LOVE, LOYALTY, AND ESPIONAGE

I have been a devoted reader of Jane Healey’s novels for many years. I believe each new story is better than the previous one. Healey puts forth vast amounts of hours of impeccable research in each of her novels, and that is why they are so authentic, and you feel as though you are a participant in the story and not merely a reader.

All the above is true for The Women of Arlington Hall. Healey takes readers on a grand adventure of what life was like for Catherine “Cat” Killeen as she moves to Washington, DC, to join a group of like-minded people to help find Soviet spies who have infiltrated the United States. Cat moves into Arlington Hall with the other “government girls,” each of whom has a specific secret job. None of the others know what that job is unless they work directly with one another.

Cat runs into an old friend from college (or should I say “competitor” as they seemed to compete with each other for every point of every grade). Jonathan Dardis now works for the FBI and is still as good-looking and smooth-talking as ever. They find quite the sizzle between them as they work together for the common good. Unfortunately, their work comes before play as Cat becomes invaluable in cryptoanalysis and Dardis is sent to work overseas. However, before he leaves, they have a goodbye kiss for the ages!

Their two agencies put in many long, difficult hours trying to find a break in their shared need and goal. Finally, small cracks start appearing, then bigger ones, then major fissures, until big chunks crumble, and then a significant power collapses! Now that one major military secret has been cracked, will the star-crossed lovers be able to find one another again? If so, will their feelings still be the same? Or, will they be reassigned to new, separate projects and once again find themselves on different continents? I highly recommend reading this novel. It is full of love, loyalty, and espionage.

Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this novel. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own and without influence.

I loved this story; I couldn't put it down but also didn't want it to end!
For me, this book had a bit of everything: smart female characters, loyal friendships, intrigue, and romance. It starts in 1947 with Catherine Killeen calling off her wedding at the last minute and heading to DC for a job as a code breaker in the Russian group, which was trying to break the Soviet's code to identify spies on U.S. soil who may be giving away the atomic secrets. The group is working closely with the FBI, including Jonathan Dardis, Cat's former classmate from Boston who was her biggest academic competitor in the cryptoanalysis they took together. Cat finds her groove as a cryptoanalyst, loving her new life, but will it be jeopardized by her family's history, or by her attraction to the arrogant and roguish Jonathan? The book focuses more on Catherine's life than the nitty-gritty details of code breaking, but there is enough background to feel like Healey did her research and she does a great job of exploring not only the inner and personal conflicts experienced by smart women of the era who didn't want to "just" be wives and mothers, but also the tense atmosphere of the burgeoning Atomic Age.

The Women of Arlington Hall by Jane Healey is a a World War II historical fiction novel set in Virginia about cryptology, a topic which always fascinates me. Cat, adept at crosswords and mathematics, is one of the top in her cryptology course. She joins the Army Security Agency which is responsible for breaking the Soviet code system among other things. She and her colleagues' backgrounds are scrutinized closely and a few red flags are recorded which adds another layer of intrigue. Along with code breaking, an atomic spy ring, connections with the KGB, and the Hiroshima tragedy, there is romance.

The cryptology and historical details such as the unfortunate "warm snow" gripped me more than the romance which seemed quite trite. The discussions Cat, Effie and their friends and colleagues had about their duties set off warning bells as to my knowledge the loyalty oath in reality was taken extremely seriously. I did enjoy the novel but was not as besotted with it as it was lighter than I had hoped.

Be sure to read the author's interesting notes about her inspiration and true events she wove into her story.

