“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 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...
The Rose Code By Kate Quinn is a wonderful sweeping drama covering a few of the code breakers of World War II set in Bletchly Park. This dual timeline story covers three highly intelligent women, all stationed at Bletchley Park, and their contributions to the code breakers as well as their life after the war.
First the details. When I listened to The Rose Code, I felt like I was there with the women at Bletchley Park. The author is wonderful at description, and I love the way she sprinkles the detail throughout the book so I never felt like I was in an info dump. Her research is impeccable, the way she described those code machines and the office at Bletchley Park is so realistic. And yet for a book so full of description, it’s also action-packed. I was drawn to this book from the very beginning and couldn’t put it down until I was finished.
I also enjoyed the inside look into Bletchley Park and its inner workings. The different ways men and women were treated and how they interacted and kept the nation’s biggest secrets.
And the characters! They were all so very real to me, and I loved following their separate journeys. I was rooting for them throughout the entire book as they bravely worked at Bletchley Park during the war. I loved how they all became friends and depended on each other and supported each other through the mess of war.
The Rose Code was narrated by Saskia Maarleveld who did a terrific job with the story. She was able to differentiate between the character’s voices and I never felt confused about who was talking. She has enough inflection in her voice that I never felt bored and I enjoyed her performance very much.
The bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm who becomes history’s deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.
In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kiev (now known as Kyiv), wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son—but Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper—a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.
Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC—until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. But when an old enemy from Mila’s past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.
Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn is a sweeping historical drama that centers on a female Russian Sniper during World War II. The Diamond Eye is based on a true story about a real person.
I’m going to admit that I only read this because of the author, Kate Quinn. I was tired of WWII stories, and I wasn’t particularly interested in a female Russian sniper. But, I know the author can tell a story, and I was right. From the very beginning, I was totally enthralled with Mila and her story.
I don’t know how the author does her research, but I was so impressed with all the little details in the book. Her descriptions are so detailed and yet never felt that they were overdone, or read an info dump. Kate Quinn sprinkles these details all throughout the book. I felt like I was in the trenches with Mila and her partner.
I like that this book is all about Mila. There are many other side characters, but not too many, and they all support Mila and her story. She’s one tough woman, courageous and yet feminine and empathetic as well. I liked the way she knew her own mind and knew what she wanted in life, and just went out and got it. When her country was attached, she joined the Army without any hesitation, she knew she had to do her part.
I also enjoyed the timeline when Mila was in the United States, I thought it highlighted the difference between living in a country that has been attacked and living in the US, where they just wanted to help, but didn’t want to get involved. It’s so similar to what’s happening in the US today with Ukraine.
As in most historical WWII books, there are a lot of horrible things that happen to this character, but the author does a wonderful job of keeping the book positive so I never felt depressed reading this book, and yet she was able to describe the horrors of war, and the extreme conditions that Mila faced with accuracy and brilliance.
Both The Rose Code and The Diamond Eye were narrated by Saskia Maarleveld who did a terrific job with the story. She was able to differentiate between the character’s voices and I never felt confused about who was talking. She has enough inflection in her voice that I never felt bored and I enjoyed her performance very much.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye comes a riveting short story about an impossible connection across two centuries that could make the difference between peace or war.
Yorkshire, 1943. Lily Baines, a bright young debutante increasingly ground down by an endless war, has traded in her white gloves for a set of headphones. It’s her job to intercept enemy naval communications and send them to Bletchley Park for decryption.
One night, she picks up a transmission that isn’t code at all—it’s a cry for help.
An American ship is taking heavy fire in the North Atlantic—but no one else has reported an attack, and the information relayed by the young US officer, Matt Jackson, seems all wrong. The contact that Lily has made on the other end of the radio channel says it’s…2023.
Across an eighty-year gap, Lily and Matt must find a way to help each other: Matt to convince her that the war she’s fighting can still be won, and Lily to help him stave off the war to come. As their connection grows stronger, they both know there’s no telling when time will run out on their inexplicable link.
