Dark times in Germany!

-

The Lost Book of Bonn: A Novel by Brianna Labuskes      

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



Gripping story about sisters who lived in Bonn just before WWII.

Annalise the older loved to hike and party with her friends in a group called the Edelweiss Pirates. Later they took more and more subversive action against the ruling Nazi party

Christina, the younger sister liked to follow rules. She became a member of the Bund Deutscher Mädel, promoting young Aryan women who followed rules, who fit in, who presented the ideal woman who embraced her place in the social fabric.

Widowed Emmy Clarke is a librarian who’s sent to Berlin in 1946 to look through the acres of books seized by the Nazis. Many are valuable. The scope of looting by the Nazis is phenomenal. Here she meets Major Wesley Arnold, part of the Monuments Men team.

Emma chances upon a book on her first day that has an inscription, beginning “to Annelise” ending with Eitan.” Emmy senses a deeper story behind the inscription. Emmy is inspired to see if she can find out more about these people.

The story moves from one character’s viewpoint to another’s —Annelise and Christina, Both interspersed with Emmy’s search in 19476.

What it tells us is that not all people are the enemy and that when they stood together they might prevail. The story of the Aryan women married to Jews who protest against their husbands being detained and held in the Jewish community center on Rose Street, awaiting transportation, is harrowing and admirable.

Such a sensitive novel about evil times that aren’t as cut and dried as we would wish.

A superb read!


A William Morrow ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more