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Virtual West Los Angeles Book Club
Sunday, December 11, 2022, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM PDT
Category: Clubs

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Westside Book Club meeting on 11/20 has been rescheduled. 

It will be held via Zoom on Sunday, December 11th at 3 PM. 

 This allows people who are still interested in the book or read the book but couldn’t attend either of the other two meeting to join this one.  Thus, I’m including the information below. 

 

Best,

Amy

 

Amy Rosett, Ph.D.

LACPA Book Club Leader

 

LACPA’s Fall Book Club Selection:

 

A Woman of No Importance:

The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II  

by Sonia Purnell

Named a Best Book of the Year by: NPR, the New York Public Library, Amazon, the Seattle Times, the Washington Independent Review of Books, PopSugar, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, BookBrowse, the Spectator, and the Times of London

Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography

Book Summary

Two LACPA members have provided descriptions of the thrilling biography, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnellwhich is the next book the LACPA Book Club will be reading. 

 

She was recruited to spy in occupied France by England's MI 6 and American O.S.S. She single-handedly developed the most effective resistance group in Europe, the French Marquis. She organized the escape of multiple downed Allied flyers from Nazi prisons. She guided Allied troops over the almost-impassable Pyrenees - - and all done with a prosthetic leg. And you don't know her name - - but you will: she's A Woman of No Importance.

 

Purnell tells a compelling piece of unknown “herstory” –Virginia Hall’s remarkable, enigmatic life marked by significant contributions to French Resistance and Allied victory in WWII and her postwar career in the CIA.  Her story is one that highlights the potential we have to go beyond gender role stereotypes, face challenges of disability, loneliness and rejection.  The story inspires us with a complex portrait of this remarkable person who recognized her flaws, fears and insecurities and was motivated to protect, contribute and to live a life in accord with her values.

 

A Sample of Amazon Reviews

"[An] excellent biography... if Virginia Hall herself remains something of an enigma — a testament, perhaps, to the skills that allowed her to live in the shadows for so long — the extraordinary facts of her life are brought onto the page here with a well-judged balance of empathy and fine detail. This book is as riveting as any thriller, and as hard to put down" -- The New York Times Book Review

“A remarkable chronicle...this lively examination…shows how, if Hall had been a man, dropping undercover in and out of occupied Vichy, Paris, and Lyon, setting up safe houses, and coordinating couriers for the Resistance, she would now be as famous as James Bond…Meticulous research results in a significant biography of a trailblazer who now has a CIA building named after her.”
–Kirkus

“Purnell’s writing is as precise and engaging as her research, and this book restores overdue attention to one of the world’s great war heroes. It’s a joy to read, and it will swell readers' hearts with pride.” —Booklist, Starred Review

 

Please contact Dr. Cris Scaglione to RSVP so a Zoom Invitation can be sent to you.

 Westside

Sunday, December 11th at 3:00 PM

[email protected]

(949) 939-1943

 

 Join us for great discussions with fellow LACPA members!

  

BTW, in 2023 we’ll be reading:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs about Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live by Becca Levy, Ph.D.