Secrets, Love, and Betrayal in WWII

In 1989 Ava receives her mother’s ashes and a packet of unsent letters. She has always had a fraught relationship with Ilse. Her mother seemed hard and distant. Ava can’t get close to her and then there’s the question of who Ava’s father was and why Ilse left her in a German orphanage for almost two years at the end of WWII.

The story is told from the point of view of Ava in 1989 and Ilse in 1933. Ilse’s part of the story deals with her close friendship with Renata, who turns out to have Jewish blood, and her increasing involvement in the Hitler youth movement. Although the characters are separated by over 50 years and reside in different countries, the story line is easy to follow.

The book starts slowly. At first the relationship between the main characters is unclear, but as Ilse and Renata face the terrors of life in Hitler’s Germany, the story heats up. Although I didn’t care for Ilse I could understand the pressures of her life in Germany. Ava grows through the novel. As she understands her mother better, she finds that she can in some measure forgive.

If you enjoy novels with at WWII background, this is a very good one. At times it’s hard to read because of the inhumanity in Germany at the time. However, it’s worth the effort. I came to understand the era better, as did Ava.

I received this book from First to Read for this review.