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1941. When Zofia’s husband Haru is conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army, she is left to navigate Japanese-occupied Shanghai alone. Far from home and surrounded by a country at war, violence tightens its grip on the city, she seeks shelter with her American employer, but the horrors of war and Haru’s absence begin to reshape Zofia’s world – and her heart.
The second instalment of Deborah Swift’s Survivors of War series delivers a powerful and often harrowing exploration of love, loyalty, and moral courage amid the devastation of what became the longest battle of the Second World War.
Set amid the authentic chaos of wartime Shanghai, the atmosphere is tense and claustrophobic. Threaded with moments of unexpected tenderness, Deborah Swift's storytelling is intimate yet cinematic in scale. I particularly liked the nuanced and layered characters, and how even minor players reveal unexpected back stories.
The protagonist Zofia’s internal conflict, torn between duty, survival is handled with sensitivity. Deborah Swift presents wartime choices as morally fraught, and deeply human. The relationships at the heart of the story are shaped as much by hope as fear and loss.
The Enemy’s Wife is an absorbing, compassionate novel with emotional depth and ethical complexity. It is a testament to resilience in the darkest of times—and a reminder that even in war, humanity and kindness endure. Highly recommended.
Tony Riches
See also Review of Last Train to Freedom, Book One of the Survivors of War series
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