Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, War
Moderate: Cursing, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Forced institutionalization
Three women in Nazi Germany find themselves at a home for mothers in the countryside. Gundi, a college student pregnant with a Jewish man's baby, must hide her child's parentage while participating in a program intended to breed perfect Aryan babies. Irma is a middle-aged nurse who finds herself working for the Lebensborn Society after a relationship crumbles. Although she is largely ambivalent about the society's aims, she comes to enjoy the opportunity to help pregnant women deliver their babies. In time, Lebensborn's questionable practices lead Irma to change her way of thinking about her place in the world. Lastly is Hilde, an eighteen-year-old girl who considers herself lucky to have attracted the attention of an older, married officer, and is honored to be carrying his child. Their time at the Lebensborn home challenges each of these women in different ways, as they are forced to confront a future wildly different than what they had imagined.
This historical novel is richly detailed, and centers around a little-known aspect of Nazi Germany. The story pulled me in right from the introduction to the characters, and I had to keep reading to find out how they ended up at the Lebensborn home. Gundi is the only one of the three main characters who is anti-Nazi right from the beginning of the novel. I liked that, through Hilde and Irma's perspective, one could see how Germans at the time could justify the horrendous actions of their government. We need more World War Two books with morally complicated characters - even though I didn't agree with Irma's all-out love for the Nazi party, I still cared about her as a character and sympathized with her journey, in part because she's so young and is just repeating what she's heard for so much of her life. It was interesting to see Irma's transformation, too - from ambivalence to a determination to do some good. While the characters were all well-developed, I felt that there wasn't a lot of change in them throughout the novel. Even for Irma, who went through the most personal change throughout the book, these changes were minimalized to the point that they didn't seem very convincing. The ending of the novel was somewhat abrupt and unsatisfying, particularly for Hilde - her story seemed very unfinished, and I'm not really sure what the point of her story arc was apart from showing a different perspective. However, the novel overall was very compelling and readable, and offers a unique viewpoint on Nazi Germany.
This historical novel is richly detailed, and centers around a little-known aspect of Nazi Germany. The story pulled me in right from the introduction to the characters, and I had to keep reading to find out how they ended up at the Lebensborn home. Gundi is the only one of the three main characters who is anti-Nazi right from the beginning of the novel. I liked that, through Hilde and Irma's perspective, one could see how Germans at the time could justify the horrendous actions of their government. We need more World War Two books with morally complicated characters - even though I didn't agree with Irma's all-out love for the Nazi party, I still cared about her as a character and sympathized with her journey, in part because she's so young and is just repeating what she's heard for so much of her life. It was interesting to see Irma's transformation, too - from ambivalence to a determination to do some good. While the characters were all well-developed, I felt that there wasn't a lot of change in them throughout the novel. Even for Irma, who went through the most personal change throughout the book, these changes were minimalized to the point that they didn't seem very convincing. The ending of the novel was somewhat abrupt and unsatisfying, particularly for Hilde - her story seemed very unfinished, and I'm not really sure what the point of her story arc was apart from showing a different perspective. However, the novel overall was very compelling and readable, and offers a unique viewpoint on Nazi Germany.
This was an excellent historical fiction into the social atrocities of the Nazi regime and the “secret” lebensborn program. This was a fairly quick read and I only give it four stars just because some of the scenes I felt were unnecessarily graphic. Great read!
I always think I’ve read all the wwii historical fiction there is, or at least that all topics have been covered. This was new for me. While I’d heard about the Lebensborn program, this was much more detail than I’d had before.
The ending felt much too abrubt and felt like we didn’t finish the stories of a few of the characters. Overall a good story ruined a bit by a rushed ending.
The ending felt much too abrubt and felt like we didn’t finish the stories of a few of the characters. Overall a good story ruined a bit by a rushed ending.
Jennifer Coburn's novel sheds light on the mostly untold Lebensborn program that the Nazi regime had, in order to make "racially pure" children. The story was told in three alternating perspectives -- those of Gundi, Irma, and Hilde. I can tell you that I absolutely despised Hilde, which I'm quite sure was the point. She is a loyal Nazi and finds herself trying to impress everyone she comes into contact with. The other two characters, Irma and Gundi, I really enjoyed reading about, and how their participation in the Lebensborn program came to be. I was interested in the story from the beginning and wanted to know more about the characters, their fates. The story moved at a good pace, but I felt like the ending was abrupt. I wanted just a bit more at the end. Overall, this was incredibly well-researched and an insightful look into a part of history we don't hear much about.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
While this is a fictional novel, it's based on very non fictional events. Disturbing but well written.
