'A fast-paced, beautifully written, and moving story. Refreshing to read a book set in a different theatre of war. Wartime Shanghai jumped off the page'
CLARE FLYNN
A poignant story of the impossible choices we make in the shadow of war, for fans of Daisy Wood and Marius Gabriel.
1941. When Zofia’s beloved 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, Zofia finds unexpected comfort in a bond with Hilly, a spirited young refugee escaping Nazi-occupied Austria.
As violence tightens its grip on the city, they seek shelter with Theo, Zofia’s American employer. But with every passing day, the horrors of war and Haru’s absence begin to reshape Zofia’s world – and her heart.
Can she still love someone who has become the enemy?
A Five Star Read
The Enemy’s Wife feels a bit like sitting in a room where the walls are very politely, very quietly closing in. Nothing explodes, no one’s dramatically fainting—it's just that subtle, creeping sense that what used to feel solid now has a wobble to it, and you can’t quite remember when that started.
The Shanghai setting does a lot of heavy lifting without showing off about it. It’s vivid enough to pull you in, but never so loud that it steals the spotlight—more like a constant hum reminding you that change is happening, even when the plot seems to be catching its breath.
Zofia is stuck trying to make sense of a life that clearly didn’t get the memo about staying the same. She’s holding things together as best she can, which increasingly feels like trying to stack cards in a breeze. Hilly, on the other hand, brings a bit of warmth and spark—those small moments where things feel almost okay… which, of course, makes them a little bit heartbreaking. Theo offers some stability, or at least the idea of it, though even that comes with an asterisk. And then there’s Haru—absent, but very much there in the emotional background, like a song you can’t stop hearing even after it’s ended.
*Quietly tense atmosphere shaped by uncertainty
*Relationships that develop through circumstance rather than certainty
*A story built on displacement, shifting identity, and emotional complexity
My thoughts summed up in one posh sentence
A thoughtful, character-driven historical novel that lingers in its quieter moments and stays with you long after the final page.
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Thank you so much for hosting Deborah Swift today, and for your wonderful review of The Enemy's Wife. We're delighted the story drew you in.
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Cathie xx
The Coffee Pot BookClub
Thank you for this lovely review - if I get downhearted with the next book, I will come back and read it again!
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