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The Paper Birds
Imagine you have only a pencil and paper, a pocketful of hunches, and your puzzle-solving skills to help end the war
Fresh out of high school, Gemma Sullivan lands what she believes is an office job, only to learn that she’s been hired for top-secret government codebreaking work in a cottage in Mimico, Ontario. The codebreaking “Cottage”—run by the brilliant, eccentric Miss Fearing, who was trained at England’s Bletchley Park—pulls Gemma in with its urgent lure and mystery. But along with this comes an oath of lifelong secrecy.
Gem can’t tell anyone about her job, not even her elderly Aunt Wren, who has raised her since the age of three after the tragic death of Gem’s parents. Her aunt harbours a deep love for crossword puzzles and Tarot cards and an equally passionate hatred for war after the death of her own fiancé in World War I. The last thing she’d want for her niece is a job that involves anything to do with the war.
The codebreaking is intense, even mind-numbing at times. One day during her lunch break Gem goes for a walk and discovers a German POW camp not far from the cottage. At the barbed-wire fence, she encounters a prisoner named Toby. Even though she risks losing her job, or worse, if she’s caught fraternizing with the enemy, Gem can’t stop visiting him. After several weeks of risky conversations, Toby disappears from the camp.
While Gem grows into her engrossing job, she hadn’t anticipated the tremendous mental strain it would cause, and she struggles with the burden of secrecy both at work and in her private life. As Gem is pulled deeper into wartime intelligence work, she becomes an integral part of the codebreakers’ circle. The Cottage codebreaking unit is small but determined; her female coworkers all possess a range of complementary skills. But in order to be successful, they must learn to work together.
The Paper Birds is a WWII love story that reveals the struggles and sacrifices of everyday working women during the war and highlights the previously unknown codebreaking work undertaken by women in Canada during the war. This novel is both one woman’s story, and many.
Fresh out of high school, Gemma Sullivan lands what she believes is an office job, only to learn that she’s been hired for top-secret government codebreaking work in a cottage in Mimico, Ontario. The codebreaking “Cottage”—run by the brilliant, eccentric Miss Fearing, who was trained at England’s Bletchley Park—pulls Gemma in with its urgent lure and mystery. But along with this comes an oath of lifelong secrecy.
Gem can’t tell anyone about her job, not even her elderly Aunt Wren, who has raised her since the age of three after the tragic death of Gem’s parents. Her aunt harbours a deep love for crossword puzzles and Tarot cards and an equally passionate hatred for war after the death of her own fiancé in World War I. The last thing she’d want for her niece is a job that involves anything to do with the war.
The codebreaking is intense, even mind-numbing at times. One day during her lunch break Gem goes for a walk and discovers a German POW camp not far from the cottage. At the barbed-wire fence, she encounters a prisoner named Toby. Even though she risks losing her job, or worse, if she’s caught fraternizing with the enemy, Gem can’t stop visiting him. After several weeks of risky conversations, Toby disappears from the camp.
While Gem grows into her engrossing job, she hadn’t anticipated the tremendous mental strain it would cause, and she struggles with the burden of secrecy both at work and in her private life. As Gem is pulled deeper into wartime intelligence work, she becomes an integral part of the codebreakers’ circle. The Cottage codebreaking unit is small but determined; her female coworkers all possess a range of complementary skills. But in order to be successful, they must learn to work together.
The Paper Birds is a WWII love story that reveals the struggles and sacrifices of everyday working women during the war and highlights the previously unknown codebreaking work undertaken by women in Canada during the war. This novel is both one woman’s story, and many.
320 pages, Paperback
Published June 10, 2025
30 people are currently reading
401 people want to read
About the author
Jeanette Lynes
16 books55 followersJeanette Lynes is an award-winning author and has published half a dozen collections of her poetry, as well as both appearing in and editing several anthologies. The Factory Voice is her first published work of fiction.
She has served in writer-in-residence positions in Saskatoon and Dawson Creek, BC. She holds a Ph.D in English from York University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine.
