The Enigmas

by Emilia Hart

A mesmerizing novel about a woman who must turn back time to save her sister's life, set against the backdrop of wartime Britain.

London, 1940: Twenty-nine-year-old Beatrice Bone knows that she’s considered eccentric. With her love of Victorian jewelry and Gothic stories, she’s well on her way to becoming society’s most pitied woman: a spinster. The one person who has always understood her is Clemmie, her younger sister, who is off contributing to the war effort while Beatrice still sleeps in her childhood bedroom. But when Clemmie dies in a fire while undertaking mysterious work for the Foreign Office, all that Beatrice has left of her is an antique pocket watch, her sister’s final birthday gift. When she discovers that it also acts as a portal, enabling her to return to any moment that she personally can remember, Beatrice resolves to go back in time, to find work at Bletchley Park and save Clemmie. But her attempts to change the past have terrible consequences, and she is faced with a devastating choice: her sister’s life, or her country’s future?

London, 1915: With her husband away fighting in the Great War, young mother Alice battles misogyny and prejudice to treat wounded soldiers at Endell Street Hospital, London’s first medical center staffed entirely by female doctors. But the horrors that she confronts there unlock long-buried memories of her own mother’s death, forcing her to confront an ability she has long tried to repress…

With an epic scope, sweeping storytelling, and heart-wrenching dilemmas, Emilia Hart delivers another spellbinding tale of female resilience against the odds, and a celebration of how love transcends time.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel, Fiction, Science Fiction, Adult, Magical Realism

368 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 6, 2027

About the author

Emilia Hart is a British-Australian writer. She was born in Sydney and studied English Literature and Law at the University of New South Wales before working as a lawyer in Sydney and London.

Emilia is a graduate of Curtis Brown Creative’s Three Month Online Novel Writing Course and was Highly Commended in the 2021 Caledonia Novel Award. Her short fiction has been published in Australia and the UK. "Weyward" is her debut novel. She lives in London, England.

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohhh, this one! This is exactly the kind of historical fiction that sneaks up on you, grabs your heart, and refuses to let go. 😭❤️

I went into The Enigmas expecting beautiful historical fiction with a touch of the fantastical, but I wasn’t prepared for how emotionally invested I would become in Beatrice, Clemmie, and Alice. Emilia Hart has created something that feels much bigger than a story about time travel. At its heart, this is about family, grief, love, sacrifice, and the desperate human wish to undo the things that hurt us most.

Beatrice completely won me over. She begins as someone who has spent much of her life being told what she can’t do, where she can’t go, and how fragile she supposedly is. Then grief blows that carefully controlled existence apart, and suddenly she has a choice: accept the past or fight like hell to change it. And honestly, watching her wrestle with that choice was EVERYTHING.

Because who among us hasn’t wished for a magical little undo button after losing someone we love? Give me a mysterious antique watch and the possibility of rewriting one devastating moment, and obviously I’m going to make terrible decisions right along with the heroine. 😂

The relationship between Beatrice and Clemmie was especially moving for me. Their bond feels wonderfully complicated—not just sentimental sisterly love, but all those messy emotions that come with being sisters: protectiveness, frustration, guilt, admiration, fear, and the kind of love that makes you willing to destroy your entire universe to save the other person.

And then there’s Alice’s story, which added another emotional dimension I really appreciated. Her experiences during the First World War and her work as a female doctor brought a completely different perspective to the novel. I loved seeing how the two timelines gradually began speaking to each other and how the women’s stories were connected by much more than blood.

The historical setting was another huge win for me. Hart doesn’t simply use the World Wars as decorative scenery. The experiences of women, their work, their sacrifices, their limitations, and the ways they fought to create lives for themselves are woven naturally into the story. There’s something incredibly powerful about watching women quietly stepping into spaces they were never supposed to occupy—and then proving exactly why they belonged there.

And that magical element? Yes, please. The time-travel concept gives the historical story an extra layer without completely swallowing it. What fascinated me most wasn’t simply how the watch worked, but the emotional consequences of changing one seemingly tiny thing. Every attempt to fix the past comes with another question: How much are you willing to sacrifice to get back the person you lost? And when does saving one life mean changing too many others?

That’s where the book really got me.

I will say that I occasionally felt the story needed a little tightening. Some POV sections were more wordy than necessary, and there were moments when I wanted to lovingly grab the manuscript and say, “Okay, darling, we GET IT—now please move along!” 😂 A little editing here and there could have made the reading experience even smoother. The fantastical elements also require a bit of patience as everything unfolds.

But overall? I was invested. I loved watching the separate pieces gradually come together, uncovering the connections between the women, the timelines, the family secrets, and the consequences of trying to rewrite fate. And by the time everything came together, I was emotionally attached enough that I would have followed these women through several more timelines if Hart had asked me to.

This is historical fiction with a beating heart, a little magic, complicated women, family secrets, wartime courage, and one very dangerous temptation: the possibility of going back.

Emilia Hart has once again reminded me why I love historical fiction that dares to bend reality a little while keeping its emotional truth firmly grounded. Beautiful, heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and wonderfully immersive. If you love historical fiction with a magical twist and stories about women whose strength is far greater than the world allows them to believe, put this one on your radar.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing one of the most anticipated and stunning period drama fiction digital reviewer copies with me in exchange for my honest opinions, which I highly appreciate.

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[Kristina Nichole]

When an Emilia Hart novel is READ NOW on NetGalley, you stop what you are doing and log on ASAP!!!!

[Susana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from NetGalley

The Enigmas is a gorgeously written story about a family whose women share a unique relationship with time. Told in dual POVs, the book centers on Beatrice, a self described spinster living in England during WWII. She feels held back by her overprotective mother and is envious of her beloved sister Clemmie’s independence. The alternating POV are excerpts from their mother Alice’s journal entries, which look to the past as Alice pieces together her own story.

I was immediately swept into the story and I enjoyed both Alice and Beatrice’s perspectives. I’m a sucker for novels with time travel or family drama, and this book seamlessly brought together both themes. I loved the “what if” exploration of alternate historical timelines and the dark depiction of living in wartime England. The author’s note on the Bletchley Park code breakers was the perfect end note to great book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[maggielikestoread · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s 1am and I’m crying in my bed. This is a beautiful book. I need a hug now.

[kellieb_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

What a journey this lovely book, set in alternate timelines, takes you on. Emilia Hart has such a beautiful way with words, her stories always envelop you in their authenticity and raw emotion. I adored her character portrayals and how connected I became to their lives with every passing chapter. As the reader, there was cheering, frustration and definitely tears.

I appreciated learning more about this time period as well. I’ve read many books set in the timeline of WWII, but this story was so unique in its historical elements, from Bletchley Park and the Enigmas to the Endell Street hospital. The stories, strength and sacrifice of the women were so interesting and Hart’s ability to incorporate these fascinating accounts into this magical, historical writing is exquisite.

Thank-you very much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Emilia Hart for the advanced reader’s copy. This is definitely one I’ll be thinking about for some time to come.

[Liana Gold]

1940, London. WWII.

1915, London.

Two timelines, two pasts, the power of resilience.

This is my third novel by Emilia Hart and if there is anything that I can say about her writing, it's that she weaves emotionally resonant stories into historical timelines. I love her gorgeous covers.



Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author, Emilia Hart for an early ARC.

Publication date: April 6, 2027

[Calamity Ayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emilia Hart did it again, and I’m not surprised; each of her books have been singularly perfect.

I love WW2 historical fiction with strong female leads, AND I’m a huge fan of magical realism, so this one pretty much knocked it outta the park for me.

The Enigmas is about mothers and daughters, trailblazing women, and “ordinary” women doing extraordinary things. It made me think about the way lives and entire generations could’ve had completely different outcomes, and the sacrifices people made so that we have the lives we do.

I’ve read a decent amount about Bletchley and WW1 and WW2, but in Emilia Hart’s hands, the places and time really came alive.

This is going on my shortlist of best books I’ve read this year, can’t wait to share with my bookstore customers when it’s released!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Kam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
I had a very hard time getting into this story, as soon as I felt like we were going somewhere another lull was around the corner and unfortunately it was like this from beginning to finish.

Having said this, I really loved Beatrice’s character and I could feel her pain and hopelessness, I could also feel the love she had for her family.

The settings, the characters, even the descriptions of the food it all made it feel very real and that is something I have always loved about this author, the way she manages to make you feel like you are there with the characters.

In the end I felt everything wrapped up nicely and I was happy with the way things went.

This was an ARC by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning dual timeline hist-mystery, awash in magical realism, set in WWI and II. Emotional, intriguing, and unputdownable!

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Motherhood. Magic. Madness. Medicine.  All intertwine, beginning in 1915 in London and moving back and forth to 1940, as World War II begins its march across Great Britain.  A family of women harnesses their resilience against all odds, while their ability to love transcends time.

Engaging plot, interesting female characters, historical fiction with a heavy dose of magical realism; I flew through this book. 

I was a huge fan of Weyward, but not so much of The Sirens.  But I am so lucky to have been given the opportunity to advance-read The Enigmas.  And I really loved it.  Congratulations to Emilia Hart on a sure winner that will likely lead her back to the NYT list.  

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me review this book in exchange for my honest review. 

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

First and foremost, thanks for NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book! It was a fun historical sci-fi with dual POVs and timelines that overlap and intersect. I loved that both narrators were two generations (mother and daughter) and hearing both of their perspectives on some of the same events. It added to the emotions of the scenes and highlighted how good Hart was at creating voices, perspectives, and motives for both of her narrators. I finished the book in just a couple of days, so it is the light early fall read. 3.5 stars from me.

To get into a bit more specific about what I liked and didn't like, keep reading. Spoilers from here on out.

What I liked:

