“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 … 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…
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Kate Quinn’s best so far in my view. I loved this book cover to cover!
The women cryptographers of WWII were so brave and intelligent and deserve so much recognition ! The Rose Code expresses this in an informative and highly readable way !
I love reading about female characters who struggle against the historical gender roles and succeed despite them. In Quinn’s latest book three women from desperate backgrounds form a bond through their work as decoders. I also enjoyed the suspense arc through the story and the ending, which I’m not going to spoil for future readers. I highly recommend this read.
What an amazing book! I must admit that although several people had recommended it to me and it was on many “must read” lists I was hesitant to pick this book up due to its size, at 656 pages I knew it would be a big time commitment. How wrong I was. Once I started this book I didn’t want to put it down. The pages flew by as I got to know Osla (the debutante), Mab (determined to have a better future), and Beth (the spinster). Prior to this book I had never heard of Bletchley Park so this was all new information to me and I found it so fascinating. I loved hearing about the work there and how each woman helped with the war effort in England, as well as reading about what they were doing when they weren’t working. I loved the inclusion on Prince Philip and some of his backstory. I have to agree that this is a “must read.”
Good read.
Great characters. Informative.
I enjoyed 95 percent of the book, some of the flipping back and forth with time was too much but the last little bit was silly. The chase and throwing items. I think it could had been more creative or realistic. But overall a great read.
Very informative regarding the events of the war but also about the personal lives of people during the war. The characters are so well portrayed that you really become involved in their lives.
I would highly recommend this book!
I stayed up long past bedtime with this riveting tale of the women of The Greatest Generation, the ones who did so much and whose stories are so often untold. Three women from diverse backgrounds, a poor working class girl, a high society debutante, and a neurodiverse genius are brought together to break codes at Bletchley Park, whose best known denizen for most people was the brilliant Alan Turing.
Mab, Osla, and Beth form a wartime bond of shared experiences and tears, working non-stop, not always keeping calm, but definitely carrying on as the do their part for the war effort. The tragedies in this book are wrenching, but the love stories are sweet, though it’s the women’s personal growth that’s most impressive.
Beautifully written and cunningly structured, breaking the mystery at the heart of The Rose Code is an exciting historical read and highly recommended.
Blimey, this was a heck of a read!
In 1940, England is on the brink of war. Three women get summoned to Bletchley Park, a mysterious estate in the countryside, with their only instruction being they cannot tell anyone what they do there. Beth, Mabel and Osla are soon rooming together, and working in different units of BP, helping the British decrypt German war codes. Seven years later, the war is over and the women who were once fast friends have drifted apart, and London is overflowing with crowds who are desperate for a glimpse at the Royal Wedding. Beth has been committed to a mental asylum and when she summons Osla and Mab to her side, hinting at the fact that there was a traitor in their midst at BP, the women put their differences aside and work together to investigate.
Kate Quinn’s “The Rose Code” is an entertaining, gripping and thoughtful depiction of female codebreakers during World War Two. Two of the main characters are based on real people who took on this challenging and impressive role (also, the famed cryptographer Alan Turing makes more than one appearance!), and the majority of the events that took place in this novel were based on real events as well (for example, the wedding of Prince Philip and now Queen Elizabeth). Quinn’s novel has everything I want in a historical fiction story- intrigue, romance, and the opportunity to learn a little something!
All of Quinn’s characters in “The Rose Code” are brilliant, strong and determined, stifled only by society’s limitations set on women at the time. Beth is the eccentric, socially awkward introvert, Osla is the beautiful and distinguished debutante and Mabel is the small town girl who is determined to make something of herself. As different as these women are, they have marvelous chemistry, and each and every one of them has their own unique charms.
This novel doesn’t let up from page one, as the intricate relationships develop with the backdrop of a country at war, and when the inevitable “who-dunnit” twist is revealed, I can honestly say I did not see it coming.
I have never read Kate Quinn before and merely picked this book up because I have seen so many good reviews. “The Rose Code” deserves every good word said about it, and I will not be letting another Kate Quinn novel go by without immediately devouring it. This is hands-down to be the recommended historical fiction story of the year.
Thank you @librofm & @williammorrowbooks for this gifted book. This review is my own.
One thing that I LOVE about historical fiction is that I get to learn about the past in a way I never did in school. When I learned that this book was based off true events of English Codebreakers, I was excited! I loved learning about the unsung heroes through the pages of this book, I think the authors notes are a must read!
This book is told in a non-linear way, but the author made it easy to follow along and know in what time period you were in. This also helped keep me engaged in the long story, as I tried to figure out how these three ladies got to where they were.
Did I mention that this book is long?! It comes in at over 600pgs and almost 16hrs of audiobook. It’s a doozy. I think some of the extra fluff could have been trimmed away to make this book shorter without loosing any of the story; there were definitely some slower parts, especially at in the beginning and middle.
Having read this book just two month after Prince Philip’s passing, it was strange. Being American, I didn’t know much about him until recently. This book gave me a bit of insight into his younger years and family history, that I wouldn’t have otherwise known.
: I thought the the narrator was great, I was even able to listen to this sped up some. I did find that I had to rewind at times to catch which of the girls something referred to. It referenced Beth, Osla, and Mab so much together, that if you were paying close attention you’d miss who they were talking about.
