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Fiica Reichului
ISTORIE – DRAGOSTE – FAMILIE – NAZISM – AL DOILEA RĂZBOI MONDIAL
DACĂ ȚI-A PLĂCUT: Tatuatorul de la Auschwitz, de Heather Morris, Hoțul de cărți, de Marcus Zusak, Toată lumina pe care nu o putem vedea, de Anthony Doerr, Necunoscuta din Berlinul de Est, de Immanuel Mifsud
Cum alegi între loialitatea față de țară și o iubire care te poate distruge?
Leipzig, 1930. Hetty Heinrich este fiica unui înalt ofițer nazist și sora unui pilot Luftwaffe, crescută cu dorința arzătoare de a-și juca rolul în gloriosul Reich de O Mie de Ani. Crede cu ardoare în țara ei și în omul care o conduce. Dar asta până când îl reîntâlnește pe Walter, prietenul ei evreu din copilărie, care îi aruncă în aer toate certitudinile.
Cei doi încep o poveste de dragoste care le pune viața în pericol, odată ce valul de antisemitism devine un tsunami. Ca să-l salveze pe Walter, Hetty va trebui să sacrifice totul – iubirea de țară, legăturile de familie, poate chiar propria viață.
RECOMANDĂRI
„Bazată pe o cercetare istorică minuțioasă și minunat scrisă, cartea aduce în prim-plan o poveste de dragoste pasională, pe fundalul unei societăți ajunse la marginea prăpastiei. O lectură realistă, convingătoare și care te lasă cu multe întrebări dificile.“ Nikola Scott
„O poveste fascinantă despre nazismul văzut din interior, în care îndoctrinarea oarbă e transformată în eroism de puterea dragostei.“ Sharon Maas
„O călătorie superbă, extrem de emoționantă, în tumultul și tragedia celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial.“ Karen Harper
DACĂ ȚI-A PLĂCUT: Tatuatorul de la Auschwitz, de Heather Morris, Hoțul de cărți, de Marcus Zusak, Toată lumina pe care nu o putem vedea, de Anthony Doerr, Necunoscuta din Berlinul de Est, de Immanuel Mifsud
Cum alegi între loialitatea față de țară și o iubire care te poate distruge?
Leipzig, 1930. Hetty Heinrich este fiica unui înalt ofițer nazist și sora unui pilot Luftwaffe, crescută cu dorința arzătoare de a-și juca rolul în gloriosul Reich de O Mie de Ani. Crede cu ardoare în țara ei și în omul care o conduce. Dar asta până când îl reîntâlnește pe Walter, prietenul ei evreu din copilărie, care îi aruncă în aer toate certitudinile.
Cei doi încep o poveste de dragoste care le pune viața în pericol, odată ce valul de antisemitism devine un tsunami. Ca să-l salveze pe Walter, Hetty va trebui să sacrifice totul – iubirea de țară, legăturile de familie, poate chiar propria viață.
RECOMANDĂRI
„Bazată pe o cercetare istorică minuțioasă și minunat scrisă, cartea aduce în prim-plan o poveste de dragoste pasională, pe fundalul unei societăți ajunse la marginea prăpastiei. O lectură realistă, convingătoare și care te lasă cu multe întrebări dificile.“ Nikola Scott
„O poveste fascinantă despre nazismul văzut din interior, în care îndoctrinarea oarbă e transformată în eroism de puterea dragostei.“ Sharon Maas
„O călătorie superbă, extrem de emoționantă, în tumultul și tragedia celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial.“ Karen Harper
496 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2020
About the author
Louise Fein
3 books610 followersLouise writes historical fiction, focusing on unheard voices or from unusual perspectives. Her debut novel, Daughter of the Reich (entitled People Like Us in the UK edition) was published in 2020 into 13 territories and is set in 1930’s Leipzig. The book was shortlisted for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2021 and the RNA Historical Novel of the Year Award, 2021. Louise's second novel, The Hidden Child, was published in 2021 and is centered around the eugenics movement in 1920’s England and America. It was a Globe & Mail bestseller in Canada. Her third novel, The London Bookshop Affair, about one woman’s journey to uncover secrets of her past, set against a backdrop of espionage and looming nuclear war in 1962 London, will be published in January 2024.
Louise, previously a lawyer and banker, holds an MA in Creative Writing from St Mary’s University and now writes full time. Equally passionate about historical research and writing, she loves to look for themes which have resonance with today’s world. Louise lives in the Surrey countryside, UK, with her family, and is a slave to the daily demands of her pets.
Louise, previously a lawyer and banker, holds an MA in Creative Writing from St Mary’s University and now writes full time. Equally passionate about historical research and writing, she loves to look for themes which have resonance with today’s world. Louise lives in the Surrey countryside, UK, with her family, and is a slave to the daily demands of her pets.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,701 reviews
March 26, 2021
Wissen ist macht---------------------------------------
Is there anyone who is truly as they appear?In 1929, when Herta Heinrich (Hetty) is seven years old, she falls off a jetty into a lake while on a family outing. Her older brother Karl’s friend comes to the rescue, pulling Hetty from the water before she can drown.
I finally gather the courage to look directly at Walter. His wavy blond hair is half dry, half wet. He’s saying something to Karl, but then he turns and looks at me and his face breaks into a smile. His eyes are the warmest, kindest blue.The story picks up four years later, from which point we follow Hetty’s travails from pre-adolescence to early adulthood as Germany goes through a radical change.
Louise Fein - image from her Twitter pix
How could anyone possibly have supported Adolph Hitler? What kind of monster must any supporter have been to go along with the rank madness of the Nazi Party? One major element was the impact of relentless propaganda on impressionable minds.
My original plan had been to write the book from the Jewish experience. But the more I learned, the more I wanted to understand the mindset of the Nazis. How could a people, a deeply civilized, democratic nation, become so unbelievably cruel; to de-humanise one another, and commit atrocities on such an unimaginable scale? The more I read, the more I realised that what I wanted to say could perhaps be more powerfully told if I were to climb inside the head of a Nazi. To tell the tale of someone young, who was fed a twisted ideology, taught hatred from day one. Someone who knew no other way. What could possibly change their outlook, when it went so against everything their family and the society around them believed? - from Why I Wrote This Book on Fein’s websiteHetty is molded by the messages that pervade her world. We follow her through the stages of her exposure, both to the party messaging and, later, to alternate perspectives. When she pets a neighbor’s cute dog, her mother is horrified, warning her that she must not talk to those “Dirty pigs, Jews.” Her father is an SS officer charged with using a local newspaper to spread propaganda. Hetty does not really understand what this is about, but eventually Vati spells it out for her,
…there is no such thing as news per se. News is power, wrapped in a message, presented, told and retold. With this newspaper…I have the power to put into the world what I want, and in the way I would have the masses understand. Do you realize what supremacy, what authority that gives me?It might remind folks of a quote from Roger Ailes, Truth is whatever people will believe. Nazi radio is de rigeur in the Heinrich household, with Hitler’s speeches a major highlight. Hetty has so incorporated the ethos of Hitler uber alles that she harbors an inner Fuhrer, a dark conscience of sorts, who speaks to her when she is faced with difficult choices. This is heightened when she attends a major party event and sees Hitler himself. It is very reminiscent of the Hitler projection in the film Jojo Rabbit. Hetty’s brother Karl is an eager member of the Hitler Jungen. Hetty becomes a member of the BDM, or Bund Deutscher Mädel, The League of German Girls. This is intended to mold young German females into compliant brood mares for the manufacture of more Nazis, and supportive hausfraus for Nazi officers. Not exactly what Hetty has in mind for her future. Having helped her mother with a home for war veterans, she feels powerfully drawn to becoming a doctor. The Nazi world is not receptive to such dreams, even if her motivation is to help the Reich.
Image from emaze.com
Hetty is no paragon. She buys in to the insanity, behaving in ways that make us cringe. But is this because she is a bad person, or because she doesn’t know any better? She is, after all, rather young. But as events progress, she is exposed to alternate perspectives. The major push in this direction is when she becomes reacquainted with her young savior, Walter, now a handsome young man. Hetty had been smitten with Walter since that fateful day, and cannot accept that all the awful things she has been taught about Jews could possibly be true, given that Walter is Jewish. Capulet, meet Montague, and the challenge is on. What can one, or two people do when faced with such an overwhelmingly dark social force? Her struggle, and education, intensify once they find each other, bolstered by her gaining the insight that knowledge is power.
I didn’t set out to write a love story per se, but in thinking about what would change someone’s thinking, when they had been so thoroughly and successfully groomed into the perfect Nazi, what could possibly change their mind? Realistically, the answer had to be love. - from the BusyWords interviewHypocrisy is, of course, rampant, and Hetty begins to see past the images to the reality, both in people close to her and in the wider political context. There are others for whom their façade is not of the two-faced, hypocritical sort, but cover, necessary for survival. Makes it tough to take anyone at face value, and very difficult to know who one can trust.
The story is told in a linear narrative, from Hetty’s point of view, no back and forth time jumps, and only occasional takes from other characters, via correspondence. Fein gives Hetty a journal to ease the expression of thoughts and feelings her young heroine might have, but which would be tough to deliver in dialogue.
We get a feel for the time and place, see some of the nuts and bolts of how extremist racist views are promoted and then implemented in the real world. References are made to the camps, but we are spared the worst of that. Krystallnacht, and the planning that lead up to it, are shown with chilling effectiveness.
Local residents watch the burning of the ceremonial hall at the Jewish cemetery in Graz during Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass). Graz, Austria, November 9-10, 1938 – image from History Collection
Fein has a personal connection to the story. He father was a German Jew from Leipzig.
I always wanted to write something about my father’s background because I knew so little about it. He died when I was seventeen and I never really got a chance to speak with him about it. - from her People Like Us book launch videoWhile she knew that she wanted to write a book of fiction, she also had to do considerable research to get the details of the place and time right. Street names, for instance, often changed within the timeframe of the novel.
