Omer 2025 Day 11

Day 10 | Day 12

Day 11: A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win WWII by Sonia Purnell
Netzach in Gevurah, Endurance/Victory in Strength/Bravery

I recommend this book often. Of the many non-fiction books that have and will be featured here during the omer, this might be the one I recommend the most. It is the true story of Virginia Hall, an American spy for the British in Nazi-occupied France. Hall embodied endurance through strength. She lost her leg in a shooting accident, but she endured and was even able to use her wooden leg later as a spy. She was an American who wanted to serve in WWII before the US entered the war, so she approached the British. She was a woman who wanted to serve the war effort, and she became a spy, using the expectations of and assumptions about women to her advantage. She ran a successful spy ring in Nazi-occupied France, becoming an important contact in the region. Her strength of character, determination, and bravery helped secure victory for the Allies in WWII, and brought to her own life the sense of adventure and purpose she sought.