Suzy Henderson

The Avid Reader: Blog Tour + Review + #Giveaway: Madame Fiocca by S...

This week I'm on tour with my latest release, Madame Fiocca. For those who don't know, it's about Nancy Wake, the infamous SOE heroine, journalist and French Resistance courier. Here's a piece I wrote for Viviana Mackade's fabulous book blog today. For the entire piece click the link below: https://viviana-mackade.blog/2020/03/09/on-tour-with-madame-fiocca-by-suzy-henderson-and-meet-the-author/comment-page-1/?unapproved=32162&moderation-hash=684d3ec31090c1487941ac2f9acc95e1#comment-32162 Finding Nancy by Suzy Henderson, author of Madame Fiocca. I first read about Nancy Wake and her role in World War Two several years ago, while researching another story. I recall thinking how commendable, but I read on, discovering other heroines of SOE including the American, Virginia Hall, the first female operative in France. What is even more remarkable is that she had a prosthetic leg. While working with the Special Operations Executive in France, Virginia ...

This weekend only: Grab a copy of Madame Fiocca FREE e-book until January 26th. Universal Link:  http:// mybook.to/MadameFiocca Latest Review 5 Stars: From the first paragraph of this enthralling biography that reads like a memoir, my attention was firmly grabbed and it never once flagged, even when it looked like Nancy’s life would be all love and roses. I had never heard of Nancy Wake, the independent, adventurous woman who seized life with both hands, living fully, embracing all it had to offer. But I immediately fell under her spell, tagging along as she made her way into adulthood and headlong into some of the most tumultuous times our world has ever known. It took no time for Nancy to land plum assignments in Europe, where her love of food and culture bloomed. She lived a dazzling life as she made her way across the continent, reporting news of the emerging monsters—Mussolini, Franco and Hitler—as they cut a swath of misery and destruction across Europe. And in the ...

Paperback ,  304 pages Published February 3rd 2015 by Mariner Books  (first published January 26th 2015) Description: Downed during his first mission, James Hunter is taken captive as a German POW. To bide the time, he studies a nest of redstarts at the edge of camp. Some prisoners plot escape; some are shot. And then, one day, James is called to the Kommandant’s office. Meanwhile, back home, James’s new wife, Rose, is on her own, free in a way she has never known. Then, James’s sister, Enid, loses everything during the Blitz and must seek shelter with Rose. In a cottage near Ashdown forest, the two women jealously guard secrets, but form a surprising friendship. Each of these characters will find unexpected freedom amid war’s privations and discover confinements that come with peace. Review: Well, it's no secret that I love WW2 books, although not all of them of course. But this book caught my attention, late in the day as it was published a few years ago. St...

The next instalment and the inspiration behind my latest novel, Madame Fiocca: The Remarkable True Story of Nancy Wake.

I hope you enjoy watching the first instalment of Nancy Wake, SOE heroine who helped hundreds of people flee the Germans in Nazi-occupied France while she lived in Marseille. In 1943, she became an evader, fleeing across the Pyrenees into Spain. From there, she travelled to Gibraltar and sailed to England where she eventually joined SOE. The rest, as they say, is history.

February 1933: Nancy Wake is a gregarious twenty-year-old looking for adventure. Having fled her unhappy family home in Sydney, she becomes a journalist and is thrilled when she is posted to Paris. The city is glamorous, brimming with journalists, artists, and a growing number of refugees.  Later, in the French Riviera, she uncovers more than news following a chance encounter with wealthy industrialist, Henri Fiocca. Their relationship blossoms as Hitler makes waves across Europe. While on an assignment in Vienna in 1938, she witnesses Nazis whipping Jews on the street and she vows to fight for justice if ever the opportunity arises. When Henri is called to the Front to fight, Nancy, determined to help the war effort, joins the Red Cross as an ambulance driver. Every day she witnesses atrocities. When Paris falls, Nancy flees the German oppressors and returns to Marseille. France is a nation defeated; its people are in despair. A chance encounter with a British o...