Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II |Thoughts
I decided to take a short break from cozy mystery series to read Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of WWII by Liza Mundy. World War II is just one of the wars my parents lived through. They were 16 and 15when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Dad would later enlist in the Navy to serve in the war. He and Mom married the same year he shipped out.
When Kindle Unlimited recommended it to me I immediately downloaded the book and started reading. Here’s the book blurb from Amazon:
Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.
The book is chock full of information and it’s clear the author did a lot of research on the subject. I personally had a hard time with the way it jumped around. Starting with letters sent to women at selected colleges in 1941 it then switches gears to 1916 and cryptanalysis prior to and during WWI, then bounces into individual women. So many names with a smattering of information on each that didn’t allow me to get to know any of them.
I pushed to complete this book and for me it was hard because it never developed a flow. I felt like I was riding along with my brother-in-law who spent years driving in the city. He was so accustomed to “speed up, brake, speed up, brake” that he continued that driving behavior even on a wide open highway. Just when I started to enjoy what I was reading, the brake was applied and the book shifted into a different lane.
My rating: 3/5 I wanted to love it unfortunately, it was like trudging through a bog. But, that’s just my opinion. It’s a very well liked book on Goodreads and has nearly 4000 reviews on Amazon giving it a 4.5/5 star rating.