I had the benefit of a large collection of family papers, including contemporaneous diaries, photos, letters, official documents etc, all of which are now lodged with the University of Sussex’s Centre of German-Jewish Studies. This was a rich resource of contemporaneous lives, told in the raw, with no benefit of hindsight, no retrospective view through the filter of history.- from the BusyWords interviewA particular theme that comes through is the powerless of women. It was very clear that even if Hetty loved and admired Hitler, and wanted to serve the nation, there were only certain sorts of services that were available to her. This is also reflected in her dealings with male peers, including her brother, who tend to dismiss her opinions and perceptions as delusional. But some people find ways to get around the craziness.
The relationships she has are complicated, with her mother, with her friend Erna, a male friend who becomes a suitor, with Walter, and with the family staff. These were handled quite well, making Hetty a believable character, and far more than a BDM Stepford teen. Her growth and education are credible, as is her susceptibility to massive, pervasive, evil propaganda. The portrayals of males, per se, in the book seemed more black-and-white-ish, than those of the females, who were more fully realized. And, of course, the romance is both wonderful and fraught. The book is a bit long but reads fast, so don’t be put off by that.
In short, Daughter of the Reich is a marvelous, moving account of a relatable, vulnerable person during a period of great upheaval and madness, a young woman coming of age in a dark time. It offers a first person look at the events of the 1930s, without the hindsight with which we now see that era. It is deeply moving, as well as disturbing, reminding us just how the forces of darkness go about turning off all the lights, in history and today. It is a lesson worth remembering, and Hetty’s story (the sorrows of young Herta?) helps keep that lesson brightly lit in our minds.
Review posted – May 22, 2020
Publication date – May 12, 2020 – US - hardcover
The novel is titled People Like Us in the UK, Australia and NZ and as De Dochter van De Nazi in The Netherlands
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages
Interviews
-----Author Stories - Episode 877 | Louise Fein Interview by Hank Garner – audio – 27:59 – begin at 2:30
-----Busywords -Meet Louise Fein by Edward James
-----Virtual launch event:Part 2- Louise Fein (Daughter of the Reich) with Meg Waite Clayton
Items of Interest
----- A brief video intro to the book by the author
-----Louise Fein’s - People Like Us Book Launch - video – 59:45 - start at 14:00
-----Louise Fein - Why I Wrote This Book - from her website
-----Yad Vashem - From the Testimony of Hillel Shechter about Jewish Life in Leipzig During the 1930’s
-----The League of German Girls
-----E-maze – a slideshow on The Hitler Youth
March 31, 2020
How was it possible for Hitler to lure masses of people to follow his extreme views? After WWI, the Treaty of Versailles forced Germans to pay war reparations, which had crushing effects on economy and humiliating effects on patriotic Germans. Hitler, a mesmerizing public speaker, blamed all bad things on Jews and communist minorities, claiming they were trying to take over the world. With worldwide economic depression and high unemployment, he put blame on the ineffectiveness of democratic government, thus calling for a New Order, promising to restore prosperity for all with no class divisions.
Most of this story is set within the two years preceding WWII, giving a glimpse into how humans in dire situation can be manipulated and pushed into doing atrocities.
The story is set in Leipzig and begins in 1933, quickly moving to 1937, giving a glimpse at what is happening in Germany during those years. Hetty’s family has just moved to a new big house, where previous tenants left their furniture and artwork. She is almost twelve years old. Her father is a high-ranking SS officer and she doesn’t understand what is happening. She just knows that they don’t go to church any longer as Herr Himmler wouldn’t like it. She dreams of being a doctor and now to her surprise she finds out that as a woman she can’t be a doctor, rather she needs to learn obedience and concentrate on home things. As Hitler promises “a brilliant future with no more poverty; no more class divisions. Just one, great, unified nation which will be the envy of all the world.”
Those who refuse to join SA recruitment go hungry, because they lose current jobs and can’t get another one. Those who are unwanted get charged with false crimes and are being convicted.
At schools, talks of population projections take big part. “A population of the best: the fittest, bravest, most beautiful, cleverest, and robust. The epitome of Darwin’s theory. A people who will be superior in every way and who must spread their influence throughout the world.”
“A newspaper, (…) is a powerful weapon. (…) it is our duty to shape the opinion of the masses and ensure the Fatherland’s values and best interests are always in the forefront of people’s minds.”
Hetty almost at the age of sixteen still struggles to make sense of this all. Her brother’s best friend, Walter, got shunned and she secretly is in love with him. He paints a touching picture for her what it means to be German. He paints a straightforward picture for her how differently Jews are being treated, pretty much cornered and left without provisions for livelihood. When she still struggles, he challenges her and her beliefs. He encourages her to be whatever she wants to be and not to follow others directions who limit her position in society and not expect to use her mind. He tells her of other countries where she can study medicine as a woman. She slowly starts realizing that there is another side to this story, to the world that has surrounded her. It takes Hetty time to mature, but giving the circumstances she is a believable character.
This story brings a vivid portrayal of distraction of lives, of feeding lies – one thing being said when in reality opposite is being done; of feeding hatred that pushes one man to commit horrible atrocities against another man that is even unbearable to think about.
Engagingly written. It is a heartbreaking story with a very poignant message.
“How could a people, a deeply civilized, democratic nation, become so unbelievably cruel; to de-humanise one another, and commit atrocities on such an unimaginable scale?” Don’t take your freedom and rights for granted and don’t let it slip away from you. Learn the lessons of the past.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Most of this story is set within the two years preceding WWII, giving a glimpse into how humans in dire situation can be manipulated and pushed into doing atrocities.
The story is set in Leipzig and begins in 1933, quickly moving to 1937, giving a glimpse at what is happening in Germany during those years. Hetty’s family has just moved to a new big house, where previous tenants left their furniture and artwork. She is almost twelve years old. Her father is a high-ranking SS officer and she doesn’t understand what is happening. She just knows that they don’t go to church any longer as Herr Himmler wouldn’t like it. She dreams of being a doctor and now to her surprise she finds out that as a woman she can’t be a doctor, rather she needs to learn obedience and concentrate on home things. As Hitler promises “a brilliant future with no more poverty; no more class divisions. Just one, great, unified nation which will be the envy of all the world.”
Those who refuse to join SA recruitment go hungry, because they lose current jobs and can’t get another one. Those who are unwanted get charged with false crimes and are being convicted.
At schools, talks of population projections take big part. “A population of the best: the fittest, bravest, most beautiful, cleverest, and robust. The epitome of Darwin’s theory. A people who will be superior in every way and who must spread their influence throughout the world.”
“A newspaper, (…) is a powerful weapon. (…) it is our duty to shape the opinion of the masses and ensure the Fatherland’s values and best interests are always in the forefront of people’s minds.”
Hetty almost at the age of sixteen still struggles to make sense of this all. Her brother’s best friend, Walter, got shunned and she secretly is in love with him. He paints a touching picture for her what it means to be German. He paints a straightforward picture for her how differently Jews are being treated, pretty much cornered and left without provisions for livelihood. When she still struggles, he challenges her and her beliefs. He encourages her to be whatever she wants to be and not to follow others directions who limit her position in society and not expect to use her mind. He tells her of other countries where she can study medicine as a woman. She slowly starts realizing that there is another side to this story, to the world that has surrounded her. It takes Hetty time to mature, but giving the circumstances she is a believable character.
This story brings a vivid portrayal of distraction of lives, of feeding lies – one thing being said when in reality opposite is being done; of feeding hatred that pushes one man to commit horrible atrocities against another man that is even unbearable to think about.
Engagingly written. It is a heartbreaking story with a very poignant message.
“How could a people, a deeply civilized, democratic nation, become so unbelievably cruel; to de-humanise one another, and commit atrocities on such an unimaginable scale?” Don’t take your freedom and rights for granted and don’t let it slip away from you. Learn the lessons of the past.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 11, 2020
Audiobook, synced ebook
.....audio-narrated by Marisa Catlin (she does a great job)
...Debut Pre WWII historical fiction novel....
...1930’s Nazi Germany; war threats on the rise.
...560 pages or 14 hrs and 52 minutes long as an audiobook.
... This story was inspired by the author’s family.
Hetty Heinrich is German
🙍♀️
Walter Keller is Jewish
🙎♂️
...Forbidden love is on the rise.
👩❤️👨
...Sappy, readable....
mostly predictable, with a couple of tidbit surprises.
.... hundreds of books are similar. ( painful experiences,
people suffered, horrific atrocities, with an emotional ending). ....
but it feels like we’ve read this exact story ‘many’ times.
however....
I felt the sappy, happy, sad, sad, happy ending as much as the next reader.
I wasn’t completely a cold turd.
The epilogue was affecting with a little punch to to gut ... which could create teary-eyes in many.
... the writing was a little flowery ..... and the plot lines cliche.
... the romance-desperation was a little trite and overdone.
...THAT SAID.....
...The subject was sad...( a Nazi Germany story is stamped with ‘official sadness’)....based on a true story.
So my appreciation for the author is there, too.
...The storytelling had high moments and mediocre moments.
If you LOVED “The Nightingale”, by Kristen Hannah .... and enjoyed Hannah’s writing....
then you’ll probably love this book, too.
But...
if things bothered you in Hannah’s book, like exaggeration melodrama...
then this book might feel like a ‘style re-visit’ when reading “Daughter of The Reich”.
Please note... I didn’t hate this novel. I can understand readers engrossed - transported -
engaged - and moved....
invested in the characters lives, their trial and tribulations... rooting for their survival and happiness.
I did a little of these things too...
But...
I admit to being a little jaded.
It took too long to tell - a story of which 80% I’ve read dozens plus times before. ( even from the point of view being German as opposed to being Jewish).....
‘not’ a first pony ride.
In the hands of the right reader... this book will be 5 stars.
3.5 to a slim 4 star rating, from me.
.....audio-narrated by Marisa Catlin (she does a great job)
...Debut Pre WWII historical fiction novel....
