Finally Friday - It's an Enigma

 shh - It's top secret.  The Rose Code by Kate Quinn is a jolly good read. 

1940 - Three women, Osla, Mab, and Beth end up at Bletchley Park in England. The best minds are working to break German military codes. Osla, debutante dating  Prince Phillip, knows German and works to translate decoded enemy secrets. Mab, poor East Ender, works the codebreaking machines.  Shy local girl, Beth, can solve puzzles like nobody's business. She's a brilliant  cryptanalyst. 

cover blurb - War, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the  three apart.

1947 - Royal wedding time. (No, not Osla). The three friends turned enemies are reunited by an encrypted letter. They must meet and crack one last code together to unveil an old traitor from their past. Each petal they remove  from the Rose Code brings danger...

Kate Quinn did  her research and her characters are based on real life women. She keeps the pages  turning  and history alive. The whole story of the Enigma machines and what was done at Bletchley is always compelling. The Rose Code is a worthy piece of fiction for that World War II era. 

Book Review - The Alice Network

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn is an excellent read.  There are two stories entwined:  1947 – After WWII, Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and hoping to find her cousin Rose. Charlie travels to London determined to find her. What incurs is half of the book and very exciting.

1915 – Eve Gardiner is recruited to work as a spy.  She’s trained by the fabulous Lili, aka Alice, and joins a network of amazing women. The Alice Network is fierce,  deep, and full of heart and soul. Right under the enemy’s nose, these women work in restaurants, etc. and discover amazing Nazi secrets.  Now thirty years later, Eve is a drunk – but becomes engulfed in a search by Charlie for a lost soul named Rose. Oh, and so many other skeletons surface.  The truth is difficult to face, but so necessary for many.  The name Rene Bordelon will live long in your memory. He is evil incarnate!

The name Finn is fabulous – oh yeah, he’s a hero for Eve and Charlie.

The intertwined stories here are well done and so intriguing. You will keep turning pages and rooting for good over evil, life over death, and women power extraordinaire.  I highly recommend The Alice Network.