Kate Quinn once again captivated me with her latest novel - The Rose Code. I am speechless. What a beautifully woven story of friendship, love, war and forgiveness. It centers around the lives and work of three women codebreakers- Osla, Mab ("Queen Mab") and Beth - in Bletchley Park during the WWII. They become fast friends until a betrayal which left one of them confined in the Clockwell sanatorium.

I really liked how the mystery of the betrayal is unraveled gradually through the dual timeline - 1940 and 1947. It was suspenseful and for the life of me, I couldn't guess who the traitor was! Yes, it was so dang good. Kate Quinn can sure write a great mystery!

The characters are so endearing! I love these women, especially Beth. It was a delight reading about their work on codebreaking. I was really sad though that we had to part ways after I finished this book.

In a nutshell, this book did not disappoint! I enjoyed listening the audiobook and the narrator did an excellent job. If you're looking for a historical fiction with an incredible plot, engaging writing, impeccably researched, and great characters, then this may be the book for you! The Rose Code is one absolutely beautiful story!

Pub. Date: March 9th, 2021

***Thank you Harper Audio, author Kate Quinn and Netgalley for this listening copy.***

"Someone there was a traitor. Who?"

I have heard nothing but praise for Kate Quinn, and specifically for the ARCs of The Rose Code, so I was overjoyed to receive an advance copy of the audio version of this book. I love historical fiction, and the premise sounded fascinating. But what I expected and what I got were two very different things, and I spent the first 8-10 listening hours trying to reconcile myself to the fact that The Rose Code was simply not the book I thought it would be.

"You’re blaming me because you rolled the dice and lost."

That isn't to say it was a bad book; on the contrary, I found it to be well-written, engaging, and impeccably researched. Quinn has done a stellar job of creating an immersive historical world (her reputation for this is not undeserved!), and the amount of atmospheric detail packed into these pages is quite impressive.

"In a war, Beth, you save who you can. Whoever you can."

But when I hear words like "code-breaking" and "enemy secrets" and "mysterious traitor," I'm expecting a novel that is fast-paced and filled with drama, intrigue, mystery, and maybe even a technical peek into the how of being a WWII-era cryptanalyst.

"She didn’t care what it said... Beth just wanted to know that she’d broken it. If she could crack Rose, she could crack anything that would come at her in the invasion rush."

Instead, The Rose Code reads more like a character study into the psyche of female friendships. It is slow-building, and spends far more time diving into the minds, interpersonal lives, and romantic relationships of the three women at the center of the story, than building up any sense of secrecy or suspense. Truly, there isn’t much action or plot at all until the final quarter of the book (which is when things really get interesting!).

"In a world at war, surely it was greedy to want both: a job that mattered and a home to welcome you afterward."

Once I accepted that this was really more of a Women's Fiction than a Historical Mystery, I was able to readjust my expectations and enjoy it for what it was. But I think I might have preferred something a bit more plot-driven, with more action and intrigue behind it. Especially at nearly 16 hours listening time, I struggled to stay engaged with just interpersonal drama and character-driven pacing to hold my attention for the first 2/3 of the book.

"Please tell me broken hearts aren't fatal. Please tell me this feeling won't kill me. Right now, I wish it would."

I am very clearly in the minority here, in feeling mildly conflicted, as Quinn has a significant fan base who love her style and are already pouring out praise for The Rose Code in spades. Readers who know what to expect from her books will likely not be disappointed by this one at all, and will eat it up! And, if you can hang on long enough, the story does pick up. It just takes quite a bit of persistence to get there. I did appreciate the audiobook narration, and think the narrator did a great job with pacing and differentiating characters. There aren't many voices I'd want to listen to for 16 hours, but hers was lovely! A solid 4-star read.

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A huge thank-you to Kate Quinn, Harper Audio, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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Kate Quinn helped me to learn that I really enjoy historical fiction when I read The Alice Network. I was thrilled to get an advanced audio book of The Rose Code. I am new to the world of audio books. I have always had such a hard time paying attention and preferred a book in my hand I could read myself. I was hesitant when I heard the narrator had a thick accent and feared I wouldn't be able to listen to it. Plus, the book is over 600 pages long and 12 hours of audio book time! However, all this to say that I loved The Rose Code. It is up there with The Alice Network for me.
This book is set in WW2 and the famous Bletchley Park, a code breaking site. We are introduced to Mab, Beth, and Osla. Each woman comes from a vastly different background and I loved finding out more about each of them. They are assigned to work together at Bletchley Park and live a life full of secret keeping. Their friendship is so much fun to read about. Even though I know it must have been hard during this time on each of them, they kept their humor and you can easily feel the love they have for one another.
Down the road in the story, the women have separated and we find out that Beth is in an asylum, falsely accused and carrying a terrible secret. They will come back together as a trio to go after the spy who betrayed them.
I know you will love this book....the character development is done impeccably and the story just grips you and all you can do is hang on! Well done, Kate Quinn!

The audiobook version of The Rose Code by Julia Quinn is narrated by the wonderful Saskia Maarleveld. She truly brought the book to life for me . I won a paperback ARC of the book and a kindle copy too and while I enjoyed it I had a hard time grasping the world of code breaking . I read the ARC paperback in early November . I very much prefer audiobooks over print and ebooks and I was so pleased that NetGalley and Harper Audio gave me a copy of the audiobook to review on January 28th.
The narrator’s range of distinctive voices for Osla, Mab and Beth along with the other characters in the book is impressive.
If you’re a lover of audiobooks and a fan of historical fiction preorder the audiobook or reserve it from your library soon as it out next Tuesday, March 8,2021.
The print paperback is out on March 8 , too. It’s not a fast read as it’s over 600 pages so be prepared to savor it .

Thank you to a NetGalley and Harper Audio for this audiobook galley for review.

This one kept me hooked til the very end! I loved the multiple perspectives and the narrator was great. This was definitely a view of WW2 that I haven't read about before.

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. The narrator did a fantastic job at the inflections and the pace, keeping the listener engaged throughout the entire 16 hours. 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.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn follows the story of three women during WWII who are recruited, in one way or another, to work at a mysterious place called Bletchley Park in the English countryside outside London. This novel is based on the true story of women who worked on code breaking, translating, and other various tasks that were essential to the military in WWII.

We follow Osla, Mab, and Beth as they begin their work at Bletchley, working hard hours at demanding jobs that convey the intensity of the place and the experience, but simultaneously enjoy more open social opportunities than other places at the time, freely associating with the men who are working on the site and doing work which, were there not a war going on, may not have been available to them as women.

Don't get me wrong, however, they still face dismissal as "silly socialites" who could not possibly understand the important work of men in war.

We open knowing that the girls are no longer speaking, someone is in an asylum, some secret has been revealed… and we slowly unravel the secrets as to what happened on that fateful day at the end of the war, and how they had been torn apart.

While things did unravel a bit slowly, I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHO THE TRAITOR WAS, the end is fast-paced and ultimately I enjoyed the book greatly. A story of found family and smart women rebelling against expectations and striving to make a difference in a time when their efforts were often undermined and dismissed, it was a delight to listen to.

Amazing audiobook! The narrator kept me engaged’

As for the writing 4.5/5 stars! Loved the three POV and the story of the code breakers. I loved how the author humanized each character with her own worries aside from the war and how everything came full circle.

I never think of myself as a big historical fiction reader, and then I read a book like THE ROSE CODE that reminds me how much I love this genre.

Synopsis: As England prepares to fight the Nazis in 1940, three very different women arrive in Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes: Osla, who is dating a Greek prince but wants to prove she's more than a society girl; Mab, who comes from a poor East End family and wants to find a husband that will support her and her little sister; and Beth, who at 24 is a spinster and still lives at home with her abusive mother. The women form an immediate bond, but when the book flashes forward to 1947, days before the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth, the reader discovers that something during their time at BP pulled them apart and that one of them thinks BP had a spy.

Y'all, this book. I loved it. It's very long and took a little while to get going, but can I give it 6 stars instead of 5? Similar to THE ALICE NETWORK, THE ROSE CODE gives a peak into an aspect of WWII that was brand new to me. The characters are complex and vibrant, the plot and side-plots are suspenseful and emotional (I cried! I don't cry while reading but this one did it!) and the work of women in WWII is celebrated. If you liked THE ALICE NETWORK or THE NIGHTINGALE, this one is definitely for you!

tw: rape, death, mental illness

Kate Quinn has been among my favourite authors for several years now, and this book is no exception. Quinn’s words are brought to life by the Narrator, Saskia Maaeleveld who does a great job at infusing the characters with life and personality. I won’t summarize the story as many people have done a great job of highlighting the story and how it unfolds in this fairly lengthy book.