Jeanette spent six years working in Thunder Bay before taking her current position as an English professor at St. Francis Xavier University where she is the campus newspaper editor.
She currently lives in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
From the author:
I've always loved to write. When I was growing up on a farm in Ontario, I made newspapers of local goings-on in the community: for example, 'Mrs. MacTavish Gets Smashing New Easter Bonnet'. I drew the boxes around the little stories and everything, just like a real newspaper.
When I was in high school, I worked in a factory one summer; I've written about this in a poem called "Hairnets and Giblets," from my first book of poetry. My factory experience was brief but made a deep impression on me, especially the various loyalties and allegiances within the workplace, and how a factory becomes a kind of micro-world unto itself.
I've always been fascinated by how people interact with each other and a fiction project like The Factory Voice allowed me the space to explore this fascination.
When I lived in Thunder Bay during the 1990s, I was involved in an project based on Canadian Car and Foundry, the factory in former-day Fort William, that made war planes. The project involved interviewing ladies who had worked on the line during the war. Their stories never left me, and around 2001, I began to imagine their lives in the aviation plant, and thus began The Factory Voice.
She has served in writer-in-residence positions in Saskatoon and Dawson Creek, BC. She holds a Ph.D in English from York University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine.
Jeanette spent six years working in Thunder Bay before taking her current position as an English professor at St. Francis Xavier University where she is the campus newspaper editor.
She currently lives in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
From the author:
I've always loved to write. When I was growing up on a farm in Ontario, I made newspapers of local goings-on in the community: for example, 'Mrs. MacTavish Gets Smashing New Easter Bonnet'. I drew the boxes around the little stories and everything, just like a real newspaper.
When I was in high school, I worked in a factory one summer; I've written about this in a poem called "Hairnets and Giblets," from my first book of poetry. My factory experience was brief but made a deep impression on me, especially the various loyalties and allegiances within the workplace, and how a factory becomes a kind of micro-world unto itself.
I've always been fascinated by how people interact with each other and a fiction project like The Factory Voice allowed me the space to explore this fascination.
When I lived in Thunder Bay during the 1990s, I was involved in an project based on Canadian Car and Foundry, the factory in former-day Fort William, that made war planes. The project involved interviewing ladies who had worked on the line during the war. Their stories never left me, and around 2001, I began to imagine their lives in the aviation plant, and thus began The Factory Voice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 16, 2025
A quick, sweet and good read about the Canadian women’s war contribution - this one code breaking.
August 25, 2025
I picked up this novel as part of a "read local" book challenge as it's based in Mimico, a former small town (now incorporated into Toronto) and centres around the low-tech female codebreakers who worked in secret there during WWII. I've read similar novels about codebreaking before, but it was neat to read about a codebreaking effort and POW camp being so close. I enjoyed the local history like learning about the meaning of the pigeons and everyday occurrences like the streetcar along Lakeshore road.
