Code Name Verity is a powerful historical fiction book set during World War II. The following is the official publisher’s summary as found on Audible:
Code Name Verity is a compelling, emotionally rich story with universal themes of friendship and loyalty, heroism and bravery. Two young women from totally different backgrounds are thrown together during World War II: one a working-class girl from Manchester, the other a Scottish aristocrat, one a pilot, the other a wireless operator. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted friends. But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in Verity’s own words, as she writes her account for her captors.
This audiobook was an outstanding novel that was both very well-written and incredibly performed. Author Elizabeth Wein effectively uses a unique writing style, with the main narrative entirely in the present tense. The complexity of the narrative is written so well that listeners hardly notice the complicated style. Listeners follow the full story through journals written by first Verity and then Maddie, seeing actions as they unfold. This proves to be a powerful technique, keeping us in the moment and drawing us deeper into the story. Wein makes listeners see, hear, touch, smell, and taste the atmosphere of World War II.
As an epistolary novel, composed of journals by Verity and Maddie, the audiobook of Code Name Verity uses two narrators. Morven Christie performs the role of Verity, while Lucy Gaskell performs the role of Maddie. Both women blew me away with the quality of their performances, each demonstrating a wide range of emotions. Christie drew me into the audiobook from the first minute and kept me riveted throughout. From the opening of the audiobook, which introduces the key detail of Verity’s being scared while in the Gestapo prison, listeners connect to her fear and feel the pain of the torture she has endured. Just as powerfully, while Maddie tells about her time in the cockpit, Gaskell gives listeners the sense of her tension, full of both fear and excitement. As Maddie’s nerves reach their limit, Gaskell conveys the anxiety and further challenges of the pilot.
I highly recommend Code Name Verity to listeners. The book is classified as a young adult level audiobook, but it is certainly not limited to YA readers. Adults will also appreciate the book and connect deeply to it. I particularly recommend that people listen to the book instead of reading it. The narration was so incredible that I can’t imagine being able to enjoy reading it as much as I was stirred by the audiobook. It is now a full day since I listened to this audiobook, and I have listened to another, very different book since Code Name Verity. However, I still am haunted by this incredible, powerful audiobook! What an amazing listen!
Visit Elizabeth Wein’s website or follow her on Twitter.
Check out Morven Christie‘s and Lucy Gaskell‘s iMDB pages.
You can also follow Lucy Gaskell on Twitter.
