Mr. Churchill's Secretary
11. Susan Elia MacNeal, Mr. Churchill's Secretary
Maggie Hope is a brilliant mathematician who defers her entrance to M.I.T. to travel to London and sell her late grandmother’s old Victorian house. However, Maggie is touched when she sees England’s grim situation as war with Germany looms nearer, and she decides to remain in London and help with the war effort. She even manages to get a job as one of Winston Churchill’s secretaries, which gives her a lot of inside knowledge into the progress of the war - and makes her a target for those who oppose Britain’s involvement in World War II. Soon enough, Maggie finds herself using her mathematical abilities to break German codes, and she uncovers a sinister plot to undermine Britain’s morale and prevent it from joining the war.
This book’s premise of a WWII-era political mystery really intrigued me, but I have to say that the execution didn’t quite measure up to my expectations. I assumed that most of the book would focus on Maggie’s career, her codebreaking ability, and her interactions with Churchill. In reality, the book is much more disorganized. One minute we’re reading about Maggie’s work day, and the next we’re off to a nightclub with her and her friends. Then we get mysterious hints about her parentage, followed by a chapter from the villain’s point of view. I really didn’t like all this jumping around. I especially didn’t see any need for the villain’s perspective at all, since it needlessly cluttered up the story without being particularly interesting. Overall, while I liked the period setting, this book was too scattered for my taste.
N.B. I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. It will be released on April 3.