Yakki the Yakkicorn
asked:
Hi! Is it possible that Beth is autistic? I'm not an expert by any means, but it seemed like she exhibited some of the symptoms such as being detached from emotions and a fixation on a particular activity, i.e., decoding. (My apologies to anyone in the autism community if this is completely off-base!)
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Yakki the Yakkicorn
To anyone curious, here are the most related parts of the author's note:
"The codebreakers worked hard and played hard, and veterans remember finding an open-mindedness at BP that was sorely lacking in ordinary life. Women enjoyed a level of equality with male coworkers that they were unlikely to get on the outside for years or decades; homosexual members tended to be tacitly acknowledged and accepted; people who would today be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder could work without being forced to mask their neurodivergence."
"Beth Finch is a fictional composite of two very real women. One is nameless, a codebreaker who supposedly suffered a nervous breakdown after her love affair with a married BP colleague collapsed—the woman was sent to an asylum in fear that she would divulge secret information in her broken state. The other contributor to Beth’s character and achievements is Mavis Lever, one of Bletchley Park’s stars. Mavis was recruited in her teens and became one of “Dilly’s Fillies”; all of Beth’s codebreaking achievements—the breaking of “Today’s the day minus three,” which would lead to the Cape Matapan victory; the all-L’s crib; the cracking of Abwehr Enigma—are pulled from records of Mavis Lever’s feats as one of Bletchley Park’s few female cryptanalysts. I dramatized Mavis’s achievements with a fictional character because I did not wish to imply that one of BP’s greatest legends went to an asylum when in the real historic record she married a Hut 6 codebreaker as brilliant as herself and served BP until the war ended. I was not able to discover what became of the nameless codebreaker confined to an asylum."
While I couldn't personally find evidence as to Mavis Lever being autistic, other code-breakers such as Alan Turing most likely were, so Beth may have been partially inspired by them as well.
Thanks to everyone who already responded! The author's note was incredibly interesting.
"The codebreakers worked hard and played hard, and veterans remember finding an open-mindedness at BP that was sorely lacking in ordinary life. Women enjoyed a level of equality with male coworkers that they were unlikely to get on the outside for years or decades; homosexual members tended to be tacitly acknowledged and accepted; people who would today be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder could work without being forced to mask their neurodivergence."
"Beth Finch is a fictional composite of two very real women. One is nameless, a codebreaker who supposedly suffered a nervous breakdown after her love affair with a married BP colleague collapsed—the woman was sent to an asylum in fear that she would divulge secret information in her broken state. The other contributor to Beth’s character and achievements is Mavis Lever, one of Bletchley Park’s stars. Mavis was recruited in her teens and became one of “Dilly’s Fillies”; all of Beth’s codebreaking achievements—the breaking of “Today’s the day minus three,” which would lead to the Cape Matapan victory; the all-L’s crib; the cracking of Abwehr Enigma—are pulled from records of Mavis Lever’s feats as one of Bletchley Park’s few female cryptanalysts. I dramatized Mavis’s achievements with a fictional character because I did not wish to imply that one of BP’s greatest legends went to an asylum when in the real historic record she married a Hut 6 codebreaker as brilliant as herself and served BP until the war ended. I was not able to discover what became of the nameless codebreaker confined to an asylum."
While I couldn't personally find evidence as to Mavis Lever being autistic, other code-breakers such as Alan Turing most likely were, so Beth may have been partially inspired by them as well.
Thanks to everyone who already responded! The author's note was incredibly interesting.
Lois Winters
My thoughts about her at once. High performing autism was my opinion.
Judith
No, I don't think Beth is autistic, she's a victim. Her "symptoms" develop from growing up abused, isolated, unloved, & degraded. She's shy by nature & has a mind for puzzles, but her life considerably normalizes after leaving her abusive home & gaining friends her own age who get her out of her shell. Autism generally doesn't recede like that. Several comments reference the author's note, but it doesn't indicate that the Beth character is on the spectrum.
Roxanne
Aw bummer, the author's note wasn't included in the audiobook
Katie M
I would suggest reading the author's note at the end of the book. Based on the note, I do think that it is a distinct possibility. .
Letha
Just finished listening to this book and did not have access to the author's not. But the thought did cross my mind that Beth was probably autistic by today's spectrums which is what made her so good at her work...
Terry
I think she was definitely on the spectrum.
Rebecca
Two sentences in I thought she was autistic but also that her situation was complicated by her home situation.
Sandi Duffy
That's what I thought, too.
Rebekah Wood
I think she was, check out the author's note at the end of the book :)
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