The Light of the Moon by Elizabeth Buchan is about SOE operatives in France during World War II. Although she was brought up in England, Evelyn is half English, half French and she is recruited into the SOE, trained and dropped into France. Her cover is that she is a distance relative of the local count and she works as his secretary in the chateau but her main business is helping him to recruit members of the resistance. When he is killed, her mission changes and she is put in charge of both recruitment and operations.

The author has provided quite a few sub-plots all revolving around people in this area of France who are caught up in the war. From a German officer to a French peasant girl, all have their own unique point of view. The story was fast-paced and held my interest, even though I felt it would have been better served with more development of the major characters and perhaps, a few less side stories.

I did find the information about the Resistance very interesting and I think the author did a good job of portraying the intense stress and constant fear that these people lived under without adding unnecessary glamour. Light of the Moon had some flaws but overall I would class this book as a pretty good read. ( )

A well-crafted and inspiring novel about a female SOE agent sent to south-western France during World War Two. Although not particularly original - the romance element put me in mind of Jojo Moyes' brilliant The Girl You Left Behind - Elizabeth Buchan's purely fictional account of F-section agents and the French resistance is grounded in research and very respectful. I did get the nagging feeling that the author was writing with the hope that her story would be adapted for the screen (small or silver), but she manages to stay on the right side of the thin line between historical novel and aga saga.

Evelyn St John - codename Violette - has a vaguely similar background to real life SOE agent Violette Szabo, but as Elizabeth Buchan is keen to point out, any further likeness is purely coincidental. Evelyn is plucky but properly feminine, attracting fellow agents and German officers alike. The central (female) characters - Evelyn, Bessy, Mariette - are well-shaded and believable for the most part, but the men are either stock romantic heroes or two-dimensional villains. I did get caught up in the story, but not the characters.

What Buchan excels at is setting and description, and bringing history to life. I've visited the Dordogne area - which, I think, probably hasn't changed very much! - and could vividly imagine the community around Bessy's house of Belle-Place. And even if this story isn't based on any one particular agent, I have been inspired to read more into the real lives of courageous women like 'Violette'. ( )