The Codebreaker's Secret

March 1, 2022

In 1943 Honolulu, cryptanalysist Isabel Cooper is concerned when the only other female codebreaker at Station Hypo goes missing; perhaps The Codebreaker's Secret is uncovered in 1965 when a rookie reporter and a crusty old-timer discover a skeleton near the ever-so-fancy Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in Ackerman's (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Burton's The House of Fortune, a companion to the New York Times best-selling The Miniaturist, 18-year-old Thea Brandt hides out in 1700s Amsterdam's playhouses from her family's money quarrels, refusal to discuss her mother's death, and fear of the mysterious, soul-capturing Miniaturist (200,000-copy first printing). In Carey's 1950s Britain, ruled by a triumphant Reich that ranks women from the gorgeous (and advantaged) Gelis to those past childbearing good for domestic drudgery and living in Widowland, a Geli named Rose Ransom gets involved with subversion against the government. Narrated by a small-potatoes lesbian gossip columnist, Charyn's Big Red reimagines the entwined careers of Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles. With The Thread Collectors, debuter Edwards joins the USA TODAY best-selling Richman in a story paralleling New Orleans-based Black woman Stella, who embroiders intricate maps for enslaved men intending to flee and join the Union army, with New York-based white, Jewish, abolitionist Lily, who rolls bandages for Union soldiers and wants to join her husband fighting in Louisiana (125,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover). In debuter Sivak's Mademoiselle Revolution, Sylvie de Rosiers, the biracial daughter of a rich white planter and an enslaved Black woman, flees her privileged life in Haiti during the revolution and ends up in Paris amid another revolution, befriending Robespierre and his strong-willed mistress, Corn�lie.

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Starred review from May 15, 2022
In alternating story lines about the only female codebreaker assigned to Hawaii in 1943 and a journalist covering the celebrity-studded opening of a luxury resort in 1965, Ackerman (Radar Girls, 2021) brings the lush and rugged beauty of the islands to life. Isabel's brother and best friend kept her safe through the tornado that killed their mother. After he is killed at Pearl Harbor, Isabel goes to work for the navy, and her exceptional codebreaking skills send her to the Dungeon, an underground facility on the Big Island, where she is the sole woman. Her off-work social life involves surfing, exploration, and parties with her late brother's best friend, Matteo Russi, and her roommate, until Gloria disappears. Lu, originally from Kona, is sent to cover a special pro-opening celebrity week at Lawrence Rockefeller's spectacular Mauna Kea Beach Hotel for Sunset magazine. There Lu meets Matteo, a world-famous photojournalist, and Joni Diaz, a renowned singer, disappears. Beautifully structured and well-told with authentic historical detail, interesting relationships, and the mystery of two young women who go missing from the same spot 22 years apart, this is another top historical novel by Ackerman.

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