The Rose Code by Kate Quinn is a powerful historical fiction with a mystery element. It is 1939, and three young women of totally different backgrounds and varying skillsets have been recruited to work at Bletchley Park, where the code breaking in England centered. One is a top clerical worker, one is a linguist fluent in both French and German, and the third is a code-breaking genius. Together, they live, they love, and they grieve.
Flash forward to 1947 and two weeks before Princess Elizabeth was to marry Prince Philip. One of the women is now locked away in a mental institution and dosed with high quantities of drugs, put there by government officials worried that she may spill secrets. But she knows something that may affect the state of the nation. However, the only two people she can trust are now her enemies. Can she get their help and stop this secret threat in time?
I heartily enjoyed listening to The Rose Code. The plot has a great premise, especially using Bletchley Park as a setting. It allows for the mingling of classes in a manner not generally seen in England prior to World War I to some extent and World War II even more. The different backgrounds and skills of the main characters adds to the depth of the story. The exciting part of the plot is also really well done in the way that it draws out the events of 1947, giving listeners tantalizing glimpses here and there.
Saskia Maarleveld performs the audio edition of this book and does an effective job. This audiobook requires a narrator gifted in class accents more than regional accents, and Maarleveld does a good job. She voices characters of various classes including Prince Philip, a high society debutante, a low society working girl who has fought hard to raise herself in society, a trod-upon timid adult daughter of a country woman, and Cambridge dons.
I deeply enjoyed listening to The Rose Code. I find anything related to cryptography during World War II to be fascinating, and this audiobook is more exciting than most books on the topic. I give this book five stars.
