Daughter Of The Reich: A Novel By Louise Fein

A fascinating bildungsroman of a young German woman , Hetty, who , from being staunchly proud of the Nazi regime in her country, raises moral questions of its essence. She falls for a young Jewish guy who studies at her class and who was a friend of her brother. Despite all the scruples and misgivings she feels at the beginning because of his heritage, she finally realises the agony this guy and his family have to pass through. Little by little does she come to the realisation of how evil and sinister Nazism is and she even plucks up the courage to defy her parents whose unwavering allegiance lies with Hitler. By the help of her friend, Erna, she helps her lover, the Jewish boy, to be evacuated to the UK, not before they make love, and she becomes pregnant from him – an unforgiveable act in Nazi Germany which is considered a heinous crime. Her Jewish illicit lover is rescued by a visa issued for him by a family in the UK, and he comes to know about the baby born to him in Germany, this baby is also smuggled to him. Hetty, unfortunately, gets stranded in Germany until the Cold War ends. Then she goes to find her lover after 50 years of a long wait. A very heart-wrenching story with no embellishment to make it more intriguing as I usually encounter in other books which try to make the plot more bombastic, and hence less realistic.

Good book well written

The book Daughter of the Reich by Louise Fein is a historical fiction novel that follows the life of Hetty Heinrich during the lead-up to and events of World War II. Hetty Heinrich is a German girl and the daughter of a powerful Nazi Party member. The story describes how Hetty’s devotion to Hitler and the Nazi Party changes throughout her life and her experiences after she becomes closer with a former family friend named Walter, who is Jewish. Throughout the story, Hetty struggles with choosing what is right and what is wrong when her parents and everyone else around her tell her one thing, but her heart and her brain tell her another.
Daughter of the Reich is a masterpiece with interesting and dynamic characters as well as an intriguing plot. Throughout the story, there are multiple conflicts, many of which are internal, which sets the book apart from others like it. There are many books that take place during the Holocaust and World War II, and many of them are either from the perspective of a soldier or a victim. They are also usually focused on conflicts between two opposing sides, as is the nature of war. However, this one is from the perspective of an insignificant civilian and most of the conflicts are mental, rather than between her and other characters. Since Hetty is German, she grows up believing that Jews are inferior to other Germans and don’t deserve basic rights. As she grows up and becomes closer to Walter, she begins to challenge her beliefs and realize that there is no difference between Jews and everyone else. However, because everyone around her believes in the Nazi ideology and because it’s so deeply ingrained in her mind, she has numerous internal conflicts over her beliefs until she eventually changes her views. This book is different from others because it puts you inside the head of a German who struggles internally to think for themselves when the whole world around them is saying to think a certain way. Additionally, because it is from the point of view of a person who was at one point a devout Nazi, it allows the reader to see how society was in Nazi Germany and how insane and deeply ingrained their propaganda and beliefs were. At times, this can cause the book to be frustrating because, to most people, the Nazi beliefs lack common sense, but this was the reality at the time, and the author did this intentionally to reinforce the insanity of the Nazi Party.
Throughout the novel, many themes are developed, but the most present ones are thinking for oneself and fighting for your beliefs. As for the importance of thinking for oneself, this is present in the story because Hetty is told multiple fallacies about the Jews that she believes initially, but when she thinks for herself, she realizes that she is being fed lies and that the whole idea behind the Nazi Party is wrong. She is also not expected to think for herself and is forced to follow directions from her parents blindly; however, while she has no choice but to follow most of these directions, her mind is always free and her thoughts are her own. It was the only form of resistance she could safely participate in due to her circumstances and it is arguably the most impactful form of resistance because controlling the mind was the most impactful form of control. The theme of fighting for what you believe in is also demonstrated in the story through numerous characters. Hetty and Walter exemplify this the most because their unrelenting fight to find a solution to their situation and stay together despite what everyone says is the main plot of the story. Hetty rebels against her parents as much as she possibly can and Walter looks for every opportunity to save the two of them and the rest of his Jewish family. They both face many challenges, both from the regime and Hetty’s parents, but they are unwilling to give up and unafraid to do whatever it takes to save themselves. This theme is also exemplified through a friend of Hetty’s who is seemingly a devout Nazi, but who is, in reality, working with her family and underground resistance movements to help the Jews. She and her family are against the ideas of the Nazi Party and they do everything in their power to fight against the regime despite knowing that they are putting themselves and everyone close to them in danger.
I personally have read many historical fiction books on the Holocaust, but never one this moving. The way that Louise Fein writes is captivating and beautiful. The story kept me hooked and on the edge of my seat from the beginning until the very end. I have to warn readers that Daughter of the Reich is a heart-wrenching story that contains many heavy topics including descriptive scenes of violence, loss, and general topics from the Holocaust that could be disturbing. Although it could be a difficult read for some, I could not recommend this book more. Additionally, this book had an element of romance; however, the romance was not the main focus, instead, the issues that resulted from it were. It was a realistic and frightening book that allowed me to truly envision the horrors of Nazi Germany for the Germans who refused to comply with the Nazi ideology. It is a book that everyone should try to read and learn from.

This is a sad tale of the realities of the pre-world war two era. It’s shows how Hitler fooled and brainwashed people in to believing that the Jewish people were responsible for the poor economy and how if they eradicated them that would make for a pure German Aryan race. Then the economy of Germany would prosper forthwith.
This story is about a young couple caught on both sides of the prewar struggle, Really good book and makes one glad not to have gone through what people went through and gives the reader a bird’s eye view of how Hitler was able to slowly brainwash people to do his bidding. It’s hard to believe how people could do such horrible things to fellow human beings.

Loved this book, the author truly pulled you into the story and made me become invested in the characters!! Will be my next book clib suggestion for sure!