A new novel of Norway during the Second World War now out for you to enjoy
By J.L. Oakley
The latest book by a BestSelling Reads member-author is now available in print and e-book.
J.L. Oakley has followed up her two novels set during the occupation of Norway with a third. The Brisling Code takes the reader back in time to before the opening of the first book in the series, The Jøssing Affair: 1942, the height of the Axis’ power.
“For the past twenty-eight years, I’ve been researching and writing about Norway in World War II,” the author says. “The plan had been The Jøssing Affair and its sequel, The Quisling Factor, plus a possible third one after those. I was even thinking about possible plot lines for that third one, and which characters would be in it.
“Yet, somehow, going back to a time before Jøssing kept nagging me. There was that line in the original story about my hero, Tore Haugland, being in Bergen doing some intelligence work involving the expansion of the U-boat base in 1942. I wanted to go back to that time because there was so much history to explore. And being younger, Haugland would make mistakes.”
Writing this prequel has required time and research—including a trip to Norway.
“I am excited (and maybe, a little nervous about it) to see The Brisling Code out in the world. Will it be accepted? Does it work? Only two returning characters are in it, Haugland and his sidekick, Tommy Renvik. The rest are all original characters.
“And the setting is new: the city of Bergen. I had to start from scratch. Yet, it was an important time in Norway’s WWII history, fraught with danger. The teachers go on strike, refusing to teach Nazi principles. The Jewish citizens of Norway are threatened. And there a unique story of the Wienerbarna, German children fostered after WWI in Norway.
“It was challenging having Haugland navigate the political and economic environment while doing secret work. He could easily be exposed and arrested. Luckily, in my research, I discovered a teacher of the deaf who was in the Resistance. (Haugland has a deaf uncle, so he can sign and read lips.) I could tell that amazing story with a fictionalized version of this teacher and give Haugland safe haven from a ruthless Gestapo officer with secrets of his own.”
The Brisling Code officially launches Saturday, 16 September 2023 at Village Books in Fairhaven, Bellingham, WA.
You can get The Brisling Code from:
The book
An experienced intelligence agent at 22, Tore Haugland faces certain danger when he accepts an assignment in occupied Norway knowing that his predecessor was killed by the Gestapo only a week before. The dying agent left a mysterious message in his interruption code that London calls the “Brisling Code.”
London wants Haugland to find out what it means as well as to gather information on the expansion of the U boat base in Bergen. Haugland is sent to work at a drafting office in a shipyard.
His mission is jeopardized when a ruthless SS officer, Hans Becker, with his own secrets, is alerted to his presence by a traitor at the Verks. Becker will do anything to find him.
If Haugland can’t discover the meaning of the Brisling Code in time, it could cost him his life and expose the members of the local resistance he works with. If he does, it could hurt the people he has grown to care about. But what if the message was written down wrong?
About the author
Janet Oakley writes award-winning historical fiction that spans the mid-19th century to WW II. Her characters come from all walks of life, but all stand up for something in their own time and place.
Her books have been recognized with a 2013 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award, the 2013 Chanticleer Grand Prize, the 2014 First Place Chaucer Award, 2015 WILLA Silver Award and the 2016 Goethe Grand Prise.
When not writing, Janet demonstrates 19th century folkways, including churning some pretty mean butter.
She has loved history since she was a girl, sharing her mother’s love for swashbuckling novels and the stories her grandmother told of settling the West in the 1870s.
In addition to historical fiction, J.L. has also written four mystery novellas set in the Hawaiian Islands.
Her most recent historical novel, Mist-chi-mas: A Novel Of Captivity, launched in September 2017. It is set in 1860 on San Juan Island in Pacific NW during a time with the British Royal Marines and US Army jointly occupied the island—peacefully.
Visit her on:
- her BestSelling Reads author page
- Website and blog
- Amazon Author page
And follow her on Twitter @JlOakley.