- The pacing: This book moved quick and I didn't really feel like it dragged too much. There was a small portion of the Project Phoenix plotline I thought dragged a little long, but I was still okay with it because that was a portion with heavier Alice background, so it still moved. I think the dual POV and timelines also helped with the pacing, because they seemed to be opposite of each other. When Beatrice's POV was moving quick, Alice's was slower to get started. When Beatrice slowed down, Alice's picked up with the reveal. It worked and it kept me interested and reading.
- The distinct voices and perspectives: Sometimes when dual POV books, its hard to tell the two voices apart, but I felt like Alice and Beatrice were different enough that I could tell them apart without needing their chapter cues. I also liked that they were written in third (Beatrice) vs first (Alice) person. It made sense for Alice's to be in first person because she was writing down her past and we write in first person, but it also just made sense because she was the one who lived and remembered everything already. It was all more personal and closer to her. Beatrice was more removed from the past, so it made sense that there was some narrative distance between her and her experiences.
- The family dynamics: I think the thing I liked most about this book was the mother-daughter relationship between Alice and Beatrice. It was so interesting and well done. Especially since we really start with Beatrice and how her and her mother don't see eye-to-eye or get along too well. She is much closer with her father. Then, to jump to Alice's perspective and have it be so complicated is so beautiful. She never wanted to be a mother. Being a mother directly impacted her dream of being a doctor. She loved her daughters so much she would die for them and keep Beatrice locked in the house for the rest of their lives. She left books and poetry outside Beatrice's door in an attempt to connect with her and understand her. It was beautiful. It was nuanced! I wish this was pitched more as a mother and daughter story over a sister story, because it was so impactful as a story about a mother and her daughters.
- The alternate universe: The alternate universe where England surrenders to Germany was weird, but in a good way! I felt like I was questioning everything I knew about history and WWII after Clemmie's third death and I think it took me until Alan Turing's death to realize we had actually strayed from history. It was subtle because Beatrice isn't super well-versed in every historic event that's happening in the war, but also neither am I, so it worked really well. It also gave me hope that there was going to be more to the story and Clemmie was going to come back, without any real idea of how they were going to do it.
- Alice: God. I loved Alice. Like I said earlier, what a nuanced character. I wasn't sold on her in the beginning and I think I was bored in a lot of her chapters. I also typically like stories with dual timelines and POVs to hide the connection between the characters until the end, so I wasn't convinced knowing Alice was their mother was going to work at first, but it had me not long into the story. Her motivations were so complex. Her backstory was tragic, but not overly dramatic. She witnessed her mother dying and the delusions that lead to her death and made it her life's mission to both stay rational and keep death away from her daughters. I loved seeing her complicated relationship with Beatrice and her deep love for her daughters that involved undoing their deaths over and over. She haunted the narrative more than Clemmie did and she was alive the whole time.

What I didn't like:
Well, this is less what I didn't like, and more what I thought just needed some improvement or didn't work very well. I am picky sometimes, about some things.

- The time travel: For a book that promised time travel, it really didn't have too much of it. It was so interesting that Beatrice would solve something with the time travel and immediately accept that outcome as the only solution. Like she drove her sister away from her by kicking Moira out of the house, but telling their host about the smoking was definitely not the only way to stop the fire? They already establish that Moira left before Beatrice that day, and Beatrice figures out that its the cigarette that kills her sister. So, could she not go back in time and just put out the cigarette in Moira's room? While I liked the book, I just feel like I was promised more time travel and personally, I would've been using the hell out of that thing to keep my loved ones alive and well. I feel like they only touched on this, but could Beatrice see the future? I feel like that part wasn't really wrapped up? She dreamt about the bomb dropping on Clemmie and tried to prevent it, but how did she know? Is that part of the time travel? I feel like that, if anything, was more impactful and useful than the time travel itself and I definitely wanted that to be more fleshed out.
- Clemmie: For someone who drives the entire story, Clemmie is so largely absent. I don't mean absent in that she is dead and cannot be present, but her presence is just such a big unknown. It seems like Hart wanted her to haunt the narrative, but for her to be this driving force and unmistakable presence, I needed to know her. Other than her language ability, her love of acting, and her sexuality, I knew next to nothing about Clemmie. Other than her death(s), we get hardly any memories with Clemmie to show how bonded her and Beatrice are and what their connection really looks like. Her absence and distance works in Alice's chapters, where it feels like she is distancing herself from her daughter to keep her safe, but not in Beatrice's, where Clemmie is her only deep friendship and connection. I think the story and the tragedy would've hit so much harder if I also cared about Clemmie living as a person, and not a concept.
- The character names: Okay this is petty. I just did not like any of the main characters' names at all. I could not get behind a character named Clemmie at all. I'm sorry. It was hard to get attached to her when I was cringing every single time at her name. It also took so long to get reassurance that her full name is in fact Clementine. Surely, there's a better nickname for Clementine. Even though the rest of her family had normal names and nicknames, the surname... I get Hart was trying to create an spooky atmosphere with it, but it just didn't make sense if the time travel ability came from their mother anyways. The names just sounded silly. Frank Bones? Beatrice Bones? Clemmie Bones? I had to suspend a lot of disbelief for this one.
- Little modern references/influence: This is another little thing, but every now and then, there was something that just took me out of the historic setting and made me aware I was reading. Unsuspended my disbelief. I think it was mostly when Beatrice and Henry are talking about rereading books and he refers to them as "comfort reads". Not denying that everyone has a favorite book and that people haven't always enjoyed rereading for the sake of rereading, but that term in particular is just such a modern and new saying that took me out of the story a little bit. There were a couple other examples, but that was the biggest one for me.

I was also neutral on some aspects. I wasn't super convinced on Beatrice and Henry's romance and thought it maybe needed more time on page, but I also didn't hate it. It was satisfying for what was there. I didn't hate any of the characters, but maybe I didn't love them either. It definitely could've been more polarizing, but that definitely contributed to the 3.5 star rating.

[Linda Higdon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

I had a difficult time deciding how to rate this book. I was expecting a work of historical fiction, but I wasn’t expecting the magical elements. Perhaps if I had read one of Ms. Hart’s previous books, I might have been better prepared for them. At first, I struggled to understand how Alice’s chapters connected to Beatrice’s story, and when the magical element was introduced, I began to wonder if this would be an enjoyable read for me. The time travel, in particular, felt a bit too unbelievable for my taste.

I was prepared to rate the book lower, but by the end, I felt it deserved at least 3.5 stars. Ultimately, I gave it 4 stars—not so much because of the historical elements, but because of its portrayal of the very human struggles that so many of us face.

Beatrice and her mother, Alice, have a very strained relationship, and the reasons for that tension aren’t fully revealed until almost the very end of the book. This kept me wondering where Alice’s story was going and how it would ultimately connect to Beatrice. When everything is finally revealed, however, we begin to understand the complex relationships that can exist between mothers and daughters.

Beatrice feels that her mother neither loves nor approves of her, and she spends a great deal of time imagining what her mother must be thinking. Meanwhile, Alice is afraid to tell Beatrice how she truly feels because she fears that Beatrice will never forgive her for things she did in the past. In the end, we see that both mother and daughter had longed to be closer for so many years, only to lose precious time because neither could express what she truly felt.

The relationship between Beatrice and Clemmie is equally complicated. They are extremely close, and you can feel the deep love between them, yet their bond is also filled with envy, guilt, admiration, anger, and frustration. Beatrice both admires and envies Clemmie, while they remain fiercely protective of one another. Ultimately, however, it is their love for each other that matters most.

The book explores the lengths we might go to for the people we love most and how decisions made out of love can affect those around us. It was especially emotional to discover how Alice’s own struggles affected her daughters and to see what she ultimately does to try to make amends.

From a historical perspective, the book covers the work done at Bletchley Park, which was instrumental to the Allied war effort during WWII. Although I’ve read several other books that touch on this subject, it remains a fascinating topic. One aspect of the history that was new to me was Endell Street Military Hospital, the WWI medical center in London staffed entirely by women —including surgeons, nurses, administrative staff, clerks, orderlies, and drivers. Although the majority of the novel is set during WWII, Alice’s memories of WWI introduced me to something I knew little about and even prompted me to do some additional research.

The book started a bit too slowly and felt somewhat disjointed to me, and there were a few sections that probably could have been shortened. I found it difficult to become fully invested in the story during the first half. However, by the end, I was immersed in the characters and their stories, and I felt that everything came together in a satisfying, albeit somewhat implausible, conclusion.

While the magical elements and time travel weren’t necessarily what I expected or usually look for in historical fiction, the emotional depth of the relationships ultimately won me over. In the end, it was the very human story of love, regret, forgiveness, and the desire to make things right that stayed with me.

[Karolina Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grief really said “What if we made this woman’s life approximately 10 times more complicated?” Because Beatrice Bone is already trying to survive wartime England, family expectations and the general emotional disaster that comes with loving people too much and then a mysterious pocket watch enters the chat. Beatrice completely got to me. She’s not some perfectly composed FMC who has every answer figured out. She’s messy, stubborn, emotional and sometimes makes decisions where I was basically sitting there going GIRL… PLEASE THINK THIS THROUGH.

Her relationship with her sister Clemmie was probably my favorite part. There’s so much love between them but also jealousy, protectiveness, guilt and all those complicated little feelings that can exist between sisters who would absolutely fight the world for each other while simultaneously driving each other insane. It felt painfully real and then there’s Alice, whose story slowly adds another layer to everything. I really loved getting pieces of her life and seeing the sacrifices she made, especially as a woman trying to build a life and career during a time when society seemed determined to remind women exactly where it thought they belonged.

The wartime setting was another huge win for me. It didn’t feel overly romanticized or like WWII was just being used as pretty historical wallpaper. There was fear, exhaustion, loss, uncertainty and all those quiet sacrifices happening behind the scenes. Then we get Bletchley Park and codebreaking, which apparently is the fastest way to convince me to keep turning pages. Give me women being underestimated while secretly doing something brilliant and I’m SAT. 🍿

And then we have the time stuff. 👀

I loved the idea of being able to go back and change moments, but what really hooked me was the emotional question underneath it, If you could undo one terrible thing, how far would you go before changing everything else became too much? Beatrice’s choices made me think about how grief can convince us that going backward is easier than learning how to live with what happened. There are moments where I completely understood why she did what she did, even when I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and yell “STOP TOUCHING THE TIMELINE.”

The pacing is more character driven than action heavy, so if you’re expecting nonstop time travel chaos, this isn’t quite that. There’s a slower, atmospheric quality to it and I actually liked that. The relationships and emotional consequences are given room to breathe. I did have a few moments where the time travel mechanics started making my brain feel like it had 37 tabs open and the ending pushed the fantastical side a little further than I personally needed. I also felt like the final stretch moved a bit quicker than the rest of the book. It didn’t ruin the experience for me but I definitely had a tiny “wait… we’re wrapping this up already?” moment.

Still, the heart of this book is what stayed with me. Beneath the time travel and wartime setting, this is really a story about women, sisters, mothers, grief, sacrifice and the absolutely feral things we might do when we’re desperate to keep the people we love. If you like historical fiction with a little magical weirdness, complicated family relationships, strong female characters and a big “but what if I could change it?” question hanging over everything, I think this one is worth adding to the TBR.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Emilia Hart for allowing me to read this eARC before its release via NetGalley. The Enigmas releases April 6, 2027.

[Books By Your Bedside · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and The Borough Press for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

This was my first 2027 read. I normally read my ARCs in release order, so I still had 2026 books to read but as soon as I received this I had to move it to the top of my list.

Weyward is one of my absolute favourite books, and The Sirens, whilst not at the same level in my opinion, was still an incredible book. So I have been super excited about this one. Emilia is an original talent and I can't see her ever writing a book that isn't utterly fantastic to read. So yeah, I had high hopes.

Her way of writing women, particularly sisters, is one of the best. The only person I can compare her to is Julie Owen Moylan, another of my favourite female writers.

It's not what I was expecting. In terms of storytelling ability it is, and character creation and depth of feeling etc. But this one felt more accessible plot wise, even though there is this sense of magic in it. But the previous two were very much fantasy, whereas this one felt very real but with a spark of magic. It's also set in a familiar historical period. Her previous books include scenes from a time or land that feels ancient to us, whereas a book set during WWII feels relatively recent and familiar.

And I think this means it didn't have the same feel to it. I just want to add here that's not a complaint, just an observation. If you'd given it to me and not told me who the author was, I probably wouldn't have plumped for her, but it's an interesting new angle and it's just cemented how much of an interesting writer she is.

It is told through Beatrice's POV, and her Mum Alice's POV - these are mostly when she was a young child and then young woman, and really helped flesh out the character in the more modern scenes. And I really liked it when the two POVs became intertwined.

I liked her depictions of wartime Britain. She's not glamorised it or sensationalised it, nor has she focussed on the macabre and morbid. She's been honest about it and you really get that sense. But this isn't a war novel. This is a novel about family and sisterhood and what you'd do for those you love that just so happens to be set at wartime.

I read it in two sittings because whilst it might light on action (not a criticism) it's still so addictive. And I felt really sad once I'd finished it because it meant I was no longer in this world she'd created.

I generally don't reread books because I have so many new ones to read. But this might be an exception. There are so many little things threaded through it that I imagine I missed on first read, so it would be interesting to see how much more I could get out of it a second time.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Emilia Hart’s third novel and I’m definitely a fan. I love her historic timelines and the hint (or more than a hint) of magical realism in her plots. Female depictions and family relationships are her superpower—characters are courageous and likable, but they’re also struggling and flawed, sometimes tragically so.

The Enigmas is set in England, mostly during the beginning of WWII. Beatrice is 28 years old but still living at home because of some ill-defined health issues that may recur and pose a threat to her physical and mental health. She was educated at home (just the basics) while her younger sister, Clemmie, is bright and pretty with a University degree and a top secret job with the war effort. It leaves Beatrice, who loves Clemmie fiercely, feeling a little flat about her own future prospects.

When a fire in her boardinghouse claims Clemmie’s young life. Beatrice is swamped by grief and becomes especially attached to a watch that Clemmie gave her for her birthday. Inscribed on the watch is “Memento Mori”, a Latin phrase meaning, “Remember you will die”. One day, while mourning Clemmie and holding the watch, A strange feeling comes over her and Beatrice is shocked to find her sister very much alive again and reliving a conversation they had a few nights earlier. Given this unlikely turn of time traveling magical events, she scrambles to prevent Clemmie’s death, to no avail. Each time she uses the watch to try again to save Clemmie, she ends up causing disastrous consequences.

The book focuses on the relationships between Beatrice and Clemmie, and their mother, Alice, a trained surgeon (in a time when women weren’t given medical degrees) and a complicated, damaged woman. Chapters with Beatrice and Clemmie’s stories alternate with Alice’s written memories from her past which is a good format for the storytelling.

One little peeve I have is the use of misunderstanding between characters to continue the conflict in a plot, especially when just a word or two of clarification could resolve a lot of repetitive anguished inner dialogue. In this case, it became clear that these misunderstandings were an important part of the storytelling and a style choice rather than an easy way to extend the chapters.

Without describing the ending, all the plot lines came together perfectly with some real satisfaction for readers. It’s not all HEA with rose-colored glasses, but when readers aren’t able to anticipate how all the loose ends in the story can possibly be resolved and the author has subtly led us carefully there, it’s good!

I appreciate NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

[Beth Lollis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Weyward, so The Enigmas had some pretty big shoes to fill, and Emilia Hart came very, very close. Weyward is still my favorite, but honestly, only by a sliver. The Enigmas is an absolute delight.

What I love most about Emilia Hart’s writing is her ability to create characters who feel like fully realized women rather than simply people moving a plot along. Her characters have complicated emotions, flaws, strengths, fears, and desires, and I especially love the way she writes their relationships with one another. The relationships between the women in this book are really the heart of the story for me.

I also learned a surprising amount while reading this book. The story takes us into the lives of women in Great Britain during both World Wars, and I found myself fascinated by the different ways women contributed to the war efforts and stepped into roles that society had previously denied them. Hart incorporates the historical details so naturally that I never felt like I was being given a history lesson—but I definitely finished the book wanting to learn more.

And then there is the magical element, which is one of the things I enjoyed so much about Weyward. Hart manages to blend the fantastical with the historical in a way that feels completely organic. The magic isn’t there simply for the sake of having magic; it becomes part of a larger exploration of family, love, loss, sacrifice, and the choices we make when we are given the possibility of changing the past.

The two timelines also worked beautifully for me. As the connections between them became clearer, I found myself increasingly invested in how the characters’ stories would come together. There is a wonderful sense of inheritance… not just of family traits and secrets, but of courage, choices, trauma, and love passed from one generation to another.

Most of all, though, I cared about these women. That’s what makes a book work for me, and Hart is so good at creating characters and relationships that make me emotionally invested in what happens to them.

