Today's
Washington Post Book World carries Selwa Roosevelt's review of a new biograpy of Vera Atkins, written by Sarah Helm:
The author faced a formidable task in researching and writing this book: Not only did she have to unravel covert SOE operations, but she found that Atkins had personal secrets of her own. Tall, fair and strikingly good-looking, Atkins was admired and feared but not particularly loved. Time and again, she was described as distant and cold. She never married, and she was very discreet about any romantic affairs. According to Helm, behind her exterior was much she wanted to conceal. Hers was a story worthy of a Hollywood movie -- and, indeed, it has been rumored that Atkins was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's Miss Moneypenny.
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