Margins
Secret Sparrow book cover
Secret Sparrow
2023
First Published
4.42
Average Rating
300
Number of Pages

This is the story of women who fought during WW1, but not as nurses or ambulance drivers. In 1917 sixteen-year-old Jean McLain is working as a Post Office assistant in England. But when she wins a national Morse code competition, the British army makes a request Jean cannot refuse – to take a secret position as a signaller in France. If Jean can keep the signals flowing between the soldiers at the Front and at headquarters, Britain might possibly win the war. But the British army are determined to hide their desperation – they will go on to burn every document that showed how women and girls were working behind the scenes, in the trenches, and even in battles during World War I. Decades later, and half a world away, an old woman on a motorbike tells the young man she has rescued from a flash flood the story of 'the telegraph girl': the friends she lost, the man who loved her, and the happiness she so surprisingly found again. Based on true events, this story of adventure, courage and unshakable loyalty restores women and girls to their place in history that the authorities tried to erase.

Avg Rating
4.42
Number of Ratings
226
5 STARS
50%
4 STARS
41%
3 STARS
8%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Author

Jackie French
Jackie French
Author · 157 books
Jackie is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator and the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2014-2015. She is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors, and writes across all genres - from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi to her much loved historical fiction. In her capacity as Australian Children’s Laureate, ‘Share a Story’ will be the primary philosophy behind Jackie’s two-year term.
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