This historical fiction short story was beautifully written and so rich in detail that I felt I had read an entire novel. Yet under an hour had passed. The two main characters in this story "meet" under unusual and impossible circumstances, yet I had such a sense of each of them by the end, that I felt that I had lived them for days, just like a novel. This story, involving a Y Station listener during World War II in England and an American navy man who is also a listener, dovetails nicely with Kate Quinn's earlier novel, The Rose Code, which is about female cryptanalysts breaking Nazi code during World War II. Those codebreakers at Bletchley Park relied on the enemy communications the Y service listeners intercepted. There is an interesting twist regarding the main characters, Lily Baines and Matt Jackson, but that twist is what made this story complete in its short form. ( )

cute short time travel story ( )

This was INCREDIBLE. I am utterly obsessed. I seriously wish this short story was way, way longer than what it is, because I would devour every page of it. Breathtakingly beautiful storyline with characters that make me feel butterflies inside. 100% highly recommend. ( )

Touching short-story about a petty officer (Lily Baines) in the Women’s Royal Navy Service (Wrens) in 1943 Yorkshire, England, working at a made over seaside hotel that is a listening station during World War II. Her job is 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! Lily tells her superior officer about the transmission she heard and her superior officer suggests Lily take some time off. But Lily can’t stop thinking about what she heard, and what might happen in the future. So, she somehow tries to intervene. What follows is a lovely story between Lily and the young US Navy petty officer (Matt Jackson) who is on the other end of the transmission. For such a short-story it had characters I really cared about, an interesting plot, and a bittersweet ending. A wonderful read by new author to me, Kate Quinn. ( )

Signal Moon, a short story by Kate Quinn, is an interesting blend of science fiction and historical fiction.  In 1942, Wren (Women's Royal Navy Service) Lily Baines is a Y-station listener on the British coast in Yorkshire.  Fluent in German, she listens for snippets of German radio transmissions and Morse code, writing them down.  One night, she picks up American sailor Matt Jackson transmitting - from 2023!  She figures out a way to warn him about what she heard - before it actually happens.

Lily's experiences are based on those of a real Wren, Pat Owtram.  While Matt is completely fictional, Quinn's active-duty Navy husband helped her make him sound real.  The title comes from a line in a Dylan Thomas poem that is a part of the story. ( )