THE COMMANDANT'S DAUGHTER
A heartbreaking novel about the incredible courage of
ordinary people during the Second World War. Fans of The Alice Network, The
Nightingale and The Tattooist of Auschwitz will never forget
this powerful story of hope found in the darkest days.
1933, Berlin. Ten-year-old Hanni Foss stands by her father watching the
celebrations marking Adolf Hitler as Germany’s new leader. As the torchlights
fade, her safe and happy childhood changes forever as Reiner, the father she
adores, is corrupted by his new position as commandant of an infamous
concentration camp…
Twelve years later. As the Nazi regime crumbles, Hanni hides from her
father on the outskirts of Berlin. In stolen moments, she develops the
photographs she took to record the horrors of the camp – the empty food bowls
and desperate faces – and vows to get justice for the innocent people she
couldn’t help as a child.
But her carefully constructed new life is threatened when Hanni discovers a
body hidden in a bombed-out building, and meets Freddy, the tortured young
detective in charge of the case. Could the fierce emotion in his brown eyes
distract Hanni from her quest for atonement?
Or will Reiner stop her himself? Because on the day she plans to deliver her
damning photographs to the Allies, Hanni comes face to face with her father
again. Reiner Foss has a powerful new identity and he makes it clear just how
dangerous it will be to expose him. Now she faces a devastating choice, between
the past which haunts her, and the chance of a future with Freddy…
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Buy Link
Amazon: https://bit.ly/3mcGSz8
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THE COMMANDANT’S DAUGHTER by Catherine Hokin is the first book in the Hanni Winter series.
Recently, I’ve been drawn to WWII historical fiction books where the perspective is that of German people living in Germany during WWII. Having to live through the war, deal with their individual and collective losses, as well as rebuild and reinvent themselves is a field ripe for the picking for authors . This book certainly ticks those boxes.
Making Hanni Winter a photographer is a clever way of giving her entry into places and circumstances she would not typically be able to access. It’s through her photography that she meets Inspector Freddy Schlüssel from the German police force; a unit that is hampered by corruption in bringing law and order. They bond over their mutual attraction as well as their desire to solve a series of recent murders.
For me, this is a story about survival. How do the guilty reinvent themselves? How do victims rise above the horrors they have experienced? Hokin gives us an interesting mix of characters along a spectrum from the truly abhorrent characters through to innocent, blameless victims.
Hokin has done an admirable job in blending fact and fiction to both educate and entertain readers, as well as giving us plenty of material to think about once the last page has been turned.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and Bookouture.
I seem to have followed a rather meandering career, including marketing and teaching and politics (don't try and join the dots), to get where I have always wanted to be, which is writing historical fiction. I am a story lover as well as a story writer and nothing fascinates me more than a strong female protagonist and a quest. Hopefully those are what you will encounter when you pick up my books.
I am from the North of England but now live very happily in Glasgow with my American husband. Both my children have left home (one to London and one to Berlin) which may explain why I am finally writing. If I'm not at my desk you'll most probably find me in the cinema, or just follow the sound of very loud music.
I'd love to hear from you and there are lots of ways you can find me, so jump in via my website https://www.catherinehokin.com/ or on my Cat Hokin FB page or on twitter @cathokin
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