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Friday 27 September 2013

Artful Readers Club - September Read

This month's book is a departure from my original list and what a good decision!  I thoroughly enjoyed Enigma by Robert Harris, so much so, I couldn't put it down and read it in two days - a record for me.  You may have seen the excellent  film Enigma starring Dougray Scott, Saffron Burrows and Kate Winslet and this is the book the film was based on.  As always, the book is better than the movie version which I also found exciting and very entertaining.


Enigma is the name of the German code machine used by all Nazi military during World War II.  The fact based story is about the mathematicians and scientists employed at Bletchley Park Intelligence Gathering and Decoding Centre. Their  battle  was to break into the German Navy's  Enigma code 'Shark' before the submarine wolf-packs could sink the convoys of supply ships making their slow and ponderous way across the North Atlantic  to the UK from America.  A nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat read wonderfully wrapped up in intrigue and betrayal.  Thoroughly recommended!


Here is my pastel drawing of a cargo ship on the North Atlantic at night in 1942 having been spotted by a German U-boat.  The 4 character codes were transmitted to other U-boats and they took up positions in line, as much as 20 miles apart, and then set about blowing the convoys out of the water with great success and huge loss of life.

Thank you for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment, all are much appreciated.

7 comments:

  1. Glad you enjoyed the book and it has inspired you. Your art work is so atmospheric and the code adds to the drama. Brilliant.
    Jen x

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  2. Oh I loved Enigma - one of my favourite books - I keep meaning to check out the film but I haven't got around to it yet. and I'd love to visit Bletchley Park one day. I'm actually reading a (different) Robert Harris book next month for my ARC :) Your artwork is absolutely perfect for this book, I think they should use it for the cover!

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  3. Enigma sounds like a gem. Something I might like to read with my American Legion buddies. I will suggest the reading, and see how it goes .

    Love the ship in the distance waiting to be "decoded."

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  4. This has always intrigued me, not sure I want to see the film, but i am very tempted by the book. Great artwork.

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  5. I thoroughly enjoyed the film (due to the great casting I think) and will be adding the book to my wish list.
    Your artwork is stunning...so atmospheric and perfect for the book.
    Hugs xx

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  6. I enjoyed the review, even though it was short - it was long enough to give a clear idea that the book was worth reading. I have seen programmes about Bletchley Park on TV and found them so interesting. Your combination of typewriter/enigma machine keys with the simple image of the wide see and the moon is powerful in its simplicity. Living fairly near to Liverpool - where so many of the convoy ships left from, and having seen the row of names of merchant shipping in WW2 that sailed from Liverpool, many never to return, your artwork was very touching and tender for me.

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  7. I'm not much of a war story lover but I like your art for this book. :)

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