This is an interesting book. I don’t think it’s a great read but interesting. I could never really become invested in the characters enough to actually care what became of them. The Bletchley women were a small group of women who for one reason or another, didn’t quite fit in a regular “mold” but wanted to do their part for the war effort. The main characters were Rose and Evie. Their stories are unique but yet the same. If this review is a little frustrating, that’s exactly how the book left me. Interesting is about the best I can do. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

Two women are thrown together at Bletchley Park. One was destined to marry into a wealthy family and the other to marry her fiance and live a quiet life in the country bringing up a family.
Then the war happened and now they spend their days decoding messages from the Luftwaffe.
But they can still dream of life after the war but for now their work is of vital importance.

I love books about Bletchley Park and this is another great addition to the subject. It was wonderful to read Historical Fiction that didn't switch time periods. I felt immersed in the world of WWII Bletchley. Rose and Evie are empathetic characters and I love that their lives and problems were more complex than the other one knew.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I have read some wonderful books dealing with the Bletchley women but this one falls short. Perhaps it is because it takes So long to get into the actual story that I found it lacking. It is a great topic and these women did amazing work but this book may not be the one to read to learn about them.

I was introduced to this author by Netgalley, what a gift.
We have Evie who is to the manor born and decides she want to live life away from the constraints for her father. Then we have Rose who is more accustomed to working in the fields of the farm doesn’t want to settle to the life offered by marrying and having children.
Both are whisked off to Bletchley under the pretext of other offers. As they settle to their duties we are introduced to Lucy who works alongside them. So exciting. The attention to detail is fascinating and a learning curve.

I enjoy reading Historical novels in WW2 and I was glad to receive The Bletchley Women by Patricia Adrian. Her debut novel.
The is based on three women from different backgrounds. But told by the views of Evie and Rose. Evie Milton is a debutante and would happily marry into a wealthy family and Rose comes from a normal background and in love with David who goes and trains as a pilot for the RAF. As they both speak German, they are whisked off to Bletchley Park to decode messages from the ‘Luftwaffe’ The girls strike a bond with each other during the long hours they must endure to decode the messages and the heartache when they do not get the messages decoded in time which ends ups lots of people being killed.
The girls even though they have signed The Secrets act and even lie to their own families what they do. The girls because of them being females are always not be trusted with the hard work that they put in.
I found this historical story a bit long winded at first but, them enjoyed the story of the three girls and the time they spent together at Bletchley Park. I found this a bit different to other stories of this type I have read before, I felt it a bit more realistic and not the hearts and roses type that it usually is. 4 stars from me.

The Bletchley Women gives a different perspective of the work done by British civilians during World War II. Told through the eyes of two young women from completely different backgrounds, each finds herself with compelling reasons to leave home; reasons that, at first, have nothing to do with serving their country. As the war drags on and Britain experiences death and destruction they soon understand the importance of what is being done at Bletchley Park.

Well developed characters tell the behind the scene story of how hard it was to be a code breaker, the long grueling hours and the many contributions made to save the lives of military and civilians. The deep anguish felt when they fail to break a code in time to sound the alert underscores the determination to work to defeat their enemy at any cost.

A good read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

Rose is in love with David but when he signs up to the RAF she speaks to her aunt to arrange a job at Bletchley Park believing it to be closer to where he will be stationed.

Evie is a debutante whose aristocratic father is controlling & threatens to ruin Jasper, the man she is love with, forcing to break off the relationship. After her estranged brother is reported missing at Dunkirk she arranges a job at Bletchley Park as she knows the maid, dismissed after a supposed affair with Will, is from Bletchley. She intends to track her down to find Will.

The two women are thrown in to the secret world of decoding German messages. They cannot tell anyone outside the park gates what they do.

An enjoyable story highlighting an area of history that was unknown until fairly recent years.

There is a fair amount of poetic license exercised, as you would expect & I’d urge anyone interested to read some of the fabulous books around that detail the actual history or even visit Bletchley Park in person- it’s a very interesting day out!

I hope that the published book includes an epilogue acknowledging the true story of Bletchley Park?

A wonderful book based on the life of women at Bletchley a highly top secret coding place during WW2. I love the way that all the characters combine there life at Bletchley and their home lives. Would love to read more about Evie, Rose and Lucy. Thanks to Patrica and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley.

In a different world, Evie Milton would have accepted her fate, married an aristocrat, and become the doyenne for one of England's finest estates, just like her mother. In a different world, Rose Wiley would have married her fiance, David, established a modest homestead, and brought up a brood of babies, just like her mother. Rose dreams of a life filled with more than just family and duty to her husband. Evie dreams of a life far away from her rarefied existence.

This is a most informative and interesting read set around the era. Rose and Evie could speak German so they were taken to Bletchley Park to work, decoding messages from the "Luftwaffe". The story is told from Rose and Evie's perspectives. The women came from different backgrounds. This is a very well written story, with a steady pace and it held my attention throughout. I admire these women who had to keep secret from their families the important war work they were doing.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter and the author #PatriciaAdrian for my ARC of #TheBletchleyWomen in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

This is my first read by this author and I began reading not knowing quite what to expect. I did enjoy this book although I found the first quarter a bit overly long and drawn out. The book follow three ladies who work at Bletchley decoding German messages. They are from very different backgrounds and slowly a friendship forms between them. The book is told mainly through Evie and Rose and I thought it became more enjoyable when the ladies met up and began working together. I liked that the book was told through the two main characters who were on the whole believable and likeable, and most of the other ‘side’ characters in the story were portrayed realistically. I also liked the author’s writing style and thought the book flowed really well and came together beautifully at the end. I enjoyed reading of Rose, Evie and Lucy’s war work and found it very interesting, and liked the glimpses into their home and personal lives and how they struggled to live up to the high expectations set by their families and be who their parents wanted them to be. Overall this is a good read, although it didn’t wow me or have me desperate to turn the pages to see what happened next. I’d recommend this if you like historical, war time fiction with a focus on how the war affected women and the part they played in it.

3.5 stars

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
I read a lot of WWII fiction, but I've only read one other book about Bletchley place so I was interested in reading more. The characters are very well-rounded and seem real. I enjoyed this story told from the POV of several different young women as they come of age during war.

“The Bletchley Women” is a first time read by Patricia Adrian, new author this reader. I was hesitant with requesting but have enjoyed other books from One More Chapter. Although enjoyable it was not what I had anticipated. The story follows the lives/experiences of three women…two who have different backgrounds but have a knowledge of German and one who is a bit flirtatious. They work as decoders during WW2 in Bletchley Park, however most of the story is told by Evie and Rose. I understood the plot, I did think the characters could have been a bit more developed and did leave some open areas that could have been explained more in the story. Thank you to the author on an enjoyable debut read.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is my first book by this author. Sadly I was disappointed by it. The premise of Bletchley girls working together for the common good and for the war effort was what attracted me. Several of the women in the story do all at some point work in Bletchley Park, all of them German speakers, three of them working on code breaking.
This part is a mish- mash of descriptions of codes, how they work to decode them, and many pieces of paper, all incomprehensible to the reader. The nasty, overbearing and misogynistic Henry, who is the stereotypical Head of Section, does his best to sabotage the women’s efforts.
The story is actually much more about romance, describing the various romantic entanglements of Rose, the farm girl, Evie the inevitable posh debutante, who is the Honourable something or other, and Lucy, the flirty one.
As such, it’s really quite superficial, and the characters come across as one dimensional and stereotypical for me. I really didn’t get a sense of any of them, so consequently didn’t care about them much either.
The ending was a huge disappointment, and what happened to Rose at the end was just stretching the readers’ credulity too far.
I read many WW2 novels, and have read several involving Bletchley Park, but unfortunately this was not one of the better ones.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

This was a wonderful entertaining book and made me appreciate the wonderful women who,did,their bit durning World War 2.It made me think about the sacrifices they had to endure. This was an absolute pleasure to read.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I enjoy reading historical fiction & have recently read st least 2 other titles about women working at Bletchly Park or other secret offices. This one although enjoyable did not quite live up to my expectations.
Evie & Rosie come from 2 very different backgrounds who share only their knowledge of German language. This story follows their experiences together. I somehow felt it was lacking depth. I also felt that to much was contrived, with accessing backhanded etc.

Women at Bletchley Park is a much accessed stream for historical authors. Having read one recently that I really enjoyed I was looking forward to another. Whilst undoubtedly an enjoyable read this didn't quite hit the spot. Lots of Americanisms have crept in which makes the book feel less authentic. I didn't really feel that I connected with Evie or Rosie and felt a bit irritated by them. This is possibly because I am reading the book as a 21st century woman rather than one living in the 1940s but even so I felt they should have had a bit more nouse.
The book left me with many unanswered questions and I did feel that some of these could have been addressed by the book.
Still a good read though

The Bletchely Women is a book about the brave women who worked during WW2 as decoders in Bletchely Park .The story is told through Rose and Evie two girls from completely different backgrounds who because they can speak German are whisked away to Bletchely and have to sign the Secrets Act so their Families think they are typists !!! I found the story very interesting especially how prejudiced some of the men were towards the girls thinking they were inferior ,how times have changed !I really enjoyed this historical and romantic story .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

I enjoy reading books about this time in history and honestly I don’t know too much about Bletchley apart from it being a place where the code breakers were based so it’s interesting to get an insight. While I know this was a fictional story, I was rooting for Rose not just to settle back into obscurity once her mother interfered. I got this as an Arc to read and the opinions expressed are entirely my own views and are completely unbiased.

Code breakers

Interesting, historical and Romantic. During the war many jobs came open in the services for women. Some men didn't think women should be working those jobs and the women often had to prove themselves. This is the story of a few of those women.

Not only did women have to prove themselves at work, they had to do it over the objections of their families. Often these brave women had to choose between a romantic interest and their war work. It was often a hard and heartbreaking choice.

The women code breakers worked extremely long hours staring at sheets of paper containing messages from the Germans to break the code and translate them to English so the ships and airports could be warned of an impending attack. Sometimes they were successful and saved lives and sometimes they were too late.

It was a demanding job and they could not tell their families, nor their boyfriends what they did, everyone thought they were typists.

I enjoyed the characters in the story and the ways they worked together even though they were from very different backgrounds. They found ways to make their job more efficient even when the males in the room did not listen to them. They stuck together and they made the repetitive job more enjoyable with their friendships.

I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Patricia Adrian for writing a great story, to Harper Collins U.K., One More Chapter for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.