Member Reviews

Lady Codebreaker by K.D. Alden is based on the life of Elizebeth Smith Friedman one of the first women codebreakers. She lived in a time where glass ceilings were a plenty and she broke them all.

This book, simply put is MARVELOUS!.

It follows Grace (the fictional first name the author has renamed Elizebeth with) as she's looking for a job in Chicago when she gets semi-abducted by an eccentric slightly crazy rich man who wants her to work for him and one of his many teams to prove Shakespeare's works were actually written by Sir Francis Bacon as he has left (allegedly) a code in the texts. If this all sounds extravagant - it's only the beginning - and to top it all off upon further research into the matter it is all very much true.
I don't want to reveal more than this - but if you're intrigued please do yourself a grand old favour and go buy this book! I promise you won't regret it.
This book contains the following:
- gloriously witty sense of humour!
- workplace friends to lovers romance
- fake dating trope!
- strong feminist female characters
- divers side characters
- women being badasses!
- dual timeline

Thank you to Forever, Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the e-Arc! All opinions are my own.

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Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis immediately grabbed my attention but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. It was too wordy for my liking and found it hard to get into.

Fans of women in history should check this one out!

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This book provided an amazing journey through some tough decades, led by a powerhouse FMC. I loved that the rock-star codebreaker was a woman, especially in a time when women had even less power and credibility than they do now. The book spans a large chunk of time, but due to the author's choice to jump back and forth in time, it feels less daunting than if the story was told chronologically. We also get a heartbreaking tale of mental health struggles through her husband. There is romance in the book, but it is closed door and a secondary storyline. This book is ideal for historical fiction fans, those who love strong female main characters, and those who are particularly drawn to wartime stories. This was my first K.D. Alden book but will definitely not be my last.

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Thank you to Forever/Grand Central publishing for the free netgalley ARC! These opinions are my own.

The synopsis of Lady Codebreaker had my attention immediately. I was really excited to read this book. However, once I started reading it I realized that the writing style was just not for me. The book just felt really dense and a little slow at times. I was not able to complete it. I can definitely see why people would love it though! I may have just picked it up at the wrong time. I will potentially go back to it in the future.

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“I’m Grace Smith, soon to be Grace Smith Feldman. I am a woman and yet a codebreaker for the United States Army. I am a soldier with a pencil instead of a rifle. A soldier in a corset and garters. And…I’m proud of myself.” Based on a true story, Grace Smith doesn’t want to be the traditional woman. She doesn’t want to be just a wife and mother. She wants to challenge her brain. Through a series of unusual events Grace becomes a cryptologist. A job that spans 40 years. Along the way she learns about love, life, friendships and determination. A great book that reminds us women how far we have come.

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Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the eARC of Lady Codebreaker! All opinions in this review are my own.

Since I had just read another historical fiction book about Elizebeth Smith Friedman and enjoyed it, I felt like Lady Codebreaker had a lot to live up to. Luckily, there are enough differences between the two that Lady Codebreaker felt like its own story. In addition to changing Elizebeth's name to Grace, Alden covers a larger scope and shows the struggles that she faces to get to where she was. I like that Lady Codebreaker spans 40 years of Grace's life but at times I felt like it was at the expense of details. Overall, if you are looking for a historical fiction book about the role of women codebreakers in the early 20th century, Lady Codebreaker is a great start!

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Although the names have been changed, K. D. Alden's Lady Codebreaker chronicles the life of Elizebeth Friedman. The book begins with "Grace Smith" being hired at a sort of commune/think tank - an estate with a mansion, windmills to generate power, gardens to grow food, a menagerie of animals, and a cadre of intelligent people working on anything from genetics to "decoding" Shakespeare (Grace/Elizebeth's job.) When Grace challenges the notion that Francis Bacon actually authored Shakespeare's plays, she is reassigned to break code for the government. Thus begins her career as crypto-analyst. The book follows Grace's story has she marries fellow crypto-analyst "Robert Feldman" and they continue to work for the government during World War I, Prohibition, and World War II. The couple balances life, marriage, and children with important intellectual government work, remaining to devoted to each other, even through Robert's mental breakdown. The novel covers the facts of the real Friedmen's life thoroughly and sheds light on a remarkable, largely unknown woman.

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Anytime I see the words “based on the true story” in relation to a historical fiction I just have to do it. Something about these stories always grasp me more by the heart, gut me, and make it that much more real.

K.D. Alden did a phenomenal job depicting this real life story in words. It was enticing and constantly had me wondering what else this amazing woman would go up and win against. It had love, adventure, crime, and a passion for knowledge that I’ve not seen in a while.

I did struggle a little bit with it being wordy but ultimately the plot made it worth the read.

3.5/5

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Thanks to Forever/Grand Central Publishing for this free ARC in return for my honest review.

A highly enjoyable novel, loosely based upon the life and careers of William Friedman, and his wife Elizabeth Smart Friedman. This gives us a wonderful insight into the inner workings of cryptology in America from some early stages prior to World War I. Prior to that our main characters, Grace, and Robert Feldman first met at the Riverbanks Laboratory in Illinois. Many people don't realize that Riverbanks was one of the great research centers back in the 1910's and they conducted numerous experiments as well as getting into the field of cryptology. As a matter fact, our protagonist, Grace, was hired to work on the Baconian theory that it was actually Francis Bacon who wrote the works of Shakespeare, and that Bacon had left clues to that which could be seen in the original Shakespeare portfolios. Eventually, Grace did not believe in what she was doing and was going to be fired, but prior to her leaving she was hired to start working on decoding ciphers, and the expanding world of cryptology. The book introduced us to many of the American greats in the field, as well as some of the most outstanding and diabolical codes that have yet to be broken, including the infamous Beale cipher which supposedly was a treasure map. It's a fascinating book and I found myself doing Internet searches as I was reading because I was unaware of some of these people as well as the history of ciphers. Eventually, Grace and Robert get married and move to Washington DC where they begin working for the US government in different positions. This made it very difficult on the marriage since they worked in different capacities in different areas and could not talk about their work even to each other. Before we know it, the United States has entered World War I and now Grace is leading a team that includes many women as they struggle to uncover the secrets of the German codes, something they will eventually do successfully. You also see that there is ambition and jealousy within this team and that as team leader Grace tries your best to keep everything on an even keel.
Once World War I has ended the next thing you know Grace begins to work with the Coast Guard during the era of prohibition. There are some wonderful stories about actual events during this time. Author KD Alden does a marvelous job pointing out the difficulties as well as the triumphs that Grace and her team will encounter during prohibition. The book also gets into codebreaking durimg World War II. it is a fascinating book filled with believable characters, with a plot that doesn't veer too much from reality, and made me want to continue reading into the wee hours of the morning. We also are privys to some of the feminine and marital issues that Grace encountered, including her husband two mental breakdowns, and a hateful mother-in-law, who most likely gave Grace an improper recipe for Apple Kugel. The backbiting by that woman was amazing!
If there was one negative for me, it was the fact that Grace really seems to exhibit a strong dislike for men in general, and every time a man says something to her, Grace we get to read her innermost thoughts. It all gets a bit, tiring when she is upset that men are vast majority of airline passengers on a flight from Washington to California. Who cares? But for Grace, she was an early feminist and she fought long and hard for her recognition, her teams recognition, and for her country. All in all a highly impressive work that helps us understand that not every Codebreaker came from Bletchley Park, and there were others here in the United States that were doing their share to break the codes during World War II. Finally, the most impressive portion of the book had to deal with the situation in South America during World War II, and the fact that the Germans were truly trying to overthrow governments, had secret spy networks, and we're doing everything to try and wreak havoc upon the United States and bring the war to the continental US. The history in this book is outstanding, and this is one book that I think everyone should read to appreciate the efforts of these women, and men, who helped us win all these battles in World War I, against the rumrunners and gangsters, and finally in World War II. I give this book a 4.5 star rating.

