As a fan of The Rose Code and all things Bletchley Park, this book hooked me from the start. The Codebreaker’s Daughter is a gripping, twist-filled historical mystery that kept me turning pages late into the night.

Hana, a schoolteacher turned codebreaker, navigates the secretive world of wartime intelligence, family tragedy, and growing suspicion within the walls of Bletchley. The tension builds steadily as Hana investigates a suspected spy, cracks secret codes (including one left by her father), and uncovers betrayals close to home. With layered characters, especially the mysterious Robert and her complex relationship with her husband Gregory, the story keeps you guessing until the final reveal — and I loved the payoff.

Fortin blends suspense, emotion, and historical intrigue beautifully. Highly recommend for fans of WWII fiction with a strong female lead.

Thank you to NetGalley and Embla Books for the ARC!

I love good historical fiction, and this book's description drew me in. It was interesting to learn a bit about the work of the codebreakers, and gain greater understanding of the importance of their role.

The book is well written and easy to read. Characters are introduced at a pace that enables the reader to easily keep track of who is who, and how they relate to one another. The author spends a good deal of time exploring the relationships among the characters. In fact, this is far more a story of relationships than one of the historical perspective of the codebreakers.

I wasn't a fan of the protagonist, and that undoubtedly colors my view of the book. From the outset, she struck me as one who is more concerned about herself than others. Her husband has undergone tremendous trauma, and her marriage is failing, but she does not examine how she might be contributing to the situation. She is also wildly naive, illustrated through several other relationships that she has (not wanting to create any spoilers here...).

Overall, this was a good but not great book. Since it is a relatively quick read, and does have a bit of historical perspective, I would recommend it to those who enjoy historical fiction, especially readers who prefer stories that emphasize relationships more than history or culture.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheCodebreaker'sDaughter. This review reflects my unbiased opinion of the book.

Oh my word what a great book

I love to read about Bletchley Park and those deemed intelligent enough to be of use there. I had little idea that there had been Japanese decoders as well.

This book leaps in with mystery, intrigue, espionage and a touch of old-fashioned romance. It keeps going even after the events of the first few chapters.
The story revolves around Hana and Gregory and Hana’s family. There is also a house guest who inveigles his way into Hana’s home and to some extent her heart.

The book is obviously well researched and is very well written At one point towards the end it brought me to tears.
The end was perhaps a little rushed but the events needed to be brought together and to a satisfactory fruition. I would have liked to know what happened to a few characters - maybe imagination will have to be enough.

A great read - I am slightly sad it’s come to an end

This was a great historical fiction book! It had some great plot twists and I loved the mystery in this book!

I enjoyed this novel by Suzanne Fortin..it based around the lives of a couple who worked at Bletchley park and the task one of them was given to find and expose a spy .it was an enjoyable read but a little predictable. I worked out early on who the spy probably was..
Nonetheless I would recommend it for fans of historical fiction.

Bletchley Park? Codebreaking? WW2? This book , "The Codebreaker's Daughter" by Suzanne Fortin is a fascinating Historical Fiction Mystery novel. There is a Japanese component to this story that draws you in. Teacher Hana Philips is recruited to work at Bletchley Park the day after her father is mysteriously involved in a hit and run accident on the way to work. She is struggling in her marriage, and has just been told by her husband that a soldier will be billeted with them in their home. This story grabs you and pulls you in. So much is happening in the world at this time, and daily challenges are the norm. Hana wants to do her part for the war effort, but at what cost? Who can she trust?
"The Codebreaker's Daughter" is a highly readable book that I could not put down. 5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Embla Books UK for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I know I’m biased as I love this era. But absolutely loved this read. So many facets to keep you engaged. The characters were complimentary to one another and each had their own trials.
There were many twists and surprises in the plot right up to the end. It’s a must read for anyone.

There is nothing better than a book that grabs my attention from the very beginning. I was hooked in chapter one. The thrills and chills just kept coming. There is a spy at Bletchley Park. Someone is sharing secrets with the enemy. MI5 enlisted a codebreaker to help. Of course, with the Secrets Act no one will know what is going on.

Alfred Has told is family that he works at a Printer's. His family has suspicions but there was no way of knowing until the unthinkable happens. He leaves for work like any other day. As he crosses the road he is hit by a speeding car that doesn't stop. Alfred was targeted and the target was hit.

Alfred is not doing well in the hospital. He can't do his job. The spy still has access messages that have been broken. His daughter, Hana, will have to step in to decode messages and find the spy or spies.

I have never misguessed so many times when reading a book. I thought I had figured things out so many times only to start second guessing myself. The edge of my seat suspense had me reading chapter after chapter needing to know. The secrets, the treasonous acts were mindblowing. Attempted murder and murder adds a wonderful who-done-it vibe to the story.

The characters add even more to the story. I learned of the struggles of those that are part of Bletchley Park. I was reminded that even in war; life goes on. Romances come and go. I was reminded of the strength of family. The unexpected hero had my heart pounding and hoping that a happily ever after would be in his future.

"I don't know where to look. Who to ask. Who to trust."

I spent this entire book trying to figure out who Hana could trust and I consistently found myself changing my opinion of the characters. This is my second book by Suzanne Fortin and she has me captivated from the first page. She writes stories of strong and heroic women that I just can't put down. Just when I think it is a good stopping point to take a break she writes something that has me picking it back up to find out what happens next.

This eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in 1942 in the middle of World War II, this story focuses on the secretive world of Bletchley Park and the work that was done there to support the war effort. After her father is severely injured because of his job at Bletchley Park, Hana Phillips must take up his role decrypting Japanese naval codes while trying to find the spy that her father was about to reveal before they tried to silence him.

When this novel starts, Hana is extremely unhappy in her life. While she enjoys being a school teacher, she is angry when she is reprimanded for teaching the students about the Japanese culture since she spent much of her life in Japan. She is also in a cold marriage since her husband, Gregory, was injured during the war while he was a pilot 2 years prior. He has pushed her so far away and has come to pity himself so much that they barely communicate anymore let alone show any kind of affection for each other. He is cruel, not so much in how he treats her, but more so in how much he ignores her. She feels very alone and leans heavily on her family for comfort so she is devastated when her father is injured.

Once Hana is recruited to Bletchley Park to continue her father’s work and figure out who the spy is it becomes exceedingly hard to trust most of the characters. Any of the people Hana works with could be the spy and even the people she is supposed to report to seem to have their own agenda. Without being able to communicate with her father, Hana becomes more isolated and anxious trying to figure everything out. At the same time, she becomes more confident in herself as she thrives in her job of decrypting the Japanese naval codes.

Once she meets Robert, an American sent to Bletchley Park to also find the spy, she starts to really look at her marriage and question whether she wants to stay since it makes her feel so miserable. Robert dotes on her and makes her feel so special but Gregory sees this and starts to make changes to fight for Hana, worrying he is too late. However, the paranoia that Bletchley Park seems to cause sets in and she starts to wonder if she can trust either Robert or Gregory.

This book is full of twists and turns with red herrings put in place to make you question everything. It was interesting to see this mystery unfold from Hana’s eyes especially as her thoughts and feelings for each character evolved as things are revealed. Since we saw everything from Hana’s perspective, I felt not only her anxiety and fear grow as she learned new things but also her confidence in herself and her abilities. She grew into a strong, independent person that didn’t need anyone in her life to support her, but was able to decide who she actually wanted in her life to make her happy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down once the story got going. I’ve noticed that I have a hard time relating to Fortin’s main characters at the beginning of her novels but they grow so much throughout her books I always come to love them by the end. Definitely recommend!

A slight twist on the usual World War 2 dramas set at Bletchley Park. It focuses on codebreaking, naturally, but it is centre around information on Japan. It is fast paced through but I did find myself wanting to shout at Hana when she was trying to find out where the secret codes were as it was made blindingly obvious to us. A good read and I would look for future books by this author.

This was an interesting delve into working life in Bletchley Park in WW2. It focuses on Hana whose father was seriously injured in a car collision. she was asked to take his place in decoding Japanese messages owing to her background in linguistics and having spent a few years living in Japan prior to the outbreak of WW2. She then faces several challenges, finding a mole in her department and then trying to revive a stale marriage to a man severely injured in a plan crash. The two storylines are interwoven well although I would have like more focus on espionage rather than romance. I liked the ending where she and her husband were able to reconnect and rekindle their marriage offering forgiveness to each other, something that our society could possibly learn a great deal from.

Bletchley Park, 1942. Teacher Hana Phillips is married to Gregory and is fluent in Japanese and keen to help the war effort so she accepts an unexpected job offer at Bletchley Park. Hana lived in Japan as a child, she and her father Alfred Castle do crosswords together and both are very intelligent and she fills in for him when he was injured.

Hana is to assist cracking the Japanese naval codes, she’s also given a secret mission they have a spy in hut seven and they want her to find out who it is. Hana can’t tell anyone what’s she doing, she has no idea who she can trust and including her co-workers, her marriage is in trouble and she discovers her husband is also at Bletchley Park and he’s not happy and things are tense at home.

I received a copy of The Codebreaker’s Daughter by Suzanne Fortin from NetGalley and Embla Book in exchange for an honest review. I have read so many books set in Bletchley Park, to be honest I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scrutinize another and wondered if I would discover any new information or facts and I was wrong.

This well narrative looks what happened during the Second World War from a different angle and perspective. It’s about a group of codebreakers trying to figure out what the Japanese were doing in the Pacific, at the time very few English people would have been fluent in the language, and had knowledge of country and culture.

A faced paced story full of intrigue, danger, secrets, a spy network and they would do anything not be exposed and caught and including murder.

Five stars from me, a thrilling historical fiction novel and it keeps you guessing who the traitors are until the end and the have enjoyed Ms Fortin’s previous books including; All That We Have Lost, The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger and The Dance Teacher of Paris and I highly recommend them all.

An amazing historical fiction read during World War Two at Bletchley Park.
The suspense it presents was enough for me to enjoy the book so much that I couldn’t put it down. This is my second book of Suzanne Fortin and it was engaging and as well as heartbreaking what the war has done to people’s lives to survived

Thank you NetGalley and Embla Books for this wonderful story -ARC.

The Codebreaker's Daughter is a WWII novel with a twist.

Hana's father, Alfred, is a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, decrypting Japanese communications while searching for a mole in the Park. After an accident leaves him unable to do his job, Hana is recruited to take up his position. Decoding the Japanese messages proves to be complicated, but finding the spy proves to be difficult and dangerous.

This book started off fast-paced and kept it up through the entire novel. Hana and Gregory were very likable characters. I enjoyed learning all about the codebreakers and the tactics they used to decipher messages during the war. However, the book was extremely predictable and followed a very cliched pattern - a girl is swept off her feet by the handsome officer, she begins to doubt his motives, it turns out he's not who he says he is, there's a dangerous confrontation, and she's rescued by her actual true love. Midway through the novel, it is pretty obvious who the bad guys are. By the end of the book, I was pretty apathetic about the whole thing.

3 ⭐s.

Thanks to NetGalley and Embla Books for an advanced copy. The book is scheduled to be published on July 15, 2025.

Historical drama set during World War Two featuring the work of codebreakers at Bletchley Park. A great main character in Hand and an unusual twist compared to most codebreaker stories.

Enjoyed from first page to last .Characters that come alive a mix of emotional moments mixed in with humor.The codebreaker’s daughter historical fiction at its best .#netgalley#emblabooks

this is such a moving and captivating read. you feel the tension of the time and tension for our characters and what they must be facing. this goes one step further when war work leads to even more risk and emotional courage will be needed throughout.
i was tense, worried and right there with our main character. she was a great character to read and took me alongside her all the way.
Hana is a linguist so is obviously vital for efforts at the time of war. and this is how she finds herself recruited into the work at Bletchley and doesn't she just know how important this is. and this is extra gripping because ive not seen this part to do with de coding the Japanese and searching out a mole who leaking intelligence, done before in a book before.
but life goes on even with what she must brave for work. because Hana has a fraught time at home too. her poorly father is never fair from mind and her marriage seems to be about to unfold around her. with fears from both work and home who can she trust at a time when she needs to be able to do it most.
this book had my emotions in a choke hold and i was fully immersed in it and it didn't let up from beginning to end.
this is such an impactful and brilliant read. it goes right up there with one of the best of the genre ive read recently.

This was a truly wonderful read. Full of love, courage and secrecy this made for a great story which was hard to put down. The story flowed beautifully from the tragic beginning through to the end. Hana and her husband were great characters and their love and courage shone through. I loved it.

Suzann Fortin, The Codebreaker's Daughter, Embla Books, July 2025.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

The Codebreaker’s Daughter is not just another book in which women’s impact on the work at Bletchley Park is central to the plot. Hana is a Japanese speaker and an expert at solving puzzles that involve language skills. These she perfects with her father over cross word puzzles, and it is this relationship and her linguistic skills that bring her into Bletchley Park, a world of secrets and danger.
Hana’s marriage is strained since her pilot husband’s crash has rendered him uncommunicative and seemingly uncaring. Hana is ready to give up on the marriage, when she is told that they must billet an American. As work proceeds at Bletchley, romances are also begun, and together with these, the possibility that there are spies in their midst. Hana’s father’s accident and subsequent inability to communicate, makes her work replacing him even more difficult.
This is a well plotted story, with an intriguing insight into codebreaking, Hana style. However, although it moves along quite quickly and the resolution is satisfying, for me this was a pleasant enough beach read, but nothing more.