what she had done. |
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By: HAMIL 062
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2024-10-03 09:04:39 |
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Liked learning more about French war history. Amazed at her fearless bravery and determination. Not all of us liked her simplistic, opinionated and at times aggressive, way of putting people in their place. We were all put off the buffoonery writing style filled with Aussie slang. Though the writing style reflected Nancy's humor and stoic pragmatism, we found it annoying and juvenile. The writer was obviously a HUGE fan as there are pages and pages of adoration and admiration,which got tedious and felt unbalanced. Overall a five star personality written by a 2 star writer. |
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By: BALCL 001
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2024-01-15 11:33:53 |
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Wonderfully and powerfully written. What an amazing story of a truly heroic woman. |
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By: TAKA 001
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2023-09-12 13:04:30 |
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Although overall we were impressed with what Nancy accomplished during the war, we did not really warm to her as a person. For many of us it was the first time they read in detail about WWII and the resistance. Most of us did not particularly like the writing style and found it annoying and distracting at times. |
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By: WHITBY 005
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2023-02-25 10:06:23 |
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Everyone read the book and were impressed by Nancy's heroism. Wished there had been more detail of her post war life. Several members did not like Nancy as a person, and we discussed personality traits. Writing style detracted from overall enjoyment. |
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By: FEILD 005
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2022-09-20 21:53:58 |
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Group really enjoyed this book.They thought it was a great read and very well-written. We had quite a long discussion about War and people's great courage. |
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By: ALEXA 003
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2022-08-03 11:30:25 |
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We loved Peter FitzSimons' engrossing account of the life of the very brave Nancy Wake ( one of our own, by birth)! |
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By: DUNED 115
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2022-07-20 23:25:14 |
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A thoroughly enjoyable story. It made for great reading, a real adventure. We felt the war was where her true strengths shone through, but in other areas of life, not so much. Everyone learned a lot about the war and the era. Highly recommend. |
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By: WHAKA 017
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2022-05-02 12:55:18 |
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Nancy Wake was an amazing woman - brave, fearless and strong - traits that made her capable of what she did during WW2. We enjoyed her story, but most didn't like the person she was. |
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By: DUNED 089
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2021-10-15 09:47:06 |
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All members thought this was a gripping tale. Especially as it was a true account of a local war-time heroine. |
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By: CHCH 363
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2021-06-12 19:09:39 |
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Great book and we all enjoyed reading this. Would love to have heard more about what she did. |
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By: CHCH 240
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2021-02-26 12:10:59 |
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Our group thoroughly enjoyed reading about this amazing woman's eventful life. Well-written with enough humour or light-heartedness to carry the traumatic wartime situations Nancy involved herself in. The fact that she was able to talk about the war, as so many of our parents who were involved did not talk and the younger generation really do not know what really went on. Impressed with the absolute trust and respect she had from her male colleagues. Nancy was the ultimate survivor, even from an early age as she dealt with her own unfortunate childhood. |
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By: CHCH 449
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2019-07-05 11:34:38 |
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This is the first book we have read that we agreed on wholeheartedly - an excellent and inspiring story. Nancy was obviously one extraordinary woman and we are pleased she lived at the time she did! But, not only did the narrative tell her story, it also enlightened us on a side of WW2 which is not publicised as frequently as are the accounts of "Dunkirk" and "D-Day", for example. The style of writing was good and most "couldn't put it down" however, a couple of our group found the chapters too long and a little wordy at times. |
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By: DUNED 005
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2018-11-14 14:15:38 |
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Very interesting to read of this not-well known Antipodean. Many of us thought if she were male, she'd be much better known and decorated. There wasn't much on the post war life of Nancy - big holes as to how she managed to settle into peacetime life after a life on the edge. Some of us felt the book was pretty patchy in content and writing quality. |
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By: NIGHT 001
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2018-11-14 14:12:08 |
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We all enjoyed this book and the character of Nancy. She was a ballsy character and influenced by the horrors inflicted on innocent people. She kept seeing the big picture. Excellent writer, and we found the book very readable. |
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By: HAMIL 053
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2018-11-14 14:06:47 |
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This was a book that prompted a wide discussion, not for the author, but for Nancy, the subject of the biography. Our more serious readers found Peter FitzSimon's writing style simple, and noted the lack of narrative. Others found the style journalistic and informative - with the insights into her early childhood in New Zealand and her relationship with her mother. When it comes to recommending this book it was a mixed bag. It will appeal to some and not to others. |
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By: PARAPA 003
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2018-11-14 13:59:59 |
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Universally enjoyed for a) the character and bravery of Nancy, b) the author's wide understanding of the background and history of the war and c) the outstanding prose and slightly whimsical humour. |
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By: DOUBT 001
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2018-11-09 12:50:34 |
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All our group enjoyed this book. Easy to read and very well-written. What an amazing woman and so brave. |
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By: WANG 010
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2018-11-09 12:46:37 |
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100% positive about this book. Easy to read and a "page turner". |
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By: CHCH 342
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2018-11-09 12:35:04 |
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Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this one. Made us think about what we may (or may not) be capable of in such circumstances!! |
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By: WHANG 023
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2018-03-28 12:42:20 |
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Impressive book which documents Nancy's achievements mainly during WW2. Reads like it is all made up and over the top but it is all true! If you like biographies you will really enjoy this book. |
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