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A review by abookarmoire
The Tiger Claw by Shauna Singh Baldwin
2.0
You’ll need months of leave, buddy. Maybe years. Tell me, how many camps can you go to? How many prisons? How many mass graves can you search?
This WWII spy novel is based on a real woman who was a Special Operations Executive (SOE) by the code name Madeline and dropped behind the Nazi lines in occupied France in 1943.
Noor Inayat Khan is a Muslim Indian born in Moscow, raised in Paris, and living in London from the start of the war. Able to speak many languages with no discernable accent, Noor is an excellent candidate for the job. However, Noor was eventually captured by the SS and imprisoned.
The story is told in the past and present. While Noor’s brother Kabir is searching for her post war, we read about Noor’s developing espionage work during the war. We also have the perspective of Noor’s prison time as told in a written diary format, pages filled with hope to reunite with the love of her life, Armand.
This book is less about the SOE, as that moves at a snail’s pace, but more about the author’s style of overflowing detail with an unsatisfying ending. Flipping pages, hoping for a quicker moving plot took the joy out of reading this book.
This WWII spy novel is based on a real woman who was a Special Operations Executive (SOE) by the code name Madeline and dropped behind the Nazi lines in occupied France in 1943.
Noor Inayat Khan is a Muslim Indian born in Moscow, raised in Paris, and living in London from the start of the war. Able to speak many languages with no discernable accent, Noor is an excellent candidate for the job. However, Noor was eventually captured by the SS and imprisoned.
The story is told in the past and present. While Noor’s brother Kabir is searching for her post war, we read about Noor’s developing espionage work during the war. We also have the perspective of Noor’s prison time as told in a written diary format, pages filled with hope to reunite with the love of her life, Armand.
This book is less about the SOE, as that moves at a snail’s pace, but more about the author’s style of overflowing detail with an unsatisfying ending. Flipping pages, hoping for a quicker moving plot took the joy out of reading this book.