Set during WWII, Maggie Brookes’ new novel The Prisoner’s Wife follows a British soldier named Bill and a Czech girl named Izzy. Bill is a POW who has been sent, along with several other prisoners, to labor at Izzy’s family’s farm. As soon as Bill and Izzy meet, sparks fly and they quickly fall in love. Izzy is desperate to get away from life on the farm and arranges for her and Bill to secretly marry so that they can run away and be together. Their honeymoon – and their freedom – is short-lived, however, when they are almost immediately captured by the Germans and sent to a POW camp. To hide her identity while they were fleeing, Izzy had cut her hair short and donned men’s clothing, but keeping her identity and gender a secret in a POW camp is practically an impossible task. Bill knows they need help and enlists some fellow prisoners to help keep their secret, and most importantly, to keep Izzy safe. If she’s found now, Izzy will almost certainly be executed as a spy.

I’ve read a lot of WWII historical fiction in my day, but this one really got to me. Bill and Izzy’s journey is so fraught with danger at every turn and it just had my heart in my throat the entire time I was reading. The author paints such a vivid picture of the horrors of the POW camp – the brutality, the lack of proper rations, the unsanitary conditions and sickness, not to mention the complete lack of privacy. Even just the act of trying to use the bathroom posed a threat to Izzy’s well being. The author created such a tense and suspenseful environment that hardly a page went by when I wasn’t convinced that Izzy’s identity would be revealed at any moment.

I just adored Izzy and Bill too. How can you not root for a young couple in love to outwit the Germans and survive? I was rooting that a happy ending for them from the moment they met. I especially loved Izzy, who not only wanted to get off that farm, but she specifically wanted to find and join up with her father and brother who were members of a resistance group. I loved her spark and her strength and was sure that if anyone could survive their impossible situation, it was Izzy.

I also loved the group of prisoners that banded together to protect Izzy from the Germans. I was just so moved by their immediate willingness to put themselves in harm’s way to save a complete stranger, especially when it would have been so much easier to just look out for themselves and not try to help. This group becomes Izzy and Bill’s “found family” and I found myself rooting for them all to survive just as hard as I was for Izzy and Bill.

Inspired by true events, The Prisoner’s Wife is an unforgettable story of courage, resiliency, and survival. It’s also a story about love and the lengths people will go to for those they care about.

This book, inspired by a true story, was just breathtaking from start to finish. Sometimes it will take your breath away with joy and hope, other times with sorrow and heartache, and sometimes with hot blinding fury - but very rarely while reading will you have breath to spare.

I was completely immersed in Bill & Izzy's story from the get-go, and I loved how many day to day historical details were shared. I also loved that Izzy was fearsome and fearful and fearless all at once, and that she was such a HUMAN character. She was jealous and spiteful and in love and homesick and worried and hopeful and terrified, and Brookes does such a good job imparting all of what Izzy is to the reader. (Also loved that we occasionally got Bill's POV during the story, because I think there were a lot of times that it was needed to enhance the story.)

Like other readers, I will readily admit that the ending was quite abrupt - but I'm not sure how much that bothered me. I would have loved to know what happened to every character - but at least this way I can imagine the best for them instead of being told otherwise.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, & Penguin Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

I wish we knew more about this real story. This book is very loosely based on a story that someone told the author. It is a heart wrenching account of POW camp during WWII. It was hard to read in parts but it was a really good novel.

Recent reading has returned to World War II but with a definite twist! Typical World War II novels, generally focus on the horrors of concentration camps and more recently the resistance movement. The new book The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes briefly mentions the resistance but focuses instead of a different type of camp experience--German POW camp. However, this is not the only twist in this intriguing title. As you note this book is titled The Prisoner, it's The Prisoner's Wife!

When reading this book, it is important to keep in mind that it is based on a true story! This truly is one of those cases where the story is so wild, it must be true. I don't want to go into too many details here as it would give away the plot, but know that Brookes writes an absorbing book that peeks first into the lives of civilians left at home and then peels back the curtain on life in POW camps and particularly the Long March in 1945. Along the way there are many times where you wonder if the characters will survive.A highly recommended, wonderful book that provides a new look at the travesties of World War II. My only wish is that we knew more about what happens to this couple after the war ended.

This is based on a true story from World War II, as improbable as it seems.

It's 1944, and Izabella is a twenty-year-old farm girl. Her father and older brother have joined the partisans; Izzy, her mother, and her younger brother, Marek,are left alone on the farm.

Izzy's mother, fortunately, was always the farmer in the family; it's her family's farm, and Izzy's father was a musician. But with only Izzy and her mother to do the heavy work, it is a struggle. When Nazi officer Captain Meier shows up and says he can bring a work crew--prisoners from the Allied forces--her mother accepts.

It's a team of five captured British soldiers. They don't come every day, but for every major job the farm has. Among the prisoners is William King, and he and Izzy are quickly drawn to each other.

They have to be very, very careful.

They fall in love. They make the dangerous decision to marry in secret and escape to join the partisans.

They manage the secret marriage. They manage the escape.

It's almost two weeks before they're caught, by Nazi guards with tracking dogs.

Izzy is dressed as a boy, and they have concocted a false identity including a serial number for a young British solder who possibly lied about his age to enlist.

They now face months, possibly years, as POWs while the Germans know they're slowly but surely losing the war. And of course, they have to hide the fact that Izzy is a woman. They manage to enlist some of their fellow prisoners, but it's still an additional danger on top of the dangers and privations of the German camps.

What follows is a harrowing tale that Brookes makes all to real and challenging to read--even though I'm sure this may be softened quite a bit from the reality of the lived experience. They, their friends, and other fellow prisoners experience starvation, overwork, illness, and filth. And at any point, they could be injured, killed, or Izzy discovered to be a woman. We see their characters grow and develop, even as their chances of survival shrink, while the reader but not the prisoners know exactly how long they have to survive till Allied forces arrive and they can be freed. That is, if they are still alive.

As mentioned above, this is based on a true story, and Brookes makes it very compelling. Recommended.

I received an electronic galley from the publisher, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

I could not stop reading. The story is set in an era I love but it has the unique twist of being told from a POW, a woman POW. The even bigger twist is that the woman POW must pretend to be a man for her entire time being in the POW camp. Can you even imagine all that must entail? Hiding your womanly shape and features, not growing hair (shaving) as a man would, and dealing with your period when it arrives. I cannot even imagine all the Izzy went through just to stay alive and with her husband.

The characters of Bill and Izzy were perfect for the story. They met each other under difficult, to say the least, circumstances. They fell in love without knowing a lot about each other. They took risks to stay together and their love grew stronger. They learned about each other in times that did not allow them to have discussions, to fight and have time to cool off, they had to stay calm and stay together to stay alive.

The Prisoner’s Wife is a phenomenal historical story. It shows the life POW’s lived, it showed how love can be achieved even during war, and it showed how strong women and men were forced to be just to stay alive during WWII. I would have loved an epilogue with a glimpse into the future of Mr. and Mrs. Bill King and see how the lived after the war was over.

Every once in awhile you stumble upon a book that is rich in history, so much so that sometimes, it will take your very breath away. Sometimes it steals that breath because of how beautiful it is and sometimes because of how very sad and horrifying and raw and true it is. In the case of The Prisoner's Wife, it was for all of these reasons.

This book horrified me. It made me cringe, it made me suffer right along with it's heartbreakingly real characters that were so real and lovable and full of life. It made me rejoice in their simple joys and happiness when they could find it and most of all, it had me rooting for them all along the way hoping like crazy that they would all be rescued, redeemed and all get their happily ever afters.

I loved this. I hated this. I didn't want it to end.

