1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of east-end London poverty, works the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.
But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.
1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter--the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger--and their true enemy--closer...
Paperback, 656 pages
Expected publication: March 9th 2021
by William Morrow Paperbacks
Audiobook
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
by Harper Audio
Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
4/5 stars
Other then a couple of Kate Quinn's anthology's I have read everything she has written. Needless to say she is one of my go-to authors. Her last books vividly portrays strong women in history during WW2 and that's right where The Rose Code takes place. I'll confess the only thing I knew about this book was Bletchley Park and was pleasantly surprised to the role Prince Philip and the royal wedding played.
Told in two time periods, initially separated by 7 years I loved getting to know these women and the role they played at BP. Three vastly different women with a common job of decoding secrets and keeping secrets. I listened to the audio which was narrated by Saskia Maaleveld, she did a great job bringing life to this story, coming in at almost 16 hours it's long enough for the depth that I crave. There is time to really get to know the characters and for the story not to be rushed.
The Rose Code is a story of secrets, friendship, betrayal and heartache. There is intrigue and mystery that kept me on my toes. Kate Quinn's research is evident and knowledge of the history shines through, which is one of the reasons I love her books. Her respect for history and filling it in with realistic story that drew this reader right in.
The Rose Code releases on March 9th and available for pre-order now.
My thanks to Harper Audio (via Netgalley) for an advanced audio-arc in
exchange for an honest review.
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