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The Code Girls
**A heart-warming and inspiring story of incredible women on the home-front during World War II from the author of The Bomb Girls**
Can four girls protect a whole country?
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 . . .
458 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2016
146 people are currently reading
1968 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
January 22, 2019
Oh I used to read lots of these type of books, I devoured them. I then sent to other genres, I need to come back to these heartwarming sagas.
There was always something about wartime, pre war and post war stories where life was so different. Not because of the war and difficulties but people in general.
The girls in this book were varied in personalities, needs wants and aspirations but they had one thing in common. They loved and respected each other. They pulled tog.
Life “below stairs” reminded me so much of the British program Upstairs and downstairs.
Even close to Dowton Abbey.
Great story, fine writing.
There was always something about wartime, pre war and post war stories where life was so different. Not because of the war and difficulties but people in general.
The girls in this book were varied in personalities, needs wants and aspirations but they had one thing in common. They loved and respected each other. They pulled tog.
Life “below stairs” reminded me so much of the British program Upstairs and downstairs.
Even close to Dowton Abbey.
Great story, fine writing.
September 7, 2016
The name of this book is quite misleading. I thought I would be reading all about the women who learned to code and their lives. While there is a part of it about code, the actual Code Girls are just mentioned as to how they were fed and where they stayed while on the course. The rest of it is all about the girls who worked downstairs in the kitchens.
An easy read for a wet Sunday or a day at the beach.
An easy read for a wet Sunday or a day at the beach.
November 27, 2016
Novels set during WWII are one of my favourite genres of reading, so when I saw "The Code Girls," I just knew I had to read it. I'm fascinated by fiction and non-fiction about Bletchley Park, and the amazing work that went on during the War, to defeat the tyranny of the Nazis and the Axis Powers. Wise Churchill, correctly called it 'the Golden Goose that never cackled.' Imagine my disappointment when what I thought was a book about the code-breaking girls of Bletchley Park wasn't. Just a background mention about the girls who trained at the requisitioned Walsingham Hall. Whilst I can see that the girls who signed up for war work, and were under the orders of the Forces/Government could officially be moved down to the kitchen, therefore working under the auspices of their 'war work,' to HAVE to cook for the Walsingham family at Christmas is ridiculous. Ruby was the only member employed by the family.
I couldn't believe the crashingly horrendous errors that the author made, and that these were never picked up on when it was proof-read. On p. 11, apparently Clement Atlee announced England was at war with Germany. Atlee was a post war PM, Neville Chamberlain was the PM who announced Britain was at war with Germany at 1100 hours on September 3, 1939. The rescue of British soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk in May 1940, was across the English Channel, not the North Sea. Also the ringing of church bells was banned since the invasion threat of 1940, as they would have been used as a general warning to the population in the event of an invasion. They were rung up and down the country though, after the success of El Alamein in November 1942. Aside from this and other slight errors, the story was ok, although if you'd taken the amount of meals the girls cooked in the kitchen out, it would of been a very slim book. It was all rather obvious though, and a bit far-fetched, hence my rating. I shall read 'The Bomb Girls' with interest and hope for no more glaring errors.
I couldn't believe the crashingly horrendous errors that the author made, and that these were never picked up on when it was proof-read. On p. 11, apparently Clement Atlee announced England was at war with Germany. Atlee was a post war PM, Neville Chamberlain was the PM who announced Britain was at war with Germany at 1100 hours on September 3, 1939. The rescue of British soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk in May 1940, was across the English Channel, not the North Sea. Also the ringing of church bells was banned since the invasion threat of 1940, as they would have been used as a general warning to the population in the event of an invasion. They were rung up and down the country though, after the success of El Alamein in November 1942. Aside from this and other slight errors, the story was ok, although if you'd taken the amount of meals the girls cooked in the kitchen out, it would of been a very slim book. It was all rather obvious though, and a bit far-fetched, hence my rating. I shall read 'The Bomb Girls' with interest and hope for no more glaring errors.
December 29, 2017
If you're going to write historical fiction, Ms Styles, do some basic research:
*the miracle of the rescue of the British troops took place at DUNKIRK - not Normandy (for goodness sake, just watch the movie if you can't be bothered reading a history book!);
*NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN was PM at the start of WW2 - not Clement Atlee, and it was Chamberlain who sombrely announced in 1939 that: "this country is at war with Germany." There are many people alive who remember him giving the speech. (Getting that wrong is like saying Jimmy Carter was assassinated in May 1963 because C is a bit like K. Did you have in the back of your mind that the 1939 PM's name had a C in it, and could only remember Clement?) http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/da...
*Spitfires - the symbol of British resistance to the superior Nazi air power in the Battle of Britain- were single pilot fighters, and never carried a bomb load. Surely you've heard of the Battle of Britain? It prevented a full-scale nazi invasion, so it's a bit important, and the iconic Spitfire and Hurricanes were the fighters that saved us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superma...
*there is no rank of Flight Captain in the RAF - Google it!!! https://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/c...
*The Polish resistance were NOT based in Germany - obviously https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_...
*No one ate bananas until after 1945 (read any book on the Blitz) https://www.theguardian.com/observer/...
*Land Rovers were not developed until 1947/8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Ro...
There are more errors but I can't be bothered referring to them - except that the hero of 'Gone with the Wind' is, in your mind, Brett Butler.
Try consulting Google next time, if you find reading an actual history book too taxing. These are lazy mistakes and show a real contempt for your readers. I don't care how engaging people may find your story to be - you're a lazy author. Same on you. It was badly done.
*the miracle of the rescue of the British troops took place at DUNKIRK - not Normandy (for goodness sake, just watch the movie if you can't be bothered reading a history book!);
*NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN was PM at the start of WW2 - not Clement Atlee, and it was Chamberlain who sombrely announced in 1939 that: "this country is at war with Germany." There are many people alive who remember him giving the speech. (Getting that wrong is like saying Jimmy Carter was assassinated in May 1963 because C is a bit like K. Did you have in the back of your mind that the 1939 PM's name had a C in it, and could only remember Clement?) http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/da...
*Spitfires - the symbol of British resistance to the superior Nazi air power in the Battle of Britain- were single pilot fighters, and never carried a bomb load. Surely you've heard of the Battle of Britain? It prevented a full-scale nazi invasion, so it's a bit important, and the iconic Spitfire and Hurricanes were the fighters that saved us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superma...
*there is no rank of Flight Captain in the RAF - Google it!!! https://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/c...
*The Polish resistance were NOT based in Germany - obviously https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_...
*No one ate bananas until after 1945 (read any book on the Blitz) https://www.theguardian.com/observer/...
*Land Rovers were not developed until 1947/8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Ro...
There are more errors but I can't be bothered referring to them - except that the hero of 'Gone with the Wind' is, in your mind, Brett Butler.
Try consulting Google next time, if you find reading an actual history book too taxing. These are lazy mistakes and show a real contempt for your readers. I don't care how engaging people may find your story to be - you're a lazy author. Same on you. It was badly done.
August 15, 2017
I am no stranger to books set during this time, but they are usually based on the home front, so this was a little different. It follows 4 main female characters as they go about doing their bit for the war effort, even if it wasn't quite what they were expecting. Along the way they form strong bonds, and there are many ups and downs as they make their way through the second world war.
This is the first book I have read by author Daisy Styles, but it certainly won't be the last. I am amazed at how quickly I could fall back in to the story after a pause in reading, and the strong feelings I had for the characters. There are not many authors who can make me shed a tear, but it happened more than once with this book. There were times when I was at the edge of my seat and reading quickly to find out what happened next.
I had my suspicions about the main plot twist of the book, but I would never have imagined how deep the twist would go, so even though I guessed it I was still left shocked, and there were other smaller twists that I didn't see coming at all.
I will be recommending this book to a few people that enjoy books set during this time and I will be seeking out more of her books to read for myself.
This is the first book I have read by author Daisy Styles, but it certainly won't be the last. I am amazed at how quickly I could fall back in to the story after a pause in reading, and the strong feelings I had for the characters. There are not many authors who can make me shed a tear, but it happened more than once with this book. There were times when I was at the edge of my seat and reading quickly to find out what happened next.
I had my suspicions about the main plot twist of the book, but I would never have imagined how deep the twist would go, so even though I guessed it I was still left shocked, and there were other smaller twists that I didn't see coming at all.
I will be recommending this book to a few people that enjoy books set during this time and I will be seeking out more of her books to read for myself.
December 26, 2017
Actually, I read the wrong book. I had seen Satya Nadella on The Daily Show. He is the CEO of Microsoft. A few days later, the Wall Street Journal asked several celebs what books they had recently read. Nadella, whose name I would not have recognized without having seen The Daily Show, mentioned Code Girls. Unbeknownst to me, there are two books with the same title. The one I read takes place in England during WWII, while the one to which he referred is about American code girls. I double checked the article as the book I had selected was really a pleasant piece of fluff. Certainly, it was nothing a Microsoft CEO would be recommending.
March 5, 2019
A good read , with gentle suspense
April 16, 2020
I have no idea how this book has 4 stars as I honestly found it appalling. It is riddled with spelling mistakes, awful sentences and factual errors. The dialogue between the female characters is painful and unrealistic. There is no plot. At all. It is so, so sexist, and not in an 'of it's time but still showing empowered women doing important war work cracking codes' kind of way, which is what I expected, but in a plain old 'women constantly described in terms of their physical appearance, blushing, giggling, spending the whole book cooking and then being married off' kind of way. It is awful. It's unbelievable a woman wrote this.
September 11, 2016
Daisy Styles has done it AGAIN!
There i am sitting reading what i think is a lovely story with lovely happenings and then BANG out of nowhere she breaks my heart, just like in 'The Bomb Girls.'
If you have not tried either of Daisy's books yet, what are you waiting for!!
There i am sitting reading what i think is a lovely story with lovely happenings and then BANG out of nowhere she breaks my heart, just like in 'The Bomb Girls.'
If you have not tried either of Daisy's books yet, what are you waiting for!!
October 5, 2016
Not a great book. Not really 'Code Girls', more like 'Cooks'. Very easy read but almost put it down on page 11 - apparently according to this author Prime Minister Clement Attlee declared war on Germany and the hero of 'Gone with the Wind' is Brett Butler. Lots of further mistakes throughout....disappointing.
