The Rose Code
A Novel
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4.5 • 456 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Don’t miss the thrilling new novel from Kate Quinn, The Briar Club, coming July 9th!
“The reigning queen of historical fiction” -- Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.
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...
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Packed with as much intrigue as British espionage centre Bletchley Park itself, this historical mystery is a fresh take on World War II. Osla, Mab, and Beth are three women doing their bit for England’s war effort, working as code breakers hoping to crack the Axis powers’ secret communications. The trio’s friendship might have been indestructible…if it weren’t for the war’s immeasurable hardships. Two years after Victory in Europe Day, the estranged trio must reunite to resolve one final, treacherous mystery—and maybe even repair the friendship they lost along the way. We loved all three heroines and the personalities, perspectives, and class differences they brought to the table. Kate Quinn fills her mystery with meticulously researched details, cameos by the likes of Winston Churchill and Alan Turing, and plenty of warm humour. Pulse-pounding danger awaits this plucky group even after the war is over, but if anyone can solve the treacherous puzzles, it’s these three.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Quinn (The Huntress) returns to WWII and the secretive world of Bletchley Park in this immersive saga. Debutant Osla Kendall meets fellow Bletchley Park recruit and London East End resident Mab Churt on the train in 1940. While working at Bletchley, they share a room at the home of Beth Finch, a young woman beaten down by her demanding mother. After discovering Beth's talent for solving crosswords, Osla helps Beth get a job interview at Bletchley Park. Though Beth is shy and reclusive, she shines in her work on breaking codes. But when she discovers someone at Bletchley is likely a traitor, no one believes her. Soon, she she winds up the suspected traitor and is committed at Clockwell Sanitarium after having a mental breakdown. In 1947, almost four years later, Beth contacts Osla and Mab, who help Beth escape from Clockwell. Together, the women work to crack a code that will help them find the traitor. Quinn's page-turning narrative is enhanced by her richly drawn characters, who unite under the common purpose of Britain's war effort, and by the fascinating code-breaking techniques, which come alive via Quinn's extensive historical detail. This does not disappoint.
Customer Reviews
The Rose Code
An interesting look at women code breakers during WW2
Great story; mediocre writing
Entertaining story about important historic moment. At times it felt like a trashy novel and some of the leaps in the story defied logic but you couldn’t help but care about the characters and want to know what happens to them.