I do enjoy books that have a sense of time travel in them, as this one does, however, it does not span the same amount of time as some of my other reads have done – this one remains in one decade and explains the twists and turns of the lives of three women while they served their country during the second world war. I admired how Quinn touched on some tough themes such as racism, death of a loved one, child bearing out of wedlock, abusive relationships, gender inequity etc., throughout this book, but these did not take away from the main story and how it unfolded. The universality of some of these themes make building personal connections to the modern world of today all the more meaningful. I could see similar situations and inequities being afoot in 2021.

I found this book to have many pleasant and satisfying substories that again added to the overall impact of the book rather than convolute the main story. I enjoyed the inclusion of the royal wedding being a thread that connected the many stories of the book.

One of the things that I look forward to in Quinn’s work is seeing evolution in characters as the book progresses, and I was not disappointed with how she developed Mab, Osla and Beth. The characters who began the book were not the characters who ended the book, and in my mind this is what builds a great story. When it is set during a world war in the midst of high stakes espionage, the journey is all the more enjoyable.
The ending was satisfying, albeit predictable, and I am glad that there was no room for a sequel as Quinn clearly wraps up the story in this book. I did find myself googling the various elements in the book to see how much truth there was to some of the memorable characters and places described.
All in all, Quinn entertained me with this novel. I would not compare its impact for me personally to some of her other work, but it is definitely worth a read (or a listen).
My thanks to the publisher and to #Netgalley for the advance copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review. #TheRoseCode #KateQuinn

Thanks to NetGalley for this wonder audiobook! The Rose Code is a historical fiction novel about the women code breakers at Bletchley Park during WWII. The characters that worked there are vivid and real as is their love and pain and the secrets that they have to keep. These three very different women, Osla, Mab and Beth, become fast friends and work to find the spy in their group. We also find Prince Philip and the future Queen of England as an important thread in this story. The epilogue includes information on Bletchley Park today and its dedication as a museum and learning center. Really enjoyed learning that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge's own "Granny" was a code-breaker. Very enjoyable read. Highly recommend it.

I was looking forward to reading this because I love Kate Quinn‘a books. It was good but the story just didn’t hang together for me. 3 stars.

Another wonderful historical fiction from Kate Quinn! This tells the story of three women--Beth, Mab, and Osla--who during WWII are working as code-breakers for England's Bletchley Park, but in 1947 the three hate each other and Beth has been institutionalized and is scheduled for a lobotomy. What happened to the friends and how did Beth end up in this situation?

This has SO much going on! Friendship, espionage, betrayal, romance, heartbreak, grief. And none of these felt like they were neglected. For that reason, it was long, but didn't feel that way. It has fairly short chapters, and with alternating timelines, it really flew by.

The three women were just wonderful characters, complex and well-developed. I especially enjoyed seeing Beth grow and become more sure of herself and fight for herself. And it all came together in a really exciting and surprisingly emotional ending.

I didn't love it *quite* as much as The Alice Network, but would definitely recommend!

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Audiobook
William Morrow & Harper Audio
Pub date 3/9/2021

Wow! What a journey. The Rose Code tells the story of three women: Mab, Beth, and Osla.
Mab is a working-class young woman from London, Osla is a posh Anglo/ Canadian from London, and Beth is a shy girl from Buckinghamshire. Together, they end up all working at Bletchley Park (BP) during WW II. The book bounces back and forth between the time they are at BP and years later when the war is over, and Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip are about to get married. Along the way, there is fun, friendship, lovers, and lots of hard work as well as some very sad and devastating moments. There is an urgency while you are reading to get to the end of the story which takes place in 1947 because you want to know how it will end, but Quinn delays the answer with diverting trips through BP and the lives of Mab, Beth, and Osla at BP during the war.

This is a great book which explores not just the history of BP but of the people who worked there during the war and what working there meant to them even decades later. It explores the harm that secrets can do to relationships. However, it also shows the benefits, especially for women, of being a part of the war effort in such an integral way.

