The Rose Code

Welcome to Bletchley Park, home of Britain's codebreakers in WW2. In the white hot crucible of the race to break the Nazi enigma codes three very different women forge deep friendships which are then ripped apart. Osla is a wealthy debutante, god-daughter to Lord Mountbatten and girlfriend to Prince Phillip of Greece, fluent in German and tired of doing nothing she wants to contribute to the war effort, she is invited to Bletchley Park, or BP, in 1940 to help break the German military codes. Mab(el) is an Amazon from Shoreditch supporting her mother and little sister. Her total focus is to find an intelligent, financially stable man to marry. Beth has grown up subservient to her religious fanatic mother. These three women meet up at Bletchley Park and their lives are changed forever. The Imitation Game meets The Crown, told in flashbacks between 1940 and 1947 on the eve of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, this is a dramatisation of historical truth, a spy thriller, a romance. Utterly engrossing, even though I didn't really understand how these women helped to decrypt encoded messages from the enemy, my heart was in my mouth as the team of plucky geniuses worked around the clock to try to decode messages from German high command. Thrilling, heart-rending, gritty and vivid, a great read. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A stunning read with so much substance! Three young women find themselves doing their bit for the war effort in Bletchley Park; with secrecy so stringent that no-one is really sure what anyone else does. Osla is very much a society girl - and one who has the eye of dashing Prince Philip - desperate to prove that she is more than a debutante. Mab hails from the east-end of London and has hauled herself up out of poverty purely by her own efforts - and she's not finished yet. Beth meets the other two when they are billeted in the home where she lives with her parents, very much under her mother's thumb. Seven years later, with the country is anticipating the marriage of our now Queen to Prince Philip, these three are estranged due to betrayal and secrets. Can they work together to crack one final and vital code? Like most, I am familiar with what went on at Bletchley Park during WWII and how important it was to our nation; however, this story is on a different level to any other and much more informative about what life was like for those sent there. From the very beginning, we are made aware there is a mystery surrounding the friendship of our three main characters and this slowly dissolves throughout the book almost imperceptibly as there is so much else to take the reader's attention. A lengthier read than most, there is never a lull in this one; the author has created a marvellous tale and one which would transfer perfectly to the big screen. The characters are beautifully described and come alive on the page. The sacrifices made in the name of saving this country are clearly shown and the mysteries are attention grabbing throughout. I had my suspicions of what was going on in the bigger picture but, not for the first time, I was spectacularly wrong. Very cleverly written, creating a compulsive and enthralling read which absolutely deserves my highest recommendation and all five sparkling stars!

I wasn't sure if this book was for me, but I am so pleased that I bought it, as it surpassed my expectations. An excellent story about the code breaking carried on at Bletchley Park in the UK in WWII. One of the most interesting novels I have read this year (I average 2 - 3 books a week) and full of historical detail, though this was not boring - now when I can travel again, Bletchley Park, which is open to the public, will be on my list of sites to visit. The three main characters, Osla, Mab and Beth were believable and well drawn, with the added bonus of Prince Phillip as the boyfriend of Osla (his funeral has just taken place in Windsor) and he did have a relationship with Osla in real life. A long novel at over 600 pages, which I like as it gives the author time to really develop the story. Many of the characters in the story were at Bletchley in real life, like Alan Turing and Dilly Knox. The detail about incarceration in mental hospitals was pretty confronting, though very true and the use of surgery to lobotomise patients was heartbreaking. Despite all this it is a love story and has many happy moments, so not doom and gloom. It is a book that I will definitely read again.