...1930’s Nazi Germany; war threats on the rise.
...560 pages or 14 hrs and 52 minutes long as an audiobook.
... This story was inspired by the author’s family.
Hetty Heinrich is German
🙍♀️
Walter Keller is Jewish
🙎♂️
...Forbidden love is on the rise.
👩❤️👨
...Sappy, readable....
mostly predictable, with a couple of tidbit surprises.
.... hundreds of books are similar. ( painful experiences,
people suffered, horrific atrocities, with an emotional ending). ....
but it feels like we’ve read this exact story ‘many’ times.
however....
I felt the sappy, happy, sad, sad, happy ending as much as the next reader.
I wasn’t completely a cold turd.
The epilogue was affecting with a little punch to to gut ... which could create teary-eyes in many.
... the writing was a little flowery ..... and the plot lines cliche.
... the romance-desperation was a little trite and overdone.
...THAT SAID.....
...The subject was sad...( a Nazi Germany story is stamped with ‘official sadness’)....based on a true story.
So my appreciation for the author is there, too.
...The storytelling had high moments and mediocre moments.
If you LOVED “The Nightingale”, by Kristen Hannah .... and enjoyed Hannah’s writing....
then you’ll probably love this book, too.
But...
if things bothered you in Hannah’s book, like exaggeration melodrama...
then this book might feel like a ‘style re-visit’ when reading “Daughter of The Reich”.
Please note... I didn’t hate this novel. I can understand readers engrossed - transported -
engaged - and moved....
invested in the characters lives, their trial and tribulations... rooting for their survival and happiness.
I did a little of these things too...
But...
I admit to being a little jaded.
It took too long to tell - a story of which 80% I’ve read dozens plus times before. ( even from the point of view being German as opposed to being Jewish).....
‘not’ a first pony ride.
In the hands of the right reader... this book will be 5 stars.
3.5 to a slim 4 star rating, from me.
December 12, 2021
Daughter of the Reich takes place in Germany during the 1930’s, life is good for the Heinrich family and they have just moved into a beautiful house in Leipzig. Hetty's father is a busy man, Hetty, her mother and her brother Karl don’t question what the head of the household is up to, he works hard for their family and very long days. Hetty attends school at the local gymnasium, here she’s taught what every teenage German girl needs to know, the curriculum has been changed and it’s all about making Germany great again and they're being brainwashed.
Hetty starts to have doubts, she maybe a spoiled teenage girl, but she can’t understand why Jewish people are being treated so badly and she knows some nice Jewish families. Hetty almost drowned when she was eight her brother’s best friend Walter saved her and he is Jewish. But Karl, cuts all ties with Walter, his childhood friend is shunned and he’s no longer welcome at their house. Hetty also learns the shocking truth about her father’s job he’s working for the SS and how he obtained the house the family is living in.
The brown shirts start targeting innocent Jewish people, including children and older people. Their property is taken from them, they are bashed in the street, publicly humiliated, charged a fortune to try to get a passport and to leave the country. It’s very interesting to read about the German perspective as they head towards fighting in another world war, its scary what they think is necessary and right.
Hitler had a plan for human progression, it’s not just Jewish people he wanted to eliminate, he wanted to create a super race, of pure Aryan blood, he believed this will stop crime, hereditary diseases, insanity and create scientific advancement. Hetty is horrified to discover her father also believes this, he thinks Hetty should marry a German man and produce perfect blond haired blue eyed pure Aryan babies. Hetty has major issues with what her father wants her to do, she hopes to finish school and dreams of being a doctor, she doesn’t want to be used as a German brood mare and she has fallen in love with Walter, he's Jewish and every time they meet they risk being arrested.
I couldn’t stop reading Daughter of The Reich, the book is very different to other WW II historical fiction I have read and I really liked it. The story is about two young people trying to go against the Nazi tide, finding the courage to keep going as they fight to survive and try desperately to be together. I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review, five stars from me, and I have shared my review on Goodreads, Amazon Australia, Kobo, Edelweiss, Twitter and my blog. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
Hetty starts to have doubts, she maybe a spoiled teenage girl, but she can’t understand why Jewish people are being treated so badly and she knows some nice Jewish families. Hetty almost drowned when she was eight her brother’s best friend Walter saved her and he is Jewish. But Karl, cuts all ties with Walter, his childhood friend is shunned and he’s no longer welcome at their house. Hetty also learns the shocking truth about her father’s job he’s working for the SS and how he obtained the house the family is living in.
The brown shirts start targeting innocent Jewish people, including children and older people. Their property is taken from them, they are bashed in the street, publicly humiliated, charged a fortune to try to get a passport and to leave the country. It’s very interesting to read about the German perspective as they head towards fighting in another world war, its scary what they think is necessary and right.
Hitler had a plan for human progression, it’s not just Jewish people he wanted to eliminate, he wanted to create a super race, of pure Aryan blood, he believed this will stop crime, hereditary diseases, insanity and create scientific advancement. Hetty is horrified to discover her father also believes this, he thinks Hetty should marry a German man and produce perfect blond haired blue eyed pure Aryan babies. Hetty has major issues with what her father wants her to do, she hopes to finish school and dreams of being a doctor, she doesn’t want to be used as a German brood mare and she has fallen in love with Walter, he's Jewish and every time they meet they risk being arrested.
I couldn’t stop reading Daughter of The Reich, the book is very different to other WW II historical fiction I have read and I really liked it. The story is about two young people trying to go against the Nazi tide, finding the courage to keep going as they fight to survive and try desperately to be together. I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review, five stars from me, and I have shared my review on Goodreads, Amazon Australia, Kobo, Edelweiss, Twitter and my blog. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
April 12, 2020
This is the second book I’ve read in recent months that is set in the pre-World War II time period of the 1930s in Germany, during which Hitler rose to power and Nazism infiltrated every part of the country. Though set in a similar time period, the angle that this book explores is markedly different. The story is told from the perspective of Hetty Heinrich, who, as the daughter of a high-ranking SS officer, was raised to be the perfect German citizen — pure in lineage, patriotic, fiercely loyal to Hitler and the Nazi ideology he espoused. As a dutiful “daughter” of the Thousand Year Reich, Hetty is prepared to do her part — that is, until one day when she is accidentally reunited with Walter Keller, an estranged childhood friend who had saved her from drowning when she was seven years old. To Hetty, Walter is perfect in every way — except for the fact that he is Jewish, and also, as Hetty slowly starts to realize, he goes against every belief she had previously been taught. The two of them end up falling in love and gradually, Hetty realizes everything she thought she understood about her family and country were actually lies, which ignites in her the will to fight against them. When the tides of anti-semitism in Germany escalate to the point where Walter’s mere existence is put into question, Hetty is faced with the ultimate decision to try and save him at all costs.
As is expected when reading historical fiction, the feeling of being transported to a different time and place is one of the things I always look out for, which in this story worked really well. This book’s strongest element though is in the area of character development. We first meet Hetty when she is 7 years old and subsequently follow her development through her teenage years, but what stands out the most is her feisty personality and strong-willed nature. Hetty is a character who both enthralls and frustrates in equal measure, which I guess is what makes her such an interesting character.
Given the historical context, books set against the backdrop of Nazi rule going into World War II are rarely ever “easy” reads and of course, this book was no exception. The sections that described the brutalities inflicted upon Jews (and others who were considered “enemies” of the regime) were difficult to read, yet I understand why such details were necessary to the story. With that said though, I also felt the writing was a bit uneven in certain areas — the narrative was told entirely from Hetty’s first person perspective, yet some sections were descriptive to the point that it didn’t seem to match the voice. I also felt the story dragged a bit in the earlier chapters and it wasn’t until around the halfway mark that the story became much more engaging — though with that said, for me at least, the last section of the book was the strongest in terms of plot, character, and emotional nuance.
Despite some issues with pacing and flow, this was a good story overall, and definitely a worthy entry into the canon of WWII-era fiction, in my opinion. Over the years, I’ve heard many people complain about the over-saturation of WWII era novels in the market and while I agree for the most part, I also feel it’s extremely important for these stories to continue to be told, if anything, to serve as a lesson for us and future generations, that history cannot be forgotten.
Received ARC from William Morrow (HarperCollins) via Bookbrowse First Impressions program
June 8, 2020
Set in Germany during the 1930’s as the Nazis solidified their power, this is an unforgettable, powerful, and heartbreaking coming of age story.
Hetty Heinrich is the young daughter of a high ranking SS officer. Since childhood, she has been fed Nazi propaganda and believes what she has been taught. However, Hetty is also in love with a former friend of her brother, a young man who is Jewish. As the atmosphere in Germany slowly begins to change and become more restrictive and anti-semetic, Hetty starts to doubt the things she has been taught. Feelings of fear and suspicion are palpable. As tension builds, Hetty is faced with choices that will change her life forever.
This is a beautifully written novel about loyalty, friendship, courage, and survival. It is also a story about love which transcends even the darkest of times. It will bring you to tears. The epilogue is especially poignant. The characters are clearly believable, and the sense of place is vivid. Ms. Fein’s meticulous research sheds light on this period of time in German history. I could not put this book down, and it’s one I won’t soon forget.
Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, and author Louise Fein for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of this outstanding and unforgettable novel of historical fiction!
Hetty Heinrich is the young daughter of a high ranking SS officer. Since childhood, she has been fed Nazi propaganda and believes what she has been taught. However, Hetty is also in love with a former friend of her brother, a young man who is Jewish. As the atmosphere in Germany slowly begins to change and become more restrictive and anti-semetic, Hetty starts to doubt the things she has been taught. Feelings of fear and suspicion are palpable. As tension builds, Hetty is faced with choices that will change her life forever.
This is a beautifully written novel about loyalty, friendship, courage, and survival. It is also a story about love which transcends even the darkest of times. It will bring you to tears. The epilogue is especially poignant. The characters are clearly believable, and the sense of place is vivid. Ms. Fein’s meticulous research sheds light on this period of time in German history. I could not put this book down, and it’s one I won’t soon forget.
Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, and author Louise Fein for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of this outstanding and unforgettable novel of historical fiction!
February 9, 2020
I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. Thank you to William Morrow. This was a really good book. It is about the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer during WW2. Hetty Heinrich knows only what she's been brought up to believe, which is idolizing Hitler and believing in his hatred of the Jews. She falls in love with a Jewish boy who is a friend of her brothers . In time her brother walks away from the friendship with the boy but Hetty loves him. She realizes that she does not agree with everything her father stands for. If you like historical fiction about WW2 I highly recommend this book.
April 5, 2020
Hetty Heinrich is the daughter of a high ranking SS officer, her mother and older brother Karl have just moved from a flat to a three story house with a garden. She is loyal to her family and to Hitler, as she has been bought up to be a good German girl.
When Hetty was 7 she nearly drowned, Karl’s best friend Walter rescued her but he is a Jew and is considered a second class citizen who they should not mix with.
Hetty meets up with Walter years later and is instantly attracted to him, but their relationship is one that has to be kept secret. Hetty starts to doubt all that she had been bought up to believe. How can her love for Walter be a sin just because he is a Jew? With the Jews being rounded up and sent to concentration camps she knows she will have to save Walter.
This is such an emotional book, the story comes to life and I actually felt the fear every time Hetty and Walter met up, scared that they would be punished for their actions!!
A must read book that will capture you’re heart!!
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
When Hetty was 7 she nearly drowned, Karl’s best friend Walter rescued her but he is a Jew and is considered a second class citizen who they should not mix with.
Hetty meets up with Walter years later and is instantly attracted to him, but their relationship is one that has to be kept secret. Hetty starts to doubt all that she had been bought up to believe. How can her love for Walter be a sin just because he is a Jew? With the Jews being rounded up and sent to concentration camps she knows she will have to save Walter.
This is such an emotional book, the story comes to life and I actually felt the fear every time Hetty and Walter met up, scared that they would be punished for their actions!!
A must read book that will capture you’re heart!!
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
May 8, 2020
People Like us (or Daughter of the Reich in some markets) by Louise Fein is the heartbreaking story of a love affair between a Nazi girl and a Jewish boy, set in the backdrop of the event of Kristellnacht in the town of Leipzig in Nazi Germany.
The story is narrated by a girl, the protagonist, who is born to a high ranking member of the Schutzstaffel. As expected, she is fed anti-Semitic views since birth. But when she falls in love with a Jew, she really understands the motives of the Nazis and their inhuman ideology. Thus begins the transformation of a young Nazi mind and its ability to see right from wrong.
With a very clear message of never forgetting the lessons we have learned from history, this book is a must read, especially in the current scenario when the world is again witnessing similar situations of false sense of nationalism leading the youth to believe in fake promises and blaming the minorities for anything and everything.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.
Verdict: Highly recommended
The story is narrated by a girl, the protagonist, who is born to a high ranking member of the Schutzstaffel. As expected, she is fed anti-Semitic views since birth. But when she falls in love with a Jew, she really understands the motives of the Nazis and their inhuman ideology. Thus begins the transformation of a young Nazi mind and its ability to see right from wrong.
With a very clear message of never forgetting the lessons we have learned from history, this book is a must read, especially in the current scenario when the world is again witnessing similar situations of false sense of nationalism leading the youth to believe in fake promises and blaming the minorities for anything and everything.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.
Verdict: Highly recommended
June 30, 2020
I won this book in a GR Giveaway but never received it - probably due to COVID 19/PO Box issues. So I finally grabbed it from SCRIBD. This was a grippingly intense book, telling the story of the changing, growing POV of the protagonist, a daughter of an SS agent and giving a larger than life account of various people's existence living in Germany under the Third Reich.
A chilling and rather timely-told tale, it is terrifying to see how easily manipulable hate and fear and ignorance truly is and how it can be such an utter force of destruction. It also shines a light on the ability for people to find and own their humanity and courage, even in the face of almost insurmountable odds. I loved this book!
A chilling and rather timely-told tale, it is terrifying to see how easily manipulable hate and fear and ignorance truly is and how it can be such an utter force of destruction. It also shines a light on the ability for people to find and own their humanity and courage, even in the face of almost insurmountable odds. I loved this book!
May 27, 2021
Foarte tare mi-a plăcut. Complex și foarte bine documentat
May 8, 2020
People Like Us is a stunning piece of historical fiction set around the Second World War and its impact around the globe. 8 May, 2020, marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) day when the brutal Nazi war machine ground to a halt as they surrendered to the Allies. There are innumerable ways of remembering and honouring those who took part in the wartime action. The reason I mention this is due to the fact that this book is set in Wartime Germany and gives a fascinating account of what life was like on the for those supportive of the evil regime. It centres around Herta (Hetty) Heinrich and a man named Walter who form a friendship after Walter saved her from drowning many years prior. Hetty and her brother Karl are pure-bred Germans but Walter is, unfortunately, a Jew with this, of course, determining his treatment despite calling Germany home. The siblings' father is a high-ranking Nazi and member of the SS with many secrets to hide. Hetty and Walter fall madly in love with one another and Hetty is forced to question the ideology she has long held dear. But what will come forth from her re-evaluation?
This is a tale of forbidden romance set against the backdrop of persecution, genocide and eugenics. It is one of the most emotional, moving, realistic and believable WWII epics I have ever read which makes it impossible not to fly through the pages hoping for a happy ending. However, the ending is full of sadness and anger. The cast of characters was engaging with every character having a distinctive personality and a defined place in the story. Spanning a ten year period between 1929 and 1939 the plot serves to highlight the Nazi regime and its cruel ways. The fact that it is based on real-life events makes it even more compulsive. The number of children who didn't know any better and who were brainwashed and indoctrinated is considerable and I wonder exactly what happened to each of them. All in all, this is an original, refreshing and heart-rending novel and one that has been researched extensively. A highly recommended atmospheric page-turner. Many thanks to Aria for an ARC.
This is a tale of forbidden romance set against the backdrop of persecution, genocide and eugenics. It is one of the most emotional, moving, realistic and believable WWII epics I have ever read which makes it impossible not to fly through the pages hoping for a happy ending. However, the ending is full of sadness and anger. The cast of characters was engaging with every character having a distinctive personality and a defined place in the story. Spanning a ten year period between 1929 and 1939 the plot serves to highlight the Nazi regime and its cruel ways. The fact that it is based on real-life events makes it even more compulsive. The number of children who didn't know any better and who were brainwashed and indoctrinated is considerable and I wonder exactly what happened to each of them. All in all, this is an original, refreshing and heart-rending novel and one that has been researched extensively. A highly recommended atmospheric page-turner. Many thanks to Aria for an ARC.
April 29, 2020
Based on a true story.
Hetty is the daughter of a high ranking SS officer. Walter is a Jew and their neighbour. This story starts when Walter and Holly were innocent children and Walter had rescued Hetty from drowning. Then the Nazt regime begins and friendship had turned to forbidden live. Her brother is in the Luftwaffe. Hetty was a member of the BMD.
This is a story of love, sorrow, confusion, anger and frustration and I felt everyone of them along with Hetty. German students were brainwashed into believing the life they were to lead. I enjoyed reading this from the point of view of a German character through pre war to post war and the struggles she found herself going through. Reading this story brought tears to my eyes. You must read the authors note as it brings to life the story of her own past.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Aria and the author Louise Fein for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Hetty is the daughter of a high ranking SS officer. Walter is a Jew and their neighbour. This story starts when Walter and Holly were innocent children and Walter had rescued Hetty from drowning. Then the Nazt regime begins and friendship had turned to forbidden live. Her brother is in the Luftwaffe. Hetty was a member of the BMD.
This is a story of love, sorrow, confusion, anger and frustration and I felt everyone of them along with Hetty. German students were brainwashed into believing the life they were to lead. I enjoyed reading this from the point of view of a German character through pre war to post war and the struggles she found herself going through. Reading this story brought tears to my eyes. You must read the authors note as it brings to life the story of her own past.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Aria and the author Louise Fein for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 25, 2020
I did enjoy the novel, but I broke my arm and shoulder and I’m not capable of writing a review at the moment.
October 17, 2021
Fiica Reichului a fost o ficțiune istorică cu mare impact pentru mine. Toate cărțile care pornesc de la un adevăr sunt așa.
Aici privim viața naziștilor in umbra celui de al doilea război mondial. Privim cum sunt excluși treptat evreii din drepturi, cum suferă, cum sunt trimiși in lagăre de concentrare.. cum mor. Cum sunt uciși.
Încă mi-e greu să înțeleg cum un popor așa versat ca germanii au ajuns să extermine ceea ce credeau ei a fi “rasa inferioară”. E un subiect sensibil și azi, încă asimilez și eu informații.
Autoarea a vrut să prezinte situația din punctul de vedere al nazistilor și execuția a fost foarte bună. Ne-a băgat într-o familie germană, vorbind despre o tânăra germană și cum a fost pentru ea perioada aceea - la școală, pe stradă, în comunitate - oriunde - erau controlați de Hitler.
La scoala studiau Mein Kampf de cel putin 3 ori, cântau cântece patriotice, nu studiau cărți interzise - care ar fi putut să le dea idei tinerilor - iar evreii erau ridiculizați că arătau în nu știu ce fel.
În contextul acesta ni se prezintă povestea lui Hetty Heinrich, nazista și a lui Walter, evreul. O poveste de dragoste sinceră și plină de peripeții.
S-au ascuns, s-au iubit, el a fost bătut, ea a suferit.. și tot așa. Autoarea a fost foarte explicita arătând gândurile ei.. și am văzut și din el mai multe când ii scria.
Aventura celor doi a devenit din ce in ce mai periculoasa pagina după pagina. Mi-a fost frica pentru ei. Am trăit multe emoții alături de cei doi adolescenți.
M-am împăcat si eu cu situația la un moment dat, nu ai cum altfel.
Am terminat cartea, am lăcrimat putin și am stat putin să mă gândesc.. că ce s a întâmplat in carte chiar a fost parte a realității. Mii și mii de oameni omorâți fiindcă s-au născut evrei.
Ura a fost mare.
Iar cartea asta a conturat foarte bine tot ce a însemnat să fii evreu înainte de Al Doilea Război Mondial.
Cu astea spuse, cred că iau o pauza de la ficțiuni istorice.. afectează într-un alt mod, dar sigur voi mai citi și alte cărți despre acea perioada 😄
Aici privim viața naziștilor in umbra celui de al doilea război mondial. Privim cum sunt excluși treptat evreii din drepturi, cum suferă, cum sunt trimiși in lagăre de concentrare.. cum mor. Cum sunt uciși.
Încă mi-e greu să înțeleg cum un popor așa versat ca germanii au ajuns să extermine ceea ce credeau ei a fi “rasa inferioară”. E un subiect sensibil și azi, încă asimilez și eu informații.
Autoarea a vrut să prezinte situația din punctul de vedere al nazistilor și execuția a fost foarte bună. Ne-a băgat într-o familie germană, vorbind despre o tânăra germană și cum a fost pentru ea perioada aceea - la școală, pe stradă, în comunitate - oriunde - erau controlați de Hitler.
La scoala studiau Mein Kampf de cel putin 3 ori, cântau cântece patriotice, nu studiau cărți interzise - care ar fi putut să le dea idei tinerilor - iar evreii erau ridiculizați că arătau în nu știu ce fel.
În contextul acesta ni se prezintă povestea lui Hetty Heinrich, nazista și a lui Walter, evreul. O poveste de dragoste sinceră și plină de peripeții.
S-au ascuns, s-au iubit, el a fost bătut, ea a suferit.. și tot așa. Autoarea a fost foarte explicita arătând gândurile ei.. și am văzut și din el mai multe când ii scria.
Aventura celor doi a devenit din ce in ce mai periculoasa pagina după pagina. Mi-a fost frica pentru ei. Am trăit multe emoții alături de cei doi adolescenți.
M-am împăcat si eu cu situația la un moment dat, nu ai cum altfel.
Am terminat cartea, am lăcrimat putin și am stat putin să mă gândesc.. că ce s a întâmplat in carte chiar a fost parte a realității. Mii și mii de oameni omorâți fiindcă s-au născut evrei.
Ura a fost mare.
Iar cartea asta a conturat foarte bine tot ce a însemnat să fii evreu înainte de Al Doilea Război Mondial.
Cu astea spuse, cred că iau o pauza de la ficțiuni istorice.. afectează într-un alt mod, dar sigur voi mai citi și alte cărți despre acea perioada 😄
May 11, 2020
It is the 1930s, pre-war Germany. At the start of the book, we meet twelve-year old Hetty Heinrich, her brother Karl and his best friend Walter. In a few years, the rise of Hitler and the spread of Nazism start to overtake their lives. Hetty’s father is rising in the ranks of the SS and Karl is following in his footsteps. At first, Hetty is taken by the promises of Hitler and vows to also follow in line believing the propaganda. At age sixteen, her friendship with Walter reignites and grows into love. Walter is Jewish and his family is suffering. He educates Hetty about all the lies she’s been told and she quickly learns that everything her family stands for is wrong.
The tender love story between Hetty and Walter reminded me of Romeo and Juliet as all odds were against them. Seeing the rise of Nazism through the eyes of a German girl offers an interesting and different perspective to the WWII oriented books that are generally written. I enjoyed Daughter of the Reich – it has a YA (Young Adult) feel which may serve well to reach younger readers who need to be reminded of this horrible period in history. Worth reading for all ages.
Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins/William Morrow and the author for an advance copy.
Review posted at MicheleReader.com.
The tender love story between Hetty and Walter reminded me of Romeo and Juliet as all odds were against them. Seeing the rise of Nazism through the eyes of a German girl offers an interesting and different perspective to the WWII oriented books that are generally written. I enjoyed Daughter of the Reich – it has a YA (Young Adult) feel which may serve well to reach younger readers who need to be reminded of this horrible period in history. Worth reading for all ages.
Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins/William Morrow and the author for an advance copy.
Review posted at MicheleReader.com.
May 19, 2020
PEOPLE LIKE US
BY LOUISE FEIN
Also published as DAUGHTER OF THE REICH
When I was initially reading this historical novel about antisemitism as it existed in Leipzig, Germany during the early years of Hitler's hate propaganda around 1937, and 1938; I was asking myself inwardly why I was reading such a depressing subject during these difficult times. The author at the end establishes that she has written this novel with the viewpoint that firstly her ancestors lived through these brutal atrocities and that what happened back then is happening today. Not literally Auschwitz and deportations but the loss of democracy and the precariousness of freedoms and rights that we take for granted. Also the theme to illuminate the lessons of the past must never be forgotten. She powerfully demonstrates the atmosphere of telling her story through the eyes of a German family with heartbreaking accuracy as their views of being superior than the Jewish population who were every bit as German but sadly were not afforded equality during those years.
The Author has done meticulous research by reading and interviewing people about the facts in which her own ancestors experienced. This was written from the perspective of being told in the first person of a young German girl named Hetty whose life was saved by her older brother's friend Walter a boy who saves Hetty from drowning. Hetty's family has moved into a larger home with antiques and artwork whom belonged to a Jewish family. Hetty doesn't know this at first and it is Walter whom her brother has shunned because he is Jewish but he and Hetty fall in love and meet in secret. It is Walter who tells Hetty that he is just as German as she is and all people have the capacity to be good and bad. Hetty's father and mother are against Jewish people and this story was very hard to read at times as pre-war Germany during the two years that this takes place are antisemitic and the hatred of Jewish people was hard to read about. The beatings and words like pigs and swine used by Hetty's mother and father towards any ethnic background besides pure blooded Aryan born was difficult but necessary to portraying what happened during 1937 and 1938 in Germany. The raids and property and businesses that were stolen because of non Aryan ethnic differences were the backdrop of Hetty and Walter's secret love. Anybody that even considered going against Hitler's lies and pure hate that was the sentiment during that time period risked arrest, being killed or sent off to a concentration camp.
Walter and Hetty meet in secrecy and their love is beautiful but forbidden. Walter goes to England under the terms that he has to marry Anna a girl he has never met. Hetty's father is a high ranking SS officer who Hetty finds out he has a mistress and a child with. Hetty blackmails her father about exposing his second family if he doesn't use his money and influences to get Walter released from a camp where he and his father and Uncle were sent during a raid and roundup of the Jewish men. Her father with much resentment and anger towards his daughter agrees but he never forgives Hetty. That aspect of Hetty selflessly saving Walter and sending him away to marry Anna was a representation that not all the German people were out for their own gain and showed that Hetty sacrificed her true love by saving Walter's life. Her best friend Erna and Erna's family were part of a minority that also didn't blindly fall for Hitler's propaganda and they represented a respite from the cruelty and blind world at large.
After Walter is gone Hetty is faced with a predicament at sixteen years old that I won't say as I fear I have already said too much. It may be predictable but I hope that this moving and although difficult subject matter that this book is a powerful and ultimately worth being widely read for its historical realities taking place during this time. I can say that times are difficult now with this pandemic and understand that most people might not want to read anything dark and I know this isn't enjoyable. I will say that it is haunting and unforgettable. For a debut book that the author's own ancestors lived through these times she did an excellent job at characterization and it held my attention. I am grateful that I read it and I think that there were redeeming scenes of beauty and hope overall.
Thank you to Net Galley, Louise Fein and Aria Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.
Publication Date: May 7, 2020
#FightForTheirLove #NetGalley
BY LOUISE FEIN
Also published as DAUGHTER OF THE REICH
When I was initially reading this historical novel about antisemitism as it existed in Leipzig, Germany during the early years of Hitler's hate propaganda around 1937, and 1938; I was asking myself inwardly why I was reading such a depressing subject during these difficult times. The author at the end establishes that she has written this novel with the viewpoint that firstly her ancestors lived through these brutal atrocities and that what happened back then is happening today. Not literally Auschwitz and deportations but the loss of democracy and the precariousness of freedoms and rights that we take for granted. Also the theme to illuminate the lessons of the past must never be forgotten. She powerfully demonstrates the atmosphere of telling her story through the eyes of a German family with heartbreaking accuracy as their views of being superior than the Jewish population who were every bit as German but sadly were not afforded equality during those years.
The Author has done meticulous research by reading and interviewing people about the facts in which her own ancestors experienced. This was written from the perspective of being told in the first person of a young German girl named Hetty whose life was saved by her older brother's friend Walter a boy who saves Hetty from drowning. Hetty's family has moved into a larger home with antiques and artwork whom belonged to a Jewish family. Hetty doesn't know this at first and it is Walter whom her brother has shunned because he is Jewish but he and Hetty fall in love and meet in secret. It is Walter who tells Hetty that he is just as German as she is and all people have the capacity to be good and bad. Hetty's father and mother are against Jewish people and this story was very hard to read at times as pre-war Germany during the two years that this takes place are antisemitic and the hatred of Jewish people was hard to read about. The beatings and words like pigs and swine used by Hetty's mother and father towards any ethnic background besides pure blooded Aryan born was difficult but necessary to portraying what happened during 1937 and 1938 in Germany. The raids and property and businesses that were stolen because of non Aryan ethnic differences were the backdrop of Hetty and Walter's secret love. Anybody that even considered going against Hitler's lies and pure hate that was the sentiment during that time period risked arrest, being killed or sent off to a concentration camp.