So beautifully written, so beautifully told and so eye opening about horrors that I already knew existed and happened, but needed reminding of again. A terrible part of our history, of the worlds history, that I hope we never forget and more importantly, never, ever, let happen again.

OMG! This book is amazing. Beautiful, lyrical and heart wrenching. I just couldn't put it down. I cheered for Izzy and Bill from the very first page until the end. Seriously it's not something to be missed. An absolute must read worthy of top spot on your TBR stack. Happy reading!

I am often drawn to fictional books that take place during WWII. I love the weaving of history and the human side of the stories. In The Prisoner’s Wife by Maggie Brookes, a Czech farm girl and a British soldier face incredible odds in the name of love.

I loved diving in and finding out how a British solider met a young Czech girl and fell in love. A true story inspired Maggie Brookes’ tale and aren’t those the best kind.

The story that unfolds does so slowly but captures the reader from the Czech farm to the young British prisoners of war who arrive to help harvest the fields.

The romance that unfolds has all the hallmarks of timeless romance. We are present from the stolen glances to those first kisses. Love makes all obstacles moveable and together Izabela (Izzy) and Bill devise a plan to be together.

Brookes’ allows us to travel along with them as they traverse the countryside at night before they are captured and placed in a prisoner-of-war camp. To survive Izzy most pose as a British solider and they cannot do it alone.

The story was heartfelt, genuine and filled with the best and worst of humanity. It would make a wonderful movie and I can picture each character in my mind, even the enemies from the worst villains to the kinder souls.

The tale weaves historical events & facts while introducing characters that aided Bill & Izzy. It was frightening and exhilarating. The author shares moments of friendship, love and hope against the stark landscape of reality.

I’ve read plenty of stories about the Jewish camps, but this was my first prisoner of war camp and we visit several, including work camps. The tale also includes the infamous march where many perished and the horrors committed.

Fans of history tales, incredible love stories and human endurance, will find The Prisoner’s Wife to be a memorable and shelf worthy read.

I LOVE historical fiction. Needless to say, I was soooo excited to read this advance copy of The Prisoner’s Wife by Maggie Brookes. I specifically love historical authors who have some sort history background, as Maggie Brookes does. She notes that she has “experience as a historical documentary researcher and producer for the BBC”. This has me gitty with excitement, after all, any type of historical show on the BBC is my guilty pleasure. Besides all that, I love books that teach me a little part of history that I would not have otherwise known.

This Prisoner's Wife is based on a story about a married couple in a POW work camp. How does a married couple end up in a POW camp you ask? Read on, my friend. It’s noted that Maggie Brookes heard about this couple by a someone she had briefly met and that the actual names and statuses are unknown. The story is divided into four parts, each part is a different location within Izzy’s and Bill’s 6-month journey.

Occupied Czechoslovakia, June 1944. Izabella is a 20-year-old farm girl, strong willed and not afraid to speak her mind. Together with her mother and little brother, they take care of the family farm while her father and older brother fight with the resistance. In the area, there are POW prisoners who are providing free labor to farms, quarries, and roads. It’s quite inevitable that a Nazi Captain would then come to Izzy’s mother asking if she needed help with the land. Feeling over-whelmed with the chores and the harvesting, Izzy’s mother agrees. It’s at this time that Izzy meets a skinny, but handsome British POW named Bill. Almost instantly, they have a mutual attraction for each other, one that must be kept hidden – after all, Bill is a POW who is allowed some freedoms at the work camp, but if caught, he would most definitely be move to a harsher camp. In the evenings, Izzy would sneak away to visit Bill at the POW camp, her sitting on a cushion of grass on her side of the fence and Bill sitting on the hard dirt ground within the camp’s fenced borders. Bill teaches her English and they spend time getting to know each other. With some planning, Izzy breaks Bill out of the POW camp, gets secretly married and are now on the run from the Nazis. Izzy cuts off her hair and dresses as a boy, and Bill dresses in basic farm clothes. They travelling by night and sleep in abandon barns by day, and after ten days, they are caught.

