susannaopal's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5. I enjoyed this book but at times the pacing was a little slow for me. It is not a happy read per say but it is a very interesting one. I am fascinated by WWII Resistance movements so I tend to read anything having to do with them (fic or non-fic), but this is the first novel I have read set completely after WWII (sans the intro). Recommended for anyone interested in WWII era historical fiction.
carissa0906's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Classism, Blood, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, War, Violence, Rape, Miscarriage, Grief, Child death, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Vomit, Torture, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Abandonment, Murder, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, and Gun violence
melissakuzma's review against another edition
5.0
I'm never not shocked when I read anything about WWII or the Holocaust. So, unsurprisingly, I was stunned and appalled over and over while reading this incredible novel of three German women and their experiences before, during and after the war. Also stunning and appalling are the many similarities between what was going on then and what's going on today. There were many passages where you could have taken out "Hitler" and replaced it with "trump" and it would have made perfect sense. I was also horrified by the descriptions by some of the women of not really realizing what was going on during the war - either because they truly were unaware, or because they refused to believe it. They were "too busy" or thought it was propaganda. For anyone who wonders how it could happen, read this book.
I am a huge fan of The Nightingale, and I thought this book was just as good. It's like The Nightingale from the German perspective. Highly recommended.
I am a huge fan of The Nightingale, and I thought this book was just as good. It's like The Nightingale from the German perspective. Highly recommended.
sjj169's review against another edition
5.0
For all the horror of the official reports she and Albrecht had seen, with their language of "extermination" and "elimination," they could not come close to conjuring this. How could they? There was no point of reference. Later, such footage would come to be so familiar it became unseen-a kind of placeholder for human evil. The first black-and-white glimpse of barbed wire, dirt, and nakedness cautioned viewers, look away. But in this moment, in the first unveiling, it was nothing she or anyone else had ever seen. And it was impossible to look away. She looked and trembled in her seat.
I've always heard it discussed on just how could the German people all condone what was going on in their country under Hitler's reign. This book takes you there. And sadly I'm probably not going to be able to convey how powerful the book is.
It starts in a Bavarian castle at a party.
Marianne and her husband Albrecht are hosting, news comes to them of destruction taking place that will later be known as Kristallnacht. Marianne is not a woman that lets things go on around her without knowing what is going on, so she enters a room where her husband, her best friend Connie and others are talking about how scared they are of what is becoming of their country. They don't agree with Hitler's politics. Connie (who Marianne is secretly in love with) introduces later his new fiance. A poor girl named Benita. He makes Marianne promise to him to always look after his wife and son should something happen to him.
Things do happen. Connie and Albrecht join in on a plot to assassinate Hitler and it fails. They are put to death and Benita is thrown into prison, even though she was totally clueless.
Marianne fights to find their child and get Benita back so that she can fulfill her promise.
They make their way across a war torn Germany back to the castle, which is now crumbling. Along the way they pick up Ania and her two sons.
There is a whole lot of secrets bound by these women in that castle. They know that the world around them is deeply changed forever but so have they.
This book isn't a pretty picture of anything. It tells how each of these women faced what they were challenged with wide open eyes.
She felt the pulse of the lives lived inside the mean little houses she passed: selfish or generous, kind or unkind, ugly or tolerable, almost all of them sad. And she saw the histories of the people passing by like x-rays stamped on their faces-ugly, mutinous tracings of dark and light: a woman who ratted out a neighbor, a man who had shot children, a soldier who had held his dying friend in his arms. Yet here they were, carrying groceries, holding children's hands, turning their collars up against the wind. As if their moments of truth-the decisions by which they would be judged and would judge themselves-hadn't already come and passed What a sham this new German present was! An irrelevant time-a mad scramble to cast votes after the verdict had already been reached.
Some of this sounds so familiar to me. They say history repeats itself. I hope this time in history stays never repeated forever. Not forgotten though, educate yourself. Step back from your hate (even though you don't see it as hate) and educate yourselves. You would hope that with all the ways to learn that are available today that people would.
But....
On the news and my stupid Facebook feed though you would wonder. I see hate from BOTH sides. No one will admit that they have the wrong viewpoint. They become keyboard commandos for their cause and never see that they might just be preaching some of that hate that they so strongly oppose. What they are saying is right and nothing else will do.
Booksource: I received a copy of this book from the publisher and then promptly lost it. I'm glad I found it again.
I've always heard it discussed on just how could the German people all condone what was going on in their country under Hitler's reign. This book takes you there. And sadly I'm probably not going to be able to convey how powerful the book is.
It starts in a Bavarian castle at a party.
Marianne and her husband Albrecht are hosting, news comes to them of destruction taking place that will later be known as Kristallnacht. Marianne is not a woman that lets things go on around her without knowing what is going on, so she enters a room where her husband, her best friend Connie and others are talking about how scared they are of what is becoming of their country. They don't agree with Hitler's politics. Connie (who Marianne is secretly in love with) introduces later his new fiance. A poor girl named Benita. He makes Marianne promise to him to always look after his wife and son should something happen to him.
Things do happen. Connie and Albrecht join in on a plot to assassinate Hitler and it fails. They are put to death and Benita is thrown into prison, even though she was totally clueless.
Marianne fights to find their child and get Benita back so that she can fulfill her promise.
They make their way across a war torn Germany back to the castle, which is now crumbling. Along the way they pick up Ania and her two sons.
There is a whole lot of secrets bound by these women in that castle. They know that the world around them is deeply changed forever but so have they.
This book isn't a pretty picture of anything. It tells how each of these women faced what they were challenged with wide open eyes.
She felt the pulse of the lives lived inside the mean little houses she passed: selfish or generous, kind or unkind, ugly or tolerable, almost all of them sad. And she saw the histories of the people passing by like x-rays stamped on their faces-ugly, mutinous tracings of dark and light: a woman who ratted out a neighbor, a man who had shot children, a soldier who had held his dying friend in his arms. Yet here they were, carrying groceries, holding children's hands, turning their collars up against the wind. As if their moments of truth-the decisions by which they would be judged and would judge themselves-hadn't already come and passed What a sham this new German present was! An irrelevant time-a mad scramble to cast votes after the verdict had already been reached.
Some of this sounds so familiar to me. They say history repeats itself. I hope this time in history stays never repeated forever. Not forgotten though, educate yourself. Step back from your hate (even though you don't see it as hate) and educate yourselves. You would hope that with all the ways to learn that are available today that people would.
But....
On the news and my stupid Facebook feed though you would wonder. I see hate from BOTH sides. No one will admit that they have the wrong viewpoint. They become keyboard commandos for their cause and never see that they might just be preaching some of that hate that they so strongly oppose. What they are saying is right and nothing else will do.
Booksource: I received a copy of this book from the publisher and then promptly lost it. I'm glad I found it again.
andreat's review against another edition
5.0
I found the parallels between this book and current events staggering. In particular, the willingness to stubbornly uphold an alternative narrative that is personally beneficial but detrimental to others and in contrast to reality. I found it illuminating and I can’t stop thinking about it. And I always appreciate robust and unique female characters.
carstensena's review against another edition
4.0
Very popular choice for our first faculty/staff book club discussion. Audiobook was very good.
scent_of_the_rain's review against another edition
4.0
The best word I can find to describe this book is “quiet”. The historical background, The WWII is very violent time in our collective past but this book is situated or before or after it has happened and concentrates mostly on the consequences of it for the lives of 3 women in Germany and their children. Bit by bit we discover their secrets, get to know and understand them better.
Not much happens in this book, most “exciting” things happen off page and are related through flashbacks. This story is about the in-between moments and shows us the life in more natural way.
The characters are well written. Some of them have done questionable things, others did what was necessary to survive, but they expect us to forgive them, in fact the thing I found most refreshing about this book is that the author doesn’t push for forgiveness. She shows us the facts in a matter of fact way and presents the characters in a way that doesn’t necessarily make us like but understand them.
The only thing that disappointed me is the fact that most of the story doesn’t in fact happen in the castle, I was kind of looking forward to that.
But I really didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did.
Not much happens in this book, most “exciting” things happen off page and are related through flashbacks. This story is about the in-between moments and shows us the life in more natural way.
The characters are well written. Some of them have done questionable things, others did what was necessary to survive, but they expect us to forgive them, in fact the thing I found most refreshing about this book is that the author doesn’t push for forgiveness. She shows us the facts in a matter of fact way and presents the characters in a way that doesn’t necessarily make us like but understand them.
The only thing that disappointed me is the fact that most of the story doesn’t in fact happen in the castle, I was kind of looking forward to that.
But I really didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did.
kaloughl's review against another edition
3.0
A good historical fiction novel that shows the human side of Germans during WWII. On one hand you have Marianne, a German widow of a Nazi Resistance fighter who was killed after a failed Hitler assassination plot. She tirelessly believes Hitler was evil and continues to distrust and hate her countrymen who were caught up in his lies. Then, you have Ania, a woman with a secret that has seen a lot more in this war then she lets on. She was on the "wrong" side and was married to a hardcore Nazi and aided and abetted the German mission (though with apology by the end).
In this troubled time in the US, it was really interesting to read about how a woman who you initially liked actually was involved in something so hideous. It is shown how she fell into the trappings and readily believed what Hitler spewed because she had no reason not to.
In the end, the book was a little too far flung with stories not exactly wrapped up and too many people spread around. I felt really unsatisfied by the last 1/4 of the book.
In this troubled time in the US, it was really interesting to read about how a woman who you initially liked actually was involved in something so hideous. It is shown how she fell into the trappings and readily believed what Hitler spewed because she had no reason not to.
In the end, the book was a little too far flung with stories not exactly wrapped up and too many people spread around. I felt really unsatisfied by the last 1/4 of the book.
oliviasuzanne's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, this was a good book! However, I felt the ending was rushed and didn’t wrap up super cleanly. I still have some questions.
tanya_the_spack's review against another edition
5.0
So good! Hard to put down once I started reading.