Signal Moon

Kate Quinn — 2022

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye comes a riveting short story about an impossible connection across two centuries that could make the difference between peace or war. Yorkshire, 1943. Lily Baines, a bright young debutante increasingly ground down by an endless war, has traded in her white gloves for a set of headphones. It’s her job to intercept enemy naval communications and send them to Bletchley Park for decryption. One night, she picks up a transmission that isn’t code at all—it’s a cry for help. An American ship is taking heavy fire in the North Atlantic—but no one else has reported an attack, and the information relayed by the young US officer, Matt Jackson, seems all wrong. The contact that Lily has made on the other end of the radio channel says it’s…2023. Across an eighty-year gap, Lily and Matt must find a way to help each other: Matt to convince her that the war she’s fighting can still be won, and Lily to help him stave off the war to come. As their connection grows stronger, they both know there’s no telling when time will run out on their inexplicable link.

Reviews

Vilandra@vilandra

Mar 17, 2023

Enjoyable short story - my only complaint is how quickly the characters believe what is happening to them is real, but the author didn’t really have the luxury of drawing it out. I liked both the characters and the storyline.

Kimberly Burgess @fernweh_and_haven

Feb 19, 2023

These 50+ pages were a better story than so many of the books I've read this year.

Sofia Arcângelo @book_eater

Dec 26, 2022

Signal Moon is a short touching story about Lily Baines, a Y Station listener, and Petty Officer Matthew Jackson. Lily spends her days intercepting encripted German naval transmissions when she comes across a message being transmitted by Matt. After a while his ship is attacked and Matt keeps transmitting until the end, while Lily listens to the horror of men dying and Matt's voice. In all this there's a "slight" detail that Lily suddenly takes in, to her it's 1943, to Matt it's 2023. Lily's superiors think that it's all a prank and order her to leave it, but she is determined to find a way to warn Matt about the attack that will kill him and she succeeds. Lily starts talking to Matt and come up to a plan to try save the ship and the Petty Officer's life, meanwhile they establish a deep connection between them that gives them comfort. This is a "The lake house" / "Twilight Zone" kind of story that packs an emotional punch. Kate quinn has a new fan! 🤩