Kate Quinn is so great at historical fiction, and this book is no exception. I also really enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. Maarleveld did a great job with all of the voices, even the men, and it was easy to tell who was speaking and when.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Harper Audio for the Audio ARC.

5 out 5 stars!

I am a huge fan of Kate Quinn's writing, her characters and imagery leave me alternating with triumph and tragedy and always with a reading hangover as I 'live" through the story. The Rose Code is no exception, and I absolutely must recommend it to all historical fiction readers. As Osla, Mab, and Beth enter Bletchley Park, no one suspects the three women as anything more than secretarial workers. But nothing is further from the truth. In 1940's Europe, these three women work tirelessly and secretively to break German code and help turn the tide of the war. As the war goes on each must decide to uphold the Secrets Act and support their country over themselves. But has their work been compromised by a traitor? This book is destined to be one of my favorites of 2021! I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

💫 Book Review 💫 ⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 by 𝘒𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘯⁣
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In the county of Buckinghamshire, town of Bletchley, there was an estate that stands tall. Unassuming like other country homes, this mansion was crucial in WWII. In it were the hidden code-breaking workers that many historians have said ended the war sooner than expected. ⁣
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Kate Quinn takes this little piece of history and creates a storyline of three women who all come from different places in society. ⁣
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𝐎𝐬𝐥𝐚: the debutante who happens to be dating Prince Philip (𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱) but wants to be know for more than just girl looking for a man. ⁣
𝐌𝐚𝐛: out of poverty with the knowledge that her own strengths may just give her the husband that allows her to find a new place in society. ⁣
𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐡: oh Beth, my favourite of the women. The painfully shy women who is hiding brilliant mind under her hat. ⁣
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These three women are brought together in Bletchley Park with the goal to do their part in the war. But what brings them together will also drive them apart. Loyalty is tested and broken. And a mystery traitor will bring these three back together years later. ⁣
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𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘒𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥. ⁣
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Thank you @Williammorrow and @netgalley for the gifted copy in return for an honest review. The Rose code comes out next week! You can preorder now 💛⁣
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I was provided an audio ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Having read and enjoyed Quinn's previous books, I jumped on the chance to read this early. If you enjoyed The Alice Network and The Huntress, I believe you will enjoy this as well. If you are a fan of WWII history this is a great one to pick up, it has a little bit of a mystery element and some romance as well.

The narration was excellent. Saskia Maarleveld did a wonderful job voicing each of the characters and making sure each of them had a distinct voice.

I did find this to be a bit slower paced than the previous books, but it still has that same sort of feel. It is completely unrelated to the other books so you can read it without having read either of the books I mentioned as they are not part of a series. I did find parts of it to be a bit repetitive as the girls go through their day to day routines of breaking codes, translating decoded messages, and machine operator. This made the book feel a touch too long in my opinion. I thought the character development was great, we get to see each of the characters go through every emotion and deal with some very serious events that should have broken them. Each of the girls deals with their trauma and grief in a different way, but never once do they break completely. I did like the alternating timelines as it keeps you engaged in the story and wondering what happened to land Beth in an asylum and have Osla and Mab hate her so much at the beginning. As you get closer to the end things pick up and race toward the conclusion and leave you on the edge of your seat.

The story follows an unlikely trio of friends in Osla, Mab, and Beth. Osla is a socialite who want to be seen as more than a beautiful debutante so she joins the war effort making planes and then as a translator at the very secretive Bletchley Park aka BP compound. Mab wants to rise above the poverty she was born to and make something of herself and find herself a good husband. She ends up at BP working the code breaking machines. Mab and Osla meet mousy Beth when they billet at her home with her overbearing, abusive mother. When Beth is recruited to BP because of her ability to solve puzzles, she becomes one of the best cryptanalysts the war effort could have asked for. The story follows the girls through their time at BP as they navigate the daily life of secrecy required by BP and how it impacts their relationships with others. It also follows the girls after the war has ended and they have moved on from BP. Mab has a new family, Osla is getting ready to attend the royal wedding of Philip and Elizabeth, and Beth is in a sanitarium after being accused of having a mental break during her last days at BP. In an attempt to clear her name, she reaches out to Osla and Mab, she asks for their help finding a traitor in their midst, but neither of them are sure they can forgive her for what she did. Can they put the past aside to crack one final code and save Britain from a traitor?

