susanneb01 's review for:

The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer

4.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

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This novel is based on historical events of the Nazi time in Germany, the Dust Bowl era in Texas and Operation Paperclip in Alabama. It follows the lives of Sofie and Jürgen, a happily married German couple during the rise of Hitler. Jürgen, a nerdy rocket scientist, has to decide between keeping himself and his family safe and develop rockets used for military action built by forced laborers under terrible circumstance ; or follow their moral compass and deal with torturous and quite possibly deadly consequences for the family. Well, most of the family survives the regime and WW2, and Jürgen is one of the hundreds of German scientists picked up by the US to develop the space program in Huntsville where clashes with the local population raise more ethical issues. Lizzie and her brother Henry, a war veteran and survivor of the farming crisis, give the American perspective. This book is a good portrayal of individuals stuck in inhumane authoritarian systems, their moral conflicts the choices they have and the consequences. The big question is: What actions or nonactions are justifiable in the name of loving your family? Well written.