The Last Secret Agent: My Untold Story as a Spy Behind Nazi Lines

In May 1944, Latour parachuted into occupied France and posed as an itinerant soap-seller while covertly telegraphing German troop movements to the Allies, a previously undisclosed secret life that she vividly narrates in her self-possessed and immersive debut. Born in South Africa to parents of French descent, Latour was orphaned at age four and raised by a series of extended family members across Africa. At 15, she attended a Paris finishing school owned by her godmother Josianne, living with Josianne and her elderly father; in 1939, they sent 18-year-old Latour to England, where she learned of their deaths four years later. Motivated by revenge, Latour joined Britain’s Special Operations Executive program (a rare woman recruit, she made the cut because of her language skills). Latour’s dispassionately described education in covert ops is arresting in its practicality and surreal optics, as new recruits were instructed in savage commando maneuvers on the lush grounds of stately manor homes. Once in France, Latour found that her false papers identifying her as 29 years old did not match her 23-year-old appearance, so she assumed the role of a Paris schoolgirl selling soap, a guise that allowed her to move freely between 17 different hidden radio sets. Despite recounting near-constant threats of discovery, Latour rarely dwells on the danger. The author’s measured restraint only serves to heighten the tension in this white-knuckle account. (May)

Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled the author’s last name.