Introduction

How did a young lady from a wealthy family in Maryland end up as the Gestapo’s most wanted spy? This YA biography of Virginia Hall, World War II’s most successful female spy, will inspire reluctant readers and budding history buffs alike.

Virginia Hall, known to her family as “Dindy,” was an athletic, outdoorsy girl who dreamed of joining the foreign service and becoming an ambassador. Despite numerous setbacks, including losing her leg to gangrene after an accident, Virginia never wavered in her determination to serve her country. After the outbreak of World War II, a chance meeting on a train changed her life—George Bellows, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, recruited her as one of its first women agents. Working for Allied intelligence services in France, Virginia Hall organized French resistance fighters, performed daring rescues, and provided the Allies with intelligence that was key for ousting the Nazis and earned her numerous medals, including the US Army’s Distinguished Service Cross.

With chapters titled for each of the many aliases and nicknames used by Virginia Hall, this book takes readers through her extraordinary life and her evolution as a resistance fighter and intelligence operative. Award-winning author Claudia Friddell brings Virginia Hall’s bravery, intelligence, and determination to life in this thoroughly researched and photo-filled biography endorsed by Hall’s family.

Reviews:
"Traces the exciting life of a pioneering spy who became the CIA's first tenured woman officer... the short chapters, plentiful photos, and ample white space makes this inviting to readers overwhelmed by dense text... a satisfying introduction to a remarkable woman's influential contributions to espionage."—Kirkus Reviews

"Friddell’s love letter to a lesser-known WWII spy presents an impressive true story in an inviting format... A riveting exploration of Virginia Hall's life and work, especially her undercover escapades, told with as much ease and enjoyment as a wartime spy mystery."—Booklist

"This inspiring tale of courage, intelligence, and determination introduces Virginia Hall, one of history’s most remarkable, but relatively unknown, heroes... This biography is a good addition to a secondary school’s biography collection. Readers who enjoy stories of bravery, espionage, and strong female figures will find Hall’s story both thrilling and inspiring."–School Library Journal

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Excerpt

DINDY

Virginia Hall might have been the name on her birth certificate, but thanks to a nickname from her brother, John, Dindy was the name that stuck. Most young girls of Baltimore society a century ago were expected to follow in their mothers’ ladylike footsteps— but Dindy made a path of her own.

Never one to mind getting her hands dirty, her feet wet, or her body bruised, Dindy was happiest riding horses and hunting with her father and brother at Boxhorn Farm— the Halls’ country estate outside Baltimore.

When Dindy’s father, Ned, wasn’t leading the way in outdoor adventures on the family farm, he was busy providing indoor adventures at his movie theaters— magical places where reels of film brought the outside world to Baltimore.

For generations the Halls had been fascinated by cultures vastly different and worlds away from Maryland shores.

At the age of nine, Dindy’s grandfather stowed away on his sea captain father’s clipper ship, and later captained a ship of his own that brought Asian goods to America.

While many of their friends crossed the Chesapeake Bay for seaside vacations, Dindy’s family crossed the Atlantic Ocean for European adventures.

From her very first transatlantic voyage at the age of four, Dindy stowed away a love for Europe.

When Dindy wasn’t chasing after her brother at Boxhorn Farm, or exploring foreign countries with her family, she was blazing her own unique trail at Roland Park Country School— an all-girls school in Baltimore.

Never once in twelve years at RPCS did she hear— You can’t do that, you’re a girl! Because, unlike in the outside world, every club and team at Dindy’s school was not only made up of girls— they were all led by girls. Nicknamed the Fighting Blade by her ninth-grade classmates, Dindy was a natural leader in sports, student government, and school activities. She was often her own harshest critic, but her devoted classmates gave her an endearing tribute on her yearbook senior page:

She is, by her own confession, cantankerous and capricious, but in spite of it all we would not do without her; for she is our class-president, the editor-in-chief of this book, and one of the mainstays of the basket-ball and hockey teams. She has been acclaimed the most original of our class, and she lives up to her reputation at all times. The one thing to expect from Dind is the unexpected.

It was certainly unexpected the day Dindy surprised her classmates by wearing a favorite new bracelet to school— a live, slithering garter snake coiled around her wrist.

Dindy, inspired by Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It, made it clear on her senior page just how much she valued her independence when she stated

I must have liberty, withal as large a charter as I please.

Dindy had no way of knowing then of the bold sacrifices she would later make to prove her own independence— or the extraordinary risks she would take to defend and preserve liberty for so many others.

Mr. Hall encouraged his daughter’s independent nature, and while Mrs. Hall accepted Dindy’s free spirit, she still expected her beautiful, bright, and accomplished daughter to join the path of other young ladies of Baltimore society by marrying a worthy husband and starting a family nearby. But in 1920, when Dindy was fourteen, a family visit to London’s American embassy dashed Barbara Hall’s dreams for her daughter and steered Dindy toward a different path— one that didn’t include a husband, a family, or a home in Maryland.

Once she learned American ambassadors represented the United States in foreign countries, Dindy decided this was her destiny.

She wasn’t the least bit discouraged when her father explained there were no female ambassadors— it only fueled Dindy’s determination. After all, being a girl had never gotten in the way of her dreams before.

A maverick at home and at school, Dindy was ready to take her first step toward a future

most women didn’t want and couldn’t get in the 1920s— an overseas job in the United States Foreign Service.

With her father’s blessing, and her mother’s disapproval, Roland Park’s most original student set off on a most unexpected journey, leaving her hometown and her nickname behind. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the publisher:

1. How do you think Virginia’s upbringing and her childhood at Boxhorn Farm may have influenced her choices and her ability to overcome obstacles?

2. Virginia was a leader in many different areas at Roland Park Country School, the all-girls school she attended for 12 years: sports, yearbook, plays, student government. How do you think the experience of not having male classmates may have influenced girls in the early 1900’s?

3. Resilient, determined, resourceful—these are words often used to describe Virginia. Give two or three examples of when she exhibits each of these traits.

4. Have you or anyone close to you experienced obstacles that might have interfered with pursuing your/their dreams? Can you give examples of ways you/they could overcome these obstacles?

5. Virginia was especially close to her father and was devastated when he died unexpectedly. How did he continue to inspire her after his death?

6. Virginia Hall refused public recognition of the highest civilian honors from U.S., British, and French governments so her identity would not be revealed, and she could continue her espionage work. Why do you think she still refused to acknowledge or discuss her spy experiences after she retired from the CIA?

7. Virginia experienced many harrowing situations. Choose one of the following and describe how you think you would handle the same situation: an accidental hunting accident, crossing the Pyrenees in the winter with a wooden leg, driving a battlefield ambulance, having a house searched by Nazi soldiers. What qualities do you have that would help you navigate this situation?

8. What do you most admire about Virginia Hall? If you could meet her, what would you like to ask her? Do you have traits in common with Virginia? If so, which ones?

9. Why do you think the author, Claudia Friddell, chose to write Virginia Hall’s story in this format?

Weblinks

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