The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes
Genre: Historical, True story, WW2
Read: 9th August 2020
Published: 16th April 2020
★★★★ 4.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Inspired by the true story of a daring deception, a young Czech woman is plunged into the horrors of a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp to be with the English soldier she loves.
1944: In the dead of night a young Czech woman and a British soldier creep through the war-torn countryside
Izabela and prisoner-of-war Bill have secretly married, and are on the run, with Izzy dressed as a man and her hair cut short. The young husband and wife evade capture for as long as possible, until they are cornered by Nazi soldiers with tracker dogs.
Izzy’s disguise works. The couple are assumed to be two escaped British soldiers and transported to a PoW camp. However, their true test has just begun as they face terrible living conditions and the constant terror of Izzy’s exposure. But in the midst of unimaginable horrors comes hope, for the young couple are befriended by a small group of fellow prisoners. These men become their new family, willing to jeopardize their lives to save Izzy from being discovered and shot.
The Prisoner's Wife tells of an incredible risk, and how our deepest bonds are tested in desperate times. Bill and Izzy's is a story of love and survival, against the darkest odds.
The novel is based on a true story told to the author in a lift by an ex-World War 2 prisoner of war. It was researched extensively in eastern Europe, uncovering largely forgotten aspects of the war.
MY REVIEW:
I have read many books set in Europe during WW2, usually of the Jewish ghetto and concentration camps, but this one is something completely different. THE PRISONER'S WIFE is just that...the story of a prisoner of war's wife...but not in the way you would expect it.
June 1944: Izzy (Izabela) is 20 year old woman living and working on the family farm in Czechoslovakia alongside her mother. Her father and older brother Jan left at the beginning of the war to join the Resistance, leaving the two women and 8 year old Marek unable to tend to their farm and crops on their own. When an SS captain approaches their farm one day, Izzy fears he has come to requisition it for the Reich. But Captain Meier comes to offer assistance in the form of a prisoner of war work camp, to which her mother heartily and thankfully agrees.
When the POWs arrive, one blonde blue eyed soldier stands out to her. Their eyes meet and the attraction is instant. However, upon learning they are British she cannot converse with them as she is only fluent in Czech and German. So Izzy befriends the elderly guard (who had once been a school teacher) who accompanies them each day on the pretense of learning English from him. She is a quick learner and before long the guard encourages her to talk with the British POWs to hone her accent and pronunciation. Not needing any encouragement, Izzy seeks out her soldier whose name is Bill King who continues to teach her English, and the guard pays them no more attention.
The two fall in love but her mother reminds her that it is a union that cannot be. He is a prisoner of war and she is a farm girl. But Izzy will not be swayed. She meets Bill at the camp on the days he is not at the farm, even going so far as to sneak out one night to visit him. But her mother catches her returning home, accusing her of giving herself to a man she barely knows. When Izzy tells her they are in love and will marry at the end of the war, her mother scoffs saying "they all say that to get what they want from you". But Izzy knows that Bill loves her just as she loves him. And so she sets a plan in motion.
The unlikely couple secretly marry in the village near her family's farm and abscond with the hope of joining Izzy's father and brother in the Resistance. But for safety's sake and in order to remain together, Izzy disguises herself as man, cutting her hair and dressing in some of her brother's clothing. They evade capture for a couple of weeks but are eventually apprehended by the Nazis and sent to the Lamsdorf POW camp with Izzy disguised as a mute young soldier with shell shock.
They face appalling conditions in the camp and the constant fear that Izzy will be exposed. In an attempt to keep his new wife safe, he confides in a small group of fellow prisoners and together they protect Izzy from the other prisoners as well as the guards. These men become their family and soon Izzy cannot imagine life beyond the camp and her fellow prisoners. Should Izzy be revealed as a woman she would be deemed a spy and would therefore be shot. Izzy knows what each man is putting on the line to keep her secret.
Told mostly through the eyes of Izzy in the first person and Bill in the third person, THE PRISONER'S WIFE is a heartbreaking tale of love and sacrifice in the face of war. It is horrifying, it is atmospheric, it is compelling. How one person could put themselves through something so barbaric all in the name of love...and to find such joy in the simple things. Throughout the entire book, the reader is left wondering just how this is all going to end.
Will they be rescued? Will they survive? Will they get their happily ever after?
Based on a true story of an unknown couple, THE PRISONER'S WIFE is so beautifully written and wonderfully told that it will have you reaching for the tissues as the reality of the horrors come to life within the pages.
I loved both characters of Izzy and Bill, as well as those of Ralph, Scotty and even Max. This story is as much theirs as it is Izzy's and Bill's...for they helped keep their secret right up till the end. No matter what the cost.
THE PRISONER'S WIFE is a tale of sheer resilience. It is an absorbing read that will stay with you long after you have finished. And will leave you wondering about the real Izzy and Bill, and who they might have been. The author has researched the historical facts brilliantly, despite the story being a loosely based one on a couple she had been told about by a former POW. This story was a gift Maggie Brookes so beautifully and delicately retold in her own words, painting a portrait like no other of a woman in a man's world.
An absolutely wonderful tale I definitely recommend.
I would like to thank #MaggieBrookes, #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK and #CornerstoneDigital for an ARC of #ThePrisonersWife in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Maggie Brookes is a British ex-journalist and BBC television producer turned poet and novelist.
The Prisoner’s Wife is based on an extraordinary true story of love and courage, told to her by an ex-WW2 prisoner of war. Maggie visited the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany as part of her research for the book, learning largely forgotten aspects of the war.
The Prisoner’s Wife is due to be published by imprints of Penguin Random House in the UK and in the US in May 2020. Publication in other countries, including Holland, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic will follow.
As well as being a writer, Maggie is an advisory fellow for the Royal Literary Fund and also an Associate Professor at Middlesex University, London, England, where she has taught creative writing since 1990. She lives in London and Whitstable, Kent and is married, with two grown-up daughters.
She has published five poetry collections in the UK under her married name of Maggie Butt.
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