The Secret Keeper
Spanning 1928 to 1982, this intense historical centers on Canadian non-identical twin sisters Dot and Dash Wilson. Dot, a shy thinker, has an almost photographic memory for whatever she sees and hears. Dash, constantly moving, loves to climb trees, dance, and fix anything from car motors to airplane engines. She dreams of flying her own aircraft.
World War Two gives the twins the platform to use their talents after they both join the Royal Canadian Naval Service. Dot quickly develops into an expert at listening for and then breaking German Morse codes. Dash helps build Hurricane fighter planes and works her way up to becoming a solo pilot for Air Transport Auxiliary’s flights in Europe. Their assignments become more dangerous with not only their own lives at stake but the lives of countless others.
Strong family ties run side by side with the twins’ professional successes. They are devoted to their parents, uncles, aunts, each other, and Gus—a boy taken in by the family when the girls were young. As both twins advance to ever more important positions, the secrets they must keep about what they really do and where they really are, greatly strain and confuse those once close personal relationships.
Graham takes readers into the fascinating training of Canadian spies and aviators, including the combat skills and equipment they must learn to use. An end note explains that the locations and methods for training, various WWII missions, and secondary characters are based in fact. Graham also deftly balances character depth and personal relationships against the chaos and brutality of WWII. Fascinating twins Dot and Dash set this story above most other fictional WWII hero journeys. Recommended.