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This book is based on real people! The fact that not only was codebreaking imperative to our victory in war (whether domestic or international) but the way women had to fight to LITERALLY be IN the room, let alone be taken serious or treated equally still blows my mind.
Not only did Grace teach us to fight for our right to serve our country she also taught us to fight for our partners/spouses and to never leave our people behind. I was fortunate enough to be able to read and advanced reader copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.
This book is one I will purchase to make sure it is in my personal library for years to come!

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Spanning four decades (1917-1958), Lady Codebreaker is a story of both World Wars, prohibition, mental health and the struggles of women in STEM during that time. The story follows Grace Smith, one of the first lady codebreakers, as she deals with being in a male dominated field and politics while describing her process and contributions to the intelligence field.

Alden does a great job at writing captivating characters. Grace is incredibly complex and intelligent and Alden does a great job at bringing all of her complexities and failings into the novel. The other characters are extremely well written and complex in their own right.

Alden did a fantastic job of blending fact and fiction while making this a very enjoyable read. This story had a bit of everything: a love story, espionage, scandal, mysteries and even more. I was totally engrossed as I was listening. After reading this I definitely want to learn more about the female codebreakers during that time in our history.

I appreciate Alden for writing a woman's story who has fallen through the cracks in our history. I recommended this book to anyone who likes stories of women's empowerment and historical fiction. This was 4.5 stars for me.

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I really enjoyed this story! Grace Feldman didn't want an ordinary life so she escaped her small town and found a job finding codes in Shakespeare's works. Soon she is learning cryptoanalysis with her coworker Robert. She falls in love with him and she soon becomes one of the nation's top codebreakers during WWI, Prohibition as well as WWII. During this time she had to navigate being a female in a male dominated. This was based on a true story.

My thoughts: This was a fascinating story that I couldn't put down. I learned a lot about codebreaking as well as its prevalence and prominence during wars, as well as during the prohibition with the rum runners as well as all manner of law enforcement issues. Grace was a fascinating person, and I loved her romance with Robert.

Thanks to @netgalley, @foreverpublishing and the author for this ARC

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One of the main reasons that I love to read historical fiction is to hear about people and stories that aren't as commonly taught. If it happens to be about a brilliant and courageous woman, bucking the conventions of the time, all the better! Lady Codebreaker is the perfect kind of historical novel for me. K.D. Alden tells a fictionalized story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman and William Friedman, real life codebreakers. In Alden's book, they are known as Grace Smith and Robert Feldman.

Lady Codebreaker opens with an action scene in 1958, in the home where Grace Feldman is living with her husband, Robert, and a raid is occurring on his historical codebreaking materials. This opening had me hooked immediately, and then is followed by and answering all of the reader's questions from the beginning. Starting with Grace's narrative in 1917, when she leaves her parents and sister for a different kind of life, she starts down a path that leads to analysis to prove Francis Bacon the true author of Shakespeare's works and quickly finds herself deep into cryptography. A natural at codebreaking, Grace meets another brilliant mind, Robert Feldman. Word of their inventive work reaches the ears of the US military and they quickly find themselves utilized by the US Army. One continuous thread during the book is the relationship between Grace and Robert, first as friends, then romantically. Grace herself is such a fun literary heroine and I really loved learning all about her exploits over four decades as the first American female codebreaker, through the beginnings of the codebreaking program to fighting Al Capone. I also loved learning about cryptography in general through several Google deep-dives that were inspired by Lady Codebreaker. I couldn't wait to finish it and read the Author's Note describing how much of the book was true. I was in awe of Grace's intelligence, tenacity, and bravery throughout so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that most of it was historically accurate.

