Review of 'The Mademoiselle Alliance' by Natasha Lester

Review of 'The Mademoiselle Alliance' by Natasha Lester

Release date: March 26th, 2025

Publisher: Hachette Australia

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹

What the book is about:
Morocco, 1928. Eighteen-year-old Frenchwoman Marie-Madeleine is not the kind of woman who goes through life sitting down, something her new husband can attest. Her unconventionalities - rally car driving, flying planes and dabbling in intelligence work for the government - earn her a reputation, but she knows who she is at heart: an adventurer.

Paris, 1936. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, a chance encounter with a mysterious man codenamed Navarre turns Marie-Madeleine's life upside down. Recruited to help build a resistance network known only as Alliance, she conceals her identity - and her gender - as she navigates a perilous double life away from her children and the man she loves. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away.

Bestselling Australian novelist Natasha Lester passionately brings to life the true story of one of history's unsung heroes: Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII France. Her story is one of epic love, tragic loss and magnificent leadership.

📒

REVIEW

I don’t set out to write long reviews but some books give me so much to think about that the more I ponder, the more I remember what I saw and felt and have to express it. But Natasha’s novel The Mademoiselle Alliance left me stumped. Not because I have nothing to say but I would not know where to begin. It is such a complex detailed story with a lot of introspection, waiting, wondering and yet still plenty of action that unfolds sometimes like a dripping faucet and other times like a geyser! The pace, particularly towards the end, had me chasing the pages as there are some very tense and terrifying events that occur where the suspense is nail-biting. But I will not give anything away and although I just cannot say all that needs to be said without writing another book, due to the nature and volume of the material, I will talk more about how this novel made me feel.

While reading The Mademoiselle Alliance I became tightly wound, so yes, very stressed by the contents that pricked my heart at all angles. I slipped into the shoes of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade and felt I was living her life in slow motion, thanks to the fine writing skills of the author. At times, the lines were like staccato notes. The tone varied from anger, affection, sorrow and despair. The shades of the canvas snapped back and forth between greys and colour. The characters’ emotions were tightly controlled with only a few moments of weeping. Of course, this all reflects the difficult situations encountered by the Alliance and its members— particularly its leader, Marie-Madeleine. The sadness felt by her and others leaked into me like poison. I was exhausted and shredded by all this woman and her team had to endure. While I sensed their vulnerability, I was amazed at how they clung to hope in the direst of situations. As war is like walking through hell. Burnt flesh hangs from one’s frame like lifeless apparel. When you have been robbed of everything and ravaged by the enemy, nothing is left but a skeleton. The intent of the enemy is to see the fire of its victim’s spirit snuffed out.

This novel is a reflection of what the Alliance would have experienced. They endured horrors but still their wits had to remain razor sharp at all times. Training as noted in Eagle/Leon (yes, they are all given animal names in what became known as Noah’s Ark) shows us how agents learned to endure. No time to long or look back or space to wish for better days. And for Marie-Madeleine who carried the weight of so many lives it would have been painful. It was an awful responsibility to make decisions for her team who often were at risk. The doubts would rise as the deaths piled up. Yet, over and over this woman kept finding a new source of strength and stretched beyond herself for freedom of her country. She attempted to untangle the claws that the Nazis had set into their lives. Yes, Natasha’s dedication is apt. Marie-Madeleine was/is a hero in the truest sense. She was human with weaknesses including fears, of course, but her love for her family and country spurred her on when a wasteland of despair stretched before her. She manages to hang in there against the odds. But it is a sad moment when she states to Maurice a hard and painful truth. ‘Alliance is like a grey wolf, hunted to extinction – only the taxidermized carcasses of you and me remaining.’

As we know from history, victory does come after a long hard fight. Yet during the battles that Marie-Madeleine, her team and others endure, the only comfort is in the reason behind what they do: for their families to be free, for their country to be released. The threat of the Nazis regime is real and becomes the reason for nausea in their stomachs. Years of torture in minds and bodies—whether captive or waiting to be captured, or hoping beyond hope that they and their loved ones will escape, be freed by the allies. The waiting game plays on the psyches of so many. I felt this in the novel. I felt I was living Marie-Madeleine’s, Leon’s and others’ lives while following their journeys. Reading it all was a painful experience.

But I also was captivated by the last quarter or more of the novel. My breathing quickened as I learned of what becomes of various members of the alliance. The tension heightened to such an extent, it was like a rubber band ready to be released. Huge waves of chaos exploded across the pages and rushed into my bloodstream.

Marie-Madeleine led a complex life shaped by the war and her position as head of the Alliance. Natasha’s detailed presentation breaks down every detail/facet into increments. I felt I was moving through this woman’s life by the seconds. The plot builds and builds to a feverish pitch then breaks like the splitting of an egg into a hot pan while the yolk and white of her experiences separate and coagulate. This woman’s bravery is real. Her fear is real. She is a reluctant warrior forced to be leader by the machine/hands of war. She must protect and lead so many lives… many who will go to their deaths for the cause of daring to fight back against the Nazis.

Reading this novel was a very different encounter. I walked, dragged, wept and fought through the pages in this woman’s shoes. Marie-Madeleine was a leader like no other. I also was moved by Leon’s perspective and experiences. Their connection (and love) was both beautiful and tragic. So much loss, so much heartache breaks in waves across this solitary shore. I have not really mentioned the glistening presentation of the text. There were so many quotable lines. A poetic feast of metaphors laced with wisdom and bare naked truths that I could repost but won’t. Read the book. This is stunning, inspiring work. A story that takes over your mind and squeezes your heart until it hurts. Devour it, appreciate your freedom and weep. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Hatchett for a paperback copy to review.