A review by stacyculler
The German Midwife, by Mandy Robotham
3.0
I had a hard time rating this book. I weirdly found the labor and delivery scenes to be too graphic, even when presented alongside the horrors that were the holocaust. I know I shouldn’t feel this way about something as natural and miraculous as childbirth, but there it is, I was grossed out.
I had difficulty with the implausibility of many parts of the storyline as well: If Goebbels wanted to use Eva’s baby as a symbol of hope for Germany, why would he have hidden the pregnancy? Why not use the anticipation as propaganda? Also, it was clear from Anke’s prior behavior that she was never going to take her hatred for Hitler out on an innocent baby, especially at the cost of her own family’s safety. So all the time she spent waiting for Eva to deliver seemed pointless. I wanted Eva’s character to be a little better developed as well. And the “consequence” for Anke’s actions after the delivery of Eva’s baby...come on! That is just ridiculous! That would never have been handled that way! They were NAZIS, remember?!!
I liked the relationship between Dieter and Anke, and I thought Anke was a well developed character. You had a good sense of what she stood for, and the ways she tried to help and bring dignity to a hopeless situation. Thinking about the horrors that women who came to the camps with infants, or pregnant was powerful and so very sad.
Difficult to rate because there were some parts that I thought were excellent, and some that I found ridiculous. So I am just going with a middle of the road three stars.
I had difficulty with the implausibility of many parts of the storyline as well: If Goebbels wanted to use Eva’s baby as a symbol of hope for Germany, why would he have hidden the pregnancy? Why not use the anticipation as propaganda? Also, it was clear from Anke’s prior behavior that she was never going to take her hatred for Hitler out on an innocent baby, especially at the cost of her own family’s safety. So all the time she spent waiting for Eva to deliver seemed pointless. I wanted Eva’s character to be a little better developed as well. And the “consequence” for Anke’s actions after the delivery of Eva’s baby...come on! That is just ridiculous! That would never have been handled that way! They were NAZIS, remember?!!
I liked the relationship between Dieter and Anke, and I thought Anke was a well developed character. You had a good sense of what she stood for, and the ways she tried to help and bring dignity to a hopeless situation. Thinking about the horrors that women who came to the camps with infants, or pregnant was powerful and so very sad.
Difficult to rate because there were some parts that I thought were excellent, and some that I found ridiculous. So I am just going with a middle of the road three stars.