This isn’t to say that breaking Enigma encryptions is easy- in fact, Quinn does a great job in describing the various steps and machines (this is pre-computers!) involved in the process. Many believe that access to these encryptions shortened the war by two years, if not changing the course entirely. Poland cracked the machine prior to the war, which provided the Allies with the means to access the intelligence. The rotors within the machine make it so that one letter in plaintext (say, ‘E’) will not appear as the same ciphered letter throughout the message. However, a recipient of cipher text must know the secret key list, changed daily during the war, to decipher it. The machine encodes plain text into cipher text, and vice versa. Germany had created the Enigma machine at the end of WWI. These are women who are literally breaking codes! A Little Backstory… I have studied WWII in the past, but The Rose Code, more than any other piece- fiction or nonfiction- brought me to the heart of England in WWII.įurthermore, the content itself is engaging. The anxiety from air raids, the fear of invasion, the exhaustion from rationing- these are real, immediate emotions that Quinn expertly evokes through her descriptions of both people and places. Like any good historical fiction, the setting of England within WWII comes to life. While Mab was entirely fictitious, Beth is the combination of two real women who also worked in Bletchley Park. Quinn takes many of her recorded lines from biographies and uses them in The Rose Code.

There is no weak edge in this triangle! Furthermore, Osla is based on a real person who indeed worked in Bletchley Park during WWII. Readers will enjoy each of their storylines. The chapters switch between these three characters. However, Kate’s dialogue and character development allow a natural friendship to form. Osla, Mab, and Beth couldn’t be more different. Once again, Kate Quinn brings to life fascinating characters. War, secrets, and loss create the perfect storm to tear these three unlikely friends apart. Beth is the local village spinster with a remarkable aptitude for puzzles. Mab is a self-made east-end Londoner looking for an advantageous match. Osla is a debutante with a desire to prove her mind.

Here, the best minds train to break German military codes. These three very different women answer the same call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park.

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