Breaking the code in cracking fashion
Robert Harris’ Enigma succeeds on all the counts I had for it – an absorbing, immersive, thriller; one which though a fiction had enough basis in reality for it to appear an authentic possibility; to be educative, informative and clear about the technology without either sending this reader to sleep, refusing to grapple with the nuts and bolts, or employing the implausible devices bad writers use to educate their readers. And, more than this, I wanted the combination of frantic need to turn pages with a wonderfully structured narrative, interesting characters and, above all admirable writing!
Harris delivers all – not to mention twists I didn’t see coming but, once they occurred I rather hit my forehead wondering how I could have NOT suspected and predicted them. Those are the very best twists – not ones which are just rather crude writerly devices, but twists which make complete sense AND are missed by the reader – particularly in a book which in the end is about a top secret mission, so every character in the book is rather in the dark on the whole picture, and those that aren’t in the dark are doing their level best to cover their own tracks! Twisty, turny puzzles and a mounting sense of urgency are the background of the real story and setting – Bletchley Park and the cracking of the Enigma code in World War Two – which Harris constructs his wonderful fiction around

Enigma machine (not decoding machine) Alessandro Nassiri – Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia “Leonardo da Vinci” source -Wiki.
It is 1943. Alan Turing is not, at this point, in Bletchley Park, but is in America (he assisted in the construction of the famous ‘bombes’ used to crack the codes, for Bell Labs in the States from November 42 to March 43) This ‘absence’ of the known, real figure gives Harris the novelist freedom to keep known and major history in place but have a different cast of characters, without the problems involved in creating untruthful fictions out of real lives.
His central character, Tom Jericho, is a young Cambridge mathematician, one of those recruited as one of the Bletchley code-breakers. Jericho is presently back in Cambridge, having suffered some kind of break-down through overwork during an earlier, intense time at Bletchley. He has been sent back to recuperate.
Jericho, one of Turing’s students, has been instrumental in a major decoding operation. It’s not only the stress of working against deadlines to crack the codes used by German U Boats as they targeted Allied shipping which caused Jericho’s breakdown, but a love affair gone wrong.

German U Boat
Inexplicably to those at Bletchley, the Germans suddenly and dramatically change their known patterns of coding. With America about to send fleets of ships, containing supplies to Britain, and U Boats patrolling the sea lanes, it is essential that the codes are re-broken, and Jericho is summoned back to Bletchley, where he half longs to be and half dreads to be, not least because of the pain of the ending of his love affair.
Harris absolutely winds up, tighter and ever tighter, a feverish atmosphere, – working against a dreadfully ticking clock as the likelihood of U Boats finding the American fleet increases, hour by hour. Britain in blackout, edible food increasingly rationed, and dreadful moral calls always lurking – if codes are cracked, how far and how quickly can the Allies save immediate lives in danger, against the fact that such actions will alert Germany to the fact codes have been cracked and lead to radical changes again. And what caused the sudden previous change anyway? Something is not quite right at Bletchley Park…..
This is a brilliant thriller, and Harris looks at wider considerations than just the urgency of code-cracking during the war. It also has much to reveal about class politics, gender politics and the sometimes uneasy relationship between Britain and America, linked to Britain’s class-conscious society. Many of the people who came to Bletchley or were recruited into the Secret Services were old-guard, boys-club, those who had come from the ‘best’ public school backgrounds, into the ‘best Universities, and were ‘people like us’ But the war also needed people ‘not like us’ who had the requisite skills in cryptanalysis, the kind of mathematical ability and conceptional thinking which this needed, who might have gone to the ‘best’ Universities on those merits. And there might be others, ‘not like us’ at all in fact, alien to the whole old boy network – women – who might also have the kinds of minds for the work.

