The Captive Wife

The Captive Wife is a 2005 novel by New Zealand writer Fiona Kidman.

It is about the 1835 kidnapping of settler Betty Guard by Māori people in the South Island of New Zealand.

Mike Crean, reviewing the book for The Press, said it was an "example of the best in New Zealand historical fiction", with Kidman bringing "together into a continuous narrative the series of dramatic happenings that comprised the early life of Betty Guard".

[1] Kidman met some of Guard's descendants in the 1950s when her husband taught at Arapaoa Island.

[2] She was later assisted by them in writing the book,[2] and has said that she had to write about Guard's story because "this was a story that epitomised so many aspects of women’s lives – being anchored in one place, discovering one’s sexuality in surprising ways, and so on".