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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
This book is on a fascinating topic, and one I've been studying and writing about myself for the last three years. I was excited to read this novel and get another writer's take. I appreciated the three perspectives of very different women, which capture the indoctrination and also the casual acceptance of many German people of the time.
I was perplexed that the stories did not weave together. Two of the them do, but the third dangles, as if it's not part of the same narrative at all.
There were also some inaccuracies about Lebensborn, which very few people living today would catch. The biggest one is that misconceptions about the program are reinforced, that it was a place where girls came to learn how to woo SS men. The reality was a bit different and more convoluted, but just as dark.
Overall, I'm happy to see any author take on the enormous subject of Lebensborn, which is still little known. It was a dark and frightening eugenics program cloaked in bureaucracy. Doing the research required to write this book is a fascinating rabbit hole and it's always fun to see another hunter down there with me.
I was perplexed that the stories did not weave together. Two of the them do, but the third dangles, as if it's not part of the same narrative at all.
There were also some inaccuracies about Lebensborn, which very few people living today would catch. The biggest one is that misconceptions about the program are reinforced, that it was a place where girls came to learn how to woo SS men. The reality was a bit different and more convoluted, but just as dark.
Overall, I'm happy to see any author take on the enormous subject of Lebensborn, which is still little known. It was a dark and frightening eugenics program cloaked in bureaucracy. Doing the research required to write this book is a fascinating rabbit hole and it's always fun to see another hunter down there with me.
3.5. Interesting historical research, but I found the characters to be less developed than I would have liked. Their motives seemed unclear and their shifts in beliefs were way too quick to truly present their struggles. I liked the rotation between characters, but each character also needed more of a background story to understand them.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have read many books in this time period. However, I am not familiar with Nazi-run breeding homes or The Lebensborn Society. Jennifer really did bring to life the story of these three women, Gundi, Irma, and Hilde. I truly felt for them and what they were going through.
Because Gundi was the first one introduced in this book, I felt an instant connection with her. It did not change, so you could say I had the strongest connection out of the three women with her. Although, this is not to say that Hilde and Irman did not play big parts in this book as well.
Once I started reading, I did find myself getting lost in a good way. This book was a fast read for me. Readers who enjoy reading historical fiction will want to pick up a copy of this book. Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn is not to be missed!
Because Gundi was the first one introduced in this book, I felt an instant connection with her. It did not change, so you could say I had the strongest connection out of the three women with her. Although, this is not to say that Hilde and Irman did not play big parts in this book as well.
Once I started reading, I did find myself getting lost in a good way. This book was a fast read for me. Readers who enjoy reading historical fiction will want to pick up a copy of this book. Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn is not to be missed!
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn
I remember first learning about the Lebensborn Society maternity homes from the same television program that that author mentions in her afterward. I spent time researching what I could when I learned of it. The program was far reaching in the ways it intruded into the lives of others, all for the goal of "racial hygiene".
We follow three fictional women who become cogs in the wheels of this program. One young woman, Gundi, is pregnant by the Jewish man she loves but she hides that fact as she is whisked off, against her will, to bear what is supposed to be a "racially pure" baby. The other young woman, Hilde, is a pregnant zealot for the madman that is destroying lives and people, she is a true believer and willing to do most things for her country. The third woman, Irma, is forty two, has burned bridges in her current life, so takes a job at the same breeding home in Bavaria where the other two young pregnant women have been taken.
Gundi could lose everything if her secret is found out, she's already lost almost everything. Hilde soon realizes that her situation isn't the wonderful setup she thought it was and she has to make some desperate choices to even salvage undesirable solutions. Irma sees that no matter how low things have sunk in her life, that she wants to at least make the time the girls are with her as good as they can be. But she can dig even deeper when the time comes and give even more. I enjoyed her awakening and the way she sees the past differently than she thought it was before she found out about this program.
I do wish the story didn't end so quickly, with so much left unsaid and unknown. The ending felt rushed, with much left dangling, unanswered. But the story is a good one and I felt for each woman, even misguided Hilde.
***The program that addresses this subject is The Man in the High Castle (TV series).
Pub October 11th 2022
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this ARC.
I remember first learning about the Lebensborn Society maternity homes from the same television program that that author mentions in her afterward. I spent time researching what I could when I learned of it. The program was far reaching in the ways it intruded into the lives of others, all for the goal of "racial hygiene".
We follow three fictional women who become cogs in the wheels of this program. One young woman, Gundi, is pregnant by the Jewish man she loves but she hides that fact as she is whisked off, against her will, to bear what is supposed to be a "racially pure" baby. The other young woman, Hilde, is a pregnant zealot for the madman that is destroying lives and people, she is a true believer and willing to do most things for her country. The third woman, Irma, is forty two, has burned bridges in her current life, so takes a job at the same breeding home in Bavaria where the other two young pregnant women have been taken.
Gundi could lose everything if her secret is found out, she's already lost almost everything. Hilde soon realizes that her situation isn't the wonderful setup she thought it was and she has to make some desperate choices to even salvage undesirable solutions. Irma sees that no matter how low things have sunk in her life, that she wants to at least make the time the girls are with her as good as they can be. But she can dig even deeper when the time comes and give even more. I enjoyed her awakening and the way she sees the past differently than she thought it was before she found out about this program.
I do wish the story didn't end so quickly, with so much left unsaid and unknown. The ending felt rushed, with much left dangling, unanswered. But the story is a good one and I felt for each woman, even misguided Hilde.
***The program that addresses this subject is The Man in the High Castle (TV series).
Pub October 11th 2022
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this ARC.
The synopsis and the cover really grabbed my attention. This was a fantastic book and I really enjoyed reading it. I just wish there had been an epilogue letting us know what happened to each of the main characters after. Did they survive and find happiness and love?