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adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
People being nice to you after someone has made you feel like a criminal or an enemy is just like sticking cardboard in your window after a bomb has blasted all the glass out of it. The hole is stopped up, but the glass is still smashed and you can’t see through the window any more. Everything in the room is uglier and darker. [loc. 2523]
Louisa Adair is fifteen and orphaned: it's 1940, her English mother died in the Balham bombing, and shortly afterwards her Jamaican father was killed when his merchant navy ship was torpedoed. (He couldn't enlist in the Royal Navy because he wasn't born in Europe.) She telephones to answer an advertisement for someone to look after an elderly aunt -- the advertiser, Mrs Campbell, can't tell from Louisa's 'polite English accent' that she's biracial -- and finds herself escorting the redoubtable 'Jane Warner' (actually Johanna von Arnim, a former opera singer) from an internment camp on the Isle of Man to a pub in a small Scottish village.
Stationed at the nearby airbase is Flight Lieutenant James G. Beaufort-Stuart (who also appears in Code Name Verity), nineteen and pretty good at keeping his squadron alive, despite their clunky Blenheim bombers and a CO who seems determined to ignore Jamie's input. And working as a driver at the airbase is Volunteer Ellen McEwen, of Traveller heritage, who appeared in The Pearl Thief. The narrative switches between the three protagonists, all of whom become involved in the acquisition and operation of a secret Enigma machine.
It's a great adventure story: it's also a depiction of period-typical racism (the little boy who thinks Louisa must be a German because he's never seen anyone like her before; Ellen instinctively reacting to an insulting comment about Louisa because she's all too familiar with the same kind of insult). And, poignantly, it features Jamie's 'wee sister' Julie. The Enigma Game is set years before Code Name Verity and is not nearly as harrowing, though there's plenty of peril and not everyone makes it to the end. I liked it very much, not least because of Wein's fantastic gift for writing about aviation: she's also very good at evoking the sheer inconvenience of wartime life.
Bonus Ancient Greece angle: code names in this novel include Odysseus and Calypso (Louisa being mistaken for the latter).
Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, War
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Although this book is listed as number 1 in the series, it actually came out and was written after Code Name Verity which I absolutely loved. I really enjoyed this one as well. Wein writes compelling, tightly woven historical espionage novels and this one is no different. Even though I have read more than enough historical fiction set in the WWII era, when it's written by authors as skilled as Wein and Sharon Cameron, I will always pick those books up. In this narrative Wein takes a little bit of artistic license on real life events surrounding the discovery and eventual use of the Enigma machine while remaining respectful of historical accuracy. She has compelling characters and a strong narrative. I definitely recommend this book and the series.
It took a while to warm up, became quite gripping, then had a long epilogue. The multiple POVs were a bit of an interruption. Interesting and exciting plot.
Wein really knows how to write emotion and 1am christine d i e d
also apparently i'm never gonna get over the verity books huh
also apparently i'm never gonna get over the verity books huh
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot and pacing: .6/1
Character voice and writing style: 5.5/1
Engagement: .4/1
Length and resolution: .7/1
My gut feeling: .5/1
Total 3.2⭐️
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No