The Diplomat’s Wife: by Pam Jenoff (Author)
Synopsis:
1945. Marta Nederman has barely survived the brutality of a Nazi concentration camp, where she was imprisoned for her work with the Polish resistance. Lucky to have escaped with her life, she meets Paul, an American soldier, who gives her hope of a happier future. The two make a promise to meet in London, but Paul is in a deadly plane crash and never arrives.
Finding herself pregnant and alone in a strange city, Marta finds comfort with a kind British diplomat, and the two soon marry. But Marta’s happiness is threatened when the British government seeks her help to find a Communist spy—an undercover mission that resurrects the past with far-reaching consequences.
Set during a time of great upheaval and change, The Diplomat’s Wife, a gripping early work from Pam Jenoff, is a story of survival, love and heroism, and a great testament to the strength of women.
My Review:
The Diplomat’s Wife is the second book in Pam Jenoff’s Kommandant Series. I will say up front that I have not read the first book although I fully intend to do so. In this book we meet Marta Nederman who is being held is a Nazi prison. During WWII she has worked with the Polish resistance and was only caught because she gave another woman and her husband a chance to flee. For her trouble she is shot because she has killed a high place Kommandant. Marta is strong and although the daily torture and beatings take their toll, she clings to life. When the American liberators arrive, she has almost lost the will to live yet she gives up no information. Malnourished and suffering dehydration, her American savior, a man named Paul, brings her to a recovery hospital in Salzburg. She befriends a British girl by the name of Rose and a nurse named Dava. Marta and Paul cross paths again when he tells her that he is being transferred to the Pacific and is leaving the next day. They arrange to spend the night together and as so often happened under the time constraints of war, they fall in love, make love, and part. They reunite is Paris as Marta is on her way to England. There is asks her to marry him just as the end of the war is announced. They agree to meet two weeks later but an accident claims his life.
In the second half of the book, Marta learns that she is pregnant and on her own. She accepts a job at the British Foreign Office working for a diplomat named Simon Gold. Theirs is a whirlwind courtship and marriage, which relieves Marta from having to hide her pregnancy. All goes well for a couple of years until she is drawn into the world of espionage on behalf of the British government. What follows is a thriller that would work well on the big screen. Full of twists and turns, it rivals any of today’s spy movies.
I loved the complexity of character that was Marta. Going from strong young woman in the Polish Resistance to hum-drum housewife back to undercover agent who will shy away from nothing, the reader will be rooting for her all the way. And when things go wrong and she is forced to face some ugly truths, she taps into her core of inner strength. In the end all is sorted out. Although there appears to be a Happily Ever After to the story, I’m hoping Ms. Jenoff gives us a sequel to this story.
Easily divided into two halves, there are a few chapters mid-story that slow down the pace and give the reader room to take a breath. I think the male characters could have been more clearly defined but as they are written takes nothing away from the story. Although there is a romance running through the plotline, I think gentlemen would enjoy this story as well as they ladies.
Rating: 4 stars
Moonlight Musings 