Signal Moon by Kate Quinn is a short story set in England during WWII about a British WREN petty officer, and radio operator in 1941 and a Naval Officer in 2023
I enjoyed this historical short story very much. It was only about an hour and a half to listen, which was nice to be able to listen to a Kate Quinn book in just a short time. I would have liked a lot more story and character development, but this is a short story, and that’s just not possible. However, I did feel like I was in the room with Lily as she heard the radio transmissions and enjoyed the author’s descriptions of Lily and the radio equipment. It was surprisingly full of historical details and information for such a short book.
I also enjoyed the two characters very much and I couldn’t help but root for both Lily and Matt, I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how they would be able to communicate over the 80-year time gap.
About Kate Quinn
Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” and “The Diamond Eye.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.
I have had a life long love of science fiction and consider myself something of a science fiction aficionado with a specific interest in science fiction from the 1950s. I find reading old science fiction stories is an interesting experience as they often provide us with insights about the present as well as allowing us to look back and reflect on the past. The ’50s was an interesting time when the threat of nuclear holocaust was a real and present danger. The aftermath of World War 2 cast a long shadow over the length of the following decade. The atomic age was characterised by contemporary literature that appeared to only be able to imagine a dark, post-apocalyptic, dystopian future.
SASKIA MAARLEVELD is an AudioFile magazine Earphones Award–winning narrator living in New York City. Working full-time in the voice-over world, Saskia has recorded over 160 audiobooks. She switches seamlessly between accents and can often be heard speaking in British, Australian, New Zealand, and various European accents, in addition to her own American accent.
[…] Book Review: Station Eternity by Mur LaffertySaturday: Stacking the Shelves. Saturday: Audiobook Reviews: Three Historical Stories by Kate QuinnSunday: The Sunday […]
They all sound good. I don’t tend to read War books, but these sound interesting. I sort of want to try an audio book, but I just don’t think that I would take it in. Maybe I need to get an audio version of a book that I already have so that I can concentrate on the words, but get the atmosphere of an audio?!
I adore Kate Quinn! The Queen of histfic! Definitely an auto buy author for me! Have you also read The Huntress? Im saving her short story to read for novellas in November!
The Rose Code 
The Diamond Eye
Signal Moon
Wow! Wonderful reviews Wendy! I have not read this author and I need to change that after reading this post!🤗📚💜
I have only read one Kate Quinn book (The Alice Network) but I really enjoyed it and really want to read more by her. All three of these look great.
I have read nonfiction about the code breakers and The Rose Code certainly lines up with what I read. I’m adding it to my TBR. Good reviews.
[…] Book Review: Station Eternity by Mur LaffertySaturday: Stacking the Shelves. Saturday: Audiobook Reviews: Three Historical Stories by Kate QuinnSunday: The Sunday […]
Wonderful reviews, Wendy. Kate Quinn is an auto-read for me and I need to listen to Signal Moon. I’m so glad you enjoyed all of these.
Signal Moon is very short, but worth it. I hope you enjoy it.
They all sound good. I don’t tend to read War books, but these sound interesting. I sort of want to try an audio book, but I just don’t think that I would take it in. Maybe I need to get an audio version of a book that I already have so that I can concentrate on the words, but get the atmosphere of an audio?!
Have a great weekend!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
I love audiobooks. Especially when I drive long distances, or for doing menial chores like housework and lawn work.
These sound fabulous. They’re going on my list and I enjoy Saskia Maarleveld’s narrations very much.
Yes, she is such a good narrator!
I’ve read and loved the first two on your list, but I haven’t read the third one.
The third one is fairly new and very short.
I adore Kate Quinn! The Queen of histfic! Definitely an auto buy author for me! Have you also read The Huntress? Im saving her short story to read for novellas in November!
I have not read The Huntress yet, but it’s on my TBR. Signal Moon will be perfect for Novella November
I haven’t read anything by Kate Quinn yet, but I have one on my list to buy 😊
She’s very good. I prefer to listen to her books vs reading them. I think it’s because the novels are so long.