The German Heiress
A Novel
Large Print - 2020 | First Harper Large Print edition.
"Meticulously researched and plotted like a noir thriller, The German Heiress tells a different story of WWII-- of characters grappling with their own guilt and driven by the question of what they could have done to change the past." --Jessica Shattuck, New York Times bestselling author of The Women in the Castle
For readers of The Alice Network and The Lost Girls of Paris, an immersive, heart-pounding debut about a German heiress on the run in post-World War II Germany.
Clara Falkenberg, once Germany's most eligible and lauded heiress, earned the nickname "the Iron Fräulein" during World War II for her role operating her family's ironworks empire. It's been nearly two years since the war ended and she's left with nothing but a false identification card and a series of burning questions about her family's past. With nowhere else to run to, she decides to return home and take refuge with her dear friend, Elisa.
Narrowly escaping a near-disastrous interrogation by a British officer who's hell-bent on arresting her for war crimes, she arrives home to discover the city in ruins, and Elisa missing. As Clara begins tracking down Elisa, she encounters Jakob, a charismatic young man working on the black market, who, for his own reasons, is also searching for Elisa. Clara and Jakob soon discover how they might help each other--if only they can stay ahead of the officer determined to make Clara answer for her actions during the war.
Propulsive, meticulously researched, and action-fueled, The German Heiress is a mesmerizing page-turner that questions the meaning of justice and morality, deftly shining the spotlight on the often-overlooked perspective of Germans who were caught in the crossfire of the Nazi regime and had nowhere to turn.
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Add a CommentI very much enjoy works in this genre, but I struggled with reading The German Heiress. I had a hard time empathizing with any of the characters in the novel, and there were a number of times it seemed like the storyline was plodding along. After such engaging gems as The Alice Network, The Paris Seamstress and The Huntress, and the lovely Ghost Talkers (WW1 fantasy), this was a tough read and I didn't have the patience to finish.
Fans of The Alice Network, you'll enjoy this one. I liked this hopeful story of post-WWII.