🏛️ ⚖️ The German House ⚖️ 🏛️ (2019) - Book Review

MY REVIEW

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: HarperVia; Reprint edition (December 3, 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0062910256

ISBN-13: 978-0062910257

“If everything your family told you was a lie, how far would you go to uncover the truth?

For twenty-four-year-old Eva Bruhns, World War II is a foggy childhood memory. At the war’s end, Frankfurt was a smoldering ruin, severely damaged by the Allied bombings. But that was two decades ago. Now it is 1963, and the city’s streets, once cratered are smooth and paved. Shiny new stores replace scorched rubble. Eager for her wealthy suitor, Jürgen Schoormann, to propose, Eva dreams of starting a new life away from her parents and sister. But Eva’s plans are turned upside down when a fiery investigator, David Miller, hires her as a translator for a war crimes trial.

As she becomes more deeply involved in the Frankfurt Trials, Eva begins to question her family’s silence on the war and her future. Why do her parents refuse to talk about what happened? What are they hiding? Does she really love Jürgen and will she be happy as a housewife? Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience , joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice—a decision that will help change the present and the past of her nation.”

Thank you in advance to Bookish First and Harper Via for the ARC to review. A positive review was not required and all words are my own.

Deciding to broaden my literary tastes, and try new genres, one such fascinating period is World War II. And, having read previous World War II/Nazi/Concentration Camp books, such as “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”, “Cilka’s Journey”, “The Lilac Girls” – “The German House” provided a different perspective. I claimed it with points through BookishFirst and eagerly awaited its arrival.

["The German House" - Annette Hess]

First off – this book does not have chapters, unless in the final edit they add them. Right now, from what I am reading – there are no chapters. The book is told in third person POV over four parts. This seems to be a common complaint among some reviewers. And, is one of my BIG ones.

Taking place in 1963, during the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, 24 year old Eva Bruhns finds herself as a translator during the trial. Her parents own, manage, and operate a restaurant called “The German House”.  

At first Eva is reluctant to take on the task. Shesoon finds herself in the middle of the trial unable to walk away. She’s also engaged to Jürgen Schoormann, a wealthy businessman who doesn’t want Eva involved and goes to great lengths to prevent her involvement. Those closest to her tell her the atrocities were lies because there was a general disbelief they could happen. But, as she learns more, she wants to see the trials through to justice in post World War II Germany.

She also learns about her family’s own involvement at Auschwitz and is disturbed by it.

What starts off as a promising story – Germany’s reluctance to hold themselves accountable for the Holocaust – this novel falls flat in the delivery. Extremely flat. Either it is the author or the novel was badly translated since it was originally published in Germany.  Most of the story centers more on Eva’s personal life – with Jürgen and/or her own family, along with the day-to-day operation of the restaurant. The relationship between Eva and Jürgen was flat and shallow. After her “enlightening” I couldn’t see what she saw in him.

Another plot in this book involves Eva’s sister Annegret, a nurse at a local hospital, who works in the labor and delivery department. The story line involving her is unneeded and very disturbing since it was of a criminal nature. I didn’t see what the point was in having it in there as it didn’t connect, in my opinion, to the theme of the book. It felt disjointed and out of place.

Also interesting was the story line involving one of the prosecutors, a Jewish man by the name of David Miller. His story line “end” is quite disturbing as well and I was left wondering what the point was of that ending. Also, Eva’s interaction with one of the camp’s “residents” at the end of the book was perplexing and left me again asking “why”. It was refreshing to see she was the only character with progression in that she had been changed by the trials.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the ending and how Eva’s family’s involvement played into all of it. The title of the novel had, to me, nothing to do with the plot line. It was simply the name of the restaurant.

I was surprised and not surprised to see the lack of outrage over what happened during the reign of the Nazi regime.

Yes, this is an uncorrected “proof” (ARC, Galley), but the choppy writing in this novel made it a bit hard to follow. There is a lack of proper scene transition going from one scene to another in practically the next sentence. It seems to bounce all over the place without a proper segue. At times it seemed to ramble on, almost incoherently. Again, I don’t know if that is the writing or the translation. It made it difficult to take a break from the book then come back to it.

The attempt to show that lack of outrage as well as the “let’s just move on” point of view was admirable. I do credit the writer for attempting to present the point of view she tried to.  

I honestly hate giving books bad reviews. I know how I’d feel if I brought something to life only to have it decimated by someone who didn’t appreciate what was put into it.

However, since honesty counts – and, I’ve found a few similar reviews – I have to say this was okay, but disappointing. I definitely wouldn’t

If you’re on the fence with this – I recommend getting it from the library first. It is worth a read, if only once to get the other perspective. It’s not one I personally would buy or likely read again.

2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Goodreads (“It Was Okay”)

2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub (“Disappointing”)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Annette Hess grew up in Hanover and currently lives in Lower Saxony. She worked as a freelance journalist and assistant director, before launching a successful career as a screenwriter. Her critically-acclaimed and popular television series Weissensee, Ku'damm 56 and Ku'damm 59 are credited with revitalizing German TV. She has received numerous awards, from the Grimme Prize to the Frankfurt Prize to the German Television Award. The German House is her first novel.