If you loved Weyward, I absolutely recommend The Enigmas. It has the historical fiction, strong female characters, complicated family relationships, beautiful writing, and touch of magic that made me love Hart’s first book.

4.75 stars. Emilia Hart has definitely cemented herself on my “I will read whatever she writes” list.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for The Enigmas! 2.5 stars.

I really enjoyed Emilia Hart's first two novels, but I'm sad to say that this one didn't live up to my expectations. While I'm sure it will be a crowd-pleaser, I found it to be a bit of a departure from Weyward and The Sirens.

Like in Hart's previous novels, we get a story set in multiple time periods and focused on the experiences of women. But for once, The Enigmas doesn't have a modern-day plotline. In Weyward and especially The Sirens, the modern-day plotline is used to explore often quite brutal facets of violence against women, such as abusive partners, sexual violence, teachers grooming school children, and uploading intimate photos on social media without consent. The novels felt topical, insightful, and often raw.

The Enigmas, in contrast, felt more like a celebration of women's achievements in the first half of the last century, with a focus on the women who worked either as wartimes doctors or at Bletchley Park. There are a lot of readers who will love this perspective. But for me, I found it less powerful and more superficial compared to Weyward and The Sirens.

Part of my issue may be that wartime Britain has been written about a lot already. Unfortunately, I just didn't feel that The Enigmas managed to stand out from the many of other novels about this time period. It felt generic, and the characters didn't have as much depth as in other Emilia Hart novels.

The time travel element also felt a little undercooked to me. The Enigmas focuses on the butterfly effect of time travel, but for the ending to work, it also wants us to believe that enormous changes in the past led to almost no difference in the characters' decisions throughout their lives. It felt like the novel was picking and choosing when it wanted the butterfly effect to have an impact.

All the same, I know that a lot of people will love this story of women in wartime. Ultimately, I'm just not the right reader for this novel.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hart’s brand of feminist historical time travel novels hits a grand stride in this book as she weaves the tale of Beatrice and Alice, daughter and sister, and their love for family above all else. Personally, I feel that Hart takes the usual homefront narratives of the First and Second World Wars in Britain and does something compellingly different, and it’s not the time travel; rather, Alice becomes a surgeon at the Endell Street Military Hospital in 1915 and Beatrice a codebreaker in Bletchley Park. They have their wars, which drive them just as much as their relationships, and it’s their resilience and bravery that drives the core action.

As a historian of this period, I felt like I was rewarded for knowing the flow of historical action in the novel as it allowed me to quickly pick out when the timelines began to diverge. Alice’s narrative was especially delightful, carrying great emotional weight and resonance that is enhanced by her consistently clinical tone and unfanciful POV. This gives greater weight to Beatrice’s more literary and empathetic narrative voice as she works out the mysteries around her, including why her beloved sister, Clemmie keeps dying. It takes a bit of time for Beatrice and Alice’s stories to fully come together, and I found the process to be exciting and full of well-situated side characters, including Beatrice’s love interest, Henry Woodhouse.

While I loved the mystery of how the time travel worked, I do feel that the ending tested how much I bought into the time travel mechanics, and I found the last few chapters functioned as a sort of extended epilogue wrapping up loose ends. I was, however, satisfied with how the story turned out, and I think this book would appeal to those who enjoy historical fiction and fantasy set in this period. This book would appeal to fans of the long-running drama, Call the Midwife, Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy, and the Downtown Abbey series.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the time I was 25 pages into The Enigmas, I knew I was reading something special. Although historical fiction set in World War I and World War II is a personal favorite, I was mesmerized by the exquisite use of language rather than trying to solve the mysteries. The clever repetition of phrases sprinkled throughout the story, from the first page to the last, had me rereading passages to make sure I didn't miss a connection.

The title suggests this book will be about Bletchley Park and the people who broke the Enigma Code, but it is so much more. Through Alice's eyes, we view England's women on the cusp of radical changes in education, career choices, and suffrage. But society, still controlled by patriarchy, continues to view women as weak and subject to hysteria, which can strike at any time. Much of Alice's pain felt so familiar...trying to balance motherhood and a career, and feeling so inadequate. And then there is Beatrice, impossibly tall for a woman, whom I instantly adored with her fixation on Victorian Momento Mori jewelry and mourning clothing. She has lived within the novels she loves and draws on her literary experiences to grapple with reality, even at Bletchley Park.

The book's unexpected ending had me sobbing at a mother's fierce love for her child, but I was still struck by the incomparable beauty of the writing. The book begins and ends with Newton's third law of physics: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. But those pages in between were not cold scientific facts. They were filled with humanity, and I felt every word. Emilia Hart is a gifted writer, and I will buy a copy of The Enigmas so that I can reread it, probably quite often.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read the ARC. The review and all opinions are entirely my own.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though there have been many books written about Great Britain's Bletchley Park codebreakers during WWII, Emilia Hart gives this fascinating subject a very interesting spin. Spinster Beatrice is turning 28, but she still lives in her childhood home with her parents, while her younger sister, Clemmie, is contributing to the war effort working at Bletchley Park. The girls' mother, Alice, is not very warm and fuzzy, but she is obsessed with death and very domineering. When Clemmie is killed in a fire at work, Beatrice and her parents naturally are devastated. But Beatrice discovers that an ancient pocketwatch Clemmie gave her for her birthday has a special power -- the ability to go back in time -- which she does to try to save Clemmie. Beatrice gets a job at Bletchley Park and, no spoilers, but the reader will find out that changing the past doesn't always produce the expected outcomes.

