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Quick answer: If you loved The Rose Code, try The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Diamond Eye, The Briar Club, Code Girls and The Secret Life of Bletchley Park. Each one offers smart women, wartime secrets and the thrill of hidden history.
Kate Quinn's novel follows three very different women at Bletchley Park during the Second World War: socialite Osla, working-class Mab and shy Beth. They help break enemy codes until a traitor tears their friendship apart. Years later, on the eve of the 1947 royal wedding, they must reunite to find that traitor. Readers love the codebreaking detail, the friendship and the fast plot. These books share its heroines and its secret history.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Setting | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Alice Network | Kate Quinn | WWI and 1947 | readers who want more Quinn |
| The Huntress | Kate Quinn | WWII and postwar | readers who like a hunt |
| The Diamond Eye | Kate Quinn | Soviet Union | readers who like real heroines |
| The Briar Club | Kate Quinn | 1950s Washington | readers who like women's friendships |
| Code Girls | Liza Mundy | WWII America | readers who want the true American story |
| The Secret Life of Bletchley Park | Sinclair McKay | Bletchley | readers who want the real history |
| The Bletchley Girls | Tessa Dunlop | Bletchley | readers who want real voices |
| Enigma | Robert Harris | Bletchley | readers who like spy thrillers |
| Code Name Verity | Elizabeth Wein | WWII | readers who love friendship |
| The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah | Occupied France | readers who want a big emotional war story |
| The Lost Girls of Paris | Pam Jenoff | Occupied France | readers who like female spies |
| Lilac Girls | Martha Hall Kelly | WWII | readers who like true events |
| The Light Over London | Julia Kelly | WWII England | readers who like dual timelines |
| The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows | Channel Islands | readers who want something gentle |
| All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr | Occupied France | readers who love radio and codes |
1. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
An American socialite teams up with a former spy to find her lost cousin.
Best for: readers who want more Quinn.
2. The Huntress by Kate Quinn
A journalist and a Soviet pilot chase a Nazi murderess in America.
Best for: readers who like a hunt.
3. The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
A Soviet librarian becomes one of the war's most feared snipers.
Best for: readers who like real heroines.
4. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
Women in a boardinghouse hide a secret during the McCarthy years.
Best for: readers who like women's friendships.
5. Code Girls by Liza Mundy
The real women who broke codes for the United States.
Best for: readers who want the true American story.
6. The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay
The true story of daily life and work at Bletchley Park.
Best for: readers who want the real history.
7. The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop
Fifteen women recall their wartime work at Bletchley.
Best for: readers who want real voices.
8. Enigma by Robert Harris
A brilliant codebreaker hunts for a missing woman at Bletchley.
Best for: readers who like spy thrillers.
9. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
A captured British spy writes her confession for the Gestapo.
Best for: readers who love friendship.
10. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Two French sisters resist the Nazis during the war.
Best for: readers who want a big emotional war story.
11. The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
A woman finds photographs of a missing network of female agents.
Best for: readers who like female spies.
12. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Three women's lives connect through Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Best for: readers who like true events.
13. The Light Over London by Julia Kelly
A woman uncovers her family's story of serving in anti-aircraft units.
Best for: readers who like dual timelines.
14. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
A writer learns about life under occupation through letters.
Best for: readers who want something gentle.
15. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A blind French girl and a German radio operator meet during the war.
Best for: readers who love radio and codes.
How to Choose
If you want more Kate Quinn, The Alice Network is the most popular choice and has a very similar dual-timeline story. The Huntress and The Diamond Eye show her range, with chases and real-life heroines. If you were most fascinated by Bletchley, read The Secret Life of Bletchley Park or The Bletchley Girls, and Code Girls tells the American side. Enigma is the classic Bletchley thriller and has a tense, moody plot. For the bond between women at war, Code Name Verity is extraordinary, with an emotional twist that readers talk about for years. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the warm choice when you want less danger.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Rose Code about?
Three women who broke codes at Bletchley Park reunite in 1947 to find the traitor who betrayed them.
Is The Rose Code based on a true story?
It is fiction, but Bletchley Park was real, and Osla Benning was based on a real codebreaker who dated Prince Philip.
Do you need to know about codes to enjoy it?
No. Quinn explains everything clearly, and the plot is driven by the characters.
Is The Rose Code connected to Quinn's other books?
No. It is a standalone novel.
How long is The Rose Code?
It is a long novel of around 600 pages.