The German Wife: An absolutely gripping and heartbreaking WW2 historical novel, inspired by true events

Product Information

This is a fabulously written story it really will pull at your heartstrings and have you thinking about how you would have coped during these terrible times, I really felt for Sofi and Jürgen and what they went through and I wonder what more could they have done and I know that there will always be questions about the atrocities that happened, but my heart went out to them. Lizzie for me was a very different character a little harder for me to like but she really did have a hard time as well, will what happens in Huntsville change people’s thinking and in what way. Germany, 1930s: Edith holds the letter in a trembling hand, her eyes fixed on the eagle carrying the terrifying symbol in its claws. The summons from the Gestapo is everything she has dreaded for months. She tells herself she has nothing to fear. She has done nothing wrong.... While women in East Germany were encouraged to participate in the workforce, this was not the case in West Germany, where a woman's primary role was understood to be at home, taking care of her family. In recent years, more women are working for pay. Although most women are employed, many work part-time; in the European Union, only the Netherlands and Austria have more women working part-time. [21] When it came to Lizzie and her brother Henry, they grew up in Texas and suffered greatly due to the Dust Bowl and the depression. Now in 1950s Alabama they are neighbors to Jürgen and Sofie. They hear the grumbling that goes on that Jürgen was possibly part of the Nazi regime. But hopefully they’ll lead separate lives and she will do her best to fight any prejudice where she might be naturally inclined. Her worries are for her brother Henry, as he is suffering from his time in the war, to the point that she learns that it might be combat fatigue and this is flavoring a lot of his actions. This in some ways affects how she views anyone that is in America that has come from Germany.

I loved this story so much and highly recommend it, there are lots of issues raised in this book and I am sure that book clubs will have many a late night talking about it, thank you for another keeper.Historical fiction fans will not want to miss THE GERMAN WIFE, but be aware readers will also learn of more horrors during WWII and the lingering effects it had on American servicemen. 5/5 a b Andreas Klärner (22 July 2015). "The low importance of marriage in eastern Germany – social norms and the role of peoples' perceptions of the past" (PDF). Demographic Research. pp.239–272. The maternal mortality rate in Germany is 7 deaths/100,000 live births (as of 2010). [29] The HIV/AIDS rate is 0.1% of adults (aged 15–49) – estimates of 2009. [30] Just like the timeline made for a pleasant change, so did the perspective. We have had WWII historical fiction from multiple points of view: American, English, Polish, Danish, Italian and French. But very few venture into the core of the war, into Germany. Even within these, there are multiple perspectives possible: the Nazis, the commoners, the resistance fighters, the East Germans who struggled with the Russian takeover after the official end to the war,… This book focusses on one of the least common perspectives: the unwilling German Nazi. While it doesn’t handle it perfectly, it still does a pretty good job of it.

In this dual-timeline narrative, Rimmer even-handedly presents events from two very diverse perspectives. Parallels between Sofie’s and Lizzie’s lives, while not necessarily obvious to them, become more apparent as the story progresses. s - Lizzie and her brother Henry leave Texas when their farm goes bust and their parents die. After years of drifting Lizzie marries a nice man even though she does not love him. Henry appears to have bi-polar which would not have had a name at the time but he is able to join the army and is shipped overseas. He is obviously increasingly erratic when he comes home from the war.Harvey, Elizabeth. "Visions of the volk: German women and the far right from Kaiserreich to Third Reich." Journal of women's History 16.3 (2004): 152-167 online.

I used to think that I would never show sympathy for an SS officer until I read this book. Hans's actions, his decisions to save himself and his wife, aroused in me a wave of worries and fear, and sometimes simply led to bewilderment. It is 1950s Alabama and now Sofie and her two children have joined Jürgen, as he was one of well over 1000 German scientists, engineers, and other top specialties, who were pardoned and brought to the US for the space program, and it was called Operation Paperclip. Lizzie Miller’s husband Calvin was the manager at the space program and Jürgen was one of his employees. As one of the American wives who now has to live among German wives, we start to see things from her point of view.

Lizzie’s story focuses on her love for her brother, Henry, who suffers from depression and eventually PTSD after serving in Germany during the War. Lizzie and Henry hate that the German scientists who were members of the Nazi party are allowed to work freely in the United States. While Sofie is trying to rebuild a life in America, Lizzie is determined to make it difficult for her. Lizzie’s mentally unstable brother adds even more tension to the situation since he believes Jurgen is out to get him. The American families are naturally suspicious of the German families and even some of the German families are not welcoming to their German neighbors.

Many thanks to Graydon House | Harlequin Trade Publishing | HarperCollins for the opportunity to read The German Wife in advance of its June 28, 2022 publication.

During The Great Depression, in a little town called Oakden, Lizzie and her parents and her older brother Henry lived on a farm. The farm was loosing money but the family was desperately trying to keep it in their possession. Then great dust storms appeared and seeped into every nook and cranny it could find. The streams and ponds dried up. One particularly bad dust storm caused tragedy to find its way onto Lizzie’s family farm. Lizzie and Henry were forced to leave the farm and reinvent themselves in El Paso, Texas. Whilst still at heart, a love story, this book had the power to evoke so many feelings, that I’m sure I won’t have felt the same way about it as the last reader, nor the next. It really is a journey you need to make for yourself and see where it leads you!