Author: Kate Quinn

All of the books I’ve read by Quinn have been about women involved in the war effort – spies, tracking down Nazi’s and this one – about women who worked decrypting messages from the enemy. I’d watched a Netflix show called Bletchley Park so the topic was familiar. It doesn’t matter how many shows I watch or how many books I read I will never understand how the messages were decrypted.

The story takes place in two time periods – 1940 when the women are working for the war effort and 1947 just before the wedding of Philip and Elizabeth. The story follows three main characters and their interactions – Mab, Osla and Beth.

It seemed odd that the story would hinge so much on the royal wedding but it turns out that one of the women who is portrayed was Phillip’s girlfriend during many of the war years. In real life they remained friends throughout their lives. I couldn’t help but picture Philip as he appeared in the first season of The Crown.

The ties with reality are amazing, as I found by reading the author’s notes. Although some of the characters in the book are amalgamations of several of the workers, two of the main characters are based on real women who worked at Bletchley Park. One of the characters mentioned in the book was Kate Middleton’s grandmother and in 2014 Kate opened the restored Bletchley Park Centre.

So much to love about this book.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *