Synopsis from Goodreads:
It's 1941 and the country has been
turned upside down. For the aristocratic Walsingham family this means being
pushed unceremoniously upstairs while their grand home is taken over by the
Army. But for newcomers Ava and Maudie this is a chance to get something more
from life. They are at Walsingham Hall to become code girls and break German
encryptions.
So being sent downstairs to work in
the kitchens isn't exactly what they had in mind. But they do their duty, make
new friends and soon even romance looks to be on the horizon. Though life is
tough, it has never been more exciting.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Lord Walsingham
is hiding something. And Maudie and the girls realize that the safety of their
country might actually be in their hands after all…
My review:
The
story is built around four girls that meet through co-incidences of wartime
Brittan. Ava and Maudie think that they have been called to train as Code
Girls, but end up below the stairs to cook and serve the code girls instead.
They immediately bond with Ruby, who has been born into service through
generations of servants at the Walsingham Hall. And then there is Bella, born
into the Walsingham family, but always shunned, who follows her dream in to the
war service and ends up helping the girls below stairs in her spare time.
Like
many others I thought the title is misleading. I don’t always read the blurb on
the back of the book; therefore my expectations were of a novel covering the
life of the actual code girls. However as the story progresses you find that
the title actually fits, but it takes nearly two thirds of the book to get to
that point.
The
novel has some great story lines, covering most years of the Second World War,
but I didn’t feel that the flow was there. I found the love stories of all four
girls unrealistic and the girls themselves annoyed me at times which made the
whole book seem a bit simple to me. I am still giving it 3 stars as it was an
easy, enjoyable read, something to relax with on holiday perhaps and it did
cover some interesting information from the wartime, although do not expect
historical accuracy.
Thank
you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for access to this book in return
for an honest interview.
My rating: 3/5
Published by Penguin
and available from:
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