The Bletchley Girls: War, secrecy, love and loss: the women of Bletchley Park tell their story (Extraordinary Lives, Extraordinary Stories of World War Two Book 7)

Very prompt delivery. A couple of books have a tinge of yellow but other than that, they are in a fair condition.

I applaud Tessa Dunlop for giving us this opportunity to hear the Bletchley women’s stories, so long untold – as is the case in so much written history. She has given me a fuller picture than I expected, telling not only about their time at Bletchley but giving insights into their backgrounds, how they came to be selected to work there and what happened in their lives afterwards. I hadn’t previously considered how hard it must have been for them not being able to tell family and friends what their part in the nation’s war efforts had been; everyone else had stories to tell, but not these women, forbidden to break their silence by the Official Secrets Act. It is wonderful to know that in recent years they are not only being appreciated by the general population but have themselves gained greater understanding of how vital their work was. Tessa Dunlop’s interpretations and recounting of these women’s lives is faithful to the facts and the feelings and perceptions of these women. Her prose is flowing and vivid, giving an engaging insight into other times, other circumstances. However, I have a few reservations.It was a fascinating read but I feel it is a partially missed opportunity. Certainly in the first two thirds of the book the majority of the writing is the author’s interpretation of what she was told, as I would expect from a historian. Tessa Dunlop had in-depth interviews with these women, developed a real empathy and friendships with them. However, there are only limited quotes from the women; their own words were used merely to corroborate what the author had already interpreted for us. Whilst I agree that the background information Tessa Dunlop gave us was essential to my achieving a fuller understanding of the time and the place these women had in the success story that was Bletchley’s, I would have much preferred to read more of what the women themselves had to say and draw my own conclusions. The last third of the book was much better in this regard.Another irritation for me was the constant use of the term ‘girls’; I understand why the title was chosen – that was how young women were often referred to then, and at one point Pam refers to herself and her co-workers as ‘girls’ – but that was then: Tessa Dunlop is writing in the 21st century from interviews conducted in the past few years. Would she have used ‘boys’ to refer to the men working at Blethcley? This is not a novel with a setting in the 1940s; these were young women, not girls, and I consider it an anachronism to call them ‘girls’ when writing about them now. I’m sure no disrespect was intended but that is how it appears. This was also corrected in the last third of the book.My final niggle is the presentation of this work. This is not a cheap e-book so I expected much more professional punctuation and formatting for Kindle.My mental rating is 3.5 rounded up to 4.

When fifteen very different girls from this period, which until recently was veiled in mystery and secrecy, were introduced to the reader in swift succession within a few pages, I found keeping up with who was whom extremely challenging and quite daunting. However, in the fullness of time perseverance was rewarded, as all became clear and confusion changed to fervent interest.I was a child, turning teenager, during the war years that this story covers, and well remember the fears and anguish experienced by “ordinary” citizens and the huge relief as war drew to a shattered close. I have since read all I could get hold of about these remarkable women (and men), and empathised with their frustration at their enforced silence, then and long after. And yet, as was the author’s intention, this book is different. Going well beyond the now familiar story of Wartime Bletchley Park, Tessa Dunlop delves deeply into the daily lives, interests, and backgrounds of her protagonists, of whom we are fortunate that she managed to find so many still alive and willing to be interviewed by her.

An interesting look at the attitudes at the beginning of World War 2, and the sheer waste of female ability in those days. It must have been very frustrating for these highly intelligent and, in most cases, highly educated, ladies who wanted to play their part in the war effort, and yet were often denied the opportunity because of the paternalistic and class conscious outlook of the men at the top. However, Tessa Dunlop does develop a clearpicture of the gradual changes brought about by the absolute devotion and determination shown by these young (and some not so young) women to prove that they could work as hard as the men and do all that was asked of them, even in a more lowly position in the team. I am amazed and full of admiration for way in which they coped with the machinery with which they were confronted, and also the sheer grinding effort, in the face of extreme exhaustion which they did their best to ignore. They were the unsung heroines of their time. Not an exciting book but one that had to be written whilst some of the ladies are still alive, and a book that had to be written as a record of their tremendous input to the war effort, which changed the lives and attitude of men as well as women after the war tpp.

I bought this book for my mother because I know she's interested in Bletchley Park and the work that was carried out there during the last World War. She loved reading it, although she did find the author's habit of jumping around from one woman's story to the next a bit irritating. She felt it would have flowed better if the author had told the women's stories one at a time. I'm not sure I agree, but I'm reading the book next because it turns out 3 of the 13 women featured went to my old school! I certainly hadn't any idea of it when I bought the book!

I studied the history at school. More recently visited the poppies at the Tower. And think Cumberpatch deserves the Oscar for his role in the Imitation Game.But nothing has breathed life into WWII in the same way as this truly engaging portrait of life at Bletchley Park sharing the memories of the women who worked at the code breaking coal face.I love that the author is respectful and empathetic to her veterans, yet not at all sycophantic or salacious. She may be an historian but the hugs and cottage pies distinguish her approach - these Bletchley Girls are friends rather than subjects, and the beautiful melodic writing style made me feel as though they are my friends too.Post war secrecy was systemic, even for those who hadn't signed the official secrets act. I wish someone had catalogued my relatives' experiences before it was too late, so I am thrilled that these ladies, finally, have shared their stories.