"Cracking WWII story in which a young Jamaican Briton’s ingenuity makes remarkable impact"
Shortlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2021 | June 2020 Book of the Month
Teeming with drama and compelling code-cracking action, this WWII thriller is driven by the lives of three young people determined to make their mark on the war effort, and by the life-affirming relationship between fifteen-year-old Louisa and the elderly woman she’s employed to look after.
Aspiring pilot Louisa is alone in the world. Her white English mother was killed in a London bomb blast, and her black Jamaican dad died on a ship that was torpedoed only three days after her mother died. Through her grief brave Louisa “burns to fight back” and takes a job looking after Jane, an elderly German woman who’s been imprisoned in an alien detainment camp. While travelling to stay with Jane’s niece in her Scottish pub, they form a beautiful bond, finding common ground in their love of music and the fact that they’re both outsiders in Britain - Jane because she’s German, and Louisa because she’s mixed race and subjected to racism.
In Scotland they meet fellow outsider, Ellen, a driver for the local RAF airfield who tries to hide her traveller heritage. Ellen’s active role makes Louisa more determined to do something herself, so she takes her chance when a German defector lands at the airfield and leaves a codebreaking Enigma machine. It’s not long before Louisa, Ellen and young flight lieutenant Jamie step-up their war efforts, as their story builds to an impeccably conducted, pulse-quickening crescendo.
Alongside being a gripping thriller, this is a truly moving, inspirational novel. Louisa’s passion for music and learning, her wit and ambition, are exhilaratingly infectious. I’d love to know what she does next.
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I was astounded by the beauty of this paper package of wartime excellence. If the action doesn't draw you in, the characters, written in-depth and breathtaking detail, certainly will. I implore you to read this novel - it will never leave you, but that is a good thing.
Many of us have heard of the enigma code, the devious code that kept german messages out of British grasp during WW2. But as one particular character in this book tells us, rules are there to be broken, and as you read on, so it seems are codes...
Louisa is an endearing, strong character and 1 of 3 heroes that drive a story you'll never forget. She is battered, bruised, and only riled by the war that has taken both of her parents before this story has even begun. Ellen is equally driven and is burdened by a different piece of her past that follows everywhere her she drives her battered military van. And Jamie is a headstrong, daring and skilful pilot - or at least that's how he appears.... Read Full Review
Spies. Codes. Danger. This book has plot twists, dashing heroines, brave airmen and seemingly impossible codes left by the enemy - who aren’t quite what they seem. Kind but fierce elderly women who sing opera and speak German are assisted by young women who have faced all the prejudices in life and are still following their greatest ambitions.
Louisa feels all alone in the world after her mother is killed in the Blitz and her father is sent out with the navy at sea. As a mixed-race young woman, she has always been judged - before anyone bothers to look beneath the surface.
She applies for a job helping an elderly woman with a fiery personality and is accepted. She develops a bond with Jane, the woman in her care, as she learns that there is much more beneath the old woman’s wrinkly surface.
Louisa befriends a young RAF worker, Ellen, who is hiding a secret.... Read Full Review
The Enigma Game is a gripping World War II adventure where we follow three young characters as they stumble onto a discovery which will change history. Full of plot twists - an unputdownable book!
The Enigma Game was a great read, switching between the perspectives of the three main characters, all young and eager to see World War II come to an end.
The story is based around Windyedge Aerodrome in Scotland where the young Scottish pilot Jamie Beaufort-Stuart works as a flight lieutenant in command of B flight Pimms section. Ellen McEwan works as a volunteer driver at Windyedge and Louisa looks after an elderly lady in a nearby pub after becoming orphaned by the war. The heroines make a discovery that could alter the course of the war. Working as a team they endeavour to translate a series of coded messages to discover U boat manoeuvres in the North Sea and aid the war effort.
Many secrets and intriguing plot twists help to grip the reader in this inescapable and unputdownable book.... Read Full Review
