In Secrets at Bletchley Park by Margaret Dickinson, two young women
from very different backgrounds meet in the Second World War and are
plunged into a life where security and discretion are paramount. But
both have secrets of their own to hide . . .
In 1929, life for 10-year-old Mattie Price, born and raised in the back
streets of Sheffield, is tough. With a petty thief for a father and a
mother, who turns to the bottle to cope with her husband's brutish ways,
it is left to the young girl and her brother, Joe, to feed and care for
their three younger siblings. But Mattie has others rooting for her too.
The Spencer family, who live at the top of the same street, and Mattie's
teachers recognize that the girl is clever beyond her years and they,
and Joe, are determined that she shall have the opportunity in life she
deserves.
Victoria Hamilton, living in the opulence of London's Kensington, has
all the material possessions that a young girl could want. But her
mother, Grace, a widow from the Great War, is cold and distant, making
no secret of the fact that she never wanted a child. Grace lives her
life in the social whirl of upper-class society, leaving Victoria in the
care of her governess and the servants. At 11 years old, Victoria is
sent to boarding school where for the first time in her young life she
is able to make friends of her own age.
Mattie and Victoria are both set on a path that will bring them together
at Bletchley Park in May 1940. An unlikely friendship between the two
young women is born and together they will face the rest of the war
keeping the nation's secrets and helping to win the war. They can tell
no one, not even their families, about their work or even where they
are. But keeping the secrets is second nature to both of them . . .
