The German House by Annette Hess – NetGalley Review

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Description (from NetGalley)-

Set against the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963, Annette Hess’s international bestseller is a harrowing yet ultimately uplifting coming-of-age story about a young female translator—caught between societal and familial expectations and her unique ability to speak truth to power—as she fights to expose the dark truths of her nation’s past.

If everything your family told you was a lie, how far would you go to uncover the truth?

For twenty-four-year-old Eva Bruhns, World War II is a foggy childhood memory. At the war’s end, Frankfurt was a smoldering ruin, severely damaged by the Allied bombings. But that was two decades ago. Now it is 1963, and the city’s streets, once cratered are smooth and paved. Shiny new stores replace scorched rubble. Eager for her wealthy suitor, Jürgen Schoormann, to propose, Eva dreams of starting a new life away from her parents and sister. But Eva’s plans are turned upside down when a fiery investigator, David Miller, hires her as a translator for a war crimes trial.

As she becomes more deeply involved in the Frankfurt Trials, Eva begins to question her family’s silence on the war and her future. Why do her parents refuse to talk about what happened? What are they hiding? Does she really love Jürgen and will she be happy as a housewife? Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience , joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice—a decision that will help change the present and the past of her nation.

My Review –

This story peaked my interest as soon as I read the description. It’s not your usual World War II historical fiction story. What interested me was that this takes place many years after the war and involves the Frankfurt Trials. The multiple sub-plot lines keep the story moving forward, and intertwine in the most creative way. I really enjoyed the personality of the protagonist, Eva Bruhns. At times, I felt like giving her fiancé a piece of my mind. I couldn’t stand how controlling he came across, but then I have to remind myself that this was how men acted back in the 60s. The time period was so well written, with mentions of The Beatles on their claim to fame. Ironically, this book takes place around Christmas time, and that is when I ended up reading it. That I think that definitely helped me relate more to the story, and had me in the mood for it. I highly recommend reading The German House during the winter, it has a lot of snowfall mentioned, so if you’re somewhere snowy and you love historical fiction then read this!!! 🙂

I tend to get tired of WWII historical fiction, it’s a very heavy time period and can wear on one’s soul. This was a refreshing perspective, and I enjoyed it! I’m so thankful to have been approved for an ARC of The German House through NetGalley, and thank you to HarperCollins Publishing as well. I will definitely be looking to read more books by Annette Hess, especially if she writes more historical fiction with unique perspectives. It’s a genre I’d like to read more of, but also a genre that has so many set during WWII and not enough set during different periods in time.

Until next time, Happy Reading! 🙂