I received an Advanced Readers' Edition of this, and decided to give it a try. The title refers to the fact that during the Second World War, most of the men were away fighting, so Berlin had an overabundance of women, children, and elderly men.

The main character, Sigrid, works at the patent office, and is living with her disagreeable mother-in-law while her husband is away fighting the war in Russia. She becomes involved with the young woman who is the nanny/babysitter/au pair for the woman living across the hall, and as a result, becomes involved in hiding Jews from the Gestapo and Nazi officers who randomly search homes and businesses. The experience changes her life, and at one point, she suspects that she is helping to hide the wife and children of her lover.

I kept reading this book because I wanted to see how it would end (the book, I know how the war ended). But though I didn't really like it, I also didn't really *not* like it. It was written pretty well in my opinion, but there were parts that seemed to go on forever, with no real additional impact, in my opinion. The characters were OK, but I felt no real investment in Sigrid. She changed in the course of the story, and I think she started to understand herself and her place in the world better, but she just didn't really appeal to me.

I can't say that the second this is published, you should run out, buy a copy, and read it. But as I said, it is, for the most part, a good enough read.