Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
January 1, 2012/in Fiction 14+ Secondary/Adult /by Angie Hill
BfK Rating:
BfK 192 January 2012
Reviewer: Janet Fisher
ISBN: 978-1405258210
Price: £7.99
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 14+ Secondary/Adult
Length: 288pp
Buy the Book

Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Narrated by the protagonists, this story has a distinct young person’s tone but the tale it tells is definitely an adult one.  Set against the background of the Second World War, it is a story of friendship, one so strong that in the end it results in death but not perhaps as one would perceive at the outset. It is told in two parts, firstly by Julia and then by Maddie.  These two young women meet up during the war. Julia is a Scottish aristocrat, Maddie from a working class home, but they become firm friends.  By chance Maddie then flies her friend to France to work there for Special Operations Executive (SOE).   Things go awry and the plane crash lands after Julia has parachuted out.  Maddie is found by the Resistance but Julia is caught by making a fatal mistake, that of looking the wrong way for traffic. The story starts with Julia confessing, having revealed the codes for the eleven wireless sets, the wreckage of which are found in the burnt out plane. Or is she?  The ‘confession’ is in the form of a first person narrative telling of her friendship with Maddie and the difficulties she has with the German interrogator and his assistant, Frau Engel.  Maddie picks up the story in the second part of the book, but this time it is told from a different angle.  Julia’s story is shown to be part of an attempt to give information to the Resistance to destroy the Gestapo headquarters where she is being held.  The Resistance carry out a daring raid on a convoy taking Julia and other prisoners to a concentration camp, but this goes disastrously wrong and in a chilling episode Julia is killed by her best friend, seemingly at her own request.

This book takes it time to unravel the story, slowly gripping the reader who wonders if Julia is really the traitor she seems, and until the denouement there is no hint of the truth.  Maddie’s predicament when her friend calls out to her is heartbreaking and while a bit incredible makes for a rattling good story.  Both young women are strong characters, and the class divide is credibly drawn as a result of war bringing together disparate people.  The wartime background is convincing, catching the ephemeral nature of life at that time, and the whole makes for an unputdownable book.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Angie Hill http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Angie Hill2012-01-01 00:00:502022-01-24 14:01:16Code Name Verity

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Inclusive Books for Children book-gifting scheme expands again

June 18, 2025

School Library Association Announces 2025 Shortlists for the Information Book Award

June 17, 2025

Choice and reading relevant to their interests = reading for pleasure

June 11, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Oliver Twisted Lulu Reads to Zeki
Scroll to top