The Rose Code: A Novel

Don't miss the thrilling new novel from Kate Quinn, The Briar Club, coming July 9th!

"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...

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656 pages

Average rating: 8.43

1,024 RATINGS

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41 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

skyking22141
Nov 13, 2024
9/10 stars
Excellent read on code breaking during the war. Should be reading requirement in all high school as part of histories of wars and what happens behind the scenes of code breaking.
KBRielly
Nov 04, 2024
10/10 stars
Long but worth it.
WritesinLA
Oct 31, 2024
10/10 stars
I was riveted by this novel, based on the fascinating yet still relatively unknown work at Bletchley Park during WWII, where sharp minds helped break codes of the Nazis and Axis allies. The main characters of Osla, Mab, and Beth are so well drawn, each completely believable (even with Beth's eccentricities). How they become friends through BP, how the friendships shatter, and how they slowly become healed is simply a page-turner, and the author's note at the end explaining how much of the story was based on true events and true characters was the icing on the cake.
amHeadrick
Aug 25, 2024
7/10 stars
I liked this book. Lots of stories to follow. Love interests; some historical info. Always moving forward. I never got bored
jeabot
Jul 18, 2024
05.20.2023

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