I’ll be the first to admit that I have read a lot of WWII historical fiction and this is a very different novel from those I have read in the past. I was astonished to read how Maggie Brooks created this storyline and very impressed by her writing.

While her father and brother are off fighting for the resistance, Izabela and her mother continue farming their land in Czechoslovakia. The Germans supply a small group of British prisoners to work the land; most have no farming skills so Izabela must teach them. Her beauty turns the heads of several of the prisoners, but she only has eyes for one of them.

Izabela cons a German guard into allowing her to further her learning of English and her fascination with Bill grows. The war seems to hasten the progression of love beginning with random smiles, reciprocated eye contact and stolen kisses. Izabela is stubborn and determined to be Bill no matter the consequences. The Russians are coming and in an extraordinary effort to remain with Bill, Izabela disguises herself as a boy and is placed in a concentration camp with her love.

They must determine who they can trust to keep their secret, how to stay alive during the worst of circumstances and remain stay together.

I received an advance copy of this novel; all opinions are my own.

Different from my normal reads, but this one sounded interesting. And it is! I enjoyed reading this, it is a great story!

This book will hit you in the feels! Following Bill and Izzy's story so precious! Going through everything Izzy decided to go through to be BIll was incredible. This book will take a rollercoaster of a life a lifetime! Then to find out it was based on a true story, Wholey moly! I love it! The only thing I was missing was I needed to know what happened to everyone else in this book!

An exciting tale of love and survival amidst horrible circumstances. At the center of this page-turner is the pure-hearted, resilient Izzy, a stubborn, wise, yet innocent character, who strongly brought to mind Annie from Betty Smith’s Joy in the Morning. I loved how Bill and the other men guarded Izzy’s secret and protected her. This is not exactly a sweet story—the author presents the crudeness of the men’s language, terminology, and actions as they might have been. But it is poignant and victorious. An author to watch!

This is one of the best books I've read so far this year. I know it's only March, but I've already read 70+ books and this one stands out. I found it even more amazing after getting to the end and seeing that it is based on a true story. How one woman falls in love and marries a British POW during WWII, then survives working alongside him for so long and managing to escape being found out as a woman.

Lovely novel that has me firmly in it's grip. Chapter 4 and don't want to stop reading and engage in real life. A good story with uncluttered writing that let's you simply enjoy the story.

THE PRISONER’S WIFE by Maggie Brooks
Based on a true story, THE PRISONER’S WIFE tells of a Czech farm girl who falls in love with the British POW assigned to work on her family’s farm. When it becomes apparent the POW’s will be moved to another area, Izabela and Bill decide to marry and then have Izabela pose as a mute British soldier. The privations and terror of prison camps, hard forced labor, fear of discovery and then a forced march ahead of the Russian Army as the German’s face defeat make up the whole of the book.
The characters are well defined and grow and change as time passes. Each of the POW’s is a complete and complex person. The guards are more “stock” characters. The situations are believable and grab your attention from the first pages.
My one complaint is – I want to know the outcome of all the characters we have become so intimate with, what happened to them when the POW camps were disbanded and they returned to civilian life, were they able to achieve their desires as war’s end? My desire to lnow more confirms the writer’s ability to draw me in to each character’s story.
Book groups might discuss the decision’s that were made, the morality of various deaths, the culpability of civilians, the actions of the guards, the treatment of POW’s in time of war, the endurance of the human spirit, etc.
5 of 5 stars

Linda’ Book Obsession Reviews “The Prisoner’s Wife: by Maggie Brookes, Berkley Publishing, May 2020

Maggie Brookes, Author of “The Prisoner’s Wife” has written a unique, memorable, poignant, intense, captivating, and riveting novel. The Genres for this Novel are Historical Fiction and Fiction. The author is basing this novel on a true story, and using poetic license, filling in certain fictional details. The timeline for this story is during World War Two. The story begins in Czechoslovakia and goes to surrounding areas. The author describes her characters as complex, and complicated. Some are courageous, moral and brave. Others are mean spirited and evil. There is loyalty and betrayal.

Bill is an English soldier, that has been captured and is a Prisoner of War and being used with the other men on farms in Czechoslovakia to do the heavy work. Izzy is a young woman helping her mother run the farm and falls in love with Bill. Izzy’s mother is concerned about the War and has mentioned to Izzy, that it would be a good idea for Izzy to cut her hair and dress like a boy, so hopefully, any soldiers would leave her alone.

Izzy and Bill marry and are planning to run away together. They are both captured by the Germans. Izzy decides to pass herself off as a young man. Bill realizes that he is going to have to trust some of the other male prisoners to protect her. Some of these prisoners are risking their own lives to protect Izzy’s identity. If Izzy is found, she will be shot. Not everyone can be trusted. These are German soldiers, and this is set during World War Two.

The author vividly describes the events and the characters. This is a very edgy and tense read. I would highly recommend this book for readers who like World War Two Historical Fiction.

This is a deeply moving WWII story. Yes, it is a love story but it is so much more. “The Prisoner’s Wife” by Maggie Brookes is a story of horror and hope, of man’s inhumanity to man and man’s kindness to and regard for others. Bill, a British POW, and Izzie, a young Czech farm girl, fall madly in love and decide to marry and attempt an escape to the partisans. Izzie dresses as a young man and has to maintain that disguise throughout the story. The couple is captured by the Nazis and taken to a POW camp where conditions are dire. They rely on a small group of other POWs to keep their secret and those men form a circle of protection for Izzie and Bill. They give each other support and they also give each other hope for the future. As conditions deteriorate, this new small family decide, as a group, to volunteer for a labor camp. The new situation, a quarry, provides improved access to food but cold and hard conditions and more potential challenges for Izzie. As the Allies appear to be making progress, the Nazis retreat and force the POW on a ‘death’ march to a large POW camp in Germany. The novel is based on a survivor’s story. The details are very well-researched and authentic based on my knowledge of my family members who were survivors. This is a page-turner and will keep you engaged. You want to know what happens to these characters and you want to join them in having some hope for the future. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.

I loved this book. I found myself throughly caught up in their lives and I couldn’t put it down. I’m looking forward to more from an author who so meticulously cares for her characters.

A gripping love story between an impulsive young Czech woman and a British soldier who struggle to survive backbreaking work, hunger, and dehumanizing conditions. Their secret inspires some to heroism but others to treachery. Weaving an emotionally exhausting story based on real POW tales, Maggie Brookes creates a novel illuminating how even in the most horrendous situations, love and goodness can prevail.

This book was an awesome tribute to the Prisoners of War in WWII, which I genuinely enjoyed reading. I was unable to put the book down.
The protagonist was Izabela, a 20 year old Czech farm girl who longs for a different life in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia. When a Nazi guard brings some POWs to the farm to help with the harvest, Isabela falls in love with an English POW named Bill.
The story follows the treatment of the POWs under the Nazis from 1944 until they were liberated in early 1945. The story is based on a true story told to the author by a man who had been captured and became a POW in WWII.
Since many stories about WWII are about the treatment of the Jewish people in concentration camps, I was intrigued and eager to be enlightened by this story about POWs and the similarities and differences in their captivities. In this, I was not disappointed.
#NetGalley #ThePrisonersWife

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of The Prisoner's Wife.

WOW. What an amazing book.

This is the story of Izzy a Czech farm girl who falls in love with a British POW, Bill who is sent to her farm on a POW work camp assignment. They secretly marry and Bill brings her back with him to the POW work camp. Izzy is disguised as a young solider. They manage to hide her identity as a woman with the help of several prisoners. The hardships that she faces are incredible and her survival is unbelievable. Izzy’s presence brings hope to the POWs who have rallied in protecting her.

The story shows the horrors of war in a different light than many WWII books and I liked being exposed to a different perspective.

The Prisoner's Wife was an engaging yet horrifying book. It is based on a true story and this made it even more jaw opening. I would recommend this book for romance and historical fiction readers.
Thanks to Net galley for the ARC of this book.

This book, based on a true story, is truly amazing! I couldn't put it down. It is the story of a married couple captured by Nazi soldiers during WWII. They enter a prisoner of war camp and with the help of a small group of fellow prisoners hide the fact that she is a woman. As they move to a work camp, there is new fear that she will be discovered. At that camp they are forced to break up pieces of granite for grave markers for Nazi soldiers. Then they are forced to march for many days without food or water to the next camp arriving there almost dead. Sometimes they are allowed one potato a day or a small hunk of bread. This is an amazing story of perseverance, grit and the will to live while helping each other survive.

This started out an interesting book but descended into just a list of atrocities that seemed a little far fetched. Also the book ends super abruptly with no resolution to two big plot points which maybe an opening for a sequel but it was jarring. It was an interesting and horrifying look at what POWs in WWII must have gone through but after half the book there wasn't much plot.

I wanted to adore Brookes' The Prisoner's Wife. While a historical fiction in its truest form, she shaped it around true events and was based on a true story told to her by an aging veteran.

The novel focuses on Izzy. A Czech girl who fell in love with a British soldier during WWII married him, and while dressed as a man to keep her safe became imprisoned at Lamsdorf with him.

A harrowing tale, right? Except that it just seemed to lack something. The first part of the novel was instantaneous love. And I mean instant. Parts II and III got a bit long and at this point, I found myself not really wanting to pick it back up. But little parts stick out. How men help a young bride hide her period from Nazi guards. How men shield her so she can bathe. How men help her from rape. How men banded together--their only goal to keep her safe in a world where she was anything but and to sacrifice their own lives for it if necessary.

Part IV was brilliant. The Long March is depicted without flinching at the gore and destruction. The novel took on meaning, grace, and strength. Izzy comes into her own and it ended as well as any WWII novel can end.

Because of the golden nuggets through three quarters of the novel and the spectacularly done final part I ended up enjoying it as a whole.

Fans of WWII, historical fiction, and young love will want to give this one a try.

Thank you to Netgalley, Maggie Brookes, and Berkley Publishing Group for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

This book was received as an ARC from Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

My jaw was wide open throughout the entire book plus if you want to get your heart racing with some historical fiction, this is the book to do it. The story behind Izzy and Bill was so breathtakingly risky that out of all the historical fiction novels I have written focusing on couples and romance, this one really tugged at my heart strings. They used their love as strength and that is what brilliantly got them through disguising Izzy as a man to plan their greatest escape. Meeting a group of prisoners created more people to protect Izzy from being exposed and killed. This book made me feel the power of strength and the bond of family to get you through anything! I know this book will do very well at our library and our book club will can't get enough of it.

We will consider adding this title to our Historical Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I was engaged in the story from the very beginning. This meticulously researched book will appeal to those who like historical fiction and romance. This a good read for a book group!

When I began reading this book, I thought the story could not possibly be believable. Yet the writing grabbed me and I could not put the book down. I wanted to know what happened to the characters- would they survive? If they did survive, how would they do so? Knowing that the author based the book on details she had learned from a WWII survivor helped suspend some of my initial disbelief. The author's research was apparent in the historical accuracy. The Prisoner's Wife is good historical fiction.

I was given an ARC of The Prisoner's Wife by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.