Book Review - The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes

 

Izabella, a Czech farm girl,  and Bill, a British prisoner of war,  fell in love during the war and decide to get married and go on the run. In the middle of the night, they travel through the countryside to avoid being captured. Izzy is dressed as a man to avoid detection and the punishment for her act of treason. The duo were able to evade capture until they were cornered by Nazi soldiers and tracking dogs.

Izzy's disguise works and the Nazi assumes that the pair are escaped British soldiers. They are transported to a POW work camp. Together as newly weds, they face deplorable living conditions along with the constant fear that Izzy will be exposed. In the middle of darkness, comes a small beacon of hope as the couple befriends a small group of prisoners. The group of men become their new family as they are willing to sacrifice everything to save Izzy from being discovered.

The novel is inspired by a true story and I thought it would be an endearing read about hope during one of history's darkest moments. However, I was sadly disappointed how boring this novel was. I have read many historical fiction books before but, this book barely had any story to it. It was mostly describing the living conditions of the camps and the people Izzy and Bill have met. I felt like it quickly got repetitive to the point of boredom. I had a hard time connecting with Izzy as a person. As readers, we rarely got to see and feel her plight and the danger of her exposure or learn anything about her and Bill. I was more than 80% done before, I called it quits on this book.