Walter and Hetty meet in secrecy and their love is beautiful but forbidden. Walter goes to England under the terms that he has to marry Anna a girl he has never met. Hetty's father is a high ranking SS officer who Hetty finds out he has a mistress and a child with. Hetty blackmails her father about exposing his second family if he doesn't use his money and influences to get Walter released from a camp where he and his father and Uncle were sent during a raid and roundup of the Jewish men. Her father with much resentment and anger towards his daughter agrees but he never forgives Hetty. That aspect of Hetty selflessly saving Walter and sending him away to marry Anna was a representation that not all the German people were out for their own gain and showed that Hetty sacrificed her true love by saving Walter's life. Her best friend Erna and Erna's family were part of a minority that also didn't blindly fall for Hitler's propaganda and they represented a respite from the cruelty and blind world at large.
After Walter is gone Hetty is faced with a predicament at sixteen years old that I won't say as I fear I have already said too much. It may be predictable but I hope that this moving and although difficult subject matter that this book is a powerful and ultimately worth being widely read for its historical realities taking place during this time. I can say that times are difficult now with this pandemic and understand that most people might not want to read anything dark and I know this isn't enjoyable. I will say that it is haunting and unforgettable. For a debut book that the author's own ancestors lived through these times she did an excellent job at characterization and it held my attention. I am grateful that I read it and I think that there were redeeming scenes of beauty and hope overall.
Thank you to Net Galley, Louise Fein and Aria Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.
Publication Date: May 7, 2020
#FightForTheirLove #NetGalley
April 9, 2021
Mi-am dorit mult sa citesc aceasta carte inca de cand a aparut. Este minunat de trista. Ceea ce o face diferita de celelalte romane despre cel de-al doilea război mondial, este ca ne prezintă atmosfera germana nazista inainte de război. Asa aflam ca evreii au început sa fie persecutați inca de prin anii '30. Este interesanta perspectiva expusa din punctul de vedere al unui nazist, m-a impresionat transformarea lui Hetty dintr-o tanara care a învățat de mica ce este ura și căreia i s-a impus o ideologie greșită, intr-o persoana adulta capabila sa se revolte si sa fie de partea binelui. Au fost mulți germani ca ea, dar din păcate nu suficient de puternici ca sa poată schimba ceva. Este o alta lecție de istorie necesara. O recomand absolut.
June 2, 2021
I’m not crying, I just have something in my eyes. This book deserves all the stars in the world.
February 11, 2021
A heart-wrenching story, told from the perspective of an SS officer's daughter. The story begins with Hetty being rescued from drowning by Walter, her brother's best friend. The three of them used to spend a lot of time together, until one day Walter stopped going to her house, because Karl, her brother, didn't want to be friends with him anymore. Hetty was only a child, and she didn't understand why her brother wanted to stay away from his best friend.
The truth came suddenly when they were at school, and the new literature teacher asked a girl and Walter to stand in front of the students. He started explaining how to recognize a Jew, telling the rest of the students that sometimes they could get deceived by their appearance, as was the case of Walter. After humiliating them, the teacher expelled them. Hetty couldn't believe that Walter, so kind, so honest, was a Jew, but she knew, deep inside, that what she felt for him would never go away.
The rest of the story is mainly focused after Hetty and Walter meet again. She's almost 16 and he's 18, and the feeling they had for each other turned into love.
I think it's quite interesting and original to read such a story from another perspective. Hetty was raised to be a perfect German citizen, from the Nazi point of view. To hate the Jews, see herself as a member of a superior human race, and to follow all the atrocious Nazi's ideals. Therefore, when she meets Walter again, all this world starts to fall down.
I really liked this book, although it's been hard to read, because it's such a sad story, and worst of all, it was real. All those people, hated because of their blood, mistreated and condemned to the most barbarous and unforgivable acts. How heinous people can be!
Finally, I'd like to highlight the author's words about how “the lessons of the past must never be forgotten” and how mass media can be a way of propaganda, how the word is widely spread and its consequences. It shouldn't be this way. Mass media is supposed to inform in a neutral way, but we all know that's not how it works. Therefore, we must be critics.
I just hope we have truly learned the lesson. It's quite disturbing to see how the thoughts of the extreme and radical right are flourishing again. Please, don't forget all these people running away from wars, trying to find a better place to live and raise their children, and what do they find? Walls.
We must not forget. We are all the same, it doesn't matter where we come from. It's our behaviour, our acts that differenciate us. There's good and bad in all of us, but we can always do the right thing.
Thanks to Aria / Head of Zeus Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
USA and Canada edition / UK edition
June 6, 2020
The truth of it is that I wished I dnfed this. I do not know what made it so, but at one point I had 12 hours left and was all OMG will this never end?! Yes, I should have given up then.
But I though maybe it will become interesting...but it never did. It could have been half as long. There was a lot of time with Hetty thinking, writing in her journal, reading newspapers and us hearing that. Hearing Hitler's voice in her head. So much that could have been cut, it kept building up and then fizzling to nothing.
I did like that fact that it showed how a perfect normal girl started thinking that Germans deserved better, buying into the rhetoric, and if anyone says but how could she?! Oh, really? People believe the earth is flat cos they read it somewhere, people are stupid sheep. Omg the bullshit people believe today or the people they follow. So yes these days more than anything I fully understand how she was taken in.
But she does see the light when she actually sees the consequences, there is where she differs. While others go along with violence and persecution, she thinks that wtf Hitler, no this is not right! And she wants to do something...but never does.
The romance could have been grander, but fizzled out too, a lot of mooning and why why, then do something!
And the end, I have never been this mad at an ending. I am fine with people dying in war books, I will cry and lament and move on. Here I just got angry cos it was depressing.
It was boring and I wish I had never read it
But I though maybe it will become interesting...but it never did. It could have been half as long. There was a lot of time with Hetty thinking, writing in her journal, reading newspapers and us hearing that. Hearing Hitler's voice in her head. So much that could have been cut, it kept building up and then fizzling to nothing.
I did like that fact that it showed how a perfect normal girl started thinking that Germans deserved better, buying into the rhetoric, and if anyone says but how could she?! Oh, really? People believe the earth is flat cos they read it somewhere, people are stupid sheep. Omg the bullshit people believe today or the people they follow. So yes these days more than anything I fully understand how she was taken in.
But she does see the light when she actually sees the consequences, there is where she differs. While others go along with violence and persecution, she thinks that wtf Hitler, no this is not right! And she wants to do something...but never does.
The romance could have been grander, but fizzled out too, a lot of mooning and why why, then do something!
And the end, I have never been this mad at an ending. I am fine with people dying in war books, I will cry and lament and move on. Here I just got angry cos it was depressing.
It was boring and I wish I had never read it
May 12, 2020
I’ve been in a WWII reading slump for quite some time but I’m always intrigued by novels that take on the era in a more unique approach. Daughter of the Reich was absolutely that book.
Hetty is a young, Aryan girl growing up in Nazi Germany. Her father works for the party and her family is fiercely loyal to Hitler. As Hetty’s father rises in the ranks at the newspaper, so does their social standing and sense of entitlement while the country around them suffers.
A coming of age love story during a horrific time period, we watch as Hetty begins to question her faith in her country and Hitler when she starts to feel a forbidden love.
We see the seeds of hate and intolerance planted and watch as an entire nation fosters them to growth.
We learn how many of the atrocities were hidden from the German people and how the country’s leaders and media manipulated them into becoming complacent.
Well researched and eerily relevant, I definitely recommend this book!
Hetty is a young, Aryan girl growing up in Nazi Germany. Her father works for the party and her family is fiercely loyal to Hitler. As Hetty’s father rises in the ranks at the newspaper, so does their social standing and sense of entitlement while the country around them suffers.
A coming of age love story during a horrific time period, we watch as Hetty begins to question her faith in her country and Hitler when she starts to feel a forbidden love.
We see the seeds of hate and intolerance planted and watch as an entire nation fosters them to growth.
We learn how many of the atrocities were hidden from the German people and how the country’s leaders and media manipulated them into becoming complacent.
Well researched and eerily relevant, I definitely recommend this book!
May 4, 2020
4 WWII Young Love Story Stars
I read quite a bit of historical fiction and this one is from a different perspective, the daughter of an SS officer in Leipzig and most of the book takes place just prior to the start of WWII. Hetty is just a schoolgirl trying to figure out her place in the world and why she should think differently about her Jewish friends.
Her teachers, her parents, and the German press explain that she should not associate with Jews and in fact they are to blame for the current situation in Germany. At first, she is all in with the rise of the Thousand Year Reich, but she starts to question that thinking and begins to think for herself about childhood Jewish friends and those at school.
This one develops into more of a love story and I know some readers prefer historical fiction without that element. There’s also drama, danger, and violence – as in most WWII novels. The love story has impossible odds, but I could not help but root for it at the same time.
Hetty is an interesting character and I enjoyed the journey with her, and I especially liked the epilogue at the end of the book. This one did a good job explaining the buildup to the war.
Thank you to author Louise Fein, NetGalley, and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read an early copy of this one in return for an honest review. This one is scheduled for release 5.12.2020.
I read quite a bit of historical fiction and this one is from a different perspective, the daughter of an SS officer in Leipzig and most of the book takes place just prior to the start of WWII. Hetty is just a schoolgirl trying to figure out her place in the world and why she should think differently about her Jewish friends.
Her teachers, her parents, and the German press explain that she should not associate with Jews and in fact they are to blame for the current situation in Germany. At first, she is all in with the rise of the Thousand Year Reich, but she starts to question that thinking and begins to think for herself about childhood Jewish friends and those at school.
This one develops into more of a love story and I know some readers prefer historical fiction without that element. There’s also drama, danger, and violence – as in most WWII novels. The love story has impossible odds, but I could not help but root for it at the same time.
Hetty is an interesting character and I enjoyed the journey with her, and I especially liked the epilogue at the end of the book. This one did a good job explaining the buildup to the war.
Thank you to author Louise Fein, NetGalley, and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read an early copy of this one in return for an honest review. This one is scheduled for release 5.12.2020.