After finishing this I immediately looked up Bletchley Park. It really was the epicenter of the UK's codebreaking efforts during WWII. While I don't believe our three main characters were real, I do believe they were inspired by women who really did work at BP during the war. BP was renovated and turned into a museum which you can actually visit. It think that is really cool! You can tell the author put in a ton of research to make the historical aspect of the story accurate. I always appreciate historical accuracy that is woven into a good story.

I just finished listening to THE ROSE CODE by Kate Quinn, and I LOVED this book. Much like her superb novel THE ALICE NETWORK, THE ROSE CODE tells the story of some of the strong women who worked behind the scenes during World War II. It follows three very different main characters as they work at the now famous Bletchley Park as secret Enigma code breakers during the war.

The story cuts back and forth starting in 1940 to 1947, with a countdown to the royal wedding between Elizabeth and Phillip. We follow Osla, who wants to be seen as more than “a silly Deb”, Mab, a force of a woman determined to break from her impoverished past, and Beth, who transforms from a quiet puddle of a daughter to the best codebreaker in the park. These women take their secret oath to their country seriously in each of their individual ways, but that secrecy ends up turning them to enemies. I cared deeply for each of these strong women as they navigate their way through the war and beyond, and eventually are forced back into each other’s lives as the possibility of a mysterious traitor emerges.

The history of Bletchley Park is fascinating, and I was prompted to learn more about this underground operation and its influence on the defeat of Hitler and the Nazi invasion. More, THE ROSE CODE highlights the extraordinary role of women in fighting the war. Quinn is sure to remind us that, despite being viewed as frivolous or hysterical or “less than” in society, women--then and now--are a force to be reckoned with. The narration by Saskia Maarleveld took a little getting used to, but by the end I was looking forward to her strong British accent and it helped me to truly “see” the characters.

This tale of strength and love and loyalty is being released on March 9, and it is the perfect way to honor Women’s History Month.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for the advanced listening copy.

#TheRoseCode #NetGalley

I have seen stories on Blechly Park and the work done there before, but this story realistically addressed the toll the work took on the men and women who worked there.
I liked this story much better than “ Alice Network”. I found the characters in this book were well developed and more likable; Osla the posh girl who had ran in the same circles as the royal family, Mab the East London girl who desperately wanted to make something of her life, and Beth the mousy brilliant girl who was bullied by her mother into believing she was stupid. Each of these woman has a special skill and finds herself working at Blechly park in different sectors. Each is desperate in their own way for love and each finds it, though not in the way they expected. The three woman become very close then are torn apart by the secrets they are forced to keep under threat of death.

There is a small twist and a mystery of a saboteur that lands one of the woman in an insane asylum. The twist was pretty easy to figure out, but the I loved how the spy story line was resolved - its thrilling ending, and satisfying conclusion. The overarching tone of this story is sad. War is horrible and coupled with everyday disappointments great and small took an unimaginable toll. There are tiny glimmers of hope but we are constantly reminded that happiness and love should be cherished wherever and whenever they are found.

I listened to this as an audio book and it was excellent.

I LOVED The Rose Code! I enjoyed Kate Quinn's previous book, The Alice Network, but this one really blew me away. Osla, Mab, and Beth become fast friends secretly working as code breakers during WWII. Each are tested by fragmented families, heart wrenching romance, and grueling work. After the war ends with their bond broken, one of them is in danger and needs her former confidantes to solve a crucial mystery before it's too late. Racing toward an epic conclusion with flashbacks interspersed, The Rose Code is a gripping tale that delivers on its thrilling premise.

The depth of Quinn's characterization made this five stars for me. She gives us three distinct, dynamic women with different strengths and ambitions to be enamored and flustered by. I enjoyed bouncing back and forth of who was my favorite, but in the end found myself invested in them all. I loved tracking each of their arcs and relishing in their moments of triumph, especially with Beth. It's a long read, but a riveting one. Some of the twists were to be expected, but others made me audibly gasp. I highly recommend the audiobook. Saskia Maarleveld's narration was splendid and her differentiation between the characters was helpful in constructing this exhilarating world. Fingers crossed we get a television series of this someday. Thank you Harper Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy!