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The Code of Love: An Astonishing True Tale of Secrets, Love, and War
For fifty years, Pamela Kirrage longed to unlock the secrets of her husband’s encrypted war diary. She was on the verge of giving up when she at last found a mathematician who became as obsessed with learning the secrets of the diary as she was. After months of painstaking investigation, he was finally able to crack the code, and in the process uncover the ending to an extraordinary World War II romance.
Pamela fell in love with RAF pilot Donald Hill in the summer of 1939, just a few months before he was sent to fight in Pacific. Although they planned to marry soon, Donald was captured after siege of Hong Kong and spent the next four years in a Japanese POW camp. Donald ultimately returned to Pamela, but he was never able to tell her about those lost years–and Pamela became convinced that the key to their happiness lay within the mysterious diary he brought back from the war. In The Code of Love Andro Linklater uses the decoded diary as well as extensive research and interviews to paint a vivid portrait of the World War II era, turning this dramatic love story into an inspiring, unconventional epic.
Pamela fell in love with RAF pilot Donald Hill in the summer of 1939, just a few months before he was sent to fight in Pacific. Although they planned to marry soon, Donald was captured after siege of Hong Kong and spent the next four years in a Japanese POW camp. Donald ultimately returned to Pamela, but he was never able to tell her about those lost years–and Pamela became convinced that the key to their happiness lay within the mysterious diary he brought back from the war. In The Code of Love Andro Linklater uses the decoded diary as well as extensive research and interviews to paint a vivid portrait of the World War II era, turning this dramatic love story into an inspiring, unconventional epic.
308 pages, Paperback
First published March 9, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 14, 2012
One of the most romantic, and ultimately saddest books I've ever read. It's a short, quick read and in places I would have loved more. Parts of it seemed like it was only skimming a life story, but overall, I much enjoyed it.
February 21, 2016
There are three threads of narrative in this book.
The first is the story of a dashing pilot and a gorgeous model who met and fell in love in 1939, right before WWII started. They just managed to get engaged before Donald was posted to Hong Kong, which was soon overrun by the Japanese. He ended up in a Japanese prison camp and it was years before he could be reunited with his faithful fiancee, Pamela.
The second thread is the story of the fall of Hong Kong and the life in the Japanese prison camps. The unimaginable misery and deprivation, diseases and starvation, as well as the occasional breakout attempts are well described. I was not much familiar with WWII in the Pacific, so I was interested in the sad story of the fall of Hong Kong and subsequent Japanese occupation.
The third thread weaves the two others together. It is the story of a diary that Donald wrote while in the camp. Just like Donald declined to talk about his experiences in the camp with his wife and family, so did the content of the coded diary remain unsolved for decades. It appears that Donald himself forgot how to decode his own diary, and it wasn't until after his death that his widow managed to get someone interested in a code-breaking attempt. A British professor of mathematics spent a few months trying to find the key, and ultimately did succeed in decoding the diary. The contents of the diary themselves are a little underwhelming, but that is largely because all the events and deprivations described by Donald in his diary, have already been discussed at length in the second thread, the fall of Hong Kong and Donald's experience in the prison camp.
It would be nice to hear that this true story had a happy ending : Pamela and Donald were married, had some children and lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, this was not really the case. Their marriage was more than a little bumpy, what with Pamela becoming an alcoholic and Donald never recovering from his war experiences. They spent years together in Iraq, where Donald was involved in the petroleum business, but they ultimately divorced. This book was initiated by Pamela after Donald's death, and the recurring insistence that this was a fairy tale love story wears a little thin when you hear of drunken fights, long silences and other aspects of marital dysfunction. A little bit of amateur psychology is probably allowed here : it appears that Donald's inability to talk about his wartime experiences and the lack of psychological after-care for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, contributed largely to his coldness as a husband and father.
In summary : a book that manages to wear rosy glasses when describing the love story between Pamela and Donald, but also provides a haunting description of the horrors of the Japanese prison camps. Ths book is ideal for readers who are interested in the history of WWII but like a bit of romance and human interest interwoven with the military history. If you are a fan of code-breaking, then the story of the unraveling of this unique code will appeal to you.
The first is the story of a dashing pilot and a gorgeous model who met and fell in love in 1939, right before WWII started. They just managed to get engaged before Donald was posted to Hong Kong, which was soon overrun by the Japanese. He ended up in a Japanese prison camp and it was years before he could be reunited with his faithful fiancee, Pamela.
The second thread is the story of the fall of Hong Kong and the life in the Japanese prison camps. The unimaginable misery and deprivation, diseases and starvation, as well as the occasional breakout attempts are well described. I was not much familiar with WWII in the Pacific, so I was interested in the sad story of the fall of Hong Kong and subsequent Japanese occupation.
The third thread weaves the two others together. It is the story of a diary that Donald wrote while in the camp. Just like Donald declined to talk about his experiences in the camp with his wife and family, so did the content of the coded diary remain unsolved for decades. It appears that Donald himself forgot how to decode his own diary, and it wasn't until after his death that his widow managed to get someone interested in a code-breaking attempt. A British professor of mathematics spent a few months trying to find the key, and ultimately did succeed in decoding the diary. The contents of the diary themselves are a little underwhelming, but that is largely because all the events and deprivations described by Donald in his diary, have already been discussed at length in the second thread, the fall of Hong Kong and Donald's experience in the prison camp.
It would be nice to hear that this true story had a happy ending : Pamela and Donald were married, had some children and lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, this was not really the case. Their marriage was more than a little bumpy, what with Pamela becoming an alcoholic and Donald never recovering from his war experiences. They spent years together in Iraq, where Donald was involved in the petroleum business, but they ultimately divorced. This book was initiated by Pamela after Donald's death, and the recurring insistence that this was a fairy tale love story wears a little thin when you hear of drunken fights, long silences and other aspects of marital dysfunction. A little bit of amateur psychology is probably allowed here : it appears that Donald's inability to talk about his wartime experiences and the lack of psychological after-care for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, contributed largely to his coldness as a husband and father.
In summary : a book that manages to wear rosy glasses when describing the love story between Pamela and Donald, but also provides a haunting description of the horrors of the Japanese prison camps. Ths book is ideal for readers who are interested in the history of WWII but like a bit of romance and human interest interwoven with the military history. If you are a fan of code-breaking, then the story of the unraveling of this unique code will appeal to you.
June 24, 2020
Riveting story about a part of WWII few of us know about
An extremely well written true story of the extraordinary love between a young man and woman separated for years while he was imprisoned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp In Hong Kong during WWII. The story is constructed around an encoded diary that the young man painstakingly maintained during the early part of his imprisonment. The author recounts the extraordinary efforts of the professor engaged to try and unravel the contents of the diary by working for months to discovery the key to the code that was used. Set against this structure, the author beautifully constructs the lives of the two main characters as they wait to be together, reunite, and then have their lives shattered by damage done to the man while imprisoned. Only after his death is his widow finally able to understand the demons that plagued him and destroyed their relationship, when she finally is able to read the contents of his diary.
An extremely well written true story of the extraordinary love between a young man and woman separated for years while he was imprisoned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp In Hong Kong during WWII. The story is constructed around an encoded diary that the young man painstakingly maintained during the early part of his imprisonment. The author recounts the extraordinary efforts of the professor engaged to try and unravel the contents of the diary by working for months to discovery the key to the code that was used. Set against this structure, the author beautifully constructs the lives of the two main characters as they wait to be together, reunite, and then have their lives shattered by damage done to the man while imprisoned. Only after his death is his widow finally able to understand the demons that plagued him and destroyed their relationship, when she finally is able to read the contents of his diary.
April 6, 2025
A tratti lento, a tratti profondo, il significato che racchiude è intenso ma troppi tecnicismi su questioni della guerra, dell'aeronautica che non mi appartengono hanno reso la lettura lenta e a tratti noiosa che si è ripresa come spessa accade verso la fine del libro in cui è stato analizzato più profondamente l'aspetto psicologico della sindrome post traum
February 11, 2021
I found this book rather boring. Sorry
August 21, 2021
An interesting but sad read. It did feel as though the story could have been longer!
August 8, 2016
My exams are finally finished, and I managed to finish reading this book as well! It's not a light read, but it's an interesting one.
The Code of Love basically has two stories: One of a mathematician trying to break a coded diary, and one of a couple during WWII. Obviously, the two stories are intertwined, and the diary is from Donald (one half of that couple), who wrote the diary as a Japanese POW. The diary was sent to the mathematician by his wife (other half) Pamela.
Let's just get this out of the way: the decoded diary is not very interesting.
But, I think the story is in how the diary was decoded, as well as the experiences that the two of them went through. While Pamela did stay safe in England, she didn't exactly have a quiet life. Plus, she's away from the guy she loves, even though the war (SPOILER ALERT) ended up damaging their marriage. (Woah, I just got P!NK's Just Give Me A Reason in my head all of a sudden).
As for Donald - like I mentioned, he was a POW, and that was not a good thing to be. Especially not under Japanese rule. It was interesting to see another side of the wartime experience (I did learn about the death railway and such in history class), although it felt very "white". I mean, set in Asia, but all "white". Still, it is primarily about one person, so I can't fault the book for that.
I think people interested in the "personal lives" of people who lived through WWII will enjoy this book.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
The Code of Love basically has two stories: One of a mathematician trying to break a coded diary, and one of a couple during WWII. Obviously, the two stories are intertwined, and the diary is from Donald (one half of that couple), who wrote the diary as a Japanese POW. The diary was sent to the mathematician by his wife (other half) Pamela.
Let's just get this out of the way: the decoded diary is not very interesting.
But, I think the story is in how the diary was decoded, as well as the experiences that the two of them went through. While Pamela did stay safe in England, she didn't exactly have a quiet life. Plus, she's away from the guy she loves, even though the war (SPOILER ALERT) ended up damaging their marriage. (Woah, I just got P!NK's Just Give Me A Reason in my head all of a sudden).
As for Donald - like I mentioned, he was a POW, and that was not a good thing to be. Especially not under Japanese rule. It was interesting to see another side of the wartime experience (I did learn about the death railway and such in history class), although it felt very "white". I mean, set in Asia, but all "white". Still, it is primarily about one person, so I can't fault the book for that.
I think people interested in the "personal lives" of people who lived through WWII will enjoy this book.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
August 19, 2015
Having read countless bios of this type over the past 40 years I am still amazed with the history. I wish the youth of today had some inkling of this history before they enter the military. The lifelong effects of service radiates outward to their lives & those even remotely connected to them. This history might prepare them (or all of us) for the future.
What we recently call 'water boarding' is a very old technique. It's a wonder the 'rack' is not a form of warfare in the present.
I found parts of this account redundant at times, yet never put it down & read it within 3 days. There were so many aspects of this account beneficial to present day life. History just keeps repeating itself.
What we recently call 'water boarding' is a very old technique. It's a wonder the 'rack' is not a form of warfare in the present.
I found parts of this account redundant at times, yet never put it down & read it within 3 days. There were so many aspects of this account beneficial to present day life. History just keeps repeating itself.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews