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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
medium-paced
About the book: “The New York Times bestselling author of The Warsaw Orphan returns with a gripping novel inspired by the true story of Operation Paperclip: a controversial secret US intelligence program that employed former Nazis after WWII.”
Kelly Rimmer cemented herself as a favorite author of mine with her powerful and deeply emotional novel, Before I Let You Go, released in 2018. Since that time, I have eagerly anticipated each new book, and time and again, she delivers another deeply powerful emotional novel. The German Wife recently published this summer, and it is the story of Operation Paperclip, of which I was vaguely familiar.
After World War II, the United States brings over German scientists, pardoning them for their war crimes in exchange for their help with the space program. Their families eventually join them, as is the case for Jurgen and his wife Sofie and their children. The book also travels back to Germany during the war, and addresses Jurgen’s role, as well as Sofie’s many feelings, as she discovers what he is doing.
The story also involves Lizzie, an American, and her scientist husband. I especially enjoyed her parts of the story, and what I learned about the Dust Bowl. I also appreciated the complexities explored in the dynamics of the local community where both veterans of the war and these scientists were living side-by-side.
Kelly Rimmer has this way of immediately enveloping you in a story, making you feel like you are right in Huntsville living alongside Sofie. I thoroughly enjoy the intimacy and emotional intelligence of her stories, and I am already eager for what’s next. Highly recommended for all hist fic fans.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Kelly Rimmer cemented herself as a favorite author of mine with her powerful and deeply emotional novel, Before I Let You Go, released in 2018. Since that time, I have eagerly anticipated each new book, and time and again, she delivers another deeply powerful emotional novel. The German Wife recently published this summer, and it is the story of Operation Paperclip, of which I was vaguely familiar.
After World War II, the United States brings over German scientists, pardoning them for their war crimes in exchange for their help with the space program. Their families eventually join them, as is the case for Jurgen and his wife Sofie and their children. The book also travels back to Germany during the war, and addresses Jurgen’s role, as well as Sofie’s many feelings, as she discovers what he is doing.
The story also involves Lizzie, an American, and her scientist husband. I especially enjoyed her parts of the story, and what I learned about the Dust Bowl. I also appreciated the complexities explored in the dynamics of the local community where both veterans of the war and these scientists were living side-by-side.
Kelly Rimmer has this way of immediately enveloping you in a story, making you feel like you are right in Huntsville living alongside Sofie. I thoroughly enjoy the intimacy and emotional intelligence of her stories, and I am already eager for what’s next. Highly recommended for all hist fic fans.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
A great read! Very interesting perspective on being in Germany in the 1940s, moving to America, and the various situations one could encounter. Rimmer did a great job developing believable characters and writing the nuances.
A heartbreak and a half. A compelling listen. I adored Lizzie for her strength and staying true to herself, but I thought her brother Henry was rather crudely drawn as a plot device vis a vis Jurgen.
5 Stars for The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer. This was a tough read, because there are many times I feel today's political climate shows warning signs of history about to repeat itself, and how astounding it is to see so many people slip into brainwashed morals "for the better of the coutnry" or forced into impossible "choices" which arent really choices at all.
The story is told through alternating points of view from the two women, Sophie and Lizzie, which alternates between 1930s Germany, the American Great Depression in Texas, and 1950s Huntsville, Alabama.
In 1930, Berlin, Germany, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes is married to Jurgen, an engineer specialising in the building of rockets. As the Nazi party came into power, they want Jurgen’s knowledge for their rocket program. Although Jurgen and Sofie are vehemently opposed everything that the Nazis stood for, they are forced to to support the Nazi party, or else risk any safety for their family.
In 1930s Texas, Lizzie and her family are suffering on their farm during the Great Depression. Eventually Lizzie and her brother are forced to abandon the family farm and search for a better life elsewhere.
Sophie and Lizzie's lives intersect in 1950s Huntsville, Alabama. German scientists had their records wiped clean, and were invited to the US to work on the US space program. Finally reunited with her husband, Sophie quickly sees not everyone in Huntsville is welcoming towards the German families, especially when Americans are suspicious of the Germans' possible involvement with the Nazi Party/SS. Things don't improve when Sophie holds a (figurative) mirror up and compares German anti-Semitic views against US (esp Alabama) sentiments about segreation.
It is really hard to say I enjoyed this book bc of the subject-matter, but the story is gripping and emotional and thought provoking.
The story is told through alternating points of view from the two women, Sophie and Lizzie, which alternates between 1930s Germany, the American Great Depression in Texas, and 1950s Huntsville, Alabama.
In 1930, Berlin, Germany, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes is married to Jurgen, an engineer specialising in the building of rockets. As the Nazi party came into power, they want Jurgen’s knowledge for their rocket program. Although Jurgen and Sofie are vehemently opposed everything that the Nazis stood for, they are forced to to support the Nazi party, or else risk any safety for their family.
In 1930s Texas, Lizzie and her family are suffering on their farm during the Great Depression. Eventually Lizzie and her brother are forced to abandon the family farm and search for a better life elsewhere.
Sophie and Lizzie's lives intersect in 1950s Huntsville, Alabama. German scientists had their records wiped clean, and were invited to the US to work on the US space program. Finally reunited with her husband, Sophie quickly sees not everyone in Huntsville is welcoming towards the German families, especially when Americans are suspicious of the Germans' possible involvement with the Nazi Party/SS. Things don't improve when Sophie holds a (figurative) mirror up and compares German anti-Semitic views against US (esp Alabama) sentiments about segreation.
It is really hard to say I enjoyed this book bc of the subject-matter, but the story is gripping and emotional and thought provoking.
It is the early 1930s in Berlin. Once wealthy, Sofie Rhodes and her husband Jürgen are in financial ruin after the impact of the Depression. Jürgen is a scientist, and his expertise becomes of interest to the Nazi Party as they develop a program to build rockets to travel into space. While the couple abhors everything the new regime stands for, Jürgen is given no choice when recruited to join the top-secret project. Sofie is forced to distance herself from Mayim, her best friend, who is Jewish. During the years leading up to WWII, the family observes how the Nazi Party employed a well-constructed campaign to control and manipulate the German citizens. They exploited underlying antisemitism and rallied people to a near frenzy with hopes of a better country. It was essentially a massive brainwashing.
In 1950, Sofie and two of her children travel to Huntsville, Alabama to be reunited with Jürgen, who has been living in the United States for several years. He had been selected to work for Operation Paperclip, a post-WWII intelligence program where skilled German scientists, including some former leaders of the Nazi Party, were brought over to the U.S. to provide help in Cold War initiatives including developing rockets, biological and chemical weapons. But life in the U.S. was hard as the Americans were outraged that they were now neighbors to an enclave of former Nazis. The government sought to help their German employees and their families meet and socialize with the Americans but there was too much hate and distrust. At a community gathering, Sofie found herself in a tense argument with the wife of Jürgen’s boss Calvin. Lizzie Miller was not going to give Sofie a chance at friendship given the Rhodes’ Nazi affiliation and Sofie lashed out noting the contradiction of the town’s policy of segregation and prejudice against Blacks.
Lizzie’s story is also told. Her family’s Texas farm was ruined during the tragic years of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. She and her brother Henry did what they had to do to survive. Once Lizzie married Calvin, a wealthy and widowed older man, she moved to Alabama and after the war, Henry moved there too. Lizzie dealt with tremendous trauma from all her losses.
Kelly Rimmer is a wonderful author who meticulously researches her books. The Things We Cannot Say, and The Warsaw Orphan are terrific. In The German Wife, Rimmer has created a very emotional, complex story. She shows how some good people were swept into the Nazi ideology – even if they didn’t truly believe in it. The Rhodes family were faced with a moral dilemma and did what they felt they had to do to protect their family. They were under surveillance and threatened. Did they have a choice? Rimmer doesn’t condone and absolve them of their behavior. Instead, she has created a thoughtful, cautionary tale showing how madness and evil can quickly spread.
There are few heroes in this book. Jürgen’s Aunt Adele is perhaps the only purely likable person as she was willing to act against the Nazis. This book shows how fragile the world was and still is as hate can rise up and spread at any time. This book is going to stay with me for a long time.
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.
