Book Review: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

The Rose Code
by Kate Quinn (Quinn)

I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction recently, especially World War II novels. The Rose Code is another World War II novel, but what sets it apart from the rest is that it takes place at Bletchley Park, a location described by a guard as “the biggest bloody lunatic asylum in Britain.” The book brings to life that very eccentric top-secret world, breaking codes and saving lives.

 

If you like World War II fiction, you need to add this book to your must-read list.

 

At Bletchley Park women were often equal to men, which was not the norm in the 1940s. Osla Kendall, not your usual debutante, builds Hurricane planes and eventually takes a job using her fluency in German to help break codes. Osla also gets caught up in a romantic relationship with Prince Philip of Greece — before Queen Elizabeth, of course. Mab Churt is socially climbing her way out of her East End poverty existence, and finds herself working on the code breaking machines while she looks for a husband to make a better life. Beth Finch is the awkward, side-ways thinker who is sheltered and over-protected by her religious mother. But Beth’s side-way thinking and gift for crosswords makes her just the right kind of person for a cryptanalyst. The story details how they lived and loved; overcame obstacles and suffered major losses. Added in the mix is a race against time to uncover a traitor who is using his or her position to sell secrets, no matter what the cost.

 

Although this is a fiction novel, a lot of The Rose Code is based on what factually happened inside Bletchley Park. Some of the characters are based on real people. The character Osla is based on the true-to-life Osla Benning, a Canadian who built planes and worked at Bletchley Park and did have a relationship with Prince Philip. Several characters are combinations of people. Beth is a combination of an unknown codebreaker who had a breakdown and went to an institution and real life Maris Lever, a star cryptanalyst credited with several major breakthroughs. And some minor characters are real people: Alan Turing, Dilly Knox and even Valerie Glassborow, who would become Kate Middleton’s grandmother. Author Kate Quinn even admits in the Author’s Notes that there was a traitor at Bletchley Park selling secrets to the Russians and he was not exposed until years later when he was living abroad.

 

I quickly got caught up in the lives of the characters. In fact, I had to put the book down for a few days after a major loss. But then I found myself racing to the end to discover the traitor and see if he or she was brought to justice.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Road to Station X by Sarah Baring, The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin or The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.)

 

( official The Rose Code page on the official Kate Quinn web site )

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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