In her luminous and groundbreaking debut, New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff displays the unimaginable sacrifices one woman must make in a period of war

Nineteen-year-old Emma Bau continues to be married only 3 weeks when Nazi tanks thunder into her native Poland. Within days Emma’s hubby, Jacob, is pressured to disappear underground, leaving her imprisoned within the city’s decrepit Jewish ghetto. But then, in the lifeless of night time, the resistance smuggles her out. Taken to Krakow to live with Jacob’s Catholic aunt, Krysia, Emma assumes a new identification as Anna Lipowski, a gentile.

Emma’s currently precarious scenario is complicated by her introduction to Kommandant Richwalder, a high-ranking Nazi standard who hires her to work as his assistant. Urged by the resistance to use her position to access details of the Nazi occupation, Emma must bargain her safety-and her marriage vows-in order to greatly help Jacob’s cause. As the atrocities of battle intensify, Emma must make choices that will push her to risk not only her double lifestyle, but also the lives of these she loves.