Like the best historical novels, The Rose Code has a large portion of fact to support the story. The characters are just stupendous! And like the jobs of WWII code breakers, the tension builds and eases through the novel but certainly keeps the reader glued to the page. This was an uplifting and enlightening read.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC to read and review.

Review will be posted on 3/12/21

Osla Kendall isn't your typical debutante for 1940; she is being recruited by Bletchley Park, which is a sprawling country estate that secretly trains people to break German codes. Osla, who is Prince Philip's girlfriend, is fluent in German, so this will come in handy. While on the train to Bletchley Park, she meets Mab Churt, who is entirely different than her and will become her roommate. Mab doesn't come from money, but she is well read and determined to rise. They are staying in the village at a local family's home and that is how they meet Beth. Beth's mother treats her as if she is dim witted and makes her practically her servant, but Beth isn't daft. She is quite the opposite despite what her mother tells her. The three girls quickly become friends and before they know it, Beth is working at Bletchley Park as well. The story also jumps to 1947, which is the year of Queen Elizabeth's wedding. It's also the year that Osla and Mab receive a cryptic letter that puts these three women back together again despite the war being over. Kate Quinn's The Rose Code is a brilliant historical read that kept me captivated.

When there are three strong women in a story, sometimes I am drawn to one woman's story over another, but that wasn't the case in The Rose Code. I really enjoyed all three women, their diverse backgrounds, and all they had to offer. Osla is dating Prince Philip, so I loved that aspect of the story despite the fact that we all know how that ends. I found her to be really captivating and not your typical debutante. Mab was also interesting in that she grew up poor, but was determined to make something of herself, including finding a suitable husband. She has some secrets she wants to hide from, but war time has a way of uncovering everyone's secrets. Also, I felt sorry for Beth in The Rose Code. Her mother is a nightmare and I couldn't wait for her to escape her clutches and to realize how much she really does have to offer. While I didn't always agree with her decisions, I really enjoyed her story and how she was one of the first female cryptanalysts.

Quinn brings Bletchley Park to life and the ins and outs of code breaking in The Rose Code. I was completely enthralled by the idea that women and men worked together to break German military codes and in turn, saved lives. Readers can tell that Quinn really researched this topic, because the historical details were outstanding. I loved every aspect of the code breaking and following along to see if they could crack the codes. However, there's a traitor right in front of their noses and things certainly get crazy. In 1947, the women start wondering who exactly is the traitor and who can they trust?

My only issue with The Rose Code was the length. It is a really long read and at some points the place slowed down a bit and got repetitive, but overall, the plot was gripping, the characters were well done, and the story was memorable. It's everything you could want in a historical read. If you are a historical fiction fan, don't miss The Rose Code.

Are you a fan of Kate Quinn? Is The Rose Code on your TBR list? Let me know in the comments below.

The Rose Code tells the story of three women striving to prove themselves to be more than they're portrayed against the epic backdrop of WWII. These women find themselves in the shadowy world of Bletchley Park, the notorious code breaking center in England during the war. They are surrounded by secrets they aren't allowed to share, and spend their days working to make the difference for the Allied side.

Kate Quinn has written a number of novels sent during the World War period from a number of different angles, and this one fits right in with her earlier efforts. It is incredibly well-researched and well-written, and Quinn really has a special talent for putting you right in the center of the action. I've already begun recommending this one to everyone I know!

Having previously read The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, I was eager to read The Rose Code, and I found it to be every bit as good as I expected. I love historical fiction where I learn about a new piece of history, and the history of the codebreakers who worked at Bletchley Park in England was new to me. The fact that many of the codebreakers were women makes the story even more fascinating. I was thrilled to find out from the epilogue that many of the book's characters were based on real people.

Even though this book is more than 600 pages long, the plot moved along so quickly that it didn't feel that long. The story was fleshed out very well with realistic characters that the reader could really get to know and feel compassion for.

With excellent writing, captivating characters and a fascinating story, this book was a joy to read.

I will enthusiastically recommend this to readers who enjoy historical fiction, as this one stands out among the plethora of World War II fiction.

Many thanks to the publisher, William Morrow and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Oh, My Gosh! Go get this book! WWII is such an amazing era. Not because of the war, but because of the amazing people who lived during that time and the things they had to do to continue living. The Rose Code is the story of three amazing young women whose job it is to break code. They work in huts and must keep everything a secret. No sharing what they learn…with anyone.

