“Demetrios tells this fascinating story in an uber-modern narrative voice that is snarky AF, LOL, with plenty of hits to the patriarchy and a glorious sense of celebrating Dindy’s badassery. It’s breezy and lighthearted in tone but meticulously well-researched, including interviews with Dindy’s surviving family. A remarkable telling of an extraordinary woman. ”
Code Name Verity meets Inglourious Basterds in this riotous, spirited biography of the most dangerous of all Allied spies, courageous and kickass Virginia Hall.
When James Bond was still in diapers,
Virginia Hall was behind enemy lines, playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Hitler’s henchmen. Did this shero have second thoughts after a terrible accident left her needing a wooden leg? Please. Virginia Hall was the baddest broad in any room she walked into. When the State Department proved to be a sexist boy’s club that wouldn’t allow her in, she gave the finger to society’s expectations of women and became a spy for the British. This boss lady helped arm and train the French Resistance and organized sabotage missions. There was just one problem: the Butcher of Lyon, a notorious Gestapo commander, was after her. But, hey, Virginia’s classmates didn’t call her “the Fighting Blade” for nothing.
So how does a girl who was a pirate in the school play, spent her childhood summers milking goats, and rocked it on the hockey field end up becoming the Gestapo’s most wanted spy?
Audacious, irreverent, and fiercely feminist, Code Name Badass is for anyone who doesn’t take no for an answer.
“Badass hardly seems adequate to describe Virginia Hall or this book! Heather Demetrios has found a tragically under-known World War II icon and not only brought her story to life, but done it in vivid, meticulous, fantastic detail. I devoured this book.”
“A ripping spy story with a generous side of stand-up comedy - a fresh twist on history.”
The Virginia Hall section starts at 5:23 🕵️♀️
“...a conversational recounting of Hall’s heroism. Frequent first-person asides and ample pop culture references make even the more mundane details highly readable, while enabling Demetrios to call out the sexism and ableism Hall experienced both during the war and later at the CIA.
...Demetrios provides a thoroughly researched history of “La dame qui boite,” and those just discovering Dindy will be convinced that she was, in fact, a badass. ”
Find badass Wherever books are sold
*** Signed & Personalized Copies From Subtext Books ****
This is the audiobook you’ve been waiting for! So. Much. Fun.
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“I would give anything to lay my hands on that…bitch.”
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Photo courtesy of Lorna Catling
All Things Badass
Badass Playlist, videos, Virginia Hall photos, discussion guides, Badass Blog, FAQ’s, & more.
““Demetrios shines a bright light on a spy whose heroic life has been in the shadows for far too long. Like Virginia, Code Name Badass is irreverent, brash, smart and true. It’s the real deal. Get it.”
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“😂 Replete with expletives…which might…turn off traditionalists…an enlightening account of a heroine worth knowing.
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