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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The German Wife tells the story of two women.
Sofie is the young wife of a physicist, Jurgen, with a specialty in rockets in 1930s Germany. They're horrified by the rise of the Nazis and anti-Semitism, but can't risk the lives of their young children to defy the Nazis, even when Jurgen is recruited to build rocket-powered weapons. After the war, Jurgen is captured by the Americans and brought to the USA to work in their space program. Sofie and their youngest children join him five years later.
Lizzie is the daughter of a farmer in the US Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Forced to head to the cities to find work, her brother, Henry, is sent to fight in the war, and comes back suffering severe PTSD. He moves in with Lizzie and her husband, who works closely with the Germans.
The book jumps between the 1930s/40s and 1950s, and the two women, but I found this smoothly done. I'm not sure I've read any books where WW2 is told from the perspective of Germans, so this was fascinating. It was hard not to be sympathetic to Sofie and Jurgen. It's easy to say that they should have taken a stand, but any defiance of the Nazi regime would have been guaranteed death. It was also interesting to read how the Americans ignored the crimes of the Holocaust to forward their space program.
I went in with high expectations because I've loved the other Kelly Rimmer books that I've read. I really enjoyed this one too, but it didn't move me quite as much as some of the others. 4.5 stars rounded down.
Sofie is the young wife of a physicist, Jurgen, with a specialty in rockets in 1930s Germany. They're horrified by the rise of the Nazis and anti-Semitism, but can't risk the lives of their young children to defy the Nazis, even when Jurgen is recruited to build rocket-powered weapons. After the war, Jurgen is captured by the Americans and brought to the USA to work in their space program. Sofie and their youngest children join him five years later.
Lizzie is the daughter of a farmer in the US Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Forced to head to the cities to find work, her brother, Henry, is sent to fight in the war, and comes back suffering severe PTSD. He moves in with Lizzie and her husband, who works closely with the Germans.
The book jumps between the 1930s/40s and 1950s, and the two women, but I found this smoothly done. I'm not sure I've read any books where WW2 is told from the perspective of Germans, so this was fascinating. It was hard not to be sympathetic to Sofie and Jurgen. It's easy to say that they should have taken a stand, but any defiance of the Nazi regime would have been guaranteed death. It was also interesting to read how the Americans ignored the crimes of the Holocaust to forward their space program.
I went in with high expectations because I've loved the other Kelly Rimmer books that I've read. I really enjoyed this one too, but it didn't move me quite as much as some of the others. 4.5 stars rounded down.
challenging
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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:
Complicated
emotional
inspiring
tense
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Two different main characters, going back and forth during two different time periods…this book was a muddled mess…I did not enjoy it at all. I think this book would have been better if it removed one of the main characters, Lizzie and focused on just the German wife.
This story will stay with me for a very long time. Excellent read, it will be a few days for me to digest the story line. We never know another person's story. Why do people do what they do? Almost always, it is to protect their families and the consequences can be dire.
BRILLIANT, one of the best historical fictional books
This book was inspired by the true story of Operation Paperclip, a secret and highly controversial U.S. intelligence program that employed former Nazis following World War II.
The German Wife is a riveting, often heartbreaking and infuriating modern morality play. Rimmer explores the complexities of war, particularly the most evil conflict in history. Through the lives of her characters, Rimmer deftly examines PTSD and survivor’s guilt, the life-altering and lasting impacts of war, prejudice and bigotry, whether healing is possible, and, if so, how it can come about.
Rimmer’s expertly crafted and thoroughly researched story is touching, complex, thought-provoking, and thoroughly engrossing, as well as remarkably contemporary and timely, given the current state of American politics.
This book was inspired by the true story of Operation Paperclip, a secret and highly controversial U.S. intelligence program that employed former Nazis following World War II.
The German Wife is a riveting, often heartbreaking and infuriating modern morality play. Rimmer explores the complexities of war, particularly the most evil conflict in history. Through the lives of her characters, Rimmer deftly examines PTSD and survivor’s guilt, the life-altering and lasting impacts of war, prejudice and bigotry, whether healing is possible, and, if so, how it can come about.
Rimmer’s expertly crafted and thoroughly researched story is touching, complex, thought-provoking, and thoroughly engrossing, as well as remarkably contemporary and timely, given the current state of American politics.
This was an amazing book and different from anything I’ve read in this genre and period. I love the lesson at the end about the after not being a singular moment but rather a series of events where we learn to appreciate the now and live with the past mistakes. I also liked Lizzie’s declaration of “This is a good life, but it’s not mine.” We should be encouraged to live our one life the way we want and not sacrifice it just because it’s “good enough.”