From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Black Roses: A captivating novel of intrigue and survival in pre-war Berlin

Jane Thynne

Start date: February 14, 2019

Finish date: March 7, 2019

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: A buddy read for February - a thriller set in 1930s Berlin.
[close] A buddy read for February - a thriller set in 1930s Berlin.

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Buddy reads

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What Members Thought

Feb 22, 2019 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: _can-t-finish-won-t-finish, espionage-action-suspense-thriller, ww1-ww2

Ms Thynne obviously didn't want to waste a single bit of research. Not. One. Bit. It weighs the story down -& that is the main reason I'm giving up on this novel. I feel like I have been reading it forever!

I have other peeves.

❁I make no secret of being very shallow - good cover art is very important to me. My edition has dark haired, olive skinned Clara as a blonde with a tanned back.

Black Roses (Clara Vine, #1) by Jane Thynne

Jars every time I look at it!

❁ Flat characters

❁ After a good beginning there is a l ...more

34 likes · Like · see review

Jul 11, 2013 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is an interesting novel, set in 1930's Berlin and concentrating on the women of the Third Reich. Clara Vine is the daughter of politician Sir Ronald Vine; but although she looks like an English Rose, her beloved mother was German. Somehow she feels she has never quite fitted into her family's view of the world and is an aspiring, if not very successful, actress. One day, at a party with the long term boyfriend (or possibly 'bore' friend) that she suddenly finds she wants very much to be rid This is an interesting novel, set in 1930's Berlin and concentrating on the women of the Third Reich. Clara Vine is the daughter of politician Sir Ronald Vine; but although she looks like an English Rose, her beloved mother was German. Somehow she feels she has never quite fitted into her family's view of the world and is an aspiring, if not very successful, actress. One day, at a party with the long term boyfriend (or possibly 'bore' friend) that she suddenly finds she wants very much to be rid of, she meets Rupert Allingham. He suggests she try auditioning for his friend, producer Max Townsend's, new film "Black Roses", which is to be shot at the famous Ufa studios outside Berlin. Armed with just a name she decides to try her luck.

However, on arrival in Germany, Clara is in for a few shocks. When she gets to the studio, Townsend is nowhere to be found, actors are fleeing to Hollywood and Goebbels has taken over the film industry. Befriended by young actress Helga Schmitt, Clara decides to try to make a success of things and soon attracts the unwanted attention of Sturmhauptfuhrer Klaus Muller, who works for Geobbels and the wife of Dr Goebbels herself. Magda Goebbels has been asked to organise a display of German fashions for the new Reich and she wishes Clara to model for her. As Clara is both horrified by what she sees, and yet hopeful of work, she finds herself caught up in political intrigue.

Overall, this is a very interesting take on this time and it is a great idea to view things through the eyes of the women involved; especially Magda Goebbels, who was such an interesting character and whose life could have, so easily, taken a different turn. I was not quite convinced by Clara herself, feeling she ran off to Germany on a very flimsy promise and also that Magda befriended her a little too easily. However, saying that, the whole novel was a delight. It is an era that fascinates me and I hope the author (whose husband Phillip Kerr writes the wonderful Bernie Gunther novels) will write more books in this era, as I feel that Clara might just come into her own in a second book. ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Aug 04, 2016 Linda Boa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-for-blog

Good start to what looks like a promising series, with a likeable and courageous heroine, and lots of juicy details about the home lives of the Nazi elite and their wives, just after Hitler has become Chancellor. Magda Goebbels takes centre stage amongst the wives, befriending Clara Vine, the main character, as she has no friends she can trust not to report back to her husband. Clara has gone to Germany on a whim, and as her mother was German and she's fluent, she manages to get work on a film. ...more

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Feb 16, 2019 Jill rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: jill-s-fifth-year-challenge-plan

This started well with a prologue that really grabbed my attention, but then it just went flat. It did pick up towards the end , but by that time I was page counting to get to the end. Ending wasn't bad. ...more

1 like · Like · see review