Review: The Hidden Child (by Louise Fein)

My Rating: 4 stars

I'm a little torn on how to rate this one.  While I liked the story overall, some parts of it frustrated me in ways that I find difficult to articulate. From the get go, I understood that this would not be an easy read by any means, as I knew from the summary that the subject matter revolved around the burgeoning eugenics movement at the end of the 1920s in Europe.   With eugenics forever linked to the Holocaust in my mind, I had mixed feelings going into this book and to be honest, wasn't too sure if I was up for a story (albeit a fictional one) about the beginnings of a movement associated with one of the most horrific war atrocities in history.  With that said, I had read this author's debut novel and liked it overall, so I figured I would give this one a try.  

After having finished this one, I will say that I'm glad I took a chance on it, as it gave me better insight into the historical context behind why people back then had the attitudes and beliefs they did (even though I disagree with them completely).  I also appreciated the writing, which I felt was well done overall (though some of the narrative did meander a bit, but not to the point of hugely impacting my reading experience). 

My frustrations with this book were mostly with the characters — specifically the 2 main characters whose alternating perspectives the narrative was told from.  Edward and Eleanor Hamilton are a wealthy, happily married couple in England who are both proponents of the eugenics movement for their own personal reasons, but Edward is a stronger believer due to his profession.  When their sweet and beautiful four-year-old daughter Mabel starts to experience epileptic seizures, with each one more frequent and severe, their perfect lives shatter.  The decision is made that Mabel, with her shameful illness, must be hidden away in order to protect the family's honor as well as Edward's work in eugenics.  But things get worse from there, to the point that Edward's and Eleanor's marriage teeters on the verge of collapse.  

To be perfectly honest, I found both Edward and Eleanor very difficult to like — not just because of the views they espoused, but also their personalities and the way they behaved throughout the story, annoyed for about 75% of the story.  At certain points, I felt there was a lot of time spent by both of them attempting to justify their views and it got to be a bit too much in my opinion.  I was hoping there would be more focus on Mabel, since her illness was technically the catalyst of the entire story, but there wasn't as much on her as I expected. While both characters did end up having redeeming qualities that came into play later on, I think by that time, my frustration with them was too palpable to overcome.

Having said all that, I think the story overall was a good one and it's obvious the author, Louise Fein, was meticulous in her research.  While I did have issues with some aspects of the story, it was still an eye-opening read, one that I feel was well worth the effort.  I heard that Fein is working on her third novel, which I'm definitely looking forward to reading!  

Received ARC from William Morrow via NetGalley.

Review: Daughter of the Reich (by Louise Fein)

My Rating: 4 stars

This is the second book I've read in recent months that is set in the pre-World War II time period of the 1930s in Germany, during which Hitler rose to power and Nazism infiltrated every part of the country.   Though set in a similar time period, the angle that this book explores is markedly different.  The story is told from the perspective of Hetty Heinrich, who, as the daughter of a high-ranking SS officer, was raised to be the perfect German citizen — pure in lineage, patriotic, fiercely loyal to Hitler and the Nazi ideology he espoused.  As a dutiful "daughter" of the Thousand Year Reich, Hetty is prepared to do her part — that is, until one day when she is accidentally reunited with Walter Keller, an estranged childhood friend who had saved her from drowning when she was seven years old.  To Hetty, Walter is perfect in every way — except for the fact that he is Jewish, and also, as Hetty slowly starts to realize, he goes against every belief she had previously been taught.  The two of them end up falling in love and gradually, Hetty realizes everything she thought she understood about her family and country were actually lies, which ignites in her the will to fight against them.  When the tides of anti-semitism in Germany escalate to the point where Walter's mere existence is put into question, Hetty is faced with the ultimate decision to try and save him at all costs.

As is expected when reading historical fiction, the feeling of being transported to a different time and place is one of the things I always look out for, which in this story worked really well.   This book's strongest element though is in the area of character development.  We first meet Hetty when she is 7 years old and subsequently follow her development through her teenage years,  but what stands out the most is her feisty personality and strong-willed nature.  Hetty is a character who both enthralls and frustrates in equal measure, which I guess is what makes her such an interesting character.

Given the historical context, books set against the backdrop of Nazi rule going into World War II are rarely ever "easy" reads and of course, this book was no exception. The