September 17, 2020
I’m not raving about this one like a lot of other people but enjoyed it enough to go with 3 stars. Told from the POV of a young girl Hetty, we are in Leipzig, Germany, just before the start of WWII. Hetty nearly drowned when she was younger and Walter, a friend of her older brother Karl, saved her and she develops an affection for Walter that just won’t go away. Only trouble is Walter is Jewish. Hetty’s father is climbing the ranks of the SS and Hetty and Karl like other youths are soaking up the Nazi propaganda of the time so it’s unthinkable that Hetty would risk continuing any sort of relationship with Walter, especially after Karl has shunned him. Or is it?
Don’t get me wrong, it is quite a good debut novel. I did turn the pages and was keen to find out what was going to happen. I liked the fact that it is set mostly in 1937 and 1938 and we get good insights into how young people were indoctrinated with a devotion to Hitler and a hatred against Jews. For me though, it was too long and the romantic aspect and the main issue were fairly obvious and predictable and I don’t think it adds a huge amount to the body of work around WWII historical fiction. As an aside, I reckon it could also be marketed or classified as YA. A big gripe with me was the ending, I have seen this type of ending a few times in other books and it bugs me every time. I have a feeling I am in the minority on that view. I have read other reviews that said they really liked the Epilogue.
Would I recommend this book? Mmmmm, probably not. But it might be best if you read the synopsis and also read some other reviews as it has a very high overall rating on Goodreads. I see it is being compared to and ‘for lovers of’, All The Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale. I would caution that it is not up to the quality and standard of these two books so don’t expect that.
Don’t get me wrong, it is quite a good debut novel. I did turn the pages and was keen to find out what was going to happen. I liked the fact that it is set mostly in 1937 and 1938 and we get good insights into how young people were indoctrinated with a devotion to Hitler and a hatred against Jews. For me though, it was too long and the romantic aspect and the main issue were fairly obvious and predictable and I don’t think it adds a huge amount to the body of work around WWII historical fiction. As an aside, I reckon it could also be marketed or classified as YA. A big gripe with me was the ending, I have seen this type of ending a few times in other books and it bugs me every time. I have a feeling I am in the minority on that view. I have read other reviews that said they really liked the Epilogue.
Would I recommend this book? Mmmmm, probably not. But it might be best if you read the synopsis and also read some other reviews as it has a very high overall rating on Goodreads. I see it is being compared to and ‘for lovers of’, All The Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale. I would caution that it is not up to the quality and standard of these two books so don’t expect that.
December 15, 2020
Herta (Hetty) Heinrich's life changes when her father moves up along the ranks of the Nazi party. Her once humble home is replaced with a bigger & better one, her father takes charge of the local newspaper and she is afforded more freedoms. Growing up, she does not question Nazi ideology but all that changes when she runs into an old childhood friend of her brother Karl, Walter. Walter used to be around her house often until he was not welcome anymore. Walter is Jewish and Hetty needs to stay away from him. Against all that Hetty has been taught, she keeps meeting Walter in secret and falling in love. As tensions intensify, Hetty will have to choose between her heart or her country.
Having previously read a number of books dealing with Nazi Germany, I now read them more sporadically. While Daughter of the Reich was not all that different from books I have read in the past, it was a well rendered story. Hetty has known Walter since she was a child, he even saved Hetty from drownig once. When its found out that he is Jewish, Hetty's brother Karl cuts contact with him and he is not welcome at their home anymore. Hetty runs into him when she is older and begins to meet with him in secret. Both are running a huge risk for he is Jewish and she is the daughter of a high ranking officer of the Nazi party, but they are unable to live without each other. As anti-semitism is on the rise, the stakes of their relationship become much more dangerous.
As I said before, this narrative is not all that different from other novels about Nazi Germany and war but it is well done. It has a nice pace and the the narrative flows nicely. While some details were not surprising, as a whole, the narrative was well thought out. What I enjoyed most was the characterization. No character was one-note, even when certain aspects about them were predictable. In particular, Hetty's development was to my liking as she goes from suceptible girl to brave woman unwilling to accept all she has been taught. A coming-of-age-book, a romance and a war story, this was a well executed book. The ending I liked very much. The fact that Fein was inspired by her own family history, adds to the appeal of reading this book. Touching, moving and heartbreking, this is a great book.
Having previously read a number of books dealing with Nazi Germany, I now read them more sporadically. While Daughter of the Reich was not all that different from books I have read in the past, it was a well rendered story. Hetty has known Walter since she was a child, he even saved Hetty from drownig once. When its found out that he is Jewish, Hetty's brother Karl cuts contact with him and he is not welcome at their home anymore. Hetty runs into him when she is older and begins to meet with him in secret. Both are running a huge risk for he is Jewish and she is the daughter of a high ranking officer of the Nazi party, but they are unable to live without each other. As anti-semitism is on the rise, the stakes of their relationship become much more dangerous.
As I said before, this narrative is not all that different from other novels about Nazi Germany and war but it is well done. It has a nice pace and the the narrative flows nicely. While some details were not surprising, as a whole, the narrative was well thought out. What I enjoyed most was the characterization. No character was one-note, even when certain aspects about them were predictable. In particular, Hetty's development was to my liking as she goes from suceptible girl to brave woman unwilling to accept all she has been taught. A coming-of-age-book, a romance and a war story, this was a well executed book. The ending I liked very much. The fact that Fein was inspired by her own family history, adds to the appeal of reading this book. Touching, moving and heartbreking, this is a great book.
July 4, 2021
Hetty Heinrich is een Duitse 7 jarige meid als ze van de verdrinkingsdood gered wordt door Walter, een vriend van haar oudere broer Karl.Ze groeit op en het gezin verhuist van een kleine woning naar een statig huis,dat ze eigenlijk op onrechtmatige manier verkregen hebben .Er verandert veel in de wereld in korte tijd, mensen verdwijnen, in klassen worden kinderen beoordeeld naar ras ,mensen durven niet meer hun mening verkondigen , verliezen hun huis, hun baan.
Hetty is bevriend met Erna, haar moeder houdt zich bezig met allerlei liefdadigheidswerken voor de SS ( maar niet met haar dochter) en voor haar vader staat Hitler op de 1ste plaats. Waar er in het begin nog sprake is van een vriendschap tussen Walter en Karl ,begint die ook af te brokkelen want Walter is een Jood en een vriendschap is dus niet passend..
De haat tussen de Nazi's en de Joden is enorm.
Hetty gelooft in 1ste instantie haar familie ,maar is ook gecharmeerd door Walter ,die toch haar redder was en die een heel andere visie heeft.
Ze ontmoet hem stiekem en hij vertelt haar ontzettende dingen , hoe de Nazi's de Joden behandelen .Eerst is er ongeloof ,maar langzamerhand ziet ze dat hij de waarheid spreekt en wil ze hem helpen.
Haar gevoelens voor hem brengen haar in tweestrijd, brengen haar zelfs in gevaar.
Ze ontdekt dingen over haar vader die haar in vertwijfeling brengen, de wereld rondom haar wordt steeds gevaarlijker en ze wil en moet een oplossing vinden om Walter te redden. Ze zet alles op het spel .
Haar vriendin Erna waar ze lang twijfels over gehad heeft zal uiteindelijk een grote rol in haar leven spelen.
Dit boek is een grote aanrader. Er zijn passages zoals o.a. de Kristallnacht die me bij de strot hebben gegrepen en me altijd zullen bijblijven. Het is zeer filmisch geschreven en er zijn herhaaldelijk traantjes gevloeid.
Voor mij een boek over oorlog, maar ook over liefde, over verzet, over moed.
5 *
Hetty is bevriend met Erna, haar moeder houdt zich bezig met allerlei liefdadigheidswerken voor de SS ( maar niet met haar dochter) en voor haar vader staat Hitler op de 1ste plaats. Waar er in het begin nog sprake is van een vriendschap tussen Walter en Karl ,begint die ook af te brokkelen want Walter is een Jood en een vriendschap is dus niet passend..
De haat tussen de Nazi's en de Joden is enorm.
Hetty gelooft in 1ste instantie haar familie ,maar is ook gecharmeerd door Walter ,die toch haar redder was en die een heel andere visie heeft.
Ze ontmoet hem stiekem en hij vertelt haar ontzettende dingen , hoe de Nazi's de Joden behandelen .Eerst is er ongeloof ,maar langzamerhand ziet ze dat hij de waarheid spreekt en wil ze hem helpen.
Haar gevoelens voor hem brengen haar in tweestrijd, brengen haar zelfs in gevaar.
Ze ontdekt dingen over haar vader die haar in vertwijfeling brengen, de wereld rondom haar wordt steeds gevaarlijker en ze wil en moet een oplossing vinden om Walter te redden. Ze zet alles op het spel .
Haar vriendin Erna waar ze lang twijfels over gehad heeft zal uiteindelijk een grote rol in haar leven spelen.
Dit boek is een grote aanrader. Er zijn passages zoals o.a. de Kristallnacht die me bij de strot hebben gegrepen en me altijd zullen bijblijven. Het is zeer filmisch geschreven en er zijn herhaaldelijk traantjes gevloeid.
Voor mij een boek over oorlog, maar ook over liefde, over verzet, over moed.
5 *
February 21, 2021
Please, oh please, write more books Louise!!! I’m blown away by this beautiful story!! The perspective of a young German non-Jewish protagonist was enlightening! Her courage left me in awe. I won’t be forgetting this book any time soon! Please read it! So many applications for our day. Well done, just exceptionally well done!!
April 29, 2023
DAUGHTER OF THE REICH
BY LOUISE FEIN
When I was initially reading this historical novel about antisemitism as it existed in Leipzig, Germany during the early years of Hitler's hate propaganda around 1937, and 1938; I was asking myself inwardly why I was reading such a depressing subject during these difficult times. The author at the end establishes that she has written this novel with the viewpoint that firstly her ancestors lived through these brutal atrocities and that what happened back then is happening today. Not literally Auschwitz and deportations but the loss of democracy and the precariousness of freedoms and rights that we take for granted. Also the theme to illuminate the lessons of the past must never be forgotten. She powerfully demonstrates the atmosphere of telling her story through the eyes of a German family with heartbreaking accuracy as their views of being superior than the Jewish population who were every bit as German but sadly were not afforded equality during those years.
The Author has done meticulous research by reading and interviewing people about the facts in which her own ancestors experienced. This was written from the perspective of being told in the first person of a young German girl named Hetty whose life was saved by her older brother's friend Walter a boy who saves Hetty from drowning. Hetty's family has moved into a larger home with antiques and artwork whom belonged to a Jewish family. Hetty doesn't know this at first and it is Walter whom her brother has shunned because he is Jewish but he and Hetty fall in love and meet in secret. It is Walter who tells Hetty that he is just as German as she is and all people have the capacity to be good and bad. Hetty's father and mother are against Jewish people and this story was very hard to read at times as pre-war Germany during the two years that this takes place are antisemitic and the hatred of Jewish people was hard to read about. The beatings and words like pigs and swine used by Hetty's mother and father towards any ethnic background besides pure blooded Aryan born was difficult but necessary to portraying what happened during 1937 and 1938 in Germany. The raids and property and businesses that were stolen because of non Aryan ethnic differences were the backdrop of Hetty and Walter's secret love. Anybody that even considered going against Hitler's lies and pure hate that was the sentiment during that time period risked arrest, being killed or sent off to a concentration camp.
Walter and Hetty meet in secrecy and their love is beautiful but forbidden. Walter goes to England under the terms that he has to marry Anna a girl he has never met. Hetty's father is a high ranking SS officer who Hetty finds out he has a mistress and a child with. Hetty blackmails her father about exposing his second family if he doesn't use his money and influences to get Walter released from a camp where he and his father and Uncle were sent during a raid and roundup of the Jewish men. Her father with much resentment and anger towards his daughter agrees but he never forgives Hetty. That aspect of Hetty selflessly saving Walter and sending him away to marry Anna was a representation that not all the German people were out for their own gain and showed that Hetty sacrificed her true love by saving Walter's life. Her best friend Erna and Erna's family were part of a minority that also didn't blindly fall for Hitler's propaganda and they represented a respite from the cruelty and blind world at large.
After Walter is gone Hetty is faced with a predicament at sixteen years old that I won't say as I fear I have already said too much. It may be predictable but I hope that this moving and although difficult subject matter that this book is a powerful and ultimately worth being widely read for its historical realities taking place during this time. I can say that times are difficult now with this pandemic and understand that most people might not want to read anything dark and I know this isn't enjoyable. I will say that it is haunting and unforgettable. For a debut book that the author's own ancestors lived through these times she did an excellent job at characterization and it held my attention. I am grateful that I read it and I think that there were redeeming scenes of beauty and hope overall.
Thank you to Net Galley, Louise Fein and Aria Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.
Publication Date: May 12, 2020
#DaughteroftheReich #NetGalley
BY LOUISE FEIN
When I was initially reading this historical novel about antisemitism as it existed in Leipzig, Germany during the early years of Hitler's hate propaganda around 1937, and 1938; I was asking myself inwardly why I was reading such a depressing subject during these difficult times. The author at the end establishes that she has written this novel with the viewpoint that firstly her ancestors lived through these brutal atrocities and that what happened back then is happening today. Not literally Auschwitz and deportations but the loss of democracy and the precariousness of freedoms and rights that we take for granted. Also the theme to illuminate the lessons of the past must never be forgotten. She powerfully demonstrates the atmosphere of telling her story through the eyes of a German family with heartbreaking accuracy as their views of being superior than the Jewish population who were every bit as German but sadly were not afforded equality during those years.
The Author has done meticulous research by reading and interviewing people about the facts in which her own ancestors experienced. This was written from the perspective of being told in the first person of a young German girl named Hetty whose life was saved by her older brother's friend Walter a boy who saves Hetty from drowning. Hetty's family has moved into a larger home with antiques and artwork whom belonged to a Jewish family. Hetty doesn't know this at first and it is Walter whom her brother has shunned because he is Jewish but he and Hetty fall in love and meet in secret. It is Walter who tells Hetty that he is just as German as she is and all people have the capacity to be good and bad. Hetty's father and mother are against Jewish people and this story was very hard to read at times as pre-war Germany during the two years that this takes place are antisemitic and the hatred of Jewish people was hard to read about. The beatings and words like pigs and swine used by Hetty's mother and father towards any ethnic background besides pure blooded Aryan born was difficult but necessary to portraying what happened during 1937 and 1938 in Germany. The raids and property and businesses that were stolen because of non Aryan ethnic differences were the backdrop of Hetty and Walter's secret love. Anybody that even considered going against Hitler's lies and pure hate that was the sentiment during that time period risked arrest, being killed or sent off to a concentration camp.
Walter and Hetty meet in secrecy and their love is beautiful but forbidden. Walter goes to England under the terms that he has to marry Anna a girl he has never met. Hetty's father is a high ranking SS officer who Hetty finds out he has a mistress and a child with. Hetty blackmails her father about exposing his second family if he doesn't use his money and influences to get Walter released from a camp where he and his father and Uncle were sent during a raid and roundup of the Jewish men. Her father with much resentment and anger towards his daughter agrees but he never forgives Hetty. That aspect of Hetty selflessly saving Walter and sending him away to marry Anna was a representation that not all the German people were out for their own gain and showed that Hetty sacrificed her true love by saving Walter's life. Her best friend Erna and Erna's family were part of a minority that also didn't blindly fall for Hitler's propaganda and they represented a respite from the cruelty and blind world at large.
After Walter is gone Hetty is faced with a predicament at sixteen years old that I won't say as I fear I have already said too much. It may be predictable but I hope that this moving and although difficult subject matter that this book is a powerful and ultimately worth being widely read for its historical realities taking place during this time. I can say that times are difficult now with this pandemic and understand that most people might not want to read anything dark and I know this isn't enjoyable. I will say that it is haunting and unforgettable. For a debut book that the author's own ancestors lived through these times she did an excellent job at characterization and it held my attention. I am grateful that I read it and I think that there were redeeming scenes of beauty and hope overall.
Thank you to Net Galley, Louise Fein and Aria Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.
Publication Date: May 12, 2020
#DaughteroftheReich #NetGalley
April 12, 2020
I am in awe - a debut novel that is so extremely enjoyable that I found it really difficult to put down. The story starts in 1929 in Germany and we are following Hetty Heinrich, a seven year old girl, for the next ten years till August 1939 - book stops just couple days before the outbreak of the World War II. Hetty is a daughter of a SS associate and is raised in the atmosphere of almost fanatical devotion to Hitler. Everything changes when she meets Walter - a Jewish boy that used to be a friend of her brother. Somewhat cheesy, teenage love is a beginning of a very important transformation in her life.
I love when books are doing awful things to the protagonists and observe how they will adjust and adapt. Sprinkle it with a bitter-sweet ending and I will gobble it up as fast as I can. This book is a great, thought-provoking entertainment that made me want to re-read it immediately after finishing. Read it - you won't regret it.
I love when books are doing awful things to the protagonists and observe how they will adjust and adapt. Sprinkle it with a bitter-sweet ending and I will gobble it up as fast as I can. This book is a great, thought-provoking entertainment that made me want to re-read it immediately after finishing. Read it - you won't regret it.
February 25, 2020
I read a lot of World War II fiction and this is a different look at the war than what is normally written. This book takes place in Germany before the war and gives a view of how many of the German people revered Hitler and thought that he was the only person that could save their country. Most of the people who disagreed with this opinion were sent to 'work camps' or murdered on the street.
Hetty is the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi official. She lives in a huge house with her father, her mother who spends her time working with charities and her brother. The novel begins in 1933 when Hetty is 12. She attends BDM (The League of German Girls or Band of German Maidens (German: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth.) meetings and believes her father that Hitler is the only way for Germany to be saved. She wants to do whatever she can to help Germany succeed and is enthralled with Hitler as a leader. UNTIL... she sees Walter again. Walter had been a friend to her brother and she had a crush on him after he saved her from drowning when she was very young. When she finds out that Walter is really Jewish, despite having Aryan features, she knows that he is an enemy to her beloved country. When she sees him again and starts to talk to him, her world is turned upside down and she begins to wonder if all she has been taught has been a lie - are Jews really being prosecuted, are people being treated cruelly, are Jewish people starving? All of these questions begin to prey on her mind as her relationship with Walter grows stronger even though she knows that she will be severely punished if they are ever seen together. As she decides who to believe and tries to save Walter and his family, her life at home is becoming more difficult and the possibility of exposure is getting stronger as she realizes that someone is following her. Will hatred cause the end of Hetty's love for Walter or will love overcome all of the hate?
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Hetty is the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi official. She lives in a huge house with her father, her mother who spends her time working with charities and her brother. The novel begins in 1933 when Hetty is 12. She attends BDM (The League of German Girls or Band of German Maidens (German: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth.) meetings and believes her father that Hitler is the only way for Germany to be saved. She wants to do whatever she can to help Germany succeed and is enthralled with Hitler as a leader. UNTIL... she sees Walter again. Walter had been a friend to her brother and she had a crush on him after he saved her from drowning when she was very young. When she finds out that Walter is really Jewish, despite having Aryan features, she knows that he is an enemy to her beloved country. When she sees him again and starts to talk to him, her world is turned upside down and she begins to wonder if all she has been taught has been a lie - are Jews really being prosecuted, are people being treated cruelly, are Jewish people starving? All of these questions begin to prey on her mind as her relationship with Walter grows stronger even though she knows that she will be severely punished if they are ever seen together. As she decides who to believe and tries to save Walter and his family, her life at home is becoming more difficult and the possibility of exposure is getting stronger as she realizes that someone is following her. Will hatred cause the end of Hetty's love for Walter or will love overcome all of the hate?
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
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