Code name Rascal

Dorothea N. Buckingham

Book - 2025

"Set in Hawaii at the dawn of World War II and inspired by a real-life women's military unit, this character-driven novel traces the intersecting paths of four very different women whose brief connection leads them into unexpected and life-altering roles. Two days before Pearl Harbor, CJ Martino, an outspoken journalist from New Jersey, arrives in Honolulu to marry Marine Lieutenant Joe Delano. At a dinner with fellow officers and their companions, CJ encounters Eve Russell, a sharp and restless society girl; Ruth Elliott, a traditional Navy wife grappling with private grief; and Jane Meade, a grounded former flight instructor in a faltering marriage. When war erupts, each woman is pulled into the chaos. CJ disobeys orders to repo...rt from the scene of the attack, Eve and Ruth organize emergency relief, and Jane steps in as a quiet force of competence. Their shared experiences lead them to a secret Army Air Corps unit of female radar plotters known as the WARD. Self-discovery shapes each woman's arc. Eve falls deeply in love--only to suffer devastating loss. Jane leaves her husband to return to the skies. Ruth, weighed down by heartbreak, finds healing and family. CJ must reconcile career, motherhood, and a future she hadn't imagined. Told with emotional nuance and historical texture, this novel explores the resilience of women under pressure, the bonds of unlikely friendship, and the quiet ways in which courage reshapes the course of a life." -- Amazon.com. more