Have you read a WWII historical fiction from a German’s point of view? The German Wife by Debbie Rix is a disturbing German perspective on World War II. I loved the straight chronological narrative by Annaliese’s perspective of being a German around 1939. Annaliese is a young woman who is swept off her feet by Hans. He’s a doctor wanting to do research. He sees Hitler’s regime as a way to be able to further his medical research. He wants to find a homeopathic cure for malaria. He gets caught up in the violence and depravity that was the Nazis' goal. Hans pressures Annaliese to be a good German hausfrau and have children. Then a Russian prisoner named Alexander is sent from Dachau to work in their garden. Anna’s story then takes a big twist and then after the war ends, yet an even bigger twist occurs. Then in 1989 the past once again haunts Annaliese and her unknowing son. We can’t ever escape the past. Annaliese wasn’t an evil person, but being one that stands by while evil occurs has consequences also. This book was so good but also unnerving. It does one of the best jobs of teaching the lesson of the need to take action and face evil. It was a great story and based on an actual physician whose career mirrors that portrayed by Hans. I’ll be reading more of Debbie Rix’s books, next up is The Secret Letter.
If you are looking for an indigenous author to support in November, then This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger has a great historical fiction read for you. Krueger is a member of the Anishinaabe ( Ojibwe ) tribe. This dialogue between a bit so likable character Jack and the teen narrator Odie will give you a good idea of the story. “Ask me, God’s right here. In the dirt, the rain, the sky, the trees, the apples, the stars in the cottonwoods. In you and me, too. It’s all connected and it’s all God. Sure this is hard work, but it’s good work because it’s a part of what connects us to this land, Buck. This beautiful, tender land.” Jack in Chapter 20. Odie then replies with his theory about how “God is a tornado.” which refers back to when a tornado killed a loving teacher, Mrs. Frost. The book was originally published in 2019 and is great as an audiobook coming in at 14 hours and 19 minutes on regular speed versus 464 pages of hard copy. ...
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