In the dual-timeline story, Alice works as a hospital physician treating WWI patients during a time that women are not valued for their work skills and intellectual abilities. The reader learns why Alice (and her husband, Frank, to a lesser extent), have not allowed Beatrice to go out, have friends or basically to grow up. Alice is a very complicated character, and her growth during the novel is very powerful.

The two timelines are interesting, and when the Alice's history converges with Beatrice's, the story is so compelling, I couldn't stop reading. The "Author's Note" at the end gives more information about Bletchley Park, which was fascinating. Highly recommend.

[Krista Galley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a dream come true to get to read an Emilia Hart book before it’s published!! I keep pinching myself to make sure it’s real.

Similar to my second-guessing reality, The Enigmas also questions reality and how we remember it. It’s another wonderful book about the love of sisters, but also that of mothers and daughters/children, our relationship with ourselves, and even to our lineage and genetics. It is presented in such a compelling story that is wonderfully complex in how it explores all of these dynamics while also delving into the politics and historical events of the first and second World Wars. The haunting idea that we always save those we love and how willing we are to forsake the lives of those we don’t know holds contemporary meaning as well as historical and philosophical.

This historical fiction meets magic realism book was another win from Emilia Hart for me. Her character development was fantastic, the parallels between the characters and the historical events is excellent, and the plot was just the right blend of details to keep you curious and invested without giving too much away too soon.

I read this in less than 2 days and will probably read it again once it is published. It’ll definitely be on my next list of recommendations for my book club as there is so much to discuss, and, of course, because “Rational inquiry is of crucial importance to the female mind.”!!

This is a definite pre-order worthy book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Weyward so I was very excited to get the advanced copy of this one. I can confidently say this one did not disappoint.

We’re following Beatrice Bone, a young woman living in London during WWII who is devastated when her younger sister, Clemmie, dies while doing secret work for the war effort. After discovering that a pocket watch left to her by Clemmie can transport her through time, Beatrice becomes determined to change the past and save her sister, though she quickly realizes that altering one life can have devastating consequences elsewhere. We also go back to 1915, where their mother Alice is working as a doctor during the war and dealing with her own mystery.

There is no one else who is writing historical, multi-timeline, character-based stories like Emilia Hart. The level of care that goes into creating her characters is so wonderful, and at their core, Hart’s stories always focus on female resilience and strength. This one was no different as it’s a story centering around mothers, daughters, and sisters. I loved reading about Beatrice and Alice and how their stories gradually reveal a connection that they didn’t completely understand.

The wartime backdrop with the time-travel element was also so intriguing, and the writing and setting (as always) were so atmospheric that I couldn’t help but keep turning the pages to stay engrossed in the world.

This was such a beautiful read, and I highly recommend picking this one up.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

[Melanie Sholl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and The Borough Press for the ARC of this title in return for my honest opinion.

This was an excellent read. My first Emilia Hart but definitely not my last. This was an historical novel with magical realism threaded throughout. It highlights the role women played in both World Wars over in the UK. When we study history in school we learn about the sacrifices of the men who went off to fight in the wars. The horrific injuries and loss of life on the battlefield are stories that should be told so that we understand and we don't forget. Just as important though are the sacrifices and danger faced by those left at home in the UK. Women who needed to balance the responsibilities of single motherhood, trying to keep their children safe from falling bombs while stepping up to do their part to fight the enemy and at the same time facing prejudice and judgement for every thing they did. Women are the worst critics of women!

The idea of being able to control time, making changes to the timeline and the effect it has on lives and history is not new. At first the story seemed to be a repeat of Groundhog day. I was actually relieved when it stopped at one point and life moved forward again despite the sadness and struggles of the characters. There were several big twists and surprises which kept the story engaging. The constant sacrifice of women to make everyone else happy started to annoy me but it's very true to life. I would have given this book 5 stars but for the ending. It seemed a bit rushed. Overall an excellent read.

[Mana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regret. The desire to un-break what is already shattered. In 1940, Beatrice Bone sits trapped in her parents' claustrophobic house, twenty-seven and dying of boredom while bombs prepare to fall over Britain. Her sister Clemmie gifts her an antique pocket watch engraved with Memento Mori. Then Clemmie dies. Beatrice, drowning in immediate grief, discovers the impossible mechanism inside the brass casing can rewind physical moments. The atmosphere stinks of cold tea, damp wool, Bletchley Park chalk dust, and the heavy static of radio waves.

Emilia Hart mixes historical realism with sudden, quiet impossible occurrences. Female doctors fighting institutional misogyny. Codebreakers staring at impossible ciphers alongside Alan Turing. Beatrice is driven by a deep, selfish refusal to accept loss, a flaw that makes her human even as she messily tampers with the timeline. She isn't a grand strategist. She is just a sister trying to drag a ghost back into the room.

Hart relies on sudden, fragmented shifts in perspective between technical wartime logistics and surreal temporal jumps. It works because the sudden mechanical jumps disrupt the historical slow-burn, keeping you slightly off-balance.

Read this if you want atmospheric historical fiction fused with subtle magical realism and intense sisterly bonds. Skip it if you want high-speed, action-packed time travel without historical slow-burns.