Hut 6, Bletchley Park, War Years
Bletchley Park recruited many women, and certainly some of them must have been hugely frustrated by being utilised well below their intellectual abilities, confined to less demanding, more lowly (but necessary) clerical tasks, simply due to gender. Some of the women would have had sharper, more astute minds for the work than some of their male section heads. And equally undoubtedly the power differentials between men-in-charge and women in lowlier positions would also have been used and abused.
Harris creates two wonderful leading characters, who come into conflict and into a working accord with each other – Tom Jericho himself and the understandably resentful, bitter, highly intelligent Hester Wallace, the house-mate of his lost love, the impeccably upper-class Claire Romilly. It is quite refreshing to see a complex, layered relationship of trust, distrust, dislike, respect and understanding between a male and female, which has nothing to do with a sexual relationship between them, explored.
By all accounts the less than satisfying sounding film-of-the-book did an unnecessary sex-up. The film maker, or possibly eyes-on-the-bucksters of raising finances, took the decision to create a love-interest between Jericho and Hester, thus negating the more interesting dynamic which understands that not every male/female relationship needs sex as its glue.
A highly recommended, immersive, well-written and intellectually stimulating page-turner. It had me reading far too late into the night, and waking far too early before dawn to pick up again and read further
And, an edit – better late than never, I posted before finding the pingback links to Fiction Fan’s review of the book which made me determined to get and read it, and quickly, and also of the film of the book, which made me equally determined to AVOID viewing! Hopefully I have got my pings in before she notices the missing credits!
Great blog piece! By the way, have you seen the movie, “Enigma”? It came out in 2001 and isn’t extremely good, but it’s worth seeing.
Thank you Jill – I’ve rather been put off watching the movie by my good blogging friend, Fiction Fan, who alerted me to the book in the first place AND did a review of the film which put me off it!
But your timely comment has reminded me that I meant to put a link back to her review before I posted this – and, whoops this is a link free post, so some rapid editing is called for, pronto!
I’ve been hearing great things about Richard Harris lately but have never read him!
Sorry, Robert! No idea who Richard Harris is….
Richard Harris was an actor, very much larger than life, and very charismatic – his last role was as the original Dumbledore in the first one or two Harry Potter films, later replaced (he died) by Michael Gambon
Yes, of course!!
Like Cathy, I keep hearing good things about Harris – obviously a writer who warrants further investigation!
He is very good page turning read which also gives a lot to think about. He was originally a political journalist (Guardian? Observer?) so there is a wealth of investigation and astute information, plus the ability to write a cracking story. I probably prefer the books he writes which are factual, but written with a novelist’s sense of structure and pace rather than dryly academic – An Officer an A Spy, the story of the Dreyfus Affair was wonderful
That’s the one I’m keen on reading!
You and FF have me totally convinced on this one. I’m in the mood for a plot-driven page-turner, so I need to acquire a copy pronto!
Excellent review, m’dear, and I’m so glad you enjoyed it as much as I did! Mr Harris can join that small but exalted bands of authors we both admire! And fortunately for you, I’m late, so didn’t notice the missing links… 😉 Yes, I loved the way he handled Hester’s character. Without meaning to be sexist about it, it’s not often a male author gets a female character to ring so true. And delightful that she wasn’t there as “the love interest”. Must make time to read more of his books…
He has a new one coming out, another fiction -I think it is called Conclave – unfortunately not showing on the Galley, about the election of a pope. I may have to go further back into ancient Rome, and continue with Cicero’s story.
Yes, I’ve been keeping an eye out on NG for it too. I must say it sounds incredibly appealing – if the worst comes to the worst, I may even have to buy it! *faints*
Harris is one of those writers who take up nearly a whole shelf in the bookshops I visit and yet who I’ve never read. Thank you for the review – I think I might just have got an entry into his oeuvre of dauntingly big books.
He has really interesting things to say about power and politics and does it intelligently and with skilful writing. He feeds into my desire to know more about a subject but I also need entertainment. So a novelist who has done the rigorous research but avoids spouting chunks of it in dry fashion gets thumbs up!
I can Agee wth the view from Fiction Fan that the film is very insipid. Ok if yiu hav nothing else to do one wet and cold afternoon but otherwise just remember that you enjoyed the book…
I think I shall give it a miss and try and find other things to do on a cold wet afternoon…..there’s always a venture on the TBR!
The new Harris is called “Conclave” and will be issued next month.(I think). I’ve read everything by him except for his books on ancient Rome – which is a subject I have zero interest in. The Vatican, however, IS of interest to me.
Getting back to the movie. It is one of the best movies I’ve seen in terms of the director getting the clothing, the music, the background, etc, right. However, the plot of the movie sucks because they tried to make a physical hero out of Tom Jericho – saving the day by acts of derring-do, which was definitely not in the plot of the book. The acting is pretty good – any movie with Jeremy Northam is worth watching.
I think it’s the creation of the love interest between Hester and Jericho which has put me off – and you now talking about the derring-do, means that two major aspects of the book have gone.
I’m sure I would have enjoyed it as a film if I hadn’t read the book!
PS thanks Jill, for spotting my mangling of the title – now corrected. I don’t know whether I was thinking about aeroplanes(!) away with the elves, or whether predictive was having a moment. Sometimes it produces things on the tablet which bear absolutely no relationship to the word I typed
Hello, hello, hello!!! I’m so glad to see how little you expect from a book. You have no standards at all. Page turner. Well-structured narrative. Interesting characters. Admirable writing. No, not much at all.
Maybe I should buy this as a gift for my husband and take a tiny peek for myself. This does not bode well for the fall and my pocketbook. As I told FF, I parted ways with my agent and am now hustling to find a new one. So I will be here but more scarce, sadly. Good to read your voice!
I have missed seeing you, Jilanne, and am sorry to hear I will have to miss you more! I hope you find an agent soon.
Don’t nail me into the coffin, yet. I’ll be around, just more elusive. Perhaps reading and commenting in the dark of night….Cheers!
I like the sound of this. Have just been to Bletchley Park so this sounds good and I really need to read this. If anyone gets the chance to go there by the way – it is one of the most amazing places I have ever been to. Just so emotional!
Funnily I did some walking in the area not that long ago, and my train back from my end point passed through the station, and I did think that probably organising a walk around a visit might be good!
Oh you should! It is one of the most amazing and fascinating places I’ve been to. Remarkable what went on here .