October 11, 2016
The Code Girls is the second book from author Daisy Styles following on from her thoroughly enjoyable début The Bomb Girls. Over the past year I have become an even firmer fan of wartime sagas, be they set in World War One or World War Two, and it's great to discover a new author who brings a different slant to a topic which has been covered in minute detail many times before. Similar to the first book The Code Girls follows a group of women during World War Two when conscription for women became obligatory as most men were away fighting at the front and suitable women were needed to step into the roles left vacant by the brave men who had left the country.
Like Daisy's début I felt this book did take its time in getting going and I found the first half very repetitive with the same descriptions of cooking various dinners in Walsingham Hall. Interspersed throughout this were brief mentions of romance or developments in the girls personal lives but I wanted more of this. I suppose on reflection this does all add to the themes of the book and I must remember that life wasn't at all a barrel of laughs for the women forced to step up to the plate even though they may have shone in their various roles. Life at the time was repetitive and a grind with no end to the war in sight and the author probably wanted to reflect this and make the story as realistic as possible. It's not until the second half of the book that the pace really picked up and new characters were introduced and twists and turns aplenty kept coming. I was hooked throughout the latter half and was continuously guessing as to what the outcome would be. I know she has only written two books but I feel as if this is the style Daisy is going for. The first half of the book is pure introduction and will include every detail of the lives of the characters and only then will the action and secrets and at times heartbreak come. Now I have realised this I feel I will be better prepared for what is to come in future books.
The Code Girls follows four women all from very different backgrounds but united when conscription for women is introduced. Through the bad times and brief glimmers of hope and happiness they work together and develop long lasting friendships while waiting hopefully for the horrors of war to become but a distant memory. Ava is a cook in a canteen in a mill in Bolton. She is tall, strong and athletic and has become very imaginative in the dinners she provides the workers considering rationing is in full force throughout the country. When she hears it is now compulsory to sign up for war work she knows she must do exactly that. She has such passion and loyalty towards her country and knows she cannot sit by while others sign up. She really wants to be a code girl and applies for a course in Walsingham Hall which belongs to the Walsingham family but has been turned over to the government to be used as a training base for the brave code girls.
To be honest I had never given much thought to code girls. I had seen them briefly mentioned in books I had read previously but never in such fascinating detail. Daisy Styles has done plenty of research which was interesting and informative yet never became too technical or boring to read. Code girls played such a crucial role during the war, they replaced the men gone away to fight and learned all sorts of new and valuable skills – decoding communications, Morse Code, tracking, signalling, interception and mapping. Unfortunately for Ava when she arrives at the hall it is only to discover that she is not suitable for the role and her heart is broken. I was annoyed on behalf of poor Ava, all she wanted was to do her bit for her country but the man is charge Brigadier Charles Rydal sees Ava's talents as a cook and employs her to work below stairs alongside family servant Ruby. This is far from what Ava expected but I loved how her character shone through and she was someone who always made the best of whatever situation she was placed in. Her character throughout the book showed strength, determination and courage and no matter how tired she was creating the endless meals for the code girls and R.A.F officers she just grinned and bared it and soldiered on. She goes through a lot in the book and there is a glimmer of romance but it was slow burning and not without its complications.
As mentioned above Ruby had been a long term resident of the hall working below stairs and now she is virtually doing most things herself as many others workers have left to sign up for the war. She is only too glad when Ava and the girls arrive. Initially I thought Ruby wouldn't have much of a storyline but as the book progress she had her own firm role to play and was never seen as any different from the others. Perhaps her story became the most heartbreaking of all and it seemed so unjust and unreal that events folded the way they did but she showed true grit and tenacity. I fully felt her pain, anguish and the pure horror. I suppose those times challenged every person in different ways and if it had all been plain sailing and a bed of roses it wouldn't have made for much of a book. I have to say Ruby did hold a special place in my heart, I felt her character was real and true and what she experienced endeared her to me all the more.
Maudie was the last of the girls to work below stairs. She came from a Jewish background in London and it was great to see a character who at the time would not have had the most easiest of experiences being included in the book. Her family had a bakery so she was well equipped to help the girls in providing the meals. Maudie throughout the story was proud and independent and never let world events affect how she did her job. She formed firm, solid, long lasting friendships with the girls and Daisy Styles really did highlight how everyone came together for one common cause. They may have been total strangers put together but after so long in each other's company and living in each others pockets and experiencing ups and downs both personally and professionally they all became lifelong friends with a bond that could never be broken. Maudie too experiences her fair share of heartbreak, tragedy and frustrations but like the others she is strong when she needs to be.
The final girl featured in the book is Anabelle (Bella) Walsingham, daughter of the owners of the hall. I have to say it was so refreshing to have someone from the upper classes so to speak engage with the ordinary folk if that is what you'd like to call them. Bella is different from the rest of her family who remain cold, aloof and indifferent to what is going on around them. They still want everything to remain the same even though their home has been requisitioned for war work. They act like nothing has changed and place unreasonable food demands on the girls. Bella was a different kettle of fish altogether. She was so down to earth and like Ava had a deep passion for cooking and was very inventive with the ingredients and produce at hand. She soon immersed herself with the girls downstairs and the reader quickly forgot she was part of the upper classes as she mucked in with everything. Bella was wise, clever and a good friend and I thought her storyline was one of the best and I never saw it coming. Yes her romantic plot line was good but it was the bigger events that she was connected to that left me open mouthed in horror that something like that could happen quite so close to home right underneath one's eyes. It brought tension and intrigue to the story and made the girls work even closer together to prevent evil triumphing over good. The author has a way of sucking you in and fooling you that nothing truly that bad could happen to the characters but as in the first book that twist when it came was shocking and upsetting and I wished it hadn't happened but again that's what made the majority of the aspects of the book so realistic and gripping.
Despite this only being Daisy Style's second book I feel she is a skilled talented author who writes realistic, enjoyable books and I am looking forward to the publication of The Bomb Girls Secrets in March 2017. If it's anything like The Code Girls I'll be in for a real treat.
Like Daisy's début I felt this book did take its time in getting going and I found the first half very repetitive with the same descriptions of cooking various dinners in Walsingham Hall. Interspersed throughout this were brief mentions of romance or developments in the girls personal lives but I wanted more of this. I suppose on reflection this does all add to the themes of the book and I must remember that life wasn't at all a barrel of laughs for the women forced to step up to the plate even though they may have shone in their various roles. Life at the time was repetitive and a grind with no end to the war in sight and the author probably wanted to reflect this and make the story as realistic as possible. It's not until the second half of the book that the pace really picked up and new characters were introduced and twists and turns aplenty kept coming. I was hooked throughout the latter half and was continuously guessing as to what the outcome would be. I know she has only written two books but I feel as if this is the style Daisy is going for. The first half of the book is pure introduction and will include every detail of the lives of the characters and only then will the action and secrets and at times heartbreak come. Now I have realised this I feel I will be better prepared for what is to come in future books.
The Code Girls follows four women all from very different backgrounds but united when conscription for women is introduced. Through the bad times and brief glimmers of hope and happiness they work together and develop long lasting friendships while waiting hopefully for the horrors of war to become but a distant memory. Ava is a cook in a canteen in a mill in Bolton. She is tall, strong and athletic and has become very imaginative in the dinners she provides the workers considering rationing is in full force throughout the country. When she hears it is now compulsory to sign up for war work she knows she must do exactly that. She has such passion and loyalty towards her country and knows she cannot sit by while others sign up. She really wants to be a code girl and applies for a course in Walsingham Hall which belongs to the Walsingham family but has been turned over to the government to be used as a training base for the brave code girls.
To be honest I had never given much thought to code girls. I had seen them briefly mentioned in books I had read previously but never in such fascinating detail. Daisy Styles has done plenty of research which was interesting and informative yet never became too technical or boring to read. Code girls played such a crucial role during the war, they replaced the men gone away to fight and learned all sorts of new and valuable skills – decoding communications, Morse Code, tracking, signalling, interception and mapping. Unfortunately for Ava when she arrives at the hall it is only to discover that she is not suitable for the role and her heart is broken. I was annoyed on behalf of poor Ava, all she wanted was to do her bit for her country but the man is charge Brigadier Charles Rydal sees Ava's talents as a cook and employs her to work below stairs alongside family servant Ruby. This is far from what Ava expected but I loved how her character shone through and she was someone who always made the best of whatever situation she was placed in. Her character throughout the book showed strength, determination and courage and no matter how tired she was creating the endless meals for the code girls and R.A.F officers she just grinned and bared it and soldiered on. She goes through a lot in the book and there is a glimmer of romance but it was slow burning and not without its complications.
As mentioned above Ruby had been a long term resident of the hall working below stairs and now she is virtually doing most things herself as many others workers have left to sign up for the war. She is only too glad when Ava and the girls arrive. Initially I thought Ruby wouldn't have much of a storyline but as the book progress she had her own firm role to play and was never seen as any different from the others. Perhaps her story became the most heartbreaking of all and it seemed so unjust and unreal that events folded the way they did but she showed true grit and tenacity. I fully felt her pain, anguish and the pure horror. I suppose those times challenged every person in different ways and if it had all been plain sailing and a bed of roses it wouldn't have made for much of a book. I have to say Ruby did hold a special place in my heart, I felt her character was real and true and what she experienced endeared her to me all the more.
Maudie was the last of the girls to work below stairs. She came from a Jewish background in London and it was great to see a character who at the time would not have had the most easiest of experiences being included in the book. Her family had a bakery so she was well equipped to help the girls in providing the meals. Maudie throughout the story was proud and independent and never let world events affect how she did her job. She formed firm, solid, long lasting friendships with the girls and Daisy Styles really did highlight how everyone came together for one common cause. They may have been total strangers put together but after so long in each other's company and living in each others pockets and experiencing ups and downs both personally and professionally they all became lifelong friends with a bond that could never be broken. Maudie too experiences her fair share of heartbreak, tragedy and frustrations but like the others she is strong when she needs to be.
The final girl featured in the book is Anabelle (Bella) Walsingham, daughter of the owners of the hall. I have to say it was so refreshing to have someone from the upper classes so to speak engage with the ordinary folk if that is what you'd like to call them. Bella is different from the rest of her family who remain cold, aloof and indifferent to what is going on around them. They still want everything to remain the same even though their home has been requisitioned for war work. They act like nothing has changed and place unreasonable food demands on the girls. Bella was a different kettle of fish altogether. She was so down to earth and like Ava had a deep passion for cooking and was very inventive with the ingredients and produce at hand. She soon immersed herself with the girls downstairs and the reader quickly forgot she was part of the upper classes as she mucked in with everything. Bella was wise, clever and a good friend and I thought her storyline was one of the best and I never saw it coming. Yes her romantic plot line was good but it was the bigger events that she was connected to that left me open mouthed in horror that something like that could happen quite so close to home right underneath one's eyes. It brought tension and intrigue to the story and made the girls work even closer together to prevent evil triumphing over good. The author has a way of sucking you in and fooling you that nothing truly that bad could happen to the characters but as in the first book that twist when it came was shocking and upsetting and I wished it hadn't happened but again that's what made the majority of the aspects of the book so realistic and gripping.
Despite this only being Daisy Style's second book I feel she is a skilled talented author who writes realistic, enjoyable books and I am looking forward to the publication of The Bomb Girls Secrets in March 2017. If it's anything like The Code Girls I'll be in for a real treat.
June 5, 2023
Enjoyed this eventually. Took a while for the storyline to progress.
January 21, 2019
This is a total mix of a book. The first few chapters I could not fathom what was so familiar with them then I worked it out, it's the concept of Downton Abbey and the characters and themes stem from the show. Let's start with the characters
Lord Walsingham - Lord Grantham, refuses to accept the present and the future
Lady Caroline - Countess Cora Grantham wants to help, to be useful and to be heard
Lady Diana - Lady Mary....her way or no way and everyone else is inferior
Lord Edward - Tom Branson, a revolutionary, doesn't hold the beliefs of the past and can be a little ruthless
Lady Annabel - A cross between Lady Edith {Picked on and made to feel inferior by Lady Mary} and Lady Sybil {Breaks with the traditions of Aristocracy and enlists for war work and marries out of society circles}
Avia, Maudie and Ruby all have aspects of Anna, Daisy and Mrs Patmore about them.
Now to the similarities in themes:
Walsingham Hall is taken over for War work, Whilst Downton Abbey became an extension of the hospital Walsingham is taken over for teaching purposes. It's where the girls go to learn coding, think Bletchley park.
Rape - An attempted Rape on one of the below stairs girls in Walsingham Hall compared to the actual rape of Anna in Downton Abbey.
Weddings - Lady Sybil and Branson in Downton Abbey, Lady Annabel marries "beneath her". Maids also marry in a similar vein to Bates and Anna in Downton Abbey
Births - Difficult risky births similar to Lady Sybil and Anna in Downton Abbey, Lady Annabel and Ruby in Walsingham hall.
To be honest this started to put me off, I didn't see the point in reading a rehash of a show I had seen. However, the last two parts were incredible. I really enjoyed it once they started to realise what Lord Edward was up too. I personally feel if the book had started at that point and continued with more in depth stories of how they kept going until they found him and how he suffered the consequences. This is the redeeming factor of the book and is the sole reason I upped my stars to two.
Lord Walsingham - Lord Grantham, refuses to accept the present and the future
Lady Caroline - Countess Cora Grantham wants to help, to be useful and to be heard
Lady Diana - Lady Mary....her way or no way and everyone else is inferior
Lord Edward - Tom Branson, a revolutionary, doesn't hold the beliefs of the past and can be a little ruthless
Lady Annabel - A cross between Lady Edith {Picked on and made to feel inferior by Lady Mary} and Lady Sybil {Breaks with the traditions of Aristocracy and enlists for war work and marries out of society circles}
Avia, Maudie and Ruby all have aspects of Anna, Daisy and Mrs Patmore about them.
Now to the similarities in themes:
Walsingham Hall is taken over for War work, Whilst Downton Abbey became an extension of the hospital Walsingham is taken over for teaching purposes. It's where the girls go to learn coding, think Bletchley park.
Rape - An attempted Rape on one of the below stairs girls in Walsingham Hall compared to the actual rape of Anna in Downton Abbey.
Weddings - Lady Sybil and Branson in Downton Abbey, Lady Annabel marries "beneath her". Maids also marry in a similar vein to Bates and Anna in Downton Abbey
Births - Difficult risky births similar to Lady Sybil and Anna in Downton Abbey, Lady Annabel and Ruby in Walsingham hall.
To be honest this started to put me off, I didn't see the point in reading a rehash of a show I had seen. However, the last two parts were incredible. I really enjoyed it once they started to realise what Lord Edward was up too. I personally feel if the book had started at that point and continued with more in depth stories of how they kept going until they found him and how he suffered the consequences. This is the redeeming factor of the book and is the sole reason I upped my stars to two.
February 23, 2019
The code breaking women were the brightest and the best. They played an integral part during World War Two. They never received the high praise for serving because their work was top secret. The women didn’t reap any of the appreciation that the men were given. The men were paid more and were given opportunities that the women weren’t eligible for, simply because they were women. Incredible to me that women today are still fighting the same battles for equality. Great book.
January 27, 2017
I absolutely loved this World War 2 saga. Its a brilliant story about the cooks and code girls at Walsingham Hall. The stars of the book are Maudie, Ava, Ruby and Bella. They are new friends who have the extremely difficult task of cooking with rations for the Walsingham Hall family and the code girls. The work is very tiring but over the years they all find time for romance. There is great drama with a few tears along the way.
July 16, 2017
I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it hadn't been for all the mistakes and such. Even so, Daisy Styles is still a good writer and I look forward to reading more of her works in the future.
February 17, 2018
One of the best books I have read recently about women working to decode Japanese signals during WW2. Love the interviews with the gals & real life stories.
February 19, 2018
We owe women in WWII more than we think. Sure, Rosie the Riveter built tanks and planes, USO girls served coffee and doughnuts to servicemen, and nurses cared for the wounded. All of these were useful contributions, but perhaps not so useful as the accomplishments of the titular code girls. Daisy Styles has written a thorough history of the thousands of women who were recruited by the US government to break the codes used by the Germans and Japanese. Women who were usually relegated by society to jobs as teachers or telephone operators suddenly found that because of their talents for math, logical thinking, and attention to detail, they could earn good money and contribute to the war effort by working for the Army or Navy as cryptanalysts. Each woman who worked for the government freed a man to go to a combat theater, where women (except nurses) were prohibited. Styles follows multiple women from life after college or high school, through recruitment, testing, and training, to life and work at several government agencies. I found the descriptions of how cryptanalysis was done to be particularly interesting without becoming so deeply technical that they went over my head. The work wasn't easy; hours could be long, working conditions often poor, and the security could be Draconian, but the challenge was stimulating, and the women knew that their efforts were saving lives. The Code Girls was a fascinating look at a little-known part of the Allies' struggle against the Axis powers.
March 21, 2022
I’ve been a big fan of Daisy Styles wartime books for a while now, and after making my way through the Bomb Girl series and the wartime midwives, the Code Girls was my next stop!
I adored the characters in this. Eva, Maudie, Bella and Ruby. They’re such lovable characters and very easy to get rooting for. Daisy is so good at capturing the spirit of the times and the camaraderie of the girls as they navigate through wartime. I loved the ‘below stairs’ feel of this book, as the girls are roped into working in the kitchens instead of being a Code girl as they had imagined.
The romance element of this book was adorable too. Fast paced and fast moving, I certainly didn’t get bored reading this! It was really heartwarming and lovely and I really do love wartime books. This one was a great addition to her wartime books. It was raw, it was real, it was emotional and it was amazing.
I adored the characters in this. Eva, Maudie, Bella and Ruby. They’re such lovable characters and very easy to get rooting for. Daisy is so good at capturing the spirit of the times and the camaraderie of the girls as they navigate through wartime. I loved the ‘below stairs’ feel of this book, as the girls are roped into working in the kitchens instead of being a Code girl as they had imagined.
The romance element of this book was adorable too. Fast paced and fast moving, I certainly didn’t get bored reading this! It was really heartwarming and lovely and I really do love wartime books. This one was a great addition to her wartime books. It was raw, it was real, it was emotional and it was amazing.
January 17, 2018
Quiet Interesting look at the women who worked in secret decoding German and Japanese messages during WWII. Sometimes the details are a little petty, but overall nice look at their lives during WWII.
July 14, 2019
Actually a good read, and was better than I expected! The only thing that lets it down is it could’ve done with another proof read in some places which is a shame. But if you get past that it’s a good book and more of a story than I had expected!
June 7, 2017
Really good war time saga , with a nice bit of romance. Will definatly read more from this author
February 9, 2021
This book disappointed me twice.
First it seemed to promise me a story about Code Girls (as the title would suggest), or at least girls who would spend a substantial part of their story finding out secrets that could threaten the UK (as the tagline "Can four girls protect a whole country?" suggests). That turned out to not be the case: not until roughly 70% in do the girls even notice that something is amiss. And the next 30% of the book still spends most time on unrelated subplots. The lack of tension build up during the story meant I was emotionally completely uninvested during the confrontation. The stakes are also much smaller than the tagline would suggest: Rather than safe an entire country, these girls unmask one spy. And while yes, he does get 50 people killed, nothing in the story suggests that he would have had a significant impact on the course of the war. This whole (sub)plot reads to me like it was haphazardly slapped at the end of the story to make sure it had some excitement, rather than a main plot or logical culmination of the character arcs.
Once I gave up on my hopes on a suspenseful story about code breakers, I tried to enjoy what this book seems to be aiming for instead: a story about friendship and love during war time. And even that fell flat. Despite this clearly not being the authors intention, after their introducing paragraphs the four main characters become near carbon copies of each other, with some (mostly informed or cosmetic) defining characteristics slapped on. In most interactions it felt like the characters could have easily swapped position without it being out of character for any of them. In fact that is exactly what happens in the story over and over, with the same scenes repeating in different arrangements. This lack of personality makes their friendship feel flat and meaningless. There were hardly any diverging opinions or behaviours that would let the girls learn from each other. There was no conflict, which seems very unlikely for 4 young ladies spending 4 years in close quarters in a constant state of being overworked. The main characters had no flaws to overcome. There simply was no development.
The romance was lacklustre and rushed, probably because 4 separate love stories needed to be told, leaving little room for building deep and complicated relationships. To avoid telling the same story 4 times, every love story does get its own little defining characteristic, which is great because the love interests don't get any defining characteristics of their own. Unless you count sweet Raf, who's personality seems to be "look how cute he doesn't speak English". This does not mean that scenes don't repeat, because they totally do. While it can be symbolic and beautiful to have scenes reference previous ones, that only works if there are enough differences, and it isn't done too much. In this case, it comes across more like the author ran out of inspiration and hoped nobody noticed she copy-pasted the same story.
So if this story is not about code breakers, and doesn't spend any time on interesting characters or character development, what is this book really about? The answer, apparently, is food. I do not think I am exaggerating much if I were to claim that more words are spent describing the many menus these girls come up with than on any of the love stories. Which could definitely be an interesting thing if the author went a little bit more in-depth into some of the crafty ways they manage to produce enough food to feed everyone while on rations. However just like with the love stories, the author seemingly goes for quantity over quality and prefers to just list the menus item by item. The result is familiarly uninteresting.
In the end, this book struck me as a directionless story written by an author who overreached by trying to do too many things at once and failing at all of them because of it. If possible I'd have given it 2.5 stars, as aside from being bland the story is not actively bad, it's mainly uninteresting.
First it seemed to promise me a story about Code Girls (as the title would suggest), or at least girls who would spend a substantial part of their story finding out secrets that could threaten the UK (as the tagline "Can four girls protect a whole country?" suggests). That turned out to not be the case: not until roughly 70% in do the girls even notice that something is amiss. And the next 30% of the book still spends most time on unrelated subplots. The lack of tension build up during the story meant I was emotionally completely uninvested during the confrontation. The stakes are also much smaller than the tagline would suggest: Rather than safe an entire country, these girls unmask one spy. And while yes, he does get 50 people killed, nothing in the story suggests that he would have had a significant impact on the course of the war. This whole (sub)plot reads to me like it was haphazardly slapped at the end of the story to make sure it had some excitement, rather than a main plot or logical culmination of the character arcs.
Once I gave up on my hopes on a suspenseful story about code breakers, I tried to enjoy what this book seems to be aiming for instead: a story about friendship and love during war time. And even that fell flat. Despite this clearly not being the authors intention, after their introducing paragraphs the four main characters become near carbon copies of each other, with some (mostly informed or cosmetic) defining characteristics slapped on. In most interactions it felt like the characters could have easily swapped position without it being out of character for any of them. In fact that is exactly what happens in the story over and over, with the same scenes repeating in different arrangements. This lack of personality makes their friendship feel flat and meaningless. There were hardly any diverging opinions or behaviours that would let the girls learn from each other. There was no conflict, which seems very unlikely for 4 young ladies spending 4 years in close quarters in a constant state of being overworked. The main characters had no flaws to overcome. There simply was no development.
The romance was lacklustre and rushed, probably because 4 separate love stories needed to be told, leaving little room for building deep and complicated relationships. To avoid telling the same story 4 times, every love story does get its own little defining characteristic, which is great because the love interests don't get any defining characteristics of their own. Unless you count sweet Raf, who's personality seems to be "look how cute he doesn't speak English". This does not mean that scenes don't repeat, because they totally do. While it can be symbolic and beautiful to have scenes reference previous ones, that only works if there are enough differences, and it isn't done too much. In this case, it comes across more like the author ran out of inspiration and hoped nobody noticed she copy-pasted the same story.
So if this story is not about code breakers, and doesn't spend any time on interesting characters or character development, what is this book really about? The answer, apparently, is food. I do not think I am exaggerating much if I were to claim that more words are spent describing the many menus these girls come up with than on any of the love stories. Which could definitely be an interesting thing if the author went a little bit more in-depth into some of the crafty ways they manage to produce enough food to feed everyone while on rations. However just like with the love stories, the author seemingly goes for quantity over quality and prefers to just list the menus item by item. The result is familiarly uninteresting.
In the end, this book struck me as a directionless story written by an author who overreached by trying to do too many things at once and failing at all of them because of it. If possible I'd have given it 2.5 stars, as aside from being bland the story is not actively bad, it's mainly uninteresting.
August 23, 2017
I read this on the Kindle
This was a good one you have Ava & Maudie who both are good cooks in their own way but sign up to be in communications but are when they get to the place they have to go to are cooks they find Ruby who is & has been since she was 14 in the service of the Lord & Lady of the house
Annabelle is Lady Annabelle who is the youngest daughter & is ignored by most of the family, she gets the Brig to take her on the code cause, she also makes friends with the downstairs cooks along with Ruby
Their stories are how they cope & fall in love over the war years, plus there is a bit of spying to undcover
The men in this are Tom the Vet, Ralf from Poland, Kit the Group Captain in the RAF at the local air base, & Brig who is training the code girls
There is a little bit where you may need a tissue, that part i wish the author had changed but i think you can't have all sweetness & Like in war
The only other part i will say that was wrong as there was an error as they had Ava name where it should have been Maudie in a part when she was with someone but you work that out within the paragraph
A very good book really enjoyed reading this one
This was a good one you have Ava & Maudie who both are good cooks in their own way but sign up to be in communications but are when they get to the place they have to go to are cooks they find Ruby who is & has been since she was 14 in the service of the Lord & Lady of the house
Annabelle is Lady Annabelle who is the youngest daughter & is ignored by most of the family, she gets the Brig to take her on the code cause, she also makes friends with the downstairs cooks along with Ruby
Their stories are how they cope & fall in love over the war years, plus there is a bit of spying to undcover
The men in this are Tom the Vet, Ralf from Poland, Kit the Group Captain in the RAF at the local air base, & Brig who is training the code girls
There is a little bit where you may need a tissue, that part i wish the author had changed but i think you can't have all sweetness & Like in war
The only other part i will say that was wrong as there was an error as they had Ava name where it should have been Maudie in a part when she was with someone but you work that out within the paragraph
A very good book really enjoyed reading this one
January 7, 2018
This must be the most mis-named book ever! I've read some from the author's Bomb Girls series, about- not surprisingly- women working in a wartime bomb factory. So, seeing Code Girls I immediately thought Bletchley Park, codes and ciphers, Nazi spies, etc. Errr, no...
Two of the main characters, Ava and Maud, sign up to train as code girls and are sent to a requisitioned stately home in Norfolk. Where, as they're both cooks, they are immediately sent to work in the kitchen. There they meet Ruby, a housemaid, and Bella, the only member of the family upstairs who is not an insufferable snob. And that's it really, the book mainly revolves around cooking on wartime rations, and the four womens love lives. The trainees upstairs barely get a mention.
There is a back story about a spy and a bit about coding, when two of the kitchen staff seem to learn in the space of a few weeks what it takes the trainees above six months to learn.
While not what I was expecting it was an interesting enough read. As the last couple of years of the war whizz by in a few pages, and it ends on VE Day, there's not going to be a sequel.
Two of the main characters, Ava and Maud, sign up to train as code girls and are sent to a requisitioned stately home in Norfolk. Where, as they're both cooks, they are immediately sent to work in the kitchen. There they meet Ruby, a housemaid, and Bella, the only member of the family upstairs who is not an insufferable snob. And that's it really, the book mainly revolves around cooking on wartime rations, and the four womens love lives. The trainees upstairs barely get a mention.
There is a back story about a spy and a bit about coding, when two of the kitchen staff seem to learn in the space of a few weeks what it takes the trainees above six months to learn.
While not what I was expecting it was an interesting enough read. As the last couple of years of the war whizz by in a few pages, and it ends on VE Day, there's not going to be a sequel.
October 2, 2017
It is 1941 and the call has gone out to the women of England to do their bit for the war effort. With stately homes requisitioned as well for the war effort, things look as if they are never going to be the same again.
For four young women, the war will bring them a life that perhaps they would never have had if Mr Hitler hadn't declared war on England.
Ruby is a servant at Walsingham Hall which, much to the disgust of the Walsingham family has partially been requisitioned for war work so when Maudie and Ava arrive hoping to become trainee code girls, they have a shock when they find themselves downstairs with Ruby.
A story full of laughs, love and friendship with a dash of intrigue thrown into the mix which makes for an intriguing and very enjoyable read.
Perfect for fans of Kate Thompson and those that have read the other books by Daisy Styles.
May 29, 2018
Just as the women who were the mathemeticians for Apollo have been ignored or forgotten, so were these women. Everyone hears of the Enigma machine and how its secrets were revealed. This book informs us of the women who were great mathemeticians but were not allowed any status in the 1940's. The government culled teachers and other girls who had no future outside of marriage per public opinion. These women became liberated from their societial chains and were, due to their ability to read patterns along with their mathematical skills, able to break the codes of the Japanes navy enabling the American navy to win the war of the Pacific. Great reading and wonderful portraits of the women on whose shoulders today's women ride.
January 18, 2018
An amazing story of the strengths and contributions of women in WWII if a bit hard to keep up with all of the different names.
What saddened me, probably in this era of #MeToo, was that women gained so much in that time of need only to be shoved back and shackled to the home or the "accepted" professions, like teaching afterward. It took many years for women to again reach out into careers and is still in process, although the harassment hasn't changed, as we've seen. It was as if those years and contributions never existed. They sure did change the war and even more, they obviously did change these brainy strong and dedicated women.
I couldn't help be proud and inspired.
What saddened me, probably in this era of #MeToo, was that women gained so much in that time of need only to be shoved back and shackled to the home or the "accepted" professions, like teaching afterward. It took many years for women to again reach out into careers and is still in process, although the harassment hasn't changed, as we've seen. It was as if those years and contributions never existed. They sure did change the war and even more, they obviously did change these brainy strong and dedicated women.
I couldn't help be proud and inspired.
February 28, 2018
A lovely light entertaining read, full of believable characters who soon became friends as you lived the events with them, some Characters disappointed that they didn't become the Code Girls they had set out to be , but none the less had important roles to play & eventually did end up breaking Codes if not in the conventional way! Having heard stories from family members who served both at home & in the Armed forces during WW11 I could identify with much of what was happening maybe more so than younger readers, but this is an enjoyable book & I shall recommend it to both family members & to friends as well
December 16, 2018
I too had hoped for more about the code girls themselves and their contribution to the war. The title is rather misleading, which is a shame as it is a nice tale. But the code girls remain as mythic, if rather hungry, creatures on the fringe of the story.
I did find the descriptions of people a bit jarring because, as soon as they were introduced, the story stopped whilst there was a full pen picture of the character delivered, rather than drip-feeding the description and allowing the reader to build up a picture slowly.
There was too much 'tell' and not enough 'show' for me, but that said, I did engage with the story because I cried at the end.
I did find the descriptions of people a bit jarring because, as soon as they were introduced, the story stopped whilst there was a full pen picture of the character delivered, rather than drip-feeding the description and allowing the reader to build up a picture slowly.
There was too much 'tell' and not enough 'show' for me, but that said, I did engage with the story because I cried at the end.
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