The Mademoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester

Title: The Mademoiselle Alliance

Author: Natasha Lester

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Published: 26^th March 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 408

Price: $34.99

Synopsis: How did a young Parisienne mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in France? A powerful, heartbreaking historical novel by the New York Times bestselling author.

Morocco, 1928. Eighteen-year-old Frenchwoman Marie-Madeleine is not the kind of woman who goes through life sitting down, something her new husband can attest. Her unconventionalities – rally car driving, flying planes and dabbling in intelligence work for the government – earn her a reputation, but she knows who she is at heart: an adventurer.

Paris, 1936. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, a chance encounter with a mysterious man codenamed Navarre turns Marie-Madeleine’s life upside down. Recruited to help build a resistance network known only as Alliance, she conceals her identity – and her gender – as she navigates a perilous double life away from her children and the man she loves. Capture and death are only a heartbeat away.

Bestselling Australian novelist Natasha Lester passionately brings to life the true story of one of history’s unsung heroes: Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII France. Her story is one of epic love, tragic loss and magnificent leadership.

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Marie-Madeleine was a child during The Great War and has lived in various places. She’s brave – not the kind of woman to sit back and do nothing or sit back and watch everyone else have a life. her husband, Edouard knows all too well. Marie-Madeleine is unconventional for her time – she’s into rally car driving, flying planes and intelligence work for the government, and she loves her children, Christian and Béatrice. She’s an adventurer with a reputation who does what she needs to do to protect her family. Leaving her husband draws her into the intelligence world as Hitler and Nazism creeps across Europe from 1933 and into the dark days leading up to World War Two and the war itself.

Madeleine-Marie is recruited to a secret alliance in 1936 by a man called Navarre. And from there, her life is turned upside down. She thrust into resistance work in France with a network called the Alliance. During her days here, she goes by many names and at times, is concealing her gender. Her double life soon puts her children in danger, and watch as the man she loves dips in and out of her life as they both take on dangerous missions that could end in death at any time. The constant threat of being arrested by the Nazis and Gestapo is there at all times, as are the whispers of camps and what happens there. Marie-Madeleine grapples with knowing what is going on, wanting to be there for her children and needing to work to keep the Alliance going.

Natasha Lester’s new story is based on the true story of Marie-Madeleine Foucard, and what she did during the war. Natasha has worked in the gaps of the information as well, and her author’s note explains some of the things she had to alter for smoother narrative purposes. This often happens in historical fiction to ensure clarity as well. It’s insightful, bringing forgotten stories and voices to life that enrich the history and historical narrative that is often presented as what happened. The first-person narrative draws readers into Marie-Madeleine’s life, and how she navigated the days of the war.

It’s full of rich detail, told in first person through Marie-Madeleine’s eyes. Readers will feel everything she feels, understand where she comes from and see where she has been. Because Marie-Madeleine’s experiences and trauma that have shaped her throughout her life. These experiences have informed how she responds to the world around her. It’s intricate, delving into the complexities of her relationships, how she navigates being a mother and spy. It’s powerful because it allows her nuances to be explored throughout the novel, and for her story to be told in her ‘voice’. The voice that Natasha has created through intricate research and reading Marie-Madeleine’s own diaries, with all the contradictions to shape her as a person in her own right.

Natasha Lester’s latest book gives a deeper insight into another facet of the resistance efforts, and one woman’s journey throughout these years. What brought her to this world and how she got through it all, and the lengths she went to so she could protect the people she cared about. Everything in this novel is carefully pulled together and gives readers another great Natasha Lester book that peels back the layers of the forgotten stories about World War Two and the women who played active roles in resistance movements.

This is another insightful book about the war and the many stories that haven’t been told, or that have been hidden or ignored because they might not have been the ones people wanted to tell. It shows that there are always going to be stories, and some that might be similar, yet everyone’s story is important when it comes to the war. Everyone who experienced it needs to be heard, because the breadth of experiences, especially those who were discriminated against or in the resistance show the resilience of humanity and an ability to get through the darkest times. Maybe that’s why everyone seems so drawn to these stories. There can be a universality about the themes and feelings, the fear and desire to survive. These stories show us that people can get through hard times, and also show us what it means to be human, and how to maintain our humanity during times of war.