The War We Won Apart: The Untold Story of Two Elite Agents Who Became One of the Most Decorated Couples of WWII by Nahlah Ayed (Audio Book Review)

Love, betrayal, and a secret war: the untold story of two elite agents, one Canadian, one British, who became one of the most decorated couples of WWII.

Synopsis - 

On opposite sides of the pond, Sonia Butt, an adventurous young British woman, and Guy d’Artois, a French-Canadian soldier and thunderstorm of a man, are preparing for war.

From different worlds, their lives first intersect during clandestine training to become agents with Winston Churchill’s secret army, the Special Operations Executive. As the world’s deadliest conflict to date unfolds, Sonia and Guy learn how to parachute into enemy territory, how to kill, blow up rail lines, and eventually . . . how to love each other. But not long after their hasty marriage, their love is tested by separation, by a titanic invasion—and by indiscretion.

Writing in vivid, heart-stopping prose, Ayed follows Sonia as she plunges into Nazi-occupied France and slinks into black market restaurants to throw off occupying Nazi forces, while at the same time participating in sabotage operations against them; and as Guy, in another corner of France, trains hundreds into a resistance army.

Reconstructed from hours of unpublished interviews and hundreds of archival and personal documents, the story Ayed tells is about the ravaging costs of war paid for disproportionately by the young. But more than anything, The War We Won Apart is a story about love: two secret agents who were supposed to land in enemy territory together, but were fated to fight the war apart.

Review - 

I was impressed by obvious the depth of the research done by the author to being this story to life. I also appreciated the author sharing at the end all the resources she used to bring as much accuracy as possible. At the same time, I want to acknowlege she had to use her skills as a story teller to help each scene come to life and to keep the story engaging. That always requires a delicate touch which Ayed managed well.

This is an incredible retelling of a time in history I only knew the bare facts about.  The title is a little misleading, though. While a great deal of the book does deal with their time in France helping the local resistance fight the Nazi occupation, the scope of the book is far larger.  We learn not only of Guy and Sonia's childhood and experiences growing up, we learn details of the lives of many of the other characters they knew who were also involved in war.  

Winnipeg launch of The War We Won Apart 

featuring a conversation hosted by Reg Sherren.

However the story doesn't end when Guy and Sonia's time in France is over. From there we follow their life back in Canada where Sonia becomes a housewife and mother, and Guy, still in the military, travels widely working on a wide range of military assignments from rescues, to involvement in Korea, to training others. Eventually the author explores their final years,  the awards that come their way, some very belated, and what happened to several of their close wartime friends.

I listened to this as an audio book narrated by the author.  Her time in media is evident, as she has a clear voice that is easy to understand. My only criticism is there were a few small sections where the recording sounds almost AI to me, but that was very rare. Overall the recording is well done. Kudos to the author on a well researched and expansive recount of Guy and Sonia's story. 

Buy the Book:  Amazon US ~ Amazon CA

Meet the Author -

Nahlah Ayed is an award-winning veteran of foreign reporting: first, in the Middle East where she spent nearly a decade covering the region’s many conflicts. And later, while based in London, she covered many of the major stories of our time: Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Europe’s refugee crisis, the Brexit vote and its fallout.

A former parliamentary reporter for The Canadian Press, Nahlah is a graduate of Carleton University's Master of Journalism program. She also holds a Master's degree in interdisciplinary studies (Philosophy, English and Science) and a Bachelor of Science in genetics from the University of Manitoba.

Among her many awards and distinctions are: a Prix Italia she won in 2011, for a team-produced multi-media project, “Exile Without End”, about a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut.

In 2012, her book, A Thousand Farewells, was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award. In 2016, Nahlah Ayed and her team won "Story of the Year" at the UK Foreign Press Association Awards for their documentary on child labour in India. In 2017, she won won a photojournalism award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for her story, “The Rescuers.”

She also holds three honorary doctorates from the University of Manitoba (2008), Concordia University (2016) and the University of Alberta (2018).

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