Rated 4.5 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
In 1950, Sofie and two of her children travel to Huntsville, Alabama to be reunited with Jürgen, who has been living in the United States for several years. He had been selected to work for Operation Paperclip, a post-WWII intelligence program where skilled German scientists, including some former leaders of the Nazi Party, were brought over to the U.S. to provide help in Cold War initiatives including developing rockets, biological and chemical weapons. But life in the U.S. was hard as the Americans were outraged that they were now neighbors to an enclave of former Nazis. The government sought to help their German employees and their families meet and socialize with the Americans but there was too much hate and distrust. At a community gathering, Sofie found herself in a tense argument with the wife of Jürgen’s boss Calvin. Lizzie Miller was not going to give Sofie a chance at friendship given the Rhodes’ Nazi affiliation and Sofie lashed out noting the contradiction of the town’s policy of segregation and prejudice against Blacks.
Lizzie’s story is also told. Her family’s Texas farm was ruined during the tragic years of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. She and her brother Henry did what they had to do to survive. Once Lizzie married Calvin, a wealthy and widowed older man, she moved to Alabama and after the war, Henry moved there too. Lizzie dealt with tremendous trauma from all her losses.
Kelly Rimmer is a wonderful author who meticulously researches her books. The Things We Cannot Say, and The Warsaw Orphan are terrific. In The German Wife, Rimmer has created a very emotional, complex story. She shows how some good people were swept into the Nazi ideology – even if they didn’t truly believe in it. The Rhodes family were faced with a moral dilemma and did what they felt they had to do to protect their family. They were under surveillance and threatened. Did they have a choice? Rimmer doesn’t condone and absolve them of their behavior. Instead, she has created a thoughtful, cautionary tale showing how madness and evil can quickly spread.
There are few heroes in this book. Jürgen’s Aunt Adele is perhaps the only purely likable person as she was willing to act against the Nazis. This book shows how fragile the world was and still is as hate can rise up and spread at any time. This book is going to stay with me for a long time.
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.
Rated 4.5 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book!
Also thanks to Kelly Rimmer, whom I am now I big fan. I was so moved by All the Things we Cannot Say and was delighted to read this as well.
I love the back and forth both in timelines and narrator. The author takes a big bite here. She talks about the dust bowl of the 30s, the rise of Hitler, post traumatic stress disorder, the rocket program, and all of the trappings of WWII and even the impact of German families in America post war. What a big ask! But Kelly Rimmer delivers.
First we see what the characters have been through so we can see where the story is going. Characterization is well developed with the dual storylines. It also allows the reader to be included not only in the emotions of the German wife trying to establish herself in America, but what Americans must have been feeling while trying to reconcile a terrible war and all that the US had gone through since WWI.
This is a well done book and I enjoyed it so much. I keep saying I do not want to read any more WWII historical fiction and then I find another to give 5*
This review will be on Goodreads, where I store all of my reviews, and will recommend this to patrons and book discussion participants!
Also thanks to Kelly Rimmer, whom I am now I big fan. I was so moved by All the Things we Cannot Say and was delighted to read this as well.
I love the back and forth both in timelines and narrator. The author takes a big bite here. She talks about the dust bowl of the 30s, the rise of Hitler, post traumatic stress disorder, the rocket program, and all of the trappings of WWII and even the impact of German families in America post war. What a big ask! But Kelly Rimmer delivers.
First we see what the characters have been through so we can see where the story is going. Characterization is well developed with the dual storylines. It also allows the reader to be included not only in the emotions of the German wife trying to establish herself in America, but what Americans must have been feeling while trying to reconcile a terrible war and all that the US had gone through since WWI.
This is a well done book and I enjoyed it so much. I keep saying I do not want to read any more WWII historical fiction and then I find another to give 5*
This review will be on Goodreads, where I store all of my reviews, and will recommend this to patrons and book discussion participants!
Very gripping story based on Operation Paperclip. Vibrant and intriguing characters and alternating perspectives propelled me through this story. I loved the dual timelines from Sophie. I’m not sure I really liked the emotional reaction I had to Sophie, though. I found myself with empathy towards her, especially as a mother. I don’t think she and Jergen really deserved the HEA.
If you’re reading this, PLEASE read this book!!! Such a beautiful story and I literally couldn’t put it down. I honestly want to start it over again because it was that good. 1000000/10!!!