In times of war one must take many different risks

Catherine (Cat to family and friends) Killeen walks into the military complex known as Arlington Hall in 1947 to begin a new job about which she knows little. She has left behind in Boston her father and brothers as well as the man who was her fiancé, right up until the morning when they were to be married and she broke things off. She didn't think she loved her now ex-fiancé as much as she should love the man she married, and didn't think she could settle for the kind of life marriage to him would have been. She is brilliant, graduated from Radcliffe as one of its top students, and has a particular affinity for solving puzzles. That last attribute is what has guided her to this new job, working with a group of other similarly talented people as cryptoanalysts. As part of the Russian Section, she and her coworkers are determined to break the Soviet's encryption codebook and decipher the coded communications the US has already obtained, and in doing so hopefully identify Russian spies at work in the US. Cat has never had many close female friends, but that now changes when she finds herself living with and working alongside other women who dare to want more out of life than society generally offers them. Together they will laugh and love, all while working feverishly to root out those who are betraying their country and maybe even sharing information on creating atomic bombs. A former competitor from Cat's university days, a Harvard student with whom she shared a dogged rivalry, becomes first a collaborator and friend and then something altogether more important....but the activities of a family member she has never met may torpedo her career and her future.
Part historical fiction, part suspense and part romance, The Women of Arlington Hall tells an intriguing story that blends real life historical figures (Hoover and the Rosenbergs, for example) with a group of strong, smart young women who share a common goal and develop strong bonds to support one another as they prove their worth over and over to the men around them. The pace is quick and author Jane Healey weaves actual historical events into her fictional narrative, noting that many of the characters were inspired by real people and/or created as an amalgam of several of them. Cat and her friends and colleagues are well-developed and the setting is brought effectively to life. I was more interested in the espionage elements than the romance, but others may enjoy both equally. Overall, it is a compelling and enjoyable read, likely to appeal to readers of Susan Ella MacNeal, Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff. My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for allowing me access to this novel based on the "government girls" of Arlington Hall in exchange for my honest review.

💖Review: The Women of Arlington Hall

🌻Rate: 5 Stars!!

🎆Praise: I officially have another new favorite author! Yay!!! I have always loved everything about the 1940s! Especially books on romance and spies! Jane has a great skill for weaving together such a beautiful and adventurous story! Naturally my favorite character is Cat!

🍿 Our dear main female character goes into the world of espionage in Washington DC where she works on a secret project with a bunch of very very intelligent individuals! Code breaking back then was a very intriguing and dangerous thing! These individuals were so brave the characters had me on the edge of my seat every single time when any sentence or scene caught me off guard but in a good way! LOL

💕 I really love the romance in this book a lot! I was so glad to finally read a spy romance set in the vintage era that had romance, code breaking, an unexpected events!
I felt as if I was going behind the scenes in a 1940s film! (I can imagine the costumes and the scenes being read between each character!!)

☕Extra: Intrigue for all to read! Indeed! Bravo! I will be reading more by Jane!

Set in the late 1940s young women are recruited to work in DC at Arlington Hall decoding Russian messages to find American spies. 5 women become close friends as they live and work together and find romance. Catherine and Jonathan have a relationship that changes as they work together. Any information shared at all from their jobs is considered treason. The women work long hours trying to break the codes to protect the nuclear bomb info. This is historical fiction but there really were teams of women in these positions working on the Verona Project

Fast paced, heartfelt, and full of hidden history

The Women of Arlington Hall is a historical fiction Set in WWII-era in Washington, D.C. This novel follows a group of women working in codebreaking and intelligence roles essential to the war effort.

The story is filled with strong female characters, friendship, and the bravery of women who sacrificed so much without recognition. Healey has a way of creating an immersive world and characters you care about.

This is a great read anyone who loves untold stories of incredible women.

Thank You To Net Galley!!

I enjoyed reading this historical fiction about the female codebreakers in Washington who helped find Soviet spies in the Cold War era. Inspired loosely by the teams that brought down The Rosenbergs and the Cambridge 5, but this story focuses more on the women who worked at Arlington Hall.

4.5 stars. A fantastic cast of characters and a truly great read. Jane Healey brings us into the world of code breakers during the late 1940’s at the beginning of the Cold War. Although it’s historical fiction, it’s based on actual people and events. From the point of view of Catherine “Cat” Killeen, we enter Washington DC to find a highly intelligent group of individuals who are working on a top-secret project. It was an easy to read story and though the author could have bogged it down with details on how code breaking works, instead she gives just enough details to help readers understand the general idea and just how difficult it is. Jane balances out the work side of things with the personal lives of these code breakers. I love the camaraderie form between the workers. Although the focus is on a group of the women who become best friends (a huge thing for Cat, who always felt like an outsider before), there are some endearing men in the story as well. Jane develops their personalities so well that I am sad to let them go now that the book has ended! Cecil, a very intelligent, goofy oddball, is one I definitely came to love! He reminds me of an excited puppy.
Hearing about how the group broke codes in letters between Soviets and the spies they had in the U.S. sharing secrets that led them to discover how to make an atomic bomb is eye opening. In the story, that part is well balanced with getting to see the workers have some fun in any free time they had. Their social lives and fun they had surely helped keep them going during the difficult, frustrating times of what they did for work. Thank you to Jane Healey for another piece of great storytelling!
Thank you also to Netgalley and Lake Union for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this book are my own.

This was an exceptional book that looks into the women code breakers just after World War II ended and just before the United States entered the Korean War. In my opinion, it was the perfect blending of history, romance, and chick-lit.

Much of this book was factual, which made it a valuable learning experience for me. I could have done with a tad less romance, but that means that this book has something for everyone. We have mystery, espionage, romance, the Cold War, and a glimpse into the lives of the women who gave their all due to their loyalty to their country.

This would be a book that is high up on the list of books for Book Clubs. This book will provide you with plenty to discuss, regardless of your age. However, it may resonate more with older readers who lived through most of this.

I highly recommend this novel.

*ARC supplied by the publisher, Lake Union Publishing, the author Jane Healey, and NetGalley.

Friends, I hate to be the outlier, but I will give my honest opinion.

Summary: Cat has been selected to join a codebreaking office in D.C. in the aftermath of WW2. They are working on Soviet exchanges. Cat recently left her fiance at the altar looking for a more exciting life, and she meets a wonderful group of new friends in D.C. She also meets her archenemy from college, Jonathan, and you know what happens with that. As Cat gets more involved in the effort, it becomes clear that she has a personal stake in uncovering a spy ring.

Pros: There are so many novels about codebreaking in ww2, so this was interesting new territory. The story was well-told with good pacing and a likable cast of characters, and it kept me turning the pages.

Cons: This lacked sophistication. The romance was very strong as well as cheesy and sappy. Everything boils down to love here. And there were no red herrings. The suspicious people? Yup, they were the bad guys.

The ending had our heroine and her man coming up with a plan obviously full of holes, even though these two are described as brilliant throughout the book. You want to shake some sense into them. But of course everything turns out perfectly.

I still enjoyed reading it, but the ending definitely bumped it down from 3.5 to 3.

Bottom line: I recommend this for readers who enjoy a historical romance.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Jane Healey for the opportunity to review an advanced copy.

Women codebreakers are getting the recognition they deserve in this historical fiction book. There have been other good non-fiction books that tell the details and back stories, but this book gives us a great story about these amazing women and the quest to root out Russian spies after WW2. Catherine, Effie, Gia, Rosemary, and many other women spent thousands of hours trying to break into the Russian codebook to decipher intercepted messages throughout the war, and now must figure out who gave the Russians the atomic secrets. There are the men in the office that hold the higher positions and get the limelight, but these women are the backbone of the agency who figured out who the real people were behind the code names and cryptic messages. These brilliant women also knew how to have fun at local pubs and dance halls with colleagues and nearby FBI agents. Jonathan and Cecil are love interests. Jonathan is an FBI agent who knew Cat from college days and Cecil is the quirkiest character who I grew to enjoy. If you love stories about women who did challenging work and side-stepped societal norms, this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed getting the know the women, their work, and how the mystery of the spies played out.
Slight spoiler, but most of the women are composite figures of the many female workers at Arlington Hall back in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The author notes explain the choices of who was kept real and who had to be fictionalized. A little disappointed that these women weren't actual figures, but the reasoning made sense to the book.
#TheWomenofArlingtonHall #NetGalley
Thank you Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
Wow! This is such a good book! It is a story about a group of scientists who are working on a confidential military project. It takes place in 1947 during the Cold War. Cat Killeen is a student of cryptoanalysis, and she is working to root out Soviet spies who are in the US. This story was so well-written. I felt like I was there, or I was watching a movie. I could see all the action. The characters were also so vivid I could see them in my head. The ending was very suspenseful. I think this is one of Jane Healey's best!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I loved this book - couldn't put it down. I only gave it 4 stars though because I don't think it's a book that EVERYONE would love.

