Through Her Lens by Melissa Clark Bacon

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fabulous

Millie is a photographic interpreter at RAF Medmenham where it is her job to scour photos to help to prove the existence of the V1 and V2 weapons that at this point are believed by many to not exist 

Millie is a fascinating character, and as the daughter to an Earl who is also high up in the RAF and the security services among other things, and she is used to doing what her father tells her even though she wants to rebel against that and pursue her dreams to photograph the women who so often go unseen. As the story continues, Millie starts to develop as a character and begins to realise that in order to get what she wants, she may need to stand up to her father and allow her true self to come forward 

The world of photo intelligence in WW2 is so often overlooked, the pilots flew unarmed planes with cameras onboard instead of weapons and the photos they took then got analysed by interpreters for information which then got passed up the chain. It was these people who would be able to confirm where to attack and if a bombing raid had been successful but in a time where so many signed the Official Secrets Act their work is often hidden away. It was fascinating to read about the search for the V weapons and how they went about it and a part of me really wants to try the technique for making 2D photos into 3D described 

It was a world that I didn’t really know much about and this book pulled me in and kept me reading. The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because it is clearly written with an American audience in mind with a lot of terms for things that aren’t in use in the UK, silly things like railroad instead of railway etc, which did keep pulling me out of the story but that’s just the obsessive in me. This probably won’t cause any issues for most people but for me it somehow detracted from the story which was otherwise so well written and engaging 

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a story about the unseen people, those who made a difference with a heroine who you will love

AM 🐾 x