The Conscientious Objector’s Wife tells the story of Frank and Lucy Sunderland. They lived in Letchworth, in Hertfordshire, north of London, with their three young children. In 1916 Frank was separated from the family when he was sentenced to hard labour for being a conscientious objector. He was not released from prison until April 1919. Frank and Lucy wrote to each other for two and half years while Frank was incarcerated at Wandsworth and Bedford prisons.