Bookish Mewsings: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton & The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

I am surrounded by forgotten women. ~ Opening of The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba 

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba (The Cuba Saga #4) by Chanel Cleeton

Berkley, 2021

Fiction/Historical; 384 pgs

Source: NetGalley (all opinions are my own)

The year is 1896. Cuba is in turmoil as revolutionaries fight for their freedom. Newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer are feuding, trying to see who will end up on top. Caught up in it all are three women, each with their own roles to play.

The novel is based on the real life Evangelina Cisneros, who was unjustly imprisoned at 18 years old and dreamt of a Cuba free of Spanish oppression. Her cause was picked up by newspapers, Hearst’s headline calling her “The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba”, in hopes of drawing the U.S. into Cuba’s war for independence. Then there is journalist Grace Harrington  who wants nothing more than to make her mark in journalism just like Nellie Bly. As a woman in a traditionally male profession, she has an uphill battle to climb, always having to prove herself worthy of getting the headline. When she is assigned to cover Evangelina’s story, she knows this could be her big break. Meanwhile, Marina Perez, a courier secretly working with the Cuban revolutionaries, is trying to reunite with her husband and protect her young son safe and fed under appalling conditions.

It was actually Marina’s story which I found the most interesting of the three threads, although I enjoyed all three. Chanel Cleeton’s main characters are all strong women who each are struggling for causes they believe in and have to face difficult decisions along the way. This is a time in history I know little about, and so I found myself doing a little side research as I read. Reading about how events played out in the novel and in reality was fascinating. Chanel Cleeton clearly did her research and wove it into a beautiful and powerful story. How have I not read anything by this author before? I will definitely be reading more of her work now.

The enigma arrived in the afternoon post, sealed, smudged, and devastating. ~ Opening of The Rose Code

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

William Morrow, 2021

Fiction/Historical; 646 pgs

Source: NetGalley (all opinions are my own)

World War II is over and Princess Elizabeth is about to marry Prince Phillip. Three former friends are about to come together again because of an encrypted letter.

Seven years earlier, three women met for the first time at Bletchley Park, each with the common purpose to break German military codes and protect England during the war. There is Osla who longs to be more than the society debutante everyone believes her to be and whose skill in German earns her a position translating decoded secrets; then there is Mab, who may have grown up in poverty but is determined to make something of herself despite old hurts and wrongs done to her, who works on the code-breaking machines; and finally Beth, a local village spinster who thought her life would never amount to much but becomes one of the few female cryptanalysts. Their friendship was torn apart by loss, betrayal and the secrets they carry.

Kate Quinn seems to have a gift for picking out the most interesting aspects of history during this era and spinning a great story.  As I often do, I couldn’t help but look up bits of history as I read to compare the truth to the fiction and it was fun picking out the characters based on real people from the fictional. Okay, and so maybe I wanted to know the fate of a couple of characters. The novel is rich in history while at the same time being entertaining and a fascinating read. I loved the details and depth of the characters. The dual time lines works well—the 1947 characters reliving their time at Bletchley Park during the war while at the same time facing new challenges and an old enemy.

I really enjoyed getting to know Mab, Beth and Osla. Each of the women have strong storylines, no one being more interesting than the other. Although, I have to say Beth’s after war story in particular is heart wrenching. I still get angry thinking about the way she was treated.

While much of the novel describes life at Bletchley Park and the work the women and their compatriots did there, there is also the overreaching story arc of a traitor in their midst—the reason they come together again—to put an unsolved mystery to rest. The last part of the book is a race against the clock and quite tense as everything comes together—and to a head. I enjoyed my time with these characters as I read The Rose Code and look forward to reading more by Kate Quinn.

Have you read either of these books? If so, what did you think? 

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