Knowing that as a Czechoslovakian girl and a private citizen, the Geneva Convention treaty would not apply to her and she would be tried as a spy. They decide to keep her real identity a secret and is now known as Private Cousins, a small statured male soldier who suffers from shell-shock and is mute (this would hide her Czech accent and her feminine voice). They are taken to Lamsdorf Prisoner of War Camp in Poland, this is a large POW camp, with thousands of male prisoners and is manned by Nazis. Not knowing how they would protect her identity in a prisoner camp where’s there’s no room for privacy, they trust her secret to the 20 men in their bunkhouse. A choice they had to make and one that would also put her in danger.

This amazing story is about a love that blossoms between a Czechoslovakian farm girl and a British POW during the German occupation in WWII. How they tried to out run the Nazis, then put their lives in the hands of some good and not-so-good strangers, and then fought for survival.
Bill and Izzy's story will stay with me for years to come. 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A big thanks to Berkley Publishing and #NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Based on a true story told by a former POW to the author in 2008, The Prisoner’s Wife by Maggie Brookes is a brilliant historical fiction book. This story is broken up into four different books. Book One introduces readers to Izabela who is living on a farm in Vrazne, Czechoslovakia with her mother and little brother Marek. Her father and older brother left the farm months ago, and are both fighting with the Czechoslovakia resistance which has been gaining steam against the German occupiers.

One day there’s a knock on the door, it’s a Nazi Officer Izabela nicknames Captain Oily and he’s organized prisoners of war to help harvest the families hay. The following morning five POW’s along with a guard arrive at the farm. Bill is an English soldier who was captured in the Siege of Tobruk, Libya that lasted for 241 days in 1941. Izzy quickly falls in love with Bill after days of giving him food and water in order to life. Izzy’s mother is very concerned about her daughters welfare thinking she will end up like Izzy's former classmates selling themselves for money.

While Bill is teaching Izzy English, they make a secret plan to marry. But, their freedom doesn't last all that long before they are captured by German soldiers. Izzy chooses to dress as a boy, changes her name to Cousins, and pretends she is mute due to the war. Bill knows that if Izzy is caught by the Russians, nothing good will happen. Russians are known to take what they want and damn the consequences. Izzy also knows that if someone finds out she's a female, the consequences will be her immediate execution as a spy.

Bill and Izzy end up in Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf German Army prisoner of war camp (later renumbered Stalag-344). This is the start of the second book. It doesn't take Izzy long to miss her family and or to trust a few good men like Ralph & Max & Scotty to protect her secret at all costs. The author digs deep into the POW's hardship in the camps. They were forced to do back breaking hard labor, they were constantly hungry, and freezing cold, they became filthy, sick, infested with lice, and moved from one camp to another and not to mention the horror filled death marches which you folks only though the Japanese did on Bataan.

Book Three is mostly about Izzy, Bill, Scotty, Ralph and Max's experiences at a German work camp in Czechoslovakia where Izzy wonders if her brother and father are still alive or not or if she could get word to them that she's alive. Has her mother forgiven her for leaving when the Russians are marching towards them? As the Russians move closer to the camp, Izzy faces serious challenges from predators as well as a women who believes that it's time for Izzy to escape while she still can.

Book Four encompasses the Long Marches that took place in 1945 and well as shocking events that leave you gasping and wondering what the author will do next. As the Soviet army was advancing on Poland, the Nazis made the decision to evacuate the POW camps to prevent the liberation of the prisoners by the Russians. Germans believed the allied POW's would join the Russians to fight against the Germans. In most camps, the PoWs were actually broken up in groups of 250 to 300 men and because of the inadequate roads and the flow of battle, not all the prisoners followed the same route.

The groups would march 20 to 40 kilometers a day - resting in factories, churches, barns and even in the open. Soon long columns of PoWs were wandering over the northern part of Germany with little or nothing in the way of food, clothing, shelter or medical care. Because of the unsanitary conditions and a near starvation diet, hundreds of PoWs died along the way from exhaustion as well as pneumonia, diphtheria, pellagra, and other diseases.

Typhus was spread by body lice. Sleeping outside on frozen ground resulted in frostbite that in many cases required the amputation of extremities. In addition to these conditions were the dangers from air attack by Allied forces mistaking the POWs for retreating columns of German troops. At a village called Gresse, 60 Allied POWs died in a "friendly-fire" situation when strafed by a flight of RAF Typhoons. Izzy isn't immune to the extreme affects on her shrinking body. From Bronchitis, to lice in private areas, Izzy still has to make sure she takes care of a friend who has protected her from the beginning.

Despite all the challenges, Bill and Izzy’s love for one other never changes. Times are turbulent, people's nerves are frayed and broken, allies are bombing allies, Izzy grows weaker and losing weight rapidly, but she refuses to give up and lay down to die. The friendship she makes with other POW’s, and the unbreakable bond formed between them all, how they all look after each other is truly inspiring and a tribute to humanity. It's fair to say that Izzy is an inspiration to all young women. Never give up. Push forward and thru any challenges.

Note: My review is based on my thoughts as well as social discussion as to how awful World War II really was. The reader must understand that I am a historical thinker who believes that schools, especially teachers of History, are ignoring the past and not understanding that by ignoring the past, we are giving it the green light to happen again in our lifetimes.

I am often drawn to books with a WWII setting. There are so many stories and lessons to be learned from this time period. With each book, I gain new understandings, and even inspirations, from human experiences during dire and historical times. Especially when I learn, as is the case here, that the story was inspired by a true story.

Izzy is a bold and courageous, hiding an impossible secret in an extremely dangerous situation. While imprisoned and disguised as a mute man, she risks being shot if discovered by the Germans. I related with her quickly and sympathized with her and admired her spirit. I don’t think I could’ve devised such a plan or stood through all she had to endure.

Bill is also easy to connect with. His protectiveness of Izzy and her secret is admirable, and I feared for him. The group of friends he bonds with gives the story so much depth and pierces my heart numerous times.

The Prisoner’s Wife is a hauntingly touching story, revealing the strength of the human spirit and the risks, rewards, and sacrifices of love and friendship. It gripped me from page one and made an indelible mark on my heart.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

This is one incredible story, one you won't soon forget. Your heart will be in your throat as you hope against hope that everything will turn out okay for all the main characters. The brutalities and tragedies of WWII become as real as anything -- it's like you're actually in the story. Well done, Maggie Brookes, for crafting this story so well. It's a treasure.

Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc.

Bill is a POW and is assigned to a small farm where the husband and a son have left to fight in the war. He interacts with the two women left at the farm, a mother and a daughter and over time he falls in love with Izabella, but they must make some quick and large decisions that could be risking their lives.

For me this book didn't have great pacing. The middle section felt long and repetitive and I was so thankful when the third part started. Once the story started "moving" I was so thankful to see the change in scenery and how that would affect the situation they were dealing with.

I appreciated Maggie Brookes' view on something that probably happened often during this war where couples had to make big decisions on what was best for their families and putting themselves first in a time of great strife in a war. Many times while reading the book I kept saying I can't imagine this being truth all while knowing that there had to be some truth in this story. Not only couldn't I imagine the issues they were dealing with hiding her gender, but just the POW experience in general.

I think this was a great debut novel and would look forward to her next novel and would be interested to see what time and subject matter she focuses on next.

This book is so great. It's different from other historical fiction about WWII. It's inspired by a true story, told to the author by a former POW. A British POW and a Czech farm girl fall in love, get married, run away together, get caught, and then try to survive under the noses of the Nazis despite the fact that one of them is female. The characters are given some really weird Catch-22 type choices. None of the possible outcomes are good, so they keep choosing the path that seems like it might be the least awful. Any choice they make could lead to their deaths and threaten the lives of those around them. I thought it was really compelling. I just wanted them all to make it to the end. You'll have to read it to find out more.

The Prisoner’s Wife was inspired by a true story–and a shocking one at that. The story centers around Izzy, a Czech farm girl, and Bill, a British prisoner of war. After falling in love and secretly marrying, Izzy dresses as a boy and the two run away together, full of desperation and hope, but are found by the Germans and sent back to Lamsdorf, a German POW camp. Now they face an even greater ordeal as they struggle to keep Izzy’s identity hidden in order to save her from being discovered and shot.

The writing captivated me from the beginning. It’s hard not to become invested in Izzy and Bill’s story. I really loved the transformation of their characters; at the start of the book they are naive, blindly in love, and make the brash decision to run away, however, this changes as they two face more and more difficulty. Maggie Brookes is an incredible writer and the desperation and bleakness felt by the character bleeds through the pages and into the reader. It’s not an easy book to read; this is a book about survival during one of the darkest times in history.

My only complaint is that I was looking for more from the epilogue. After everything the characters (and readers) are put through it would have been nice to have had a glimpse at some sort of happiness for them in the future.

The Prisoner’s Wife is an remarkable debut inspired by a true story. It’s a harrowing tale about maintaining love, hope, friendship, and perseverance during incredible hardships. It’s heartbreaking and beautiful. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a breathtaking, poignant story.

I love historical fiction based during WWII and my favorite stories are based more on fact than fiction. So when I saw The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brookes, I knew I had to read it. It has been one of my most anticipated reads on my TBR list.

Brookes's background as a documentary producer and journalist serves her well as she brings to life the story of a British POW and a Czech farm girl. The small details of prisoner life that she includes adds a richness to the story.

Before you discount this as just another POW/local girl romance novel, let me tell you it is not your typical WWII love story. When we are first introduced to the Czech farm girl Izabela who falls in love with a British POW soldier who is part of the work party sent to her family's farm, I feared that it would be more of the same. But the writing was so good that even a tired trope would be enjoyable. Thankfully, the story quickly diverts from the romance aspect to a story of courage, loyalty, and the unbreakable human spirit.

While I enjoyed the characters of Bill and Isabela, I think I liked the secondary characters more. I became particularly attached to Max and Ralph.

Though Brookes was unable to identify the couple that stars in her debut novel, their story (at least partially) was conveyed to her by someone who claimed to have first-hand knowledge. It would be really cool if someone reads this book and can identify the couple.

I was really drawn into the story as Brookes builds the tension. As the danger of discovery grows, I found myself compulsively checking the date of each chapter and counting down the days until the end of the war.

I was a little disappointed that the story ended with the liberation of the camp and did not have an epilogue to give an update of what happened to the characters. I was so invested in the characters that I needed to know that they not only survived but they thrived after enduring all the deprivations of being POWs.

The Prisoner's Wife held my attention as few books have in the last few months. I stayed up way to late a night or two because I didn't want to leave the characters in the danger they were facing. If you are looking for a story that makes your stomach clench and your heart ache, then you need to get this book.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Sunday, May 17 - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2020/05/the-prisoners-wife-by-maggie-brookes.html

* I will add my blog link on release day*

The Prisoner's Wife is a thrilling historical novel by Maggie Brookes.

Izzy and Bill meet during the war. What follows is a harrowing story of their strength and survival during a time that could have easily broke them.

Not only does Izzy need to hide that she's a female, they have to survive abusive guards, abusive prisoners, attacks, and brutal conditions throughout the rest of the war.

The author easily captures the feel and tone of the time period, as well as the atmospheric conditions of the setting.

Izzy and Bill are true survivors, and their fictional story, although based on a fictionalized version of reality, is easily believed.

The Prisoner's Wife is a riveting novel. Maggie Brookes will have you fully engrossed early on, unable to stop thinking about this couple and everything the have to endure. I highly recommend this.

Wow. I wasn't sure at first how I felt about this book. But by the end, I can't deny that I was captivated, completely sucked into the story.

Izzy is a Czech farm girl in 1945 and a group of British soldiers are on work detail helping on the farm. She falls in love with a handsome soldier and decides to risk running off with him rather than wait to see if he returns after the war. They are captured soon after they are married, and in order to stay together, Izzy disguises herself as a man.

This book was harrowing. The conditions of the POW camp were just horrid, between the boredom, the starvation, hard labor, body lice, etc. I was convinced that she would be found out, and knowing that if she is, it's almost certain that she'd be killed on the spot.

But the characters are all so well-developed and lovable. I adored this motley crew that devoted themselves to keeping Izzy's identity hidden.

I was at first annoyed at how brief a courtship Izzy and Bill had before they decided to risk both their lives in running off to be married, but then it does make sense that in a time of war, in a life-and-death situation like the one they were in, people did make those kinds of rash decisions. Seize the day and all of that. There were several moments sprinkled throughout where they each have a moment of wondering "who is this person that I've married?" which I thought made it feel all the more real.

Overall, I found this story to be gripping and enjoyable. I really appreciated Izzy's voice and her strength and seeing this boys-only world through her eyes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Prisoner's Wife is historical fiction based on an anecdote told to the author by a WWII veteran. Brookes was unable to independently verify the story, as there would understandably be no records, so nearly all of the plot is fictionalized. And it's a good plot.

Izzy is a young Czech woman who grew up on a farm in the German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia. She longs to get a university education and see the world. Bill is a young British soldier who grew up in his family's pub in London. He's spent five years away from home, most of that as a prisoner of war, and he longs to return to London. Bill is sent to Izzy's family's farm as part of a prisoner work detail. Their connection builds as they spend more time together, and they finally decide to break Bill out of the prisoner camp and elope, hoping to find and join Izzy's father and brother among the Czech resistance. They are quickly captured and sent to a POW camp, where a whole new set of challenges face them.

This book was a little hard to rate for me; the plot kept me reading, but the narration often pulled me out of the story. As I said earlier, the plot is mostly a good one. It's far-fetched but just believable enough, especially if you consider 1) what people will do in a time of war and 2) that most people only see what they expect to see. The one plot point that didn't work for me was Izzy's plan for her father and brother to find her once she went on the run with Bill. It was a pipe dream that had no basis in reality, plain and simple. I didn't believe they would take off into a Nazi-occupied territory with so little assurance of finding safety. But on the whole, the story was riveting. Enough so, that I stayed up a little past my bedtime to finish the book.

My major issue was the narration. First, the switch between first person (Izzy) and third person (Bill) was jarring. Every. Single. Time. Second, I almost quit reading during the first third of the book because the prose felt so amateurish. Izzy's voice is childish, and the prose is mostly simplistic with occasional peppering of overdone figures of speech. In one two-page scene where Izzy argues with her mother, a candle flame is anthropomorphized three times. If you will excuse the sarcasm, I wouldn't have been surprised if Belle and her Beast had waltzed across the page. I kept reading because of the plot, and once Izzy and Bill are captured (and not coincidentally, Izzy becomes voluntarily mute), the prose improved. Once Brookes had a larger cast of characters to work with and more action to describe, she hit her stride.

Although this is Brookes' first published novel, it's not her first publication. She's a former journalist and a published poet. She also teaches creative writing at the university level. Given her background, I expected more sophistication in her writing and was disappointed with this attempt.

So in the grand tradition of mixed feelings, I give The Prisoner's Wife five stars for plot, two stars for writing, leaving us with 3.5-rounded-up-to-4 stars.