How women helped win WWII--and inspire my urban fantasy novel
Raise
your hand if, like me, you’ve forgotten a few details about the Second World
War since taking high school history (note: if you are currently taking high
school history, finish reading this awesome guest post then promptly return to
studying).
While
many of us can give a general outline of the war, and even name a few key
figures (who could forget Winston Churchill?), very few of us have heard of the
brave women who made up the Special Operations Executive--SOE. Yes my fellow
readers, women did more than collect metal scraps and take over factory
work--I’m talking about spying on the Nazis, smuggling weapons and supplies
across the French border, and transmitting secret codes to the Americans and
British.
One
SOE operative, Violette Szabo, had one of the bravest showdowns with Nazis
which ended in a fierce gunfight and (unfortunately) her capture. Pearl
Witherington wreaked so much havoc that she was probably the only woman the
Third Reich put a $1 million bounty on--she emerged victorious, and died
peacefully in February 2008.
There
are many more stories like these, and all were equally fascinating to me as I
composed the setting for my urban fantasy story, “The Tower’s Alchemist.” The
novel is based on an alternate WWII history where the Nazis unleash occult
powers and the Allies employ wizards to stand in their way. One wizard who
joins the fight is Isabella George, an SOE agent who’s torn between her sense
of duty and her desire to retire to a normal life where she can find love and
raise a family. As friends and colleagues disappear, she knows that if she
continues that she’ll meet the same fate.
The
stakes are raised even higher when she discovers a warlock is stalking her in
order to steal her powers, and that the very people who trained her as a wizard
may be her greatest enemy.
Hopefully
amidst the suspense and magic of the story, readers will also appreciate the
real history that served as a rich backdrop for the book. Of course I could
never do the women of SOE justice, but hopefully “The Tower’s Alchemist” will
give a little nudge in their direction as a way of saying, “You need to check
out these amazing real life heroines!”
----------------------------------------------------
Alesha
Escobar writes fantasy and urban fantasy to support her chocolate habit. She
enjoys reading, watching movies, and crafts. She is the author of “The
Tower’s Alchemist,” the first book of The Gray Tower
Trilogy.
Check out author Elsha Escobar's Site for more information: http://www.aleshaescobar.com
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