The Enemy’s Wife (Survivors of War)
Zofia is a visiting tutor for the family of Theo Carter, an American businessman, but unfortunately for this Jewish refugee from Eastern Europe, the time is 1941 and the place is Shanghai. Previously this was a land of opportunity for colonial powers; now the Japanese are invading, and life is about to become a lot worse very quickly. Those who are able to leave make haste to do so, Carter`s wife and children among them, but where will be safe in this maelstrom of war?
Zofia, a strong-minded and independent survivor, takes shelter with Theo along with Hilly, the waif and stray she acquired on the journey from Europe. Another complication for Zofia and a reference to the title is that she is actually married to a mild-mannered, kind Japanese man, but the effects of war are such that no one remains untouched or unchanged.
The horrors and myriad difficulties of war are made evident and the story is gripping and well-researched. While the ending will probably not surprise the reader too much, there are plenty of other twists and turns along the way, and the reader is certainly embedded in the time and place with vivid descriptions of the sights, sounds and scents.
The book is a continuation from an earlier novel called Last Train to Freedom which depicts the escape of Zofia from Nazi-dominated Lithuania. I did not realise this until I had finished the novel, and certainly it can be read as a stand-alone without an issue.