My enjoyment of the book unfortunately ended there because I couldn't buy into the characters or the plot. Main character Gemma, freshly graduated from high school and a certified rule follower in desperate need of a job, immediately gives up all her qualms to meet well-spoken German-Canadian Toby in a POW camp near her secret office. The real kicker is when he asks for a book and she smuggles him her aunt's poetry book (one of her aunt's most beloved possessions, ANNOTATED with messages from her dead fiancé that she lost in the first war!). This is the aunt who raised her when her parents died and gave up everything for her. They live extremely frugally and are saving up to buy her aunt new glasses (so she can work) but Gemma is literally giving away their stuff to someone she just met and is feeding his stray cat when they barely have enough food from their rations. Coincidentally, EVERY person in Gemma's life encounters the prisoner and he makes enough of an impression to tell her about it. Is there one young man in all of Mimico? I understand dramatic license, but all the coincidences, from Toby's prolific presence, to the girls' "hunches" solving coded messages, to the cursory touches on social issues of the time like teen pregnancy and anti-semitism that magically no one is offended by; make for a shallow story. My favourite character was actually elderly Aunt Wren, just trying to take care of her girls, make hats, and get a second chance at love. It's not the worst WWII book, but I wouldn't say it's good. 1.5 stars
My enjoyment of the book unfortunately ended there because I couldn't buy into the characters or the plot. Main character Gemma, freshly graduated from high school and a certified rule follower in desperate need of a job, immediately gives up all her qualms to meet well-spoken German-Canadian Toby in a POW camp near her secret office. The real kicker is when he asks for a book and she smuggles him her aunt's poetry book (one of her aunt's most beloved possessions, ANNOTATED with messages from her dead fiancé that she lost in the first war!). This is the aunt who raised her when her parents died and gave up everything for her. They live extremely frugally and are saving up to buy her aunt new glasses (so she can work) but Gemma is literally giving away their stuff to someone she just met and is feeding his stray cat when they barely have enough food from their rations. Coincidentally, EVERY person in Gemma's life encounters the prisoner and he makes enough of an impression to tell her about it. Is there one young man in all of Mimico? I understand dramatic license, but all the coincidences, from Toby's prolific presence, to the girls' "hunches" solving coded messages, to the cursory touches on social issues of the time like teen pregnancy and anti-semitism that magically no one is offended by; make for a shallow story. My favourite character was actually elderly Aunt Wren, just trying to take care of her girls, make hats, and get a second chance at love. It's not the worst WWII book, but I wouldn't say it's good. 1.5 stars
August 2, 2025
3.5* An enjoyable read with solid characters, including 4-leggeds, a forward moving storyline, and a glimpse into what code breaking women experienced and contributed to the war effort. Well worth reading this short book.
August 25, 2025
Light weight. Miniscule detailing of minor details. Handholding foreshadowing. Clues so obvious may as well be in bold type.
July 21, 2025
Another book about teenage WWII code breakers. Comically improbable plot with the love interest. (who meets every family member circuitously- and ALL think to tell her of him, AND he remembers all of them ya, right)
The anachronisms were glaring (my favourite was when they went out to the store to get cat food and litter (not even invented for several tears yet)). I mean, is there no one who can do a quick wikipedia search to prevent these??
I added a star for being set in Canada, this really is the only reason I read it.
The anachronisms were glaring (my favourite was when they went out to the store to get cat food and litter (not even invented for several tears yet)). I mean, is there no one who can do a quick wikipedia search to prevent these??
I added a star for being set in Canada, this really is the only reason I read it.
November 10, 2025
Sweet, romantic, heartwarming, all the words reviewers usually use for this kind of book (although one of the cover blurbs calls it suspenseful and I wondered what that reviewer was drinking.) I’m not usually entertained by the “sweet romantic heartwarming” stuff and I certainly wasn’t here, but I kept reading because it’s full of Canadian references and Toronto area streetscapes and neighbourhoods. There were lovely references to MacLean’s. Magazine and to eating supper (dinner was what you ate at noon.) Unfortunately there were some really weird things like Tarot cards, which certainly were never a thing here until the 60s, and constant references to living in a flat - I’ve lived in Canada all my life and they’re called apartments. A number of anachronisms should have been caught by an editor familiar with life at home during WW2. Every author seems to have a charm word they use over and over again like a talisman, and this author’s is “wafted.” Something was always wafting somewhere. There seemed to be an overabundance of unnecessary explaining. I'd much rather be puzzled by a term or concept and have to Google it than have it explained to be by the author - it ruins the writing and is quite insulting. And I was confused by a character with two interchangeable names - I think - whom I periodically assumed to be two separate people (maybe they were? Who knows?) The unlikely romance was a predictable yawn and I had difficulty believing in the intelligence of the code breakers themselves, although the real-life Canadian “war office girls" were a sharp and feisty lot. I think the most valuable part of the book was the Author’s Note containing an extensive bibliography of reference books which will be a great resource to look into. I appreciate the research that went into this book and just wish it had been more realistic and less “sweet, romantic and heartwarming.” 3 stars
December 4, 2025
A perfectly well-written, Hallmark-historical-movie-style novel that will find loads of fans...but it all felt very same-old/same-old to me, as if I've read this same story several times before, in several iterations.
November 27, 2025
Nice to read a book about Canadian women code breakers in Toronto during WW II.
October 31, 2025
Started on a plane so had to finish.
Disappointing novel that promised to be a historical novel about women code breakers and was mostly an improbable teenage romance full of historical inaccuracies. The flighty, somewhat stupid main character was an embarrassment to the incredible courageous women who served during WWII
The aunt character gets 4 stars for an interesting backstory of bird advocate, milliner and finding love in her senior years.
Disappointing novel that promised to be a historical novel about women code breakers and was mostly an improbable teenage romance full of historical inaccuracies. The flighty, somewhat stupid main character was an embarrassment to the incredible courageous women who served during WWII
The aunt character gets 4 stars for an interesting backstory of bird advocate, milliner and finding love in her senior years.
August 10, 2025
A quick and easy read but not substantial enough for me.
September 1, 2025
The Paper Birds, by Jeanette Lynn: a compelling historical novel, based on the sisterhood of Canadian codebreakers during World War Two. Graduating high school with top marks, Gemma Sullivan lands a badly needed office job. It's the summer of 1943. Times are bad, money tight, and her aunt is frantic to pay the rent. Aunt Wren has lovingly raised Gemma, since the tragic death of her parents. But very quickly Gemma is shocked to discover she's been hired to work in a top-secret code breaking office. Oh my! Run from a nondescript house, in Mimico, Ontario, the "Cottage" is managed by the eccentric, fearless, and fearsome Miss Fearing, who was brilliantly trained at England's Bletchley Park. Gemma, of course, must sign the Official Secrets Act swearing to tell no one anything, not even her aunt. Silence for a lifetime. As she's is pulled further into wartime intelligence work, she finds that there's much more going on, in this (on-the-surface) sleepy lakeside town then she ever knew. When Gemma, inadvertently, stumbles across a prisoner of war camp, Paper Birds slowly evolves into a potentially dangerous love story. This gripping novel reveals the heartbreaking struggles, and daily sacrifices of ordinary people. Seemingly, so remote from the front lines; still, they're thrust more intimately into the fray than we would ever suspect. Gwendolyn Broadmore, author, Life Came to a Standstill.
November 16, 2025
Based on the author's notes at the back of the book, Canadian writer Jeanette Lynes must have spent a tremendous amount of time researching material about Canadian women codebreakers for this historical novel set during World War II. I give her credit for this huge effort.
Because I am not a history scholar, I feel I cannot comment on the accuracy of the material. However, I will share my views on the plot and characters. For some reason, neither one held my attention which may be a reflection of the types of books I like to read. For me, the two love stories also didn't feel authentic. Love at first sight? I just didn't feel the chemistry. Maybe I'm getting too old. I wanted more depth to the storyline and with the characters.
What I loved about the book was the way the motif of birds was woven within the story and how the use of tarot cards foreshadowed events before they happened.
And because Lynes is also a gifted Canadian poet, I treasured her poetic lines. Some of my favourites were "Her words rasped caustic, sour as raw rhubarb." (p. 24) and "Years slid from her like great ladled scoops of hand-churned ice cream." (p. 153)
I will definitely read more of her work especially her seven books of poetry.
Because I am not a history scholar, I feel I cannot comment on the accuracy of the material. However, I will share my views on the plot and characters. For some reason, neither one held my attention which may be a reflection of the types of books I like to read. For me, the two love stories also didn't feel authentic. Love at first sight? I just didn't feel the chemistry. Maybe I'm getting too old. I wanted more depth to the storyline and with the characters.
What I loved about the book was the way the motif of birds was woven within the story and how the use of tarot cards foreshadowed events before they happened.
And because Lynes is also a gifted Canadian poet, I treasured her poetic lines. Some of my favourites were "Her words rasped caustic, sour as raw rhubarb." (p. 24) and "Years slid from her like great ladled scoops of hand-churned ice cream." (p. 153)
I will definitely read more of her work especially her seven books of poetry.
January 15, 2026
I picked up this book because I was intrigued to read about Canadian women who were code breakers in WW2.
The short read moves along quickly but I found many things a bit unbelievable. For instance, everyone who apparently saw “Toby” and remembered him. Gemma is fresh out of high school and lands the job as a code breaker, but isn’t really that skilled at it. Their boss, who also has a girlfriend in the war overseas. There is a lot of things going on and many taboo things happening for the 1940s yet everyone is so “accepting” of it in the book. And seriously, what happened to ADA?
The author did a lot of work and research for this book and really combined a lot of information, which in my opinion, is fantastic. However, I did feel let down a lot throughout the book. Some things were very predictable.
You do get the predictable happy ending AND the book very much focuses on women, which I enjoyed
The short read moves along quickly but I found many things a bit unbelievable. For instance, everyone who apparently saw “Toby” and remembered him. Gemma is fresh out of high school and lands the job as a code breaker, but isn’t really that skilled at it. Their boss, who also has a girlfriend in the war overseas. There is a lot of things going on and many taboo things happening for the 1940s yet everyone is so “accepting” of it in the book. And seriously, what happened to ADA?
The author did a lot of work and research for this book and really combined a lot of information, which in my opinion, is fantastic. However, I did feel let down a lot throughout the book. Some things were very predictable.
You do get the predictable happy ending AND the book very much focuses on women, which I enjoyed
January 5, 2026
A very rudimentary historical fiction book about a young girl that is hired to decipher codes during world war 2. She is Canadian and her skill set is having not quite graduated high school, but is good at reason. There are a small group of these girls, called paper birds by their boss. They look at stacks of paper and try to make sense of it.
Simplistic because she randomly figures out a code might be encrypted with a poem that a german would use because he misses his lover. She randomly meets a prisoner at lunch, who confesses he is a canadian who is spying at a local pow prison. She goes to a dance and said prisoner has dropped his cover for the night and goes to the dance. And so on, and so on.
More fiction than historical. I didn’t give up on it, as it was very short and quick to get through.
Simplistic because she randomly figures out a code might be encrypted with a poem that a german would use because he misses his lover. She randomly meets a prisoner at lunch, who confesses he is a canadian who is spying at a local pow prison. She goes to a dance and said prisoner has dropped his cover for the night and goes to the dance. And so on, and so on.
More fiction than historical. I didn’t give up on it, as it was very short and quick to get through.
July 24, 2025
Sigh. I wanted so badly to like this book.
WWII fiction? Set in Canada? In my home province, even? An underrated gem of a concept.
Add in female codebreakers, when I tore through The Rose Code in a single evening, and I was sold.
Unfortunately, there were some glaring plot weaknesses and some anachronistic writing that just took me right out of the story.
(Admittedly, I write for fun and definitely had a moment or two where I went "I think *I* could come up with a stronger plot than this!")
Mostly, it was just forgettable. Which isn't so much a sin, but is just disappointing. At least I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole on the POW camps in Ontario as a result.
Anyone have any recommendations for better WWII fiction set in Canada?
WWII fiction? Set in Canada? In my home province, even? An underrated gem of a concept.
Add in female codebreakers, when I tore through The Rose Code in a single evening, and I was sold.
Unfortunately, there were some glaring plot weaknesses and some anachronistic writing that just took me right out of the story.
(Admittedly, I write for fun and definitely had a moment or two where I went "I think *I* could come up with a stronger plot than this!")
Mostly, it was just forgettable. Which isn't so much a sin, but is just disappointing. At least I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole on the POW camps in Ontario as a result.
Anyone have any recommendations for better WWII fiction set in Canada?
July 11, 2025
Imagine if someone identified that most World War books have similar aspects including a cover with a woman’s back shown and that one of the only things women do in these books is to be a spy.
That person would look pretty smart when seeing this book come across our desks. Right, it’s been said before.
The one difference is, these women are Canadian spies.
There isn’t anything wrong with this book, it’s not terrible.
It’s just not great.
The author tried to have a bit too much going on to separate it from a war story…..the result is that it was a bit boring at times and dragged on.
I like the idea of female hero’s, but this one didn’t create a real strong female protagonist.
That person would look pretty smart when seeing this book come across our desks. Right, it’s been said before.
The one difference is, these women are Canadian spies.
There isn’t anything wrong with this book, it’s not terrible.
It’s just not great.
The author tried to have a bit too much going on to separate it from a war story…..the result is that it was a bit boring at times and dragged on.
I like the idea of female hero’s, but this one didn’t create a real strong female protagonist.
July 26, 2025
Wonderful! A young girl, fresh out of high school, gets a job as a code breaker, working out of the basement of a cottage on the shores of Lake Ontario in the summer of 1943. A chance encounter with a cat inadvertently leads her into a dangerous but exciting liaison with an attractive young man who is more than he seems.
I was captivated. What a great read!
I was captivated. What a great read!
September 19, 2025
I’ve read four of Jeanette Lynes' novels and I very much enjoyed each one. My thing is imagery. Of course plot and character development are important as well and Ms Lynes is no slouch in either of those departments, but her ability to place me right in the world she’s describing is remarkable. I read The Paper Birds in three sittings. Highly recommended.
October 23, 2025
3.5* rounded to 4* I enjoyed reading about the Canadian counterpart to Bletchley park. The novel itself was good showing Canadian Women's contribution to the war effort. The characters each had their own quirks and personalities that could have been fleshed out more. This was a good introduction to author Jeanette Lynes. I look forward to reading another.
November 27, 2025
Disappointing. I was looking forward to reading a book that would showcase the contributions of women in world war 2 and it certainly did not. There were many parts of this book that were just not believable. There was not much character depth and really then had an obvious and predictable ending. It was like reading a harlequin romance.
August 24, 2025
Disappointed. Very lightweight while trying to consider an important part of Canada’s involvement in cracking codes. Romance plays a higher part in the story, rather naively. Does the author need to repeatedly use “fly away paper birds” and “niece of mine” throughout the whole book?
October 6, 2025
I bought this in Canada at Laura Secord’s homestead, and it reminded me that not all Allied intelligence during World War II was British or American. The writing was good, the sense of place compelling, but for a war story, a bit too sweet.
October 26, 2025
There lacked a bit of depth, and I thought it ended abruptly, but learning about Canadian women in intelligence (even from a historical fiction novel) was fascinating. I read and loved The Rose Code by Kate Quinn and this felt like a small Canadian version of it. Would recommend
December 27, 2025
I actually quite like this book. It’s more of a 3.75. Very interesting from a historical point of view if you enjoy learning about Canadian women and their role in code breaking. The author’s note at the end contains a very good list of books on the topic of code breaking and women.
January 4, 2026
The code breakers of WW2 led secret lives from all of their families and friends. Gemma meets a POW who turns out to be a spy so the plot of secrecy grows. Interesting story with 3 women and 3 interesting situations. Canadian history.
January 10, 2026
3.5 stars. Enjoyed the story and side characters. Just felt it was a little slow going at times and would have liked side characters a little more fleshed out for the length of book. Maybe would have been more exciting if the love interest had been a prisoner of war. Still really enjoyed it
June 19, 2025
A stirring, wonderful read about women who contributed to the war effort. Beautiful prose and wonderful character work make this a standout. Love the Canadian setting!
June 20, 2025
Truly interesting!
June 23, 2025
Paper Birds highlights Canada’s involvement inespionage, in World War II. The characters are involved in a low tech version of Bletchley Park but in Mimico.
Well researched.
Well researched.
July 1, 2025
Certainly an interesting Canadian perspective.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews