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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
This was a fascinating read about the wife of a German scientist who was employed by the US government space program after WWII, his past in Nazi Germany erased. We see their life in 1950s Alabama and flashbacks from Germany from the early 30s to the end of WWII.
Jurgen, a rocket scientist, is pretty much forced to join the Nazi ranks and build weapons from them. We get flashback chapters where we see how he and Sofie fight to keep their integrity and morals while playing the part of the good Nazis to protect their family. First they try to escape from Germany, but they are stopped and threatened so he has to join the supposed Space Program of the Nazis. Towards the end of the war, Jurgen is forced to join the SS - we see him initially decline, which leads to him being tortured and Sofie imprisoned and they only give in when the Nazis threaten to torture their children as well.
Are they innocent because they don’t believe in the ideology, or are they guilty because they comply with all this? There is a scene in the book, where Jurgen talks about how his rockets could kill dozens of families, and how him protecting his own family would lead to that. He goes on to question how justified is his protecting his family, when that leads to killing thousands of others.
The book also features Lizzie, the wife of Jurgen’s boss now in America, and while I found some of her initial chapters interesting, after a while I skipped her chapters to read about Sofie and Jurgen, finding them much more interesting and frankly likeable given all circumstances.
The book really makes you think about what you would have done if you found yourself in Sofie and Jurgen’s shoes. We all like to think that if we lived during WWII we would be the heroes that would go and liberate Auschwitz ourselves,but would we, really? Our would we comply, knowing that we’re powerless to do so and scared of the punishment for our defiance.
In their first meeting, Sofie and Lizzie have an argument and Sofie brings up segregation and how similar that is to antisemitism. Lizzie gets defensive, saying that it’s horrible but not the same as concentration camps.
But is it, really? Segregation is just the beginning, before things potentially escalate. In the book it’s shown how Jews gradually lose their rights in Nazi Germany. In an alternate world, the same could happen to Black people. And of course, racism is not something that has been solved even today.
I loved how the book showed the gradual descent to Nazi Germany. In the beginning Sofie is shocked to learn that the Nazis, a fringe party has gotten into parliament. It really makes you think about all those fringe far right parties that have ended up in power even today. We don’t take them seriously, but then again they didn’t take the Nazi party in the beginning either.
I also found Sofie’s oldest children, Georg and Laura, to be very tragic characters. We see them from toddlers that grow up with Mayim, Sofie’s Jewish best friend, as their second mother, to brainwashed Hitler Youth that would die for him. Ultimately, Georg is killed in a battle at only 15 years old and Laura ends up staying behind in Germany, too indoctrinated in the Nazi ideology to join her “traitor” parents in the United States.
This also makes Sofie and Jurgen tragic heroes, as they kill themselves morally by complying with the Nazi regime to protect their children, only to end up losing them anyway.
Jurgen, a rocket scientist, is pretty much forced to join the Nazi ranks and build weapons from them. We get flashback chapters where we see how he and Sofie fight to keep their integrity and morals while playing the part of the good Nazis to protect their family. First they try to escape from Germany, but they are stopped and threatened so he has to join the supposed Space Program of the Nazis. Towards the end of the war, Jurgen is forced to join the SS - we see him initially decline, which leads to him being tortured and Sofie imprisoned and they only give in when the Nazis threaten to torture their children as well.
Are they innocent because they don’t believe in the ideology, or are they guilty because they comply with all this? There is a scene in the book, where Jurgen talks about how his rockets could kill dozens of families, and how him protecting his own family would lead to that. He goes on to question how justified is his protecting his family, when that leads to killing thousands of others.
The book also features Lizzie, the wife of Jurgen’s boss now in America, and while I found some of her initial chapters interesting, after a while I skipped her chapters to read about Sofie and Jurgen, finding them much more interesting and frankly likeable given all circumstances.
The book really makes you think about what you would have done if you found yourself in Sofie and Jurgen’s shoes. We all like to think that if we lived during WWII we would be the heroes that would go and liberate Auschwitz ourselves,but would we, really? Our would we comply, knowing that we’re powerless to do so and scared of the punishment for our defiance.
