I wish I had read "The Kommandant's girl first, but I didn't know this book was part of a series until I was well into it and I didn't have another book to read. I feel this book gave enough background that I don't need to go back, unless I need more WWII books to read. Overall, I liked this book and haven't really read anything else centering around the encroachment of communism after the war. ( )

1945. Surviving the brutality of a Nazi prison camp, Marta Nederland is lucky to have escaped with her life. Recovering from the horror, she meets Paul, an American soldier who gives her hope of a happier future. Their planes to meet are dashed when Paul’s plane crashes.
Devastated and pregnant, Marta marries Simon, a caring British diplomat, and glimpses the joy that home and family can bring. But her happiness is threatened when she hears of a Communist spy in British intelligence, and that the one person who can expose the traitor is connected to her past.
A LOT of coincidences and unlikely “running intros” in this book. Nothing to elevate this read above the mediocre… ( )

Marta Nederman, a member of the Polish resistance, was shot by the Kommandant on the bridge at the end of The Kommandant's Girl. In this book, she survives the shot and a stint in a Nazi prison. She is found by an American soldier, Paul, liberating the camps and taken to a rehabilitation hospital in Saltzberg, Austria. She meets Paul again at the hospital and they fall in love. Crossing into England on a ferry she meets Simon Gold who she marries when Paul's plane goes down and she is pregnant. Working at the Foreign Office with Simon she is tapped to go to Poland to retrieve a cipher using her contacts from the Polish Resistance, now fighting Communism. ( )

An easy read . A notch or two above a romance novel but the plot line was quite predictable and I was able to figure out what was going to happen next. Nothing really wrong with this novel just not much depth to it. ( )

It took me a while to get to this book, not because I didn't want to read it, just kept getting overwhelmed with the books to read pile! But I finished it the other day and I have to say I am glad I finally took the time and read one for just me. I love Pam Jenoff's novels, all of them and this one did not disappoint.
Set right after WWII, the world is still in chaos after the Nazis are defeated. And there are new dangers and enemies, those that are unseen. Marta is liberated from a Nazi prison by a young American soldier, whom she feels an immediate attraction to despite her serious injuries. Taken to a hospital and later to a compound to recuperate she meets Rose, a prisoner from one of the Nazi death camps. Rose is in ill health and not sure of recovering due to a blood disease, the girls are taken under the wing of a kind nurse, Dava. Then Rose passes away, and Marta is reunited with Paul for one fleeting night. Dava insists that Rose wanted Marta to use her papers and go to England to her aunt's house. Marta isn't sure of making such a trip on her own but her loyalty to Rose wins and she takes off for England, all the while wondering about Paul and if she will ever see him again.
When events conspire and she is stranded in Paris, wandering the streets not knowing where to turn she passes a cafe and there is Paul, with a woman! I won't tell all the story because I am sure there are those who have not read this story yet, like me. I don't want to spoil it because there are a few twists and turns that have your stomach in knots before the ending resolves it all.
Living up to her reputation for a brilliant writer of historical fiction, Pam Jenoff has created a brilliant sequel to The Kommandant's Girl with The Diplomat's Wife (The Kommandant's Girl, #2)
I recommend to all historical fiction fans, you can never go wrong with one of Pam's novels. Great character development, easy comprehensive writing, just a all around good book. Get yours if you haven't already. ( )