The Rose Code Book Review

Three girls during a war. Once the best of friends. Until D-Day, the fatal day, when they had splintered apart and become two girls who couldn’t stand the sight of each other, and one who had disappeared into a madhouse.

The Rose Code is the Kate Quinn book I was most interested in, as I’ve read a few other books about lady codebreakers in World War II, although I can’t recall if any focused on Bletchley Park specifically. And while I had issues with this book, I liked how it handled the historical material. I particularly was interested in the myriad royal connections between the real-life Bletchley Park codebreakers (fictionalized in the book). While the Prince Philip storyline is the one that is advertised, my jaw dropped when a supporting character and real historical figure was revealed as the paternal grandmother to Catherine, Princess of Wales (then referred to as Duchess of Cambridge, due to the timeframe of the book).

As for the Philip storyline itself, it is a little awkward, given there is the juxtaposition between his impending wedding to Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and his active disinterest in Elizabeth and romantic interest in the protagonist, Osla. But it felt plausible, given the age gap of five or so years between Philip and Elizabeth, and like many male royals, I figured he must have had a girlfriend or two in his youth prior to settling down, as is common for male royals.

And I was intrigued to find out that the fictional Osla was inspired by the real-life Osla Benning, proving this to be the case. I found her easy to root for, being a debutante desperate to prove herself as more than just a society girl, in a similar way to how Philip is determined to prove his loyalty to his British connections, even as his sisters married Nazis. Osla is a strong character, and even knowing her romance with Philip wasn’t meant to last, I admired how she, along with her close friends at Bletchley Park, came into their own. The bonds between her, Mab, and Beth are also well-rendered, and their experiences truly brought them closer.

But this book really let me down in terms of the actual cryptography. If The Huntress was a somewhat predictable historical suspense novel, this was a historical drama that happened to have some cryptography, particularly at the end. All the intrigue happens towards the end, after all the setup and the backstory, and while the context was helpful, I don’t know if it was truly worth being such a massive book. I can imagine it being restructured with a lot cut, particularly with less flashing forward initially to the 1947 bit, which didn’t feel effective, and packing a much bigger punch.

While I have mixed feelings about this book overall, I respect what it was trying to do, even if some aspects got lost in the execution. If you’re interested in a slow-burn, World War II-set historical fiction, I’d recommend checking this out to see what you think of it.

Book Length —640 pages

Hardcover Price — $22.39 (Amazon)