I loved learning about a time in history I didn't know much about (the Cold War after WW2). I loved the will they/won't they romance. I loved that it wasn't really sad or scary or stupid. It was interesting, the author explained codes very well, the lead character was brilliant as were her friends. It was fun! If you enjoy historical fiction with a hint of love then definitely read this one.

This Cold War historical fiction novel’s an espionage thriller with a tenacious, fiercely intelligent codebreaker, Catherine Killeen, at its helm. Catherine and her troop of “government girl” friends are crypto analysts working for the United Stated as part of the Venona Project—a US counterintelligence program that decrypted intel to uncover a Soviet spy ring and discover what the Soviets knew about the atomic bomb. The novel’s a page-turning read that highlights these women’s essential contributions to Cold War intelligence-gathering, their sisterhood and friendships. The “will-they-won’t-they” romance between Cat and FBI agent Jonathan added a delicious fun to the story as well. Based on true historical figures and drawn from real events, this is a fast-paced, suspenseful read about exceptional women and their fight to win the Cold War with their wits.

The premise of this book was so interesting. I think if you love a strong female lead and historical fiction this is going to be a great fit. As a woman with a STEM background, I really enjoy when books have a women in STEM element. It was a bit drier than I prefer and did feel like the plot dragged at times but overall I enjoyed it.

It is so refreshing to pick up a book that covers a time period I know almost nothing about. <i>The Women of Arlington Hall</i> is about the codebreakers charged with deciphering Russian messages post WWII. While the story has been fictionalized, it is based on the real-life Verona Project.

What is especially lovely about this book is how beautifully it balances the codebreaking aspects with the development of the characters. After graduating Radcliffe, Cat Killeen left her fiancé at the altar and takes a challenging position in the Russian Building of the codebreaking. She loves the math and the puzzles and finds the work engaging, although she also develops deep relationships with her female coworkers (I love a book that passes the Bechdel Test!). There is a love interest, but I appreciated that the focus of the story remained on Cat and her work. As a member of a super secret project, Cat must be careful to remain silent on her work; any hints of misdeed is an act of treason that could lead to a prison sentence. Of course, parts of her past resurface threatening the work she loves doing.

The Cold War is a time that hasn't been written as much about in historical fiction. I was fascinated by the seeking out and demonizing of Communists. Healey has written a remarkable novel, and fans of WWII novels will love reading about what comes next for the world. Terrific book!

I could not put this book down! Codebreaking in the 1940s to find Soviet spies, a family history on the "wrong" side of the line and a Harvard rival turned love interest. The Women of Arlington Hall reminded me of The Imitation Game, but from a female perspective. I loved Cat's character and how she paved her own path, found her people, and took risks.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Greatly enjoyed this historical fiction novel! Although characters were fictionalized the familiar stories gave credence to the novel. The women from Arlington Hall are fantastic characters. Each of their stories is personal and draws you into the novel. I was cheering for each of them on their journey. The detail used to describe code breaking really made it come alive for me and detail the challenges the men and women faced in the late 40s and 50s trying to flesh out Soviet spies.

Interesting book on the history after the Cold War and the espionage and secrecy of the time . Thanks to Netgalley for letting me review the book