In their first meeting, Sofie and Lizzie have an argument and Sofie brings up segregation and how similar that is to antisemitism. Lizzie gets defensive, saying that it’s horrible but not the same as concentration camps.
But is it, really? Segregation is just the beginning, before things potentially escalate. In the book it’s shown how Jews gradually lose their rights in Nazi Germany. In an alternate world, the same could happen to Black people. And of course, racism is not something that has been solved even today.
I loved how the book showed the gradual descent to Nazi Germany. In the beginning Sofie is shocked to learn that the Nazis, a fringe party has gotten into parliament. It really makes you think about all those fringe far right parties that have ended up in power even today. We don’t take them seriously, but then again they didn’t take the Nazi party in the beginning either.
I also found Sofie’s oldest children, Georg and Laura, to be very tragic characters. We see them from toddlers that grow up with Mayim, Sofie’s Jewish best friend, as their second mother, to brainwashed Hitler Youth that would die for him. Ultimately, Georg is killed in a battle at only 15 years old and Laura ends up staying behind in Germany, too indoctrinated in the Nazi ideology to join her “traitor” parents in the United States.
This also makes Sofie and Jurgen tragic heroes, as they kill themselves morally by complying with the Nazi regime to protect their children, only to end up losing them anyway.
Another 5 star read by one of my favorite authors. I went into this story blind, and it was not at all what I expected it to be. Rimmer will make you think when reading this book and you will be captivated by the storyline from the very first chapter. She dives into the choices that people make in impossible situations, what one will do to keep their family together, and has you contemplate whether you can just "erase" parts of the past without repercussions.
This story alternates between the perspectives of two women before and after the war. First we have Sofie who is the wife of a German rocket scientist. She arrives in Alabama to a community who is hostile towards her presence and her husband's involvement with Nazi Germany. Then we have Lizzie, a farmer's daughter who grew up in the American depression and like many others, was struggling to get by. She marries a wealthy, older American scientist who helps her "lost" brother enlist in the American army. After the war, Lizzie remains shocked that her husband is willing to work with these German scientists and her brother, being a vet, feels the same. Lizzie and Sofie's paths cross, and despite having two completely different lives, we learn that the parallels of their journeys are quite similar.
All historical fiction fans should read this book and learn from it. If WWII books are not your primary interest, this is a great book to start with as many chapters take place in the US and it's not as heavily focused on the fighting itself. It's touching, intense and emotional and dives into the hardships and prejudices in life before the war. Also, I found it really interested that Rimmer brings up the segregated south and how that compares to the Holocaust.
Many thanks to HTP for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: 6/28/22
This story alternates between the perspectives of two women before and after the war. First we have Sofie who is the wife of a German rocket scientist. She arrives in Alabama to a community who is hostile towards her presence and her husband's involvement with Nazi Germany. Then we have Lizzie, a farmer's daughter who grew up in the American depression and like many others, was struggling to get by. She marries a wealthy, older American scientist who helps her "lost" brother enlist in the American army. After the war, Lizzie remains shocked that her husband is willing to work with these German scientists and her brother, being a vet, feels the same. Lizzie and Sofie's paths cross, and despite having two completely different lives, we learn that the parallels of their journeys are quite similar.
All historical fiction fans should read this book and learn from it. If WWII books are not your primary interest, this is a great book to start with as many chapters take place in the US and it's not as heavily focused on the fighting itself. It's touching, intense and emotional and dives into the hardships and prejudices in life before the war. Also, I found it really interested that Rimmer brings up the segregated south and how that compares to the Holocaust.
Many thanks to HTP for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: 6/28/22
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:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
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
tense
medium-paced
Depressing and heartbreaking. Usually these books are filled with tragedy and hope, but this book was just sad and at times hard to read.
Jürgen Rhodes was forced to work along with Hitler’s plans in 1930s Berlin. A brilliant scientist, they were hoping to use Jürgen in their developing rocket program. A top-secret program. His choices when it came to joining the SS were taken away from him.P. At what point does Jürgen say no? In fact, can he decline? Sadly, Jürgen powers on, despite this being a part of something he hates. However, we are provided with how all of this affects Sofie. She wonders if being married to Jürgen makes her as complicit as her husband when it comes to Hitler’s crimes.
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.
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.
The scale of suffering in this book was beyond comprehension, whether in 1930s Texas, 1930s Berlin, or 1950s Alabama. Not only did this book remind me of the time in history when the Dust Bowl devastated the lives and farms of thousands, but I learned about Operation Paperclip, the program designed to pair German and American scientists in a common goal. I was even shocked when reminded of how Hitler was so proud of his race that German women were encouraged if not pressured to bear as many children as possible. Another great impression I had with this book is that everybody that served under Hitler was not as easily brainwashed as to his ideals. Many were forced into service.
When Jürgen or Sofie cried, I cried. When Lizzie became exasperated with Henry, I felt her pain. This book also allows the reader to see both sides of the war, from the effect it had Sofie and also Lizzie, from the Jewish or German point of view. Also, it was rather sad that the United States was in such a race for space that they easily brushed the crimes of a lot of Germans right under the rug. Perhaps Jürgen was innocent of the ways many other Nazi soldiers felt, no doubt many of the Germans that were allowed to emigrate to the US for the sake of the space program did believe in what they fought for. This displayed injustice on a grand scale, reiterating the pain that I felt for the millions of those lives lost, and for so many more that suffered or were affected by the war in other ways.
This impressive read by Kelly Rimmer proves her exceptional talent, her incredible research, and how she managed to deliver a powerfully emotional story. Any historical fiction that brings a different perspective during that horrid time is certain to make any reader think. I was riveted to this book from the start to finish, and this story will be with me for a long time to come. This would be a perfect book club book and I beg the reader to please read the author’s note at the end of the book and to consider the discussion questions. This will allow for the serious thought as to this contemplative read.
Many thanks to Graydon House and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
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.
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.
The scale of suffering in this book was beyond comprehension, whether in 1930s Texas, 1930s Berlin, or 1950s Alabama. Not only did this book remind me of the time in history when the Dust Bowl devastated the lives and farms of thousands, but I learned about Operation Paperclip, the program designed to pair German and American scientists in a common goal. I was even shocked when reminded of how Hitler was so proud of his race that German women were encouraged if not pressured to bear as many children as possible. Another great impression I had with this book is that everybody that served under Hitler was not as easily brainwashed as to his ideals. Many were forced into service.
When Jürgen or Sofie cried, I cried. When Lizzie became exasperated with Henry, I felt her pain. This book also allows the reader to see both sides of the war, from the effect it had Sofie and also Lizzie, from the Jewish or German point of view. Also, it was rather sad that the United States was in such a race for space that they easily brushed the crimes of a lot of Germans right under the rug. Perhaps Jürgen was innocent of the ways many other Nazi soldiers felt, no doubt many of the Germans that were allowed to emigrate to the US for the sake of the space program did believe in what they fought for. This displayed injustice on a grand scale, reiterating the pain that I felt for the millions of those lives lost, and for so many more that suffered or were affected by the war in other ways.
This impressive read by Kelly Rimmer proves her exceptional talent, her incredible research, and how she managed to deliver a powerfully emotional story. Any historical fiction that brings a different perspective during that horrid time is certain to make any reader think. I was riveted to this book from the start to finish, and this story will be with me for a long time to come. This would be a perfect book club book and I beg the reader to please read the author’s note at the end of the book and to consider the discussion questions. This will allow for the serious thought as to this contemplative read.
Many thanks to Graydon House and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Brilliantly written, with the juxtaposition of the two main characters. This was quite different than a typical WWII book in that Rimmer examines the difficult decisions some German families had to make.
challenging
informative
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
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Interesting insight into life as a conflicted Nazi