My featured book this week is the powerful historical novel, The Children of Berlin by Sharon Maas.
Blurb
‘I will never forgive you! You had a choice. You could have listened to your mother, your brother, your father, but you chose to listen to those monsters. And that choice remains with you. Forever.’
Leah and Magda are like sisters. In their block of flats in Berlin, they have only ever had each other to rely on. Each other, and Magda’s brother Markus. Nothing could have torn them apart. Until Hitler gains power…
Leah could never imagine either of her best friends supporting the Nazis. Because Leah is Jewish. And she has heard the whispers of what’s been happening to her people. The threats. The disappearances. Rumours of deportation to dark places no one returns from…
But then Magda does the unthinkable. She joins the Hitler Youth. Leah’s blood runs cold – how could someone she loves so much do this to her? Leah tries desperately to make her best friend see sense, but Magda is blinded by the promises of a great and powerful Germany.
Leah realises that her once sister, is now her deadliest enemy. With people vanishing around her, Leah is terrified she’s next. How far will Magda go to prove her loyalty to her Führer?
But Magda always underestimated her brother, and Markus has sworn he’ll do anything to save Leah and her family. Even risk his own life. And he knows infiltrating the party is the only way… But will Magda see through his lie? Is he already far too late to stop her?
A powerful and heartbreaking novel about love, family, betrayal and sacrifice perfect for fans of The Alice Network, The White Rose Network, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Nightingale.
Buy Links
https://mybook.to/FsJaBm
Welcome to my blog, Sharon. Your books sounds fascinating. What was the inspiration behind the story?
There are questions I’ve always asked myself. I lived in Germany for almost 50 years and with one exception, nobody ever spoke about the war and their participation, if any. These were my questions:
What made a Nazi become a Nazi? How could any normal person be sucked in? In the case of my character Magda in The Children of Berlin: what made her swing the Swastika flag, raise her voice in rousing nationalistic songs, regard Adolf Hitler as the great saviour of Germany? What happens when her great pride in that nation turns to shame, and she realises she has made an unredeemable mistake?
Furthermore: How could an entire nation, a nation that prided itself on being culturally advanced: a nation of ‘Dichter und Denker’, poets and thinkers; great composers and scientists and architects. How could it happen? How can perfectly normal people give in to the evil that was Nazi ideology? We can write it off as an inherent evil in the German soul, that only needed a charismatic, eloquent leader to ooze its way to the forefront. Is that true?
As for that eye-opening moment when the war is lost and Hitler commits suicide and their evil world falls apart: who cares? In fact, we are filled with Schadenfreude: you deserve it; all the guilt, all the world’s blame, all your own shame at having followed an evil ideology.
And when my ex-Nazi character, Magda, turns to her one-time best friend, Leah, begging for understanding and forgiveness, that’s exactly Leah’s response. Leah is Jewish. She and her family have suffered. Magda is sorry, desperately sorry. And seeks redemption that only Leah can give.
Many years after the horrific events that characterised the years 1933-1945, a long letter falls through Leah’s post-box, in which Magda describes exactly what happened, one incident at a time, and why.
‘I was young,’ Magda explains. ‘I was brainwashed, like so many of my peers. Please Leah: try to understand what happened, right from the start.’
Leah will have none of it. She screams into the air: ‘Fuck off. You had a choice, Magda! Everyone had a choice! Some saw what was going on and where it would lead: why didn’t you?’
But then she finishes the letter. It’s not what she expected. And now it’s Leah who finds herself in a crisis of conscience.
The Children of Berlin is not a fast-paced thriller; it’s a novel that ventures behind the psychological scenes through the two narratives, Leah’s and Magda’s. And yes, Magda’s justifications for her actions might be hard to read, but they are offset by Leah’s story, Leah’s tragedy, Leah’s reactions, which more than expose Magda’s wrongdoing.
Are there any mitigating circumstances for Magda as she tells in anguished detail of her guilt and her sincere attempts to make good? And how sincere are those attempts anyway? You, the reader, must decide.
But know this: Magda is inspired by a real person. A person I knew.
This sounds a very powerful and intriguing story, Sharon. Thank you for coming onto my blog and telling us about your book.
Meet Sharon
Author bio:
Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1951, and a sense of adventure has followed her around the world. In 1971 she spent a year backpacking around South America, followed by a few months with pioneering friends in the Guyana rainforest, followed by an overland trip to India, followed by a year in a Hindu Ashram.
She settled in Germany where she married, studied, worked, and raised children.
Officially retired, she continues to write from her new home in Ireland.
Her first novel was published by HarperCollins in 1999, followed by two more in 2001 and 2002. At present, she has 10 published works with the digital publisher Bookouture.
Author Links
Links to book:
https://mybook.to/FsJaBm
Website: www.sharonmaas.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharonmaasauthor
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karen-King/e/B0034P6W7I
Website: https://karenkingauthor.com/
Karen King 