LADY CODEBREAKER by K.D. Alden is a work of historical fiction based on a real codebreaker named Elizabeth Smith Friedman. She was a remarkable woman who had a remarkable career. In this novel, the protagonist is named Grace Smith. Raised in a Quaker home, she left her stifling life in a small town. Perhaps it was chance or maybe fate when she met a millionaire who recognized her capabilities and tasked her with learning codebreaking-something she knew nothing about. With sheer determination, she developed the necessary skills and went on to become a cryptanalyst who helped the government form its unit. Impeccably researched and detailed, the author has crafted a powerful story. Grace is a protagonist with strong moral fiber, sharp intellect and mind-blowing skills. Determined and fearless, she takes on gangsters, Nazis and even J. Edgar Hoover all the while dealing with male chauvinism and remaining fiercely loyal to her family. The narrative spans four decades and two wars. Her accomplishments were epic. LADY CODEBREAKER is so well crafted that I found it to be totally believable. However, the author does provide a Fact vs. Fiction section in LADY CODEBREAKER after the conclusion of the story and I recommend reading it. Told in Grace's voice by using wit and candor, this story is well worth reading. Highly recommended.
Fans of Kate Quinn and Kristina McMorris will love this gripping historical novel based on the true story of the woman who used her codebreaking skills to bring down Prohibition gangsters and WWII Nazis, and who ultimately helped found the present-day CIA.
Grace Smith has never been one to conform to society’s expectations. She flees small-town Indiana to seek adventure—and finds more than she bargained for when she’s hired by an eccentric millionaire to learn codebreaking. Soon she’s using those skills to help head the government’s fledgling cryptanalysis unit.
During Prohibition, Grace takes up the fight against rumrunners—not to mention Al Capone himself. And as the country careens from one Great War to another, it’s Grace who must crack the secrets of foreign governments, catch spies, and derail saboteurs . . . before it’s too late.
With wry wit and sheer grit, she forges her own path as a codebreaker, wife, mother. She’s spent a lifetime going up against powerful men and winning. But as war rages and the stakes grow impossibly high, Grace faces a truly impossible choice: her family or her country?
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