In at #10 on my best books of 2023 is The Undercover Secretary by Ellie Midwood.

What is it about? Based on the incredible true story of Dora Schaul, The Undercover Secretary follows Dora who has lost everything to the Nazis and is set on settling the score. Joining the underground resistance, Dora takes on a new persona to land a position as secretary to Occupied France’s most sinister Nazi official, Klaus Barbie. As Dora attempts to play the part of perfect Nazi secretary she must also keep her identity and true intentions a secret because if she is discovered she is all on her own.

Why did I love it? Does Ellie Midwood ever miss? I’m not sure and her recent trend of telling true stories about people who lived during World War Two is an exciting development. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fictional story by Ms. Midwood but often times, as I have learned myself, the real stories can be just as compelling and shocking as the fictional ones. Dora’s story fits that bill to a tea. She’s Jewish so her life is already at risk but what does she do? Takes a job that lands her right in the middle of the lion’s den and in one of the most terrifying ones (anyone remember Liberation in The Indigo Rebels by Ms. Midwood in which we got to really know Mr. Barbie? Yeah, I’m still scared too).

The Undercover Story is a short read but it doesn’t feel like that, and I mean that in all the best ways. From the first pages we are on the run with Dora, a typical Ms. Midwood character that doesn’t take anyone’s crap and is more courageous than I think I ever could be! And that’s the greatest strength of this novel. Ms. Midwood manages to create a character that we can cheer for but also someone who is human, who makes mistakes and has opinions that everyone might not agree with. Nonetheless, there is no denying that Dora is a great character that you end up caring about and hoping to the very end that she makes it out alright.

Read my full review of The Undercover Story: https://rachelrheil.com/blog/2023/05/the-undercover-secretary-by-ellie-midwood-review/