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K.D. Alden
Step into History
BOOKS
Lady Codebreaker
ISBN: Paperback: 978-1-5387-2366-1
ISBN: Ebook: 978-1-5387-2367-8
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Based on the life of true American heroine Elizebeth Smith Friedman.
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A remarkable story of a female codebreaker who tangled with Al Capone,
foiled a Nazi plot and helped found the modern NSA.
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Grace Smith has never been one to conform to society's expectations. She
flees small town Indiana to seek adventure--and finds more than she
bargained for when she's hired to learn codebreaking on the fly. Soon
she's in charge of government's fledgling cryptanalysis unit. Now it's up to
Grace to crack the secrets of foreign governments, catch spies and derail
saboteurs ... before it's too late.
During Prohibition, Grace takes up the fight against the rum runners--not
to mention Al Capone himself. And as the country careens from one Great
War to another, it's Grace who must help keep the Nazis from invading.
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With her wry wit and sheer grit, she forges her own path as a codebreaker,
wife and mother. She's spent a lifetime going up against powerful men
and winning. But as war rages and the stakes grow impossibly high, Grace
faces a truly impossible choice: her family or her country?
A Mother's Promise is inspired by the real life experiences of Carrie Buck, the girl at the epicenter of the Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell. The moment I heard Carrie's voice on an old recording, I felt this story begin to rush through me--though I had never before written an historical novel. It was surreal ... I felt almost compelled to write it.
A Mother's Promise
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ISBN: Paperback: 9781538718179
ISBN: Ebook: 9781538718186​
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She'd do anything to hold her baby one more time ...
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Virginia, 1927: All Ruth Ann Riley wants is a chance to have a family. But because she was poor and unwed when she was pregnant, she was sent to an institution and her child was given to another woman. Ruth Ann can't stand the thought of never seeing little Annabel's face again, never snuggling up to her warmth or seeing her blue eyes crinkle with laughter. And now they want to take away her right to have any other babies? She is not going to let that happen. All the rich and fancy folks may call her feebleminded, but Ruth Ann is smarter than any of them have bargained for. Because no matter how high the odds are stacked against her, she is going to overcome the scandals in her past and get her child back. She just never expects her battle will go to the U.S. Supreme Court, or that she'd find unexpected friendships ... and even the possibility of love along the way.
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Based on the true story behind a landmark court case, K.D. Alden's debut is a rich and moving story of one woman's courage and strength at a pivotal point in U.S. history.
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