116: Maggie Brookes (The Prisoner’s Wife)

Charlie and Maggie Brookes (The Prisoner's Wife) discuss her stunning story which was inspired by a real happening - a woman who hid in plain sight as a British soldier in a prisoner of war camp.

A transcript is available on my site

General references:
Maggie's previous episode with me is episode 92
Now The War Is Over
Time Watch
All Our Working Lives
The Sphinx, Maggie's poem version of The Prisoner's Wife
Colditz
The party episode with Maggie is Milestone 01 (also with Elizabeth Fremantle, Gill Paul, and Amanda Geard)

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre
Maggie Brookes: The Prisoner's Wife
Maggie Brookes-Butt: Wish
John Nichol and Tony Rennell: The Last Escape

Buy the books: UK || USA

Release details: recorded 23rd September 2024; published 24th February 2025

Where to find Maggie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:29 The inspiration - a woman who hid as a man in a Nazi prisoner of war camp and how real it might be
09:49 How Maggie's work as a BBC producer helped her write The Prisoner's Wife
11:49 How the book started as a poem and then Maggie's journey to Czechia to do research into the Long March
20:19 The inspiration of Maggie's father, a prisoner of war who never spoke about his experience
26:58 What Maggie cut from the novel
28:52 Izzy's character development, language progression, and 'Algernon Cousins'
34:38 Adding in Bill's chapters later
36:53 Ralph and his fate being left open
41:24 Scotty's character and his sacrifice
43:28 The real Rosa Rauchbach and her lover
44:32 What are you writing now?

Photo credit: Lyn Gregory

Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops