ODETTE 

Author: Joelle Searle

Publisher: Self-published

Reviewer: Odette Halliford

I was intrigued to read this novel, primarily because I am named Odette and also, my parent’s choice of name for me, was because of their wartime association with a Belgian family who had strong links to the resistance.

Odette is Joelle’s mother’s story, initially set in Paris in the 1940s during the German occupation of the city.  She is just 20 when we first meet her, working for the French government in its ministry of defense. Secret information passes her desk daily and when she encounters Jean, a charismatic and slightly older man, she is not sure of his motives.  Is he a spy?  He gains her confidence and their love is passionate and true.

Jean, who has German and Irish/French parentage, is the leader of a Parisian resistance group and eventually Odette learns of his dangerous missions to rescue Jewish families from the city and resettle them in the Lebanon.

This is a gripping  true account of a perilous time in history. Joelle has documented  her mother and father’s commitment to each other and to their role in war-torn Europe, with great empathy.