Book Description:
Berlin, 1943: “No matter what happens, no matter what they do to me, they will never stop me loving you,” he said, placing a kiss on my tear-stained cheek. Based on a true story, this heartbreaking World War Two page-turner shows that, in the face of evil, love is power, courage is infectious––and the voices of many will not be silenced.
“We’re not moving until you release our men!” Margot shouts, her heart racing. In the snow, the Berlin streets dusted with white, she shifts from foot to foot with the small crowd of wives by the iron gates. She has lived in terror that this moment would come: Nazis have arrested her beloved husband.
Margot, a German seamstress, and Jochen, a Jewish artist, were madly in love. But this became a forbidden act in Hitler’s Germany. The days of Jochen filling their sixth-floor apartment with roses to surprise her vanished. Their friends started crossing the street to avoid them. They lost their jobs. And then they found themselves scrabbling for breadcrumbs on the cold cobbles outside the home that was once their own.
Yet even as their world came crashing down, they had each other. Until now.
Now, Margot risks her life to protest outside Gestapo headquarters. As days pass, hundreds are gathered. They refuse to move, even when enemy planes cross the clouds and bombs fall to the ground. Yet defying the Nazis is a death sentence…
Will this evil war ever end? Will she and Jochen survive? What will it take for Margot to see the love of her life again?
Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Lilac Girls will be utterly gripped by this tearjerking and inspirational tale.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The Wife Who Risked Everything' by Ellie Midwood.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Ellie Midwood, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 23rd August 2022.
This is the seventh book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz', 'The Girl In The Striped Dress', 'The Girl Who Survived' 'The Girl On The Platform' , 'The White Rose Network' and 'The Violinist Of Aushcwitz' which I also recommend.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover, its intriguing synopsis and title and its extremely talented author. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Lilac Girls will be utterly gripped by this tearjerking and inspirational tale' I am a huge fan of 'The Tattooist Of Aushcwitz' so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Ellie and if this is half as good as' The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz', 'The Girl Who Survived', 'the Girl In The Striped Dress', 'The White Rose Network ','The Girl On The Platform' and 'The Violinist Of Aushcwitz ' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue, 24 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is set mainly in Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Margot. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
'The Wife Who Risked Everything' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Ellie discusses/includes the persecution of the Jews.
Yet another gorgeous,stunning,heartbreaking, devastating page turner from the absolutely amazing Ellie Midwood !!!
Well, what can I say but wow!!! This story is definitely not going to leave my head anytime soon. Firstly I must congratulate Ellie Midwood for yet another extraordinary novel that seriously needs to be made into a movie which I assure would be best selling!!!
This book is very powerful and extremely well written. It is devastatingly heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. The storyline of this book is based on a true story which is another thing that drew me to read it. It is absolutely rammed with emotions that will make you smile, cry and laugh on the roller-coaster ride to hell that is World War 2 and the persecution and murder of the Jews and many others. Nothing is left out and the author has done an immense amount of research and brings Margot and Jochen's story to life. Margot and the other protestors are such powerful, strong and kind hearted heroes and I am looking forward to reading more about them. The characters in this book are fictional but were based on the very real and extremely brave Charlotte and Julius Israel, Elsa and Rudi Holzer, Wally and Günter Grodka and Werner Goldberg. I had never heard of any of these amazing people before reading this but am looking forward to learning more about them. During Ellie's letter at the end she recommends reading 'Resistance of the Heart' by Nathan Stoltzfus to discover more so I will definitely be hunting down a copy as soon as I have finished writing this review!!! I have read 'The Violinist Of Aushcwitz', 'Celia' s Journey', 'The tattooist of Aushcwitz', 'The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz,' The Girl Who Survived', 'The librarian of Aushcwitz', 'The White Rose Network ','The Girl On The Platform' all of which I enjoyed so when I seen this I was intrigued to discover the ongoing of the war through another person's eyes and from a different perspective. All of Ellie's books that I have read so far are based in holocaust camps, mainly Auschwitz, so I was intrigued when I read this book to see what was going on in Germany and how some brave German's were doing their part to try and stop the slaughter and war by becoming a part of the resistance. I have now also added many books to my wish list thanks to Ellie, her own and ones that she recommends at the end of this story. This story is particularly unique as it is not one I have ever come across before seeing things from the German resistance side of the war. I also loved reading the devotion of the wives of the Jews that were being persecuted and my heart really went out to them. To be consistently told that their lives would be easier if they would just divorce their husbands and yet for them to continue to stand by knowing that they could return from rags to Riches was just absolutely stunning and heartwarming. I really cannot wait to see whose story the amazing Ellie tells in her next guaranteed success!!
This book did not disappoint. Some people believe that these stories should not be written but I am a strong believer that these victims earned the right for their stories to be told and to not be forgotten and this book does just that. I loved discovering not just Margot and Jochen's stories but those who surrounded them also. This amazing group of people who supported and lifted each other up during these dark times and helping them see the light are absolutely... Words can't really describe but I will go with angelic and stunning. This book was very hard to read as a whole but there were certain parts that will stay with me for a very long time and that we're soul destroying. What the Nazi's did to these innocent people makes me absolutely sick to my soul.
Again congratulations Ellie Midwood on all your research and for writing this amazing story of both Margot and Jochen and other resistance members who deserved to have their stories told in a way that did them justice and you have done that. I would say this book is on par with the likes of 'The' diary of Anne Frank' which left me with the same feelings your novel has of not even more emotional. I also want to add that when you finish this book please don't close it but make sure you read Ellie's notes which give all the information about the people the characters in this book are based on and much more. I always read 100% of Ellie's books as the notes and acknowledgements always intrigue me.
This is exactly why Ellie is my favourite historical author. Every time she releases a book I just know it will be an absolutely stunning tear jerking page turner!!!
Overall an unputdownable, heart wrenching, absolutely beautifully devastating story of lesser known heroes of the war.
Genres covered in this novel include Historical Fiction, Romance, War Story, Romance Novel , Historical Literary Friction, Romance Literary Fiction and Jewish History amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Ellie Midwood, The Lilac Girls, The Alice Network ,The Tattooist of Aushcwitz, The Librarian of Aushcwitz, 'Celia's Journey', 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and anyone interested in the holocaust and its history.
273 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited (at time of reviewing) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews
@EllieMidwood @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio:
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author, whose works have been translated into 14 languages. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, "The Girl from Berlin." Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their two dogs.
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/EllieMidwood?_rdr
Instagram: @elliemidwood
Website: http://elliemidwood.com/
Author sign up below: https://www.bookouture.com/ellie-midwood
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0B2978P5Dsocial
You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you'll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo
Comments