Osla is dating Prince Philip and has everything a girl could want but she wants more. She wants to prove that she is not just a society girl. Mab wants to move up in society and away from the poverty she was born into. Beth is a mouse of girl who does everything her mother says but is brilliant in solving puzzles. They seem an unlikely trio, but they work together, live together, and become best friends.

As they figure out how to live their lives, they find a fight that they cannot get past and do not speak to each other for several years. When a call for help brings them back together, bringing their history as codebreakers into their lives again, they cannot help but step up and do what is necessary. I really enjoyed seeing how their history came back around in their present. The tension was obvious but doing a job they were trained to do is most important.

Kate Quinn wrote a WWII book about a part of WWII that I had not heard of before. I am now looking for more stories set around Bletchley Park.

This newest historical fiction novel by Kate Quinn focuses on the lives of three women brought together by WWII and Bletchley Park, where they are codebreakers. I fell in love with these amazingly developed characters. I both cried and laughed with them throughout as they became friends and then enemies, experienced love, and faced extreme loss. The story switches back and forth between the past, wartime, and the present, the days leading up to the Royal Wedding of now Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, until time ultimately enmeshes together in the takedown of a traitor amongst them.

Thank you to William Morrow and Custom House, Harper Collins Publishers, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Kate Quinn's "The Rose Code" is set in England during the Second World War. Osla Kendall, the daughter of a wealthy and self-absorbed woman, is furious that people dismiss her as an empty-headed debutante. The timid and insecure Beth Finch is unlucky enough to have a fanatically religious and abusive mother. Mab Churt rounds out the trio; she longs to find a decent husband and provide a good life for her young sister, Lucy. Osla, Beth, and Mab join Bletchley Park's staff, where brilliant people team up to decrypt enemy codes. The ladies become close friends who support one another through tough times. Unfortunately, a series of tragic events lead to a painful falling-out that leaves them angry and embittered.

The author piques our curiosity and holds our interest as she moves back and forth between the war years and 1947. The novel engages us with its lively humor, heated confrontations, and scenes of devastating heartbreak. Not only will fans of historical fiction be impressed by the codebreakers' exploits, but they will also enjoy the camaraderie between the valiant men and women who contributed so much to the war effort, but were forbidden to speak about their work to outsiders.

"The Rose Code" has its share of clichés and coincidences, and the conclusion is a bit bit too tidy. However, it is hard to resist a story that features brainy and courageous heroines, torrid liaisons, and a frantic search for an elusive traitor. Quinn entertains us with colorful period dialogue, appearances by such real-life figures as Winston Churchill and Prince Philip, and an intense, nail-biting finale.

The Rose Code is a lot like the honey that spilled on the tea shelf in my cupboard. I have worked for mighty an hour trying to get that damn sticky residue off ( Hailey’s Hints, where are you?) but its residue is still there. It remains. So does this book. And it will even as I have moved onto other book worlds.

I know… I should lure you like so “With a pinch of the Imitation Game and a decided appeal for viewers of The Crown, The Rose Code is an experience that decrypts the nuance of human nature as a nerdy war is fought in codes and ciphers far from the front lines."

There. If that’s what you needed, take it and buy it.


And I could say "Her snark and irreverent humour coupled with the inherent poetry that boasts history. You’re in company of the best type of writer where you instinctively know the research was arduous because she speaks its language so fluently. And yet so immersively she never draws you out of the story to slap you across the head with it. The inner workings of the cog like world chugged through secrets and codes ticks like the Typex tape and is interrupted by the camaraderie and romance afforded women with an extraordinary opportunity."

Or I could just ramble on with paragraphs and sentences sewn from many notes and quotes in my iphone note app!

Queen Kate is an author I’ve been aware of for a long while. I read Mistress of Rome in the dawn of the dinosaurs and when The Alice Network launched like a freaking catapult, blasting everyone with its word-of-mouth praise, I joined the raucous cry. A friend whose opinion ne’er steered me wrong had me jumping off the subway two stops early to high-tail it into a bookstore and nab it. I stayed up til 4 am on a work night. By Christmas I had gifted five copies while retaining two of my own.


And then there’s my husband Ian Graham in The Huntress !! Oh Ian!

Anyhowsers, I stalk Kate Quinn on social like the rest of us and when I found out she was doing Bletchley Park I lost my freaking mind. I texted a million people saying “Kate Quinn is doing Bletchley” which is short hand for: omg omgomgogmogmogmogomgmog like all my catnip.


And it works, kittens, it works.

Now Ye Olde Book Gush has taken a long time because work has been intense and it means that while I savoured this book once through and then returned for revisits to favourite scenes and quotes, it has often been at a point in the day when I have few of my own words left. But that is a-ok, you lot, because Quinn has enough words in the perfect order for all of us.


Quinn’s current thesis (see Alice, see Huntress) asserts that the war ripples and it is in these ripples cast from its stone that people through memory, trauma, loss and revenge are able to reinvent themselves through the puzzles of the past. Here, literally, as three women late of Bletchley Park and vaulted by the Official Secrets Act revisit codes and ciphers as the historic Royal Wedding.

Quinn’s post-war ripples are not about solidifying the good old days, no, but by painting how the era postlude allowed the women changed by war’s grief and uncertainty and their subsequent relinquishing to their old roles (wives, mothers, housewives, sugar rations, where is my stocking?) force them to meet themselves for the first time. By cleverly using the split-time motif ( Eve’s missions for the “Queen of Spies” countered with Charlie’s search for family lost and found in The Alice Network, Nina’s love and loss as she paints the furious skies coupled with her new relationships forged in revenge in The Huntress) , Quinn is not just pandering to a popular mode, she is making a statement piece. We fall for strong women when their circumstances expect them to rise to the extraordinary; but we meet them as humans when the adrenaline has tapered off.

So let it be with Rose Code.

***

“Three girls and a book, that was how it all began.”
And so it does. In 1950 as women pin their hair in victory rolls and attempt to flounce rationed fabric into looks befitting a royal wedding. They’ve swallowed the horrors of war down as best they can with sugar cards and grainy flour. But they all have a past. And what a past.
A past that culminates inside the clock where one of three friends bonded by war finds the hands ticking toward a fate worse than war.

Our historic story ushers in Mab--- Queen Mab—stolen as eloquently and larger than life than as bewitches Mercutio in his soliloquy to the same: she is tall and striking and desperate to etch out a life as a socialite.


Osla, late of Canada ( natch!) who has hallmark channeled her way to a prince boyfriend in a haze of nose-tickling champagne and dancing shoes. Not just any prince but Philip of Greece ( That Prince Philip of Greece)


Bethan, or Beth, trapped like Alice when she swallows a potion that makes her too small against the leviathan judgment of her religiously abusive mother.

Bletchley Park was a female orbit and so each are given a hefty, dimensional spin.

***


You guys have read my gushes before and they rarely center on plot. So, let’s get those cohesive expectations out of the way and speak to experience. All the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ways that Quinn has become her own trademark blend of humour, suspense, research so diamond-like in its quality you want to melt and savour it, and punctuated romance. Yes, punctuated, kids ( but more on that later).


And what makes Quinn the best resounding bell of feminism is that she is far more nuanced a writer than one who weakens men to uplift women. Bletchley was, indeed ( as Quinn displays) a woman’s domain: The WRENs stirring the rotors of the magnificent Bombe machines, listening to crackly wireless signals in Chicksands and tapping out imperfect sequences in hopes of unveiling something that didn’t look like gibberish across a tape roll.


Then, there is Bletchley itself—the characters tripping over the many shifts and changes of their job much as they did the sprawling manor grounds in the pitch black…
And the timeline never lags, the 600 plus pages turn (or swipe in the case of my digital arc) at a pace meted perfectly to balance the post-war and war year sequences. I especially enjoy the ephemera used in the inclusion of a Lady Whistledown like rag that speaks to the gossip and very real day to day in many chapter-starting montages.



When Quinn introduces real-life figures, she does so delicately and more to heighten not only the immersive sense of the worlds she creates, but to bolster the likelihood that women like Mab, Osla and Beth are reflections of the very real heroism experiences in pilled, fingerless gloves, endless Ovaltine and cherished lipsticks. Ian Fleming shows up, Churchill too. Alan Turing looms lean and enigmatic while Commander Denniston is as orderly as if he were at the bough of a ship. Dilly, or Alfred Dillwyn Knox, is given the human touch. He ushers in a new layer of our belief in Beth.

But as magnanimous as these figures are, and the looming Royal Wedding in a countdown that mimics the roters clicking out their secrets on Agnus Dei in Hut 8 or inside the clock with Beth, it is the daily and slow introspection of each of these women’s secrets that chug out a fully immersive read. Mab slowly gets to know Francis’ PTSD through the gorgeous poetry that does little to hide a mind still rattled by the Great War. And in turn slowly reveals hidden secrets of her own. Beth slowly rises to stand up to her mother and recognize—from the adoption of a stray dog to a pint in a pub with a book club to her growing chemistry with Harry Zarb, that she is more than the sum of the life dealt for her. And Osla learns the hard truths of love for a commoner set on being anything but common.


