The Bletchley Riddle

“Of course, the more cunningly the secrets are hidden, the harder people like me will work to find them.”

Jakob makes clear from the beginning that codes and secrets will be at the center of the novel, introducing the theme of The Burden of Secrets. He is a code breaker cut off from the world, committed solely to the war effort, and part of him likes it this way. His assertion that people like him will work as hard as needed to uncover secrets foreshadows the importance various secrets will play in the narrative—both in the Enigma machine, and in Jakob’s own personal life.

“I prefer being straightforward. My older brother, Jakob, used to be straightforward. Before Willa disappeared, that is. Willa is our mother. Killed in a bomb blast, they told us. A falsity I refuse to accept. I no longer refer to her as Mother because she’s not currently here to ‘mother’ me. So it’s easier, and hurts less, to call her by her first name.”

Lizzie is much more open than her brother. This is partially because of Jakob’s top-secret work, but it’s also because she’s processed the loss of her parents differently. Lizzie’s use of short, abrupt sentences (e.g., “Willa is our mother”; “A falsity I refuse to accept”) creates a tone of business-like deduction, as though Lizzie is listing the facts of the situation and assessing them in an attempt at emotional detachment. Her admission that she cannot call Willa “mother” because she is not currently behaving like a mother to her children introduces