A Year of Reading - Katherine Roberts

In the run up to Christmas, I saw a great gift idea: a year of reading, consisting of one book per month, chosen specially for the recipient and wrapped in brown paper so that each monthly read remains a surprise.

Instead, I got a cheque (always useful on an author's income) and a Lindt chocolate teddy bear (can't go wrong with chocolate, although so far I haven't had the heart to eat him so he's currently sitting on my mantelpiece awaiting his fate). But I still like the mystery book idea, so I decided to turn some of my Christmas money into a year of reading for myself. Each month, I'll buy a book appropriate for the time of year, chosen at random by browsing in a real shop... and since my post on Authors Electric is towards the end of the month, I'll aim to review it here.

January yielded A Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park by Molly Green, picked up in the Works sale for just £1.

A Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park
by Molly Green

Bletchley Park has fascinated me ever since I watched The Imitation Game about Alan Turing and the team who broke Hitler's Enigma code, effectively bringing forward the end of the war by two years and saving thousands of lives. A Winter Wedding is set in the same period, with our heroine being part of the large team of women employed in secret code-breaking activities at Bletchley.

Romance takes centre stage from the first page, with a starry-eyed 17-year-old Rosie trying on her wedding dress in 1936, before war breaks out. She dreams of an exciting life with her well-heeled fiancee, travelling round Europe practising her Italian. But he never turns up.

Stuck at home looking after her younger sisters, Rosie longs to escape and use her skills in Mathematics and Italian. Her dream comes true when single young women are recruited for the war effort, and a glittering career in the Women's Royal Naval Service beckons. However, it turns out her fiancee who jilted her at the altar has left Rosie with more than a broken heart, and her big secret could ruin her chance of a fresh start.

Told with convincing period detail, this is the story of a determined young woman who finds herself caught up in a web of whispers at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Family life and wartime rationing are well described so that you feel as if you are living in Rosie's world. The heroine is touchingly innocent, while stepping bravely into an unfamiliar environment where she believes she can make a difference. But how will she react when her missing fiancee turns out to be working in the same place? This is the second in a series of novels by Molly Green set at Bletchley, and her fans won't want to miss Summer Secrets at Bletchley Park (which I haven't read, although perhaps it might come my way later in the year).

The question is, do I continue with the romance/historical theme, or allow myself to sample different genres and non-fiction too? It all depends what February brings... check back here next month to find out!

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Katherine Roberts writes fantasy and historical fiction for young readers. Like Rosie, she trained in mathematics. She just wishes her Italian was good enough to read the translated edition of her debut fantasy Song Quest!

Song Quest by Katherine Roberts
(Italian edition)

Find out more at www.katherineroberts.co.uk