The Diplomat's Wife: A Novel

One star is about 10 stars too many. Too many instances of contrived and unrealistic coincidences that defy credulity just to create a story. And, the main characters can communicate in English, German, French, Polish, and Czech. Really? The final, real undoing for me was the listening in 1947 to a radio broadcast on a transistor radio, something that wasn't even created until 1954, and even then not widely available until several years later. And then there are the questions that the main protagonist keeps asking herself REPEATEDLY! And, they are each written in such a way that the author must have simply done a copy/paste each time. If you're looking for a mindless way to read nothing but words, this is the book for you. Otherwise, don't waste your time on 360 pages that easily could be condensed into 25.

Our book club has read all three books and this is our favorite. I read a review where someone said that you didn't have to read them in order, but we've all agreed that it would be best if you did.#1: The Ambassador's Daughter#2: The Kommandant's Girl#3: The Diplomat's WifeAll three are excellent books!

This book is technically a book two after The Kommandants Girl. It could be read alone but some things continue in it or are alluded to in it, so better to read both if you can stand a lot of harlequin type romance. The story line got pretty farfetched but I stuck with a three rather than lower because it did have an overlying tale that was real as in Poland right after the war and the Soviet espionage at this time. Other than that, though, it was a "skimmable" book to get past our "heroine" and her weaknesses and instant infatuations and all the cloyingly sickening romantic dialogue.

I first read, "The Orphan's Tale," as a free book. I was spellbound. I then read, "The Kommandant's Girl," and couldn't put it down. I just finished, "The Diplomat's Wife," and was still intrigued. I love each story and get so nervous as I read. I want to jump in and help out. Developed characters who are as real as I am, a story that breaks your heart but still offers hope. I just can't say enough about this author. Splendid each and every time.

I was one of the few who have only read this one novel by Pam Jenoff. I'm glad I read this one first. It grabs you from the beginning and makes it hard to put it done. WWII Nazi Germany, Poland Jews being completely wiped out, the Polish resistance doing whatever they can do to counter the terrorism and genocide by the Nazis. The special camp that resistance captives were sent for daily tortures to give up info is where we meet Marta, our heroine. From the beginning you are captivated by her strength and resolve - you only hope for that same gumption had you been in her place. You fall for the American soldier that liberated her from the death camp just as hard as she did, as well as grieve with her when she loses Rose.Now comes the part where Jenoff must have let someone else write for her. She had to! All of a sudden our heroine is weak minded and cowardly, making poor decisions and becoming a robot who can't make up her own mind about anything. What happened to our Marta?Then the author wakes up from her nap and brings back the first Marta - thank God. Because I was about to quit reading the rest of it. Talk about a scathing review on its way! SPOILER ALERT - skip this sentence.....though bringing Paul back from the dead was a bit over the top....it did make my heart flutter a bit after the dead space in the middle. The rest of the book becomes an espionage thriller full of Russian spies (one of which is a shocker) and escapes that you simply can't put down.So, like I said - if there was a way to forget the middle part, I'd of given this book a 5 star, but alas it must settle for a 3. A good read - you MUST read it. And, yes, I will probably read the Kommandants Girl to see if Jenoff did, indeed, write a full novel before this fiasco.

I came across Jenoff through the Orphan’s Tale and loved how much history and research was tied into the historical fiction. So I sought other works by her. I loved the Kommandant’s girl and wa surprised to find this one to be a sequel. I love that it was a sequel for different characters. I felt this was the most captivating of the three it seemed to have more fictional aspects then history, in comparison to the other two books. All in all, I couldn’t put it down! I loved every second and was actually sad the story was coming to an end. I look forward to reading more of Jenoff’s work.

This book was a book club selection. While mildly entertaining I found the writing hokey. Like it was written for teens or young readers. Simplistic writing and implausible situations. Our heroine is attacked by a top Russian assassin with a knife and she kicks him in the shin and gets away? The setting for this story was real and truly awful-the holocaust, the war, communist takeover, traitors and spies but this is written as as a romantic adventure story. Even though the main character is a jew and survived the genocide and a nazi prison that had very little effect on her and is really only an afterthought. This book is like junk food, empty calories, just shallow throw away entertainment. No depth or insight. It was a dumb and I felt dumb for reading it.

I enjoyed this book but some of the occurrences in it were preposterous even in a world where coincidences do happen - this distracted from how much I could appreciate the book. This period of history fascinates me and more detail about the politics of the time would have fleshed it out nicely.Unfortunately, the title of the book gives away a major portion of the plot about one third of the way through the book and ruined much of the story for me. The next to last scenes were predictable except for one aspect. The ending was too much of a pat, happily ever after ending after all of the turmoil.The heroine had an unrealistic recovery mentally and emotionally from the horrors she lived through during and after the war, so did Paul, but especially her.

Another good read by Pam Jenoff

Was just an OK read

This book is one of a trilogy written by Pam Jenoff and therefore the characters are familiar,which makes the plot easier to follow.

Had no idea, it would be like a spy story with intrigue. Good read.

The idea of the story is ok, the writing is ok, but the story is a bit too contructed for my taste. Too many coincidences.