The men, as is customary in a Quinn tale, function rather like Chris Pine in Wonder Woman: their recognition and bolstering of the strong women who intercept their path is a favourite of mine. Quinn always does this: portrays men secure enough in themselves that they can not only handle but also fall hard for women usurping traditionally men’s roles. WWII, of course, is a goldmine for shifting ideologies and a wonderful canvas on which to show which men adapt and which stay stagnantly behind as women earn their place. This only helps to infuse the romance plots with an added mental spark:

And that's what I love about Quinn's work. The romance punctuates but never overtakes the plot. Yet for all the female competence porn it is bolstered by men who respect the remarkable women their dealt with like unexpected hands -- as equals. And it is this respect and acknowledgment that not only rounds them out as desirable but offers us a human portal to the almost indefatigable and determined and indestructible heroines. Take Eve for example strong enough to curse her way through a war or two, acerbic and smart and having withstood the worst torture. Take Nina our Night Witch with her death defying language and slash of a razor blade. Without the men to counterpart their extraordinary talents we lose a bit of the humanity. A bit of accessibility. And a bit of awe. Romance becomes a device as carefully threaded as a secret cipher or a red herring or a traitor haunting the rickety Arctic huts



And how could we not talk about the codebreaking: Quinn details the complexity of the codes spun out and transcribed in the Bletchley huts with a logic and scientific precision that makes them accessible to the reader but reserves enough of the layman’s mystery that we recognize how these intelligent women must rise to their challenges re-set every day. Of course, just as time is running out for Beth in a literal and figurative way, so the suspense of a traitor within the Park is held over us yet never portentously. The clues are there and sew up well; but the reveal is made more delightful because the human interest piece is as crucial to the revelation than the metrics of the mystery unfurling long after Bletchley is abandoned.



So the book broke my heart: broke it for the poetry that drained and the words lost by people lost, and the camaraderie severed by inconvenient peace, broke it for the lives lost and the codes never broken. Broke it for the champagne nights and loud music ironed out into white satin and royal expectation. Broke it for the women who tucked their Bletchley secrets as they might crocheted doilies into a trousseau.

Broke my heart because it is just so freaking psychologically, wonderfully, magnetically good.


The Rose Code is a treatise in appreciation of all whose truth is swept under the carpet for the greater good. It’s a rallying cry for women not to outdo each other in terms of competence or intelligence, but to outdo themselves. The triumph here is in survival: not just of body but of mind. These women sharpened their minds and resolves to win a war that forced their silence.
And it’s all well and good.

But my triumph is that they were here in the first place: women captured and presented in Mab and Osla and Beth. They become symbols and representation, the smartest type of archetype.
Makes me wanna go out and conquer the world all while falling for some dashed handsome poet who will step out of the way so I can shine. Freaking love this book to the skies. Makes you want to turn on your brain and best the boys--- all while, you know, stealing a kiss in the background. Makes you wanna go out and find a man who knows when to slide a note under the bathroom door but also how to write languid poetry with the word “serpentine” in it. Because under his gaze you’ll be even more a smart-strong-tough princess than the name gifted Osla by her, well, actual prince.

For all of the isolation and cloistered captivity of our present world, The Rose Code is a relatable balm: close quarters, distance from lovers and family. A new day with a new set of rules as Enigma’s settings were turned back to their starting point. A pandemic-mirror of the redunacy of routine. When the women are shocked out of even slightly its just freaking delicious.

If you can find some armour in synchronizing with the past, then do so here.



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Listen, I had every expectation that The Rose Code would be fantastic because Kate Quinn is an amazing writer, but this far exceeded my expectations. Kate Quinn fully transported me to 1940s Bletchley Park and made it feel absolutely alive to me, and her three fantastic main characters- Mab, Osla, and Beth- were incredibly drawn. With these three characters, Kate Quinn showcased a variety of talents and backgrounds that brought workers to BP and how many different skills and resources were needed to run this critical place. Thanks to the highly secretive nature of their work, there are probably so many stories from this place that have been lost to time, but Kate Quinn really drove home how important what happened here was to the war effort and history. I was completely wrapped up in this immersive story, and there were some moments that were absolutely heart pounding, while there were plenty of moments of humor and heart as the story showcased different aspects of life at BP and of the personal lives of the main characters. This is not one to miss!

If you love watching The Crown and enjoy World War II novels, this book will appeal to you. Three vastly different women answer the call to help Britain. In 1940, they join the supersecret work at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. They are working on decoding the Nazi military messages. Moving back and forth between 1940 and 1947 where the Royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip is the news of the day. Its personal, because Osla, one of the Bletchley Park women working on translating the German messages into English, has dated Prince Phillip. Beth whose parents despise an education for women, turns into one of the top decoders and finds herself spirited off to a mental institution because she has been decoding Russian messages which show a traitor is working at Bletchley Park. Meg, the third of the women, lost her husband and child in a German air raid and deals with coming to terms with her future. After the war, with Beth held captive in the mental asylum, Osla and Meg go their own ways only to reunite with Beth to catch the traitor who is still working for Russian intelligence. And it all comes to a whizbang of an ending, during the Royal Wedding in London as they capture the traitor. I listened to the audio version. With the number of characters with dialogue, Saskia Maarleveld was the right narrator for the story. She’s up to the task of creating both female and male voices.

Kate Quinn has accomplished creating an even better novel than The Huntress. The characters were so well developed, pulled at my heartstrings, and I was so sad for the story to end. This was an amazing historical fiction that involved codebreakers whose job was to decipher the German's coded messages during WWII. I knew it was going to be super interesting - and I was NOT disappointed! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction, female-focused stories, and great writing/characters!

I received an advance Kindle copy of this book from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity.

Osla Kendall, a wealthy socialite fluent in German with ties to the royal family, Mab Churt, an ambitious young woman with a secret who grew up poor and is now attempting to better herself, and Beth Finch, a shy, intelligent spinster with a brain for crossword puzzles and daughter of a domineering mother, would only have met in the extreme circumstances that came together during WWII at Bletchley Park. Historians have estimated that these three fictional ladies along with many other codebreakers, both men and women at Bletchley Park, just northeast of London, shortened the war by two years, thus saving millions of lives.

The dual timeline begins in November 1947, just days before the wedding of Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth. Osla has dated Prince Philip in the early 1940s, Beth is now a patient at Clockwell Sanatorium, and Mab has a husband and children.

A previous timeline takes the reader back to December 1939 with war on the immediate horizon. Mab is looking for more from life and is aware that war will mean opportunities for change. Osla, a Canadian with no particular place to call home, has just celebrated New Years Eve with Prince Philip of Greece and is wondering what else this new year will bring. By June 1940 both ladies have been summoned to Bletchley Park and are signing the Official Secrets Act before checking into a boarding house where they meet Beth.

As this is the first book I’ve read by Kate Quinn, I look forward to reading so many previous offerings by this author who has thoroughly researched the many historical details of the dedicated, talented codebreakers and their daily lives at Bletchley Park. Also included are brief appearances of codebreaker Valerie Glassborow, Kate Middleton’s grandmother, codebreaker Dilly Knox, a member of the Room 40 unit, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, computer science genius Alan Turing, Prince Philip of Greece, and the future Queen Elizabeth II.

The Rose Code deserves every one of the five stars I have assigned to this historical fiction novel.

‘Bletchley Park’s walls have been renovated. If only they could speak . . . But some codes will never be broken.’ Kate Quinn

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ brilliantly bright stars!

Kate Quinn has risen to the challenge of writing a better novel than The Huntress. The characters, even the secondary characters, were so well developed that I was sad to leave them at the end of the novel. The writing is so well done that I truly feel like they are my friends and I’m really going to miss them. Remarkable what all of those involved in Bletchley Park accomplished and visiting there is now on my ‘bucket-list’. I, also, really loved the Alice In Wonderland’ references throughout. It was a perfect motif in relaying how the work and environment felt at Bletchley Park during the war.

This is historical fiction at its finest... 600+ pages & I didn’t want it to end. I, literally, had tears in my eyes reading the epilogue. I can not recommend a novel more. I literally want to go into book stores (Target 😂) and shove this into peoples hands and say ‘You’ve got to read this book’... honestly, it’s that good!

This is an amazing historical fiction novel based on the actual codebreakers and analysts who diligently worked on deciphering the German's coded messages during World War II. I was fascinated by the movie THE IMITATION GAME and when I found this book to be along the same lines, I knew it was going to be a fascinating read.. I was not disappointed.

I highly recommend this book for those who love historical fiction and for libraries to add to their collections.

Wow, this was such a great read. Hard to put down. Told through two timelines. One building the friendships of three young women working as code-breakers at England's Bletchley Park during WW2. Three women from such different backgrounds, they would have been unlikely to meet otherwise, let along have become close friends. The second timeline, brings them back together soon after the end of the war. The alternating timelines tell the story of working at Bletchley, their friendships, their loves, and their secrets, building to betrayals that test their friendships. I confess, I found myself reading late into the night to finish this one.

The Rose Code is Kate Quinn’s third novel featuring women who rise to the occasion during the world wars (after The Alice Network and The Huntress). And, like those other books, it is completely outstanding. Quinn brilliantly blends history with tension and emotional depth and original characters to create a novel that had me hooked from page one. The only thing stopping me from saying this was my favorite Quinn novel is the fact that I love all of them.

Beth Finch, Osla Kendall, and Mab Churt are three women who would never have met in the course of their regular lives. Like many others, war threw the three of them together at Bletchley Park, the legendary site where the British cracked the Enigma machine and other Axis codes. (There are wonderful cameos from Dilly Knox and Alan Turing—and even the future Duke of Edinburgh.) Osla’s fluency in German takes the debutante to the translation huts. Londoner Mab’s secretarial skills take her to the Typex machines before her height brings her into the huts where the bombe machines crunch numbers. Beth’s ability to spot patterns takes her to the huts where women (and a few men) gathered from across Britain try to find their way into the seemingly uncrackable German and Italian codes. Much of this book reveals what life might have been like at Bletchley during its heyday: boring and stressful and goofy and challenging for the duration.

But Quinn adds an extra layer of tension on top of all the tension of codebreaking and secrecy by moving back and forth from the war to the weeks before the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Mab and Osla have moved on with their lives, more or less, but Beth has somehow become trapped in a mental asylum with the threat of lobotomy hanging over her head. Her lightning-fast brain has worked out that a traitor at Bletchley got her locked up to keep her from spilling what she knows. Only getting the girls back—and reassembling some of the team from the old days to work their cryptanalytic magic—can save Beth.

This book hooked me so hard I wish I had read it over a weekend so that I didn’t have to watch my bedtimes. I would recommend The Rose Code to any fans of World War II historical fiction, or even just fans of historical fiction featuring women who get the chance to buck all expectations and become heroes. Run, do not walk, to get a copy of this book.

Wow! This is an amazing, amazing story! Mab, Beth, and Osla were strong, incredible characters. I loved how fiction and true events (and real people!) were intertwined to create a novel that you won't forget in a hurry. Another winner from Kate Quinn. Many thanks, Netgalley, for my arc.

Kate Quinn has done it again! A riveting thriller that unfolds at a tension filled pace! I think readers will be enthralled by life inside Bletchely Park and the clandestine affair with Prince Phillip. What an unexpected added bonus. I love the structure of the story which just keeps you guessing and reading long into the night! I think we will have a plethora of patrons wanting non fiction written about Bletchley once they read this.

In Bletchley Park, the setting of this WWII novel, three young woman will find friendship and love, betrayal and heartbreak. Osla Kendall, a stunning debutante who is dating Prince Philip of Greece, and Mab Churt, a young woman determined to rise above her family circumstances, become fast friends after being recruited for the coding project at Bletchley Park. They encourage their landlord's daughter Beth to join their book club, The Mad Hatters, and soon realize her crossword skills would be perfect for working at Bletchley. Oslaa works as a translator, Mab runs the decoding machines, and Beth uses her mathematical brain to decipher intricate enemy codes. Each girl has been sworn to secrecy about their work, but a stunning act of betrayal will explode their lives and their friendship on D-Day. Three years later, as Osla's former flame is set to marry Princess Elizabeth, two will receive a ciphered message from the third who has been locked in an asylum. Filled with love and loss, bravery and treachery, this is a must read for historical fiction fans.

I thought this was an absolutely phenomenal historical fiction book. Although it is set in the WWII time period, the characters and the setting are unique enough to make it stand out among all the other books in this sub-genre. Since this is a long book, I wondered whether or not it would feel like it dragged on but it did not. I thought this book was at once endearing, emotional, suspenseful, educational, and a mystery that needed solved. The characters are loveable and you root for them during the difficult choices that they are required to make. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in historical fiction.