Absolutely captivating. The experiences during World War II at Bletchley Park came to life in technicolor as I listened to the audiobook version of The Rose Code. Intriguing, inspiring, entertaining, and informative, Kate Quinn’s latest is a novel not to be missed. With characters as charming as they are distinct, I found myself immersed in their stories from beginning to end. And oh how I didn’t want it to end.
It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE Kate Quinn fan. But this time, Kate out did herself. The Rose Code is my new favorite. Her characters are wonderfully fleshed out. Feel like you can actually see them walking across the pages. The peek into the secret world of Bletchley Park is eye opening. Do yourself a favor and listen to this incredible story as an audio book ASAP.
BRILLIANT! The spy world is so fascinating. The Rose Code is an exquisite masterpiece that will keep you immersed in the drama from the opening scene until the end.
Note: There is profanity.
I borrowed a copy from my local library. All views expressed are my honest opinion.
Great story set in WWII England. Characters are code breakers for the British government and they live through the tragedies of war while experiencing love, loss and disappointment.
I loved her previous 2 books and looked forward to this one…but can’t seem to get into this one as easily. I’m going to keep reading tho cause I love her writing.
Absolutely great
So well written and researched! Kate Quinn never fails to write such wonderful literature!
Well written, and it took me to another time and place…back to WW2 in Britain as seen through the eyes of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances.
Although this book is slightly oner 600 pages, I couldn’t put this book down. It is about 3 young women who work in secret as code breakers during WWII it is also about love, friendship , loss and not breaking the secret code even if it could prevent personal tragedies
I absolutely loved this book. Read her other books The Huntress and The Alice Network
Before I tell you what I thought of this novel, let me warn readers – it is LONG – 656 pages, according to Goodreads, and my copy didn’t have any author’s notes or acknowledgements included. Now, normally, I try to avoid long books, but… Kate Quinn… I mean, I loved “The Alice Network” and “The Huntress.” So, I couldn’t resist, and I ignored that niggle inside me, and asked for the ARC. Surprisingly, I got it, and well, the rest, they say, is history. Now, this did take me a full 10 days to finish (that’s an average of nearly 66 pages a day), but in all honesty, I don’t think it felt like it took that long to read this book (mind you, I had some problems and didn’t get around to reading at all for almost two full days during this time). Obviously, this is a very good thing, since often I feel myself pressing on in order to get to a certain spot (like, finishing 2% during each reading session) when tackling lengthy books. With this book, I found myself reaching or exceeding that goal before I even noticed. I know I overuse the word compelling, but it really does feel appropriate for this book.
By the way, shame on you, Kate Quinn – yet again you made me cry! Okay, so it happened only at the very end of the book, but you got me both in the last chapter and in the epilogue. Of course, I’m being silly, and yes, this is yet another positive aspect of this novel. If you can’t make me laugh or cry, you haven’t done your job right. In fact, Quinn got me laughing quite a few times as well throughout this novel. What I found interesting was that the characters didn’t seem to see as much humor in what was going on as the reader was able to get out of these lines and scenes. However, that makes perfect sense. These people are doing extremely important, secret work, under terrible conditions, in the middle of a world war. Obviously, they aren’t going to see something as being funny when they’re so busy, and so involved in doing such serious things.
As for the characters, as I noted, my ARC didn’t have any author’s notes, so I wasn’t sure if they were real people or figments of Quinn’s imagination. That’s why I went to the Bletchley Park website and did some digging. What I found was that Quinn’s Osla was obviously based on Osla Benning, a woman who did work in BP, and who really was Prince Philip’s girlfriend before he fell in love with (the then) Princess Elizabeth. As for Mab and Beth, I’m not sure of they were based on any single individuals from BP or if they were conglomerations of several real women, but it really doesn’t matter. As a group, they made for a very lively and diverse bunch, which Quinn drew to perfection, making each of them ultimately sympathetic. This is another reason why I didn’t feel the length of this novel – I was too interested in their stories, and Quinn carefully builds the pace here so that by the time we’ve gotten to the end, we’re practically out of breath!
In addition, Quinn includes other real personalities in this novel. For example, of course she mentions Alan Turing, who (after being portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) is probably the most famous of all the BP code breakers. Thankfully, Quinn doesn’t overdo the namedropping, and only sprinkles in others, such as the Glassborow twins. One of them, Valarie, was the real-life grandmother of the Duchess of Cambridge (aka Kate Middleton. You know, the woman who married Prince William). Quinn also makes the Bletchley Park itself into yet another character in the book, and her descriptions of the grounds and the buildings turn this into a very visual experience (especially if you’re like me, and can make these words turn into pictures in your imagination).
By the way, Quinn did use more than one timeline, but these were very close together. We had the war era on the one hand, and on the hand, we had the time leading up to the wedding of Philip and Elizabeth. Quinn decided to use the later as a pivot to connect the achievements of BP with intrigue surrounding a possible traitor within their ranks. I won’t say more because… spoilers… but this really was a stroke of genius (possibly inspired by the infamous Cambridge Five, one of whose members did work at BP). All of this made for a very exciting ending to this novel, and one that – despite its length – was and tight and yes… an honestly compelling read from start to finish. Therefore, I have to give this book a full five out of five stars, and highly (warmly, wholeheartedly) recommend it to everyone!
Some books stay with you long after the last page is read. After a few pages, I knew this would be one of those books. Mab, Osla, and Beth will be in my heart forever. I knew a little about the codebreakers of WWII from movies, but this book brought them to life. It isn’t an easy read and my heart broke a few times, but it is worth it to read this story.