The Stationmaster's Wife in Kane and Abel by Mr. Jeffrey Archer

I read Kane and Abel by Mr. Jeffrey Archer many years ago, but there is a nameless character in it, only known as the stationmaster's wife that I will forever remember. She only appeared in a few pages in the decently sized book, but it was enough for her to make a place in my heart forever.

She helps Wladek escape from the camp where he was a prisoner by hiding as her son to great personal risk. She was a mother to him. She brought him home, bathe him, fed him and pleaded with her husband to give him a place at their home. When it was not to be so, she arranged for her husband to give him a ticket to Odessa and discreetly gave him a parcel with food and clothes. Her kindness amidst the turmoil of the First World War to great personal risk touched my heart.

In the few pages she appears, Mr. Archer describes her in simple words, but her actions are enough to warrant her a place in the heart of readers. She keeps me longing for more, but alas, Wladek did not even have the opportunity to know her name.

'Although he would never see her again in his life, he would always remember the kindness of the woman, the stationmaster's wife, Comrade...he didn't even know her name.'