If you like historical fiction with a woman in STEM who refuses to settle in any aspect of her life, and has a thread of romance in a fulfilling relationship you'll root for throughout, you will enjoy this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the advanced reader copy.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own

Interesting premise, yet I could not get into the story. I did want to finish though so this is likely not the Author's fault, I just haven't been able to retain information lately

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Alden's engrossing work of historical fiction is based on the real woman Elizebeth Smith Friedman. She obtained a college degree in the early 1900s, and trained as a cryptanalyst or code-breaker along with her future husband Robert. They both worked for the U.S. government during World War I, then after the war Elizebeth worked for the Coast Guard and used her code breaking skills to bing rum runners and mobsters to justice. By the time World War II began, Elizebeth and Robert were working for different branches of the military, and were forbidden from speaking about their work to each other. Elizebeth and her team cracked one of the German enigma machines, saving countless US lives.
Robert suffered from mental illness from the 1940s on, with depression and suicidal thoughts being his constant companions for the rest of his days.
Alden gives one of the best descriptions of depression that I’ve encountered: “a toxic fog rolling into harbor in the brain, a sticky, murky humidity coating and clinging to everything in its path, smothering joy, light, love or any creative impulse.”

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I love learning about women in history, and this was no different. What an interesting story this was.

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Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

I love a brilliant woman in STEM and have long had a special affinity for the female codebreakers who helped to win World War II. This book is especially fascinating in how long it follows her life. Lady Codebreaker begins in 1918 before the first World War I. As K. D. Alden notes at the conclusion, the book follows four decades and two world wars. In between those wars, it also tackled Prohibition, and afterwards, it examines the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. I loved seeing such a sweeping historical fiction that really showed how those events flowed from one to the next. Not only did I enjoy it now, but it's the kind of novel I would have read to study for American history exams back in school.

The main character of Grace is spectacular. She is such an amazing woman, and I was impressed to learn about the real woman who inspired her character. The book ended with a great historical note that separated fact from fiction. And it made me want to dive further into learning about cryptology.

This novel included a bit of everything: a love story, espionage, scandal, mysteries, and more. I was utterly engrossed through every time it covered. Parts are quite intense, so I do recommend checking the content warnings. I was so glad I read this and plan to read more from K. D. Alden.

CW: sexual harassment, depression, pregnancy complications, PTSD, suicidal ideation

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In this amazing, high-stakes historical fiction novel, readers follow Grace, a young woman looking for a job in early twentieth century Chicago. The job offer she receives, however, sets her life on its head and places her at the core of American intelligence for the next several decades as a codebreaker for the military in both World Wars and for the Coast Guard during Prohibition. The novel flashes back from her memories to the 1950s when the government loses faith in her husband given his health issues and the Red Scare (spearheaded by Grace’s nemesis J. Edgar Hoover) as she tries to protect her husband and his legacy. Alden’s characters are the heart of the story, and Grace is an incredibly complex and intelligent protagonist, and Alden has brought all of her complexities and failings into the novel. The other characters, historical and historically inspired alike, are also incredibly detailed with backstories and motivations that conflict with or coincide with Grace’s own. This fascinating and unique perspective on the first half of the twentieth century gives readers insight into military intelligence and the world of lies and secrets that Grace became so good at operating in as a talented codebreaker.

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I wanted to like this book because of the code breaking done by a woman during the period of WWI, the period after this war, and then WWII. I enjoyed the background of what the main character was experiencing, learning how to understand and break codes and how she shared her knowledge with others. However, the way the characters were written was flat and uninteresting. The book was over long and tedious, and I struggled to finish the book. Since this was based on real characters it is a shame that their story came across as dull and boring.

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Historical fiction based on a true life figure is best when it draws you in and invites you to research more. Lady Codebreaker does this and more, fictionalizing the true life of Elizebeth Smith Friedman.

The book spans the life of Grace Smith, one of the first lady codebreakers from prohibition through WWII. As she deals with both a male dominated field and politics, this book beautifully describes Grace's process and contributions to the intelligence field. I would love to go and visit Friedman's papers in VA and am definitely going to read more about her life.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

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