Mandy Robotham - A Woman of War - A new voice in historical fiction for 2018, for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Published by AVON

A Division of HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperColl‌insPublishers 2018

Copyright © Mandy Robotham 2018

Cover design © Becky Glibbery 2018

Cover photographs © Shutterstock

Cover photograph: Woman © Laura Kate Bradley, Arcangel

Mandy Robotham asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008324247

Ebook Edition © December 2018 ISBN: 9780008324230

Version: 2018-11-29

To the boys: Simon, Harry & Finn

And to mothers and midwives everywhere

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page A Woman of War Mandy Robotham

Copyright Published by AVON A Division of HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperColl‌insPublishers 2018 Copyright © Mandy Robotham 2018 Cover design © Becky Glibbery 2018 Cover photographs © Shutterstock Cover photograph: Woman © Laura Kate Bradley, Arcangel Mandy Robotham asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008324247 Ebook Edition © December 2018 ISBN: 9780008324230 Version: 2018-11-29

Dedication To the boys: Simon, Harry & Finn And to mothers and midwives everywhere

Author’s Note Author’s Note Midwives love to talk, analyse and dissect; the post-birth babble in the coffee room is where we relate the beauty of a birth and the small dilemmas: How to relay to women the intensity of what they may go through in labour? Is it fair to describe in detail the two-headed agony and ecstasy of birth before the day? It led me to wonder at the bigger moral issues we might face, a point where we as midwives may not want to give body and soul towards the safety of mother and baby. And who and or where would that be? For me there was only one answer: a child whose very genetics would cause ripples among those who had suffered hugely at the hands of its father: Adolf Hitler. Combining a fascination for wartime history and my passion for birth, the idea was conceived. Using real characters like Hitler and Eva Braun – both of whom continue to incite strong emotions almost eight decades on – tested my own moral compass. And yet, I retain the premise that all women, at the point of birth, are equal: princess or pauper, angel or devil, in normal labour we all have to dig deep into ourselves. Birth sweeps away all prejudice. Eva, in the moments of labour, is one of those women. So too, the baby is born free of moral stain – an innocent, entirely pure. While using factual research material and scenarios, this is my take on a snapshot in history. There has been past speculation that the Führer and his eventual bride had a child, but A Woman of War is a work of fiction, my mind asking: What if? Anke too, is a fiction, yet an embodiment of what I sense in many midwives – a huge heart, but with doubts and fears. In other words, a normal person.

Chapter 1: Irena

Chapter 2: Exit

Chapter 3: The Outside

Chapter 4: Climbing

Chapter 5: New Beginning

Chapter 6: Adjustment

Chapter 7: Eva

Chapter 8: A New Confinement

Chapter 9: Contact

Chapter 10: Visitors

Chapter 11: The First Lady

Chapter 12: Employment

Chapter 13: Life and Death

Chapter 14: Renewed Ascent

Chapter 15: Waiting

Chapter 16: Plans

Chapter 17: A Slice of Life

Chapter 18: Calming the Fire

Chapter 19: Watchful Waiting

Chapter 20: Eva’s Strength

Chapter 21: Recovery and Reflection

Chapter 22: New Demons

Chapter 23: Nurturing

Chapter 24: A Growing Interest

Chapter 25: New Arrivals

Chapter 26: The Good Doctor

Chapter 27: The Sewing Room

Chapter 28: Release

Chapter 29: Friends

Chapter 30: Clouds in Springtime

Chapter 31: Relief

Chapter 32: Waiting

Chapter 33: Empty Space

Chapter Hidden Listed

Chapter 34: Beginnings

Chapter Hidden Listed

Chapter 35: Brewing

Chapter 36: A Night Shift

Chapter Hidden Listed

Chapter 37: Watching and Waiting

Chapter 38: Imminence

Chapter Hidden Listed

Chapter 39: Strength of the Web

Chapter 40: A Real World on Top of the Mountain

Chapter 41: Retribution

Epilogue: Berlin 1990

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Publisher

Midwives love to talk, analyse and dissect; the post-birth babble in the coffee room is where we relate the beauty of a birth and the small dilemmas: How to relay to women the intensity of what they may go through in labour? Is it fair to describe in detail the two-headed agony and ecstasy of birth before the day? It led me to wonder at the bigger moral issues we might face, a point where we as midwives may not want to give body and soul towards the safety of mother and baby. And who and or where would that be?

For me there was only one answer: a child whose very genetics would cause ripples among those who had suffered hugely at the hands of its father: Adolf Hitler. Combining a fascination for wartime history and my passion for birth, the idea was conceived. Using real characters like Hitler and Eva Braun – both of whom continue to incite strong emotions almost eight decades on – tested my own moral compass. And yet, I retain the premise that all women, at the point of birth, are equal: princess or pauper, angel or devil, in normal labour we all have to dig deep into ourselves. Birth sweeps away all prejudice. Eva, in the moments of labour, is one of those women. So too, the baby is born free of moral stain – an innocent, entirely pure.

While using factual research material and scenarios, this is my take on a snapshot in history. There has been past speculation that the Führer and his eventual bride had a child, but A Woman of War is a work of fiction, my mind asking: What if? Anke too, is a fiction, yet an embodiment of what I sense in many midwives – a huge heart, but with doubts and fears. In other words, a normal person.