Charlotte Gray (novel)
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| Charlotte Gray | |
 First edition cover |
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| Author | Sebastian Faulks |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | War novel |
| Publisher | Random House Trade |
| Publication date | February 1999 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 399 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-375-50169-X (first edition, hardback) |
Charlotte Gray is a 1999 book by Sebastian Faulks and completes his loose trilogy of books about France with an account of the adventures of a young Scotswoman who becomes involved with the French resistance during the Second World War. It is set in Vichy France during World War II. The story is thought to be based on the exploits of Nancy Wake, codenamed the white mouse, a member of the resistance in war time France and Pearl Cornioley, a British secret service agent.
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[edit] Plot summary
In 1942, a young Scot, Charlotte Gray, travels to London to take a job as a medical receptionist for a Harley Street doctor. On the train she talks to two men sharing her compartment, and one of them - who works for the secret service - gives her his card. Despite the war, social life in London is in full swing and the attractive, intelligent girl soon meets up with an airman, Peter Gregory. The temporary nature of life at the time is epitomised when she quickly loses her virginity and then her heart to him. The romance is heightened when Gregory is sent on a mission over France and news comes back to Charlotte that he is missing in action.
Charlotte spent much of her childhood in France and speaks the language fluently - a talent that the secret service wishes to exploit in its effort to support the French Resistance. Charlotte decides to throw in her job - which she has no talent for anyway as the doctor informs her - and joins a Special Operations Executive (SOE)* training course. Once it has grilled her on methods of interrogation, dyed her hair a mousy brown and replaced her fillings, Charlotte is parachuted into France to complete a specified mission. But instead of doing her job and heading home, she sets out to find Gregory's whereabouts.
In the book Faulks explores loyalty and survival under unprecedented circumstances. When he speaks of fidelity and conflicting passions, he is not just referring to Charlotte's love of her missing man but of the Occupation by the Nazis that turned Frenchmen against each other as well as against Jews.[citation needed]
- The SOE in France included a number of women (who were often recruited from the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry); F Section alone sent 39 female agents into the field, of whom 13 did not return.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
A film based on the book was produced in 2001. It stars Cate Blanchett and is directed by Gillian Armstrong.
[edit] Notice
The author received the Bad Sex in Fiction Award 1998 for this book.
[edit] References
- Charlotte Gray, Random House (1999) ISBN 0-375-50169-X.
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