The Undercover Secretary

By: Ellie Midwood

Narrated by: Annette Chown

France, 1942. “With tremendous effort, I forced myself to hold his gaze. My heart was thrashing inside my chest like a bird battering its wings. The room was suddenly devoid of air. Time itself stood still. They knew who I was. They knew what I’d done.” This heartbreaking World War Two story tells the incredible true story Dora Schaul, one of history’s most courageous women.

It was a misty Wednesday morning. Inside the Gestapo headquarters, you could cut the tension with a knife. There was a traitor in their midst: Someone had leaked a list of the SS to the British press.

The head of the Gestapo called me into his office. Paneled oak walls, a grand piano in the corner, rugs lining the floor—the place where he ordered executions every day.

I sat at the desk, reaching for the typewriter and adjusting the paper. On the wall, the clock ticked loudly.

He stood over me; I could almost feel his breath on my neck. “I don’t know where the leak came from. Do you?” he asked.

I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling. I was sure he could hear the thrashing of my heart.

Because I wasn’t just a secretary: I was an undercover Jewish girl. The person who fetched them tea, typed their letters, and made them laugh was their enemy. And my day of reckoning had arrived....

Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network, and The Lilac Girls will be utterly swept away.

©2023 Ellie Midwood (P)2023 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Misleading

The story is good, but the title is misleading. Dora didn’t become a secretary to the Nazi until the last several chapters. The beginning was interesting and engaging. This is more factually a novel about a girl fighting in the resistance movement. The narrator was excellent.

Review

Story jumped around and was difficult to follow at times. Disconnected story Line in my opinion.

Fantastic story

This is an amazing story bringing to life the heroic actions of resistance fighters and the protagonist specifically. My only dissatisfaction is the use of phraseology and readers with heavily British accents for characters clearly not British.

awesome story

A truly gripping original story, more need to read these to understand what is going on in our world right now. Thank you to Dora.

To all the Heroes of War many thank for your service.

This was a wonderful scary story of a remarkable woman. I want to to thank the writer for taking on this story. Yes I want to thank Audible for selecting to produce this book. And remind people that it really happened & thank the every one who fought for rights to human dignity. And hope we do not see another war like this one.

Wonderfully well written!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the writing was superb! I highly recommend it for everyone especially for women to be inspired by a female hero!!

Where’s the Meat?

Felt like the story only skimmed the surface. Wouldn’t recommend. No depth to characters or settings

Great story of a true heroine!

Great story! Loved hearing the true love story of this courageous person! It is a definite listen again.

Wonderful story loved the characters

I really enjoyed this book. The story line was vast and covered different areas and timelines for Dora and her family and friends. I always enjoy knowing the book was based on a true story. WWll timeline has so many heroic stories about people overcoming the unimaginable. Thank you for sharing Dora's story. I will add this one to my list of favorites.

Nothing new or interesting, not really a secretary til the end

Hard to call it Undercover Secretary, when she’s only a secretary at the end. The communist leanings were a bit much. Not a fan.