Read this for one of my local library's reading challenges.
Read this for one of my local library's reading challenges.
Love the historical fiction aspect of this. I felt the characters were underdeveloped and I never felt a connection with any of them.
The author of the book reached out to me about reviewing the book so even though my copy came via NetGalley, these thoughts are my own.
Cradles of the Reich is a middle of the road book for me and here is why:
What I thought author, Jennifer Coburn, did really well was bring to light a lesser know Nazi program called The Lebensborn Program. In short, this program identified "racially valuable" German women and paired them with "racially valued" German men to produce a "superior race" that was free from defects. What can I say? The Nazis really were crazy. Being the subject of the book, makes this book a valuable addition to the WWII Historical Fiction world. I had some basic background knowledge of the book and because Cradles of the Reich went into more details I struggled to put it down.
Coburn tells the story of three German girls/women and their experiences within the Lebensborn Program. The author does a stellar job at making the reader feel outraged at the pro-Nazi speak and the clear insanity of it all, but in an effort to tell the story from three main characters some character development is lost along the way and the ending comes very abruptly.
In terms of Hildie, I didn't get any closure for her as a character.
Irma, whom I found insufferable at the beginning has a change of heart by the end but I couldn't quite figure out where that happens---I would have liked to see her character fleshed out a bit more and read a more impactful reason for her shift in headspace. Her change was dramatic but I couldn't figure out why she changed.
And I'm going to need another novel about Gundi.
Overall I think it's a great addition to shelf so 3.5/5 rounded up to 4.
Cradles of the Reich is a middle of the road book for me and here is why:
What I thought author, Jennifer Coburn, did really well was bring to light a lesser know Nazi program called The Lebensborn Program. In short, this program identified "racially valuable" German women and paired them with "racially valued" German men to produce a "superior race" that was free from defects. What can I say? The Nazis really were crazy. Being the subject of the book, makes this book a valuable addition to the WWII Historical Fiction world. I had some basic background knowledge of the book and because Cradles of the Reich went into more details I struggled to put it down.
Coburn tells the story of three German girls/women and their experiences within the Lebensborn Program. The author does a stellar job at making the reader feel outraged at the pro-Nazi speak and the clear insanity of it all, but in an effort to tell the story from three main characters some character development is lost along the way and the ending comes very abruptly.
In terms of Hildie, I didn't get any closure for her as a character.
Irma, whom I found insufferable at the beginning has a change of heart by the end but I couldn't quite figure out where that happens---I would have liked to see her character fleshed out a bit more and read a more impactful reason for her shift in headspace. Her change was dramatic but I couldn't figure out why she changed.
And I'm going to need another novel about Gundi.
Overall I think it's a great addition to shelf so 3.5/5 rounded up to 4.
Cradles of the Reich was an interesting read about the Lebensborn program… temporary homes for German woman to create “racially pure” children. There are so many crazy ideas that the Nazis had and this was one of them. I’d heard a bit about the program a few times in reading about WWII, but this is the most in-depth story I’ve read regarding it. The story is told from the point of view of 3 women. The first, Gunde, is a young pregnant woman chosen to come to one of the homes to stay healthy and deliver her baby. She hides a secret that could be devastating for her if discovered. The second, Hilde, is a teenager who falls for a older, married Nazi officer and is excited when she becomes pregnant with his baby. He pulls some strings to get her into the home. She’s thrilled to be “doing her duty” to her country and Hitler by bringing a “racially pure” child into the world. The last, Irma, is a nurse who comes to work in the home after feeling betrayed by her boyfriend. The way the German government convinced citizens to hate Jews, people who had mental or physical problems, and anyone else who did not live up to their standards was insane. It’s amazing how people could be brainwashed like that. In addition, though, people who refused to stand by and allow fellow humans to suffer did some heroic things to help as many as possible.
The book was one that I enjoyed reading for the most part. Unfortunately, the ending seemed to wrap up too quickly and left some loose threads as to what happened to several people. I could see a sequel and hope the author decides to write one. This book caught my attention as another part of this time period I’d briefly heard of but not read much about. I’m glad I decided to give this one a go written by a new-to-me author.
The book was one that I enjoyed reading for the most part. Unfortunately, the ending seemed to wrap up too quickly and left some loose threads as to what happened to several people. I could see a sequel and hope the author decides to write one. This book caught my attention as another part of this time period I’d briefly heard of but not read much about. I’m glad I decided to give this one a go written by a new-to-me author.