New Release The Codebreakers

Today’s the day The Codebreakers is released in Australia and New Zealand in print and e-book! It’s a story very close to my heart as it’s inspired by the real-life codebreaking women in Brisbane in WWII.

When I first learned about the Garage Girls and Central Bureau, it felt like a treasure trove of endless stories had been unearthed. Female codebreakers in Australia in World War II? Who were they? What did they do? Why had we not heard about them before? My investigating led me into an amazing world and I’ve met and interviewed many fascinating and courageous people who worked for Central Bureau and other signals intelligence departments and outposts. They generously shared stories not only about the work, but their personal experiences of living with secrets and how it affected their lives during and after the war.

People who worked top-secret jobs during the war often felt there was an invisible wedge in the relationships with their loved ones. For those families, to know someone for decades and learn about this other life they led was sometimes shocking and hard to fathom but, more often, it was a source of immense pride. Learning about the reaction of family and friends, and the relief of Central Bureau members after they could finally tell their story, gave me great insight when creating the characters in The Codebreakers. 

Many of the real-life women of Central Bureau had never lived away from home or experienced any degree of independence. When they joined this elite organisation most were young, often without tertiary qualifications but with natural aptitude for the work they did. Not only did they learn new skills and adapt to working in non-traditional roles in a male-dominated environment, they had other challenges to deal with such as homesickness, the grief of losing loved ones and the heavy responsibility of working with some of the country’s biggest secrets. 

The Codebreakers is the result of two years of research which included countless interviews with the actual codebreakers who inspired the story of Ellie and the Garage Girls. I hope you enjoy learning about these amazing women and help the legacy of their work live on!

The Codebreakers is available at all book retailers in-store and online, including:

Big W

Dymocks

Booktopia

QBD

GooglePlay

Amazon

iBooks

Kobo

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Give away!

Not long now until The Codebreakers is released and I have one special Advance Reader Copy available to give away. To enter, all you need to do is sign up for my newsletter here (and if you’ve signed up previously you are already in the draw!). Entries close 11.59 AEDT, 2 February, 2021.

Stay tuned for a special announcement for pre-orders!

Cover reveal!

One of the best parts of writing a book is seeing the cover for the first time. I’m so lucky the cover fairies at Harlequin MIRA (ANZ) are so brilliant and always create incredible covers. And here’s the cover for my March 2021 release, The Codebreakers!

This story is very close to my heart and it’s been a privilege to meet the real life female codebreakers who worked in Brisbane in WWII. They generously shared their experiences with me about what it was like to work for Central Bureau, an elite intelligence organisation. They had to remain silent about their work for decades and it’s only in recent times they’re able to talk more about it. This has helped me shape my characters and their experiences in this story and celebrate and honour the real women of Central Bureau.

The Codebreakers is now up for pre-order online and at your favourite bookstore, so you can be one of the first to receive it upon release.

About the book:

They will dedicate their lives to their country, but no one will ever know… A compelling story about tenacity and friendship, inspired by the real codebreaking women of Australia’s top-secret Central Bureau in WWII. For readers who love Judy Nunn and Kate Quinn.

1943, Brisbane: The war continues to devastate and the battle for the Pacific threatens Australian shores. For Ellie O’Sullivan, helping the war effort means utilising her engineering skills for Qantas as they evacuate civilians and deliver supplies to armed forces overseas. Her exceptional logic and integrity attract the attention of the Central Bureau—an intelligence organisation working with England’s Bletchley Park codebreakers. But joining the Central Bureau means signing a lifetime secrecy contract. Breaking it is treason. 

With her country’s freedom at risk, Ellie works with a group of elite women who enter a world of volatile secrets; deciphering enemy communications to change the course of the war. Working under immense pressure, they form a close bond—yet there could be a traitor in their midst. Can the women uncover the culprit before it’s too late? 

As Ellie struggles with the magnitude of the promise she’s made to her country, a wedge grows between her and those she holds dear. When the man she loves asks questions she’s forbidden to answer, how will she prevent the double life she’s leading from unravelling?

Harper Collins

Amazon

iBooks

Kobo

Booktopia

Google Play

Burning Fields cover reveal!

I have been anticipating this day! I am so very pleased to finally reveal the most gorgeous cover for my upcoming June release, Burning Fields. This is the Australian and New Zealand cover with my wonderful publisher, Harlequin MIRA and it is now available for pre-order (links below). For those of you outside Australia and New Zealand, I am very pleased to inform you Burning Fields will be available through my wonderful USA publisher, Kensington Books, in November this year (I’ll keep you updated as to when it is available for pre-order. So without further ado, here’s Burning Fields (Aus/NZ edition):

Isn’t it beautiful? And Rosie on the cover looks just how I imagined her. I am so very fortunate to have the wonderful Barbara Hannay provide such an amazing quote! 

Here’s a little more about the story:

1948 The world is struggling to regain a sense of balance after the devastation of World War II, and the sugar cane-growing community of Piri River in northern Queensland is no exception.

As returned servicemen endeavour to adjust to their pre-war lives, women who had worked for the war effort are expected to embrace traditional roles once more.

Rosie Stanton finds it difficult to return to the family farm after years working for the Australian Women’s Army Service. Reminders are everywhere of the brothers she lost in the war and she is unable to understand her father’s contempt for Italians, especially the Conti family next door. When her father takes ill, Rosie challenges tradition by managing the farm, but outside influences are determined to see her fail.

Desperate to leave his turbulent history behind, Tomas Conti has left Italy to join his family in Piri River. Tomas struggles to adapt in Australia—until he meets Rosie. Her easy-going nature and positive outlook help him forget the life he’s escaped. But as their relationship grows, so do tensions between the two families until the situation becomes explosive.

When a long-hidden family secret is discovered and Tomas’s mysterious past is revealed, everything Rosie believes is shattered. Will she risk all to rebuild her family or will she lose the only man she’s ever loved?

PRE-ORDER LINKS:

PRINT: 

HARLEQUIN

BOOKTOPIA

BOOKWORLD

DYMOCKS

eBOOK:

AMAZON

iBOOKS

GOOGLE PLAY

Story Behind the Story: Anna Jacobs

Today I am delighted to introduce you to the wonderful Anna Jacobs. Anna writes historical and modern stories, complex tales of people and relationships. She is the fifth most borrowed author of adult fiction in the UK. Her 75^th novel (A Time to Rejoice, #3 in the Rivenshaw series) came out in May 2016 – in the same week she turned 75. She lives half the year in the UK, half in Australia and produces 3 novels a year. She’s happily married to her own hero, and has two daughters and a grandson.

So, Anna, we’d love to hear your story behind the story …

My latest series of novels comes straight from my heart and reflects my own early life. It’s set in the UK just after World War 2, an era historians often call the austerity years.

I was born at the beginning of the war, my father went overseas when I was 6 months old and I didn’t ‘meet’ him till I was four and a half. My mother and I lived with my grandparents and aunt in a terraced house in Rochdale, Lancashire.

When I suggested writing this series, my youngish editor didn’t like the idea because she thought it was a miserable period of history. I had to set her right. OK, there were problems and shortages, but the war was over and those involved were coming home. That made lots of people happy!

Anna, aged four, and her mother. This photo was sent to Anna’s father who was in the Middle East during the war.

In my family, my mother hadn’t seen the husband she adored for four years, because he’d been stationed in the Middle East. She was over the moon to have him back, as he was to be with her. (They both lived to 87 and their love never faltered.)

I remember clearly the night of my father’s return. I was in bed asleep and they woke me. A big soldier came into the bedroom, and I didn’t want to be woken. As he loomed over the bed, I stuck my tongue out at him. He never forgot that or stopped teasing me about it.

I think the current generation is so overloaded with possessions, and sometimes a desire for more, more, more, that they don’t realise you can be short of possessions (and we were!) but still happy. We didn’t need smart phones for that, just the people we loved, safe from being killed or maimed.

Us kids played out without fear, using our imaginations or bits and pieces we picked up, using sticks to spur on an imaginary horse, pebbles to build ‘walls and castles’ on waste ground, bomb shelters to sneak into for ‘caves’. Maybe that fostered the internal story-telling that has been with me all my life.

The stories set in the imaginary Lancashire town of Rivenshaw focus on people pulling their lives together, clearing up the debris of the home front and building new homes. Over 2 million homes had been destroyed by bombing so finding homes loomed large. I wonder if that’s why all my life I’ve cared so deeply about my home and been fascinated by the history of homes in general?

Luckily my father was good at getting to know about places to live before others did. When other people had to stay with their grandparents, my dad had us into first one home then another, each a little better than the one before.

My new series reflects this situation. My characters are returning from war and setting up a building company, the men from the Army, one of the women from the Wrens (in which my aunt had served), others from work on the home front. They need to make new lives now they’re out of the services and it isn’t always easy to adjust to peacetime.

It was fascinating to research with an adult’s understanding the years I remember clearly with my child’s eye.

Rivenshaw series: A Time to Remember, A Time for Renewal, A Time to Rejoice, Gifts for our Time (coming out 1/2017)

Buy links:

A TIME FOR RENEWAL

A TIME TO REJOICE