[Kaitlyn Lopez-Collier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you SMP for an e-arc of this book! All thoughts are my own.

WOW, I’m blown away and now have a favorite Emilia Hart book. This was so beautifully written and follows two timelines this time (I know she normally writes 3) and that kept the story more focused for me compared to her other books. The timelines take place in both world wars, and the wars add such a big direct conflict in each timeline. I found myself most drawn to Beatrice’s story because she’s an older sister like me and I really felt the heartbreak of trying to rewrite the past. She was also such a relatable character to me because she loves gothic novels and more macabre things. I loved the story of motherhood in Alice’s timeline. She was also determined to become a successful doctor in a time when it was very hard to. The sexism she had to work around was very real.

The emotions in this book were very high, and I loved the historical elements. Both of the world wars were such a time of devastation and also determination. The story makes you think about there being a balance in nature between life and death. There’s a price to pay when you try to mess with the past. I thought the ending really brought it all together, and I was left in tears. This was seriously so good! I can’t wait for everyone else to read it.

[Olivia Lanier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!

I really, really enjoyed this book. Historical fiction will always be one of my favorite genres, and I loved the twist of science fiction with the time travel aspect.
I loved Beatrice’s character. She was quirky, thoughtful, and totally herself. We really felt her love for her sister despite all of the challenges and heartbreak she faced.

I liked the dual POV. At first, I wasn’t sure why the chapters from Alice’s POV was necessary. But as the story continues, it was clear to me how important she would become to the story.

The conclusion of this book really pulled at my heartstrings. It was NOT what I was expecting, but I think it worked really well within the story. I finished the book feeling satisfied with the ending and not wishing for more. I felt like the characters all had endings that made sense given their personalities and what we learned from them throughout the book.

For any other lovers of WWII historical fiction, please don’t hesitate to pick this one up. It was a fast-paced read, and I kept trying to find free time so I could sit down and keep reading. Don’t let the time travel aspect deter you, because it was incorporated in a very natural-seeming way. I’ll be recommending this one to all my reader friends!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I received a notification from NetGalley that Emilia Hart’s latest novel was Read Now, I jumped at the opportunity and dove right in. She is an auto buy author for me after Weyward, and I also really enjoyed her second novel The Sirens (though not as much as Weyward). The Enigmas fell somewhere in between.

Set in the UK during the World Wars, this dual timeline book follows Beatrice in her late 20s during WWII and her mother Alice during WW1. Alice’s story about being a female surgeon and a mother in an era where this was deemed unacceptable was especially interesting to me a a mom in the healthcare field. I also loved following Beatrice and her determination to protect her beloved sister Clemmie at all costs. I didn’t know much about the codebreakers before reading, and really appreciated the author’s notes at the end where she recommended other works that helped inform her writing. The story felt fresh to me in a sea of books dealing with this era, and while I love a touch of magical realism in any story, this early copy felt a bit confusing at times and I found myself having to go back to put the pieces together. In the end I think it does come together nicely and I will absolutely be getting my own copy once the book is released next year. Thank you to St. Martin’s press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this lovely novel by a favorite author!

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an arc copy of The Enigmas by Emilia Hart in exchange for my honest thoughts and feelings. Now I had previously read Weyward by this author and knew that when NetGalley was offering the chance to download this book without any wait, I knew I had to take the chance and gobble it up. Hart’s prose was so beautiful from the description of the setting, to the very thoughts the characters felt. The story definitely sits with me as the theme of family coursed throughout this novel. Beatrice never had done anything with her life for almost three decades and when she finally makes a move, it’s to save the life of her sister while coming at the cost of going against her mother, Alice’s, best wishes. I thought this book was incredibly beautiful with its story telling, however at times I felt as though we could have had repeated perspectives in back to back chapters, instead of the back and forth we had for most of the book. I would recommend this book to people that like heart retching books, character growth, and historical settings. Happy reading!

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free advance review copy from NetGalley.

I was attracted to The Enigmas by Emilia Hart because of its time-travel premise and wartime setting. I particularly enjoyed the sections set at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, and I appreciated the bond between the sisters. The novel also explores themes of resilience, friendship, family, loss, and love.

The two timelines added another layer to the story, however, I wasn't consistently engaged, and I found Alice's storyline too slow in places. I also found myself wanting more from the time-travel element. Given how intriguing the premise was, I would have liked the time travel to play a bigger and more substantial role in the story.

That said, I did appreciate the ending and felt that it brought the different elements of the story together well.

I can see why this novel will appeal to many readers, particularly those who enjoy historical fiction with a touch of the fantastical and a strong focus on family relationships. Unfortunately, while I appreciated many aspects of the story, it just wasn't quite the book for me.

[Megan F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will read Emilia Hart novels forever and always. This book, more magical realism than anything, had me hooked from the start. I loved this story of lives lived and lives altered and then lived all over again with different outcomes. Who among us doesn’t wish they could go back and change something small or large? Really this is a story of family- two sisters, a mother, and a father- set amongst a mostly dreary and war-torn English landscape during World War Two. I loved Clemmie, and I especially loved Beatrice. I did not love the girls’ mother, but I came to understand and respect her. I understand what it is to live in a space where I long for the comfort and predictability that believing strictly in science provides, but my mind was not made for science, so I identified most deeply with Beatrice. Perhaps, in another version of life, I was her. Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am so grateful to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy. If you want to be transported back in time and delve into the emotional depths of three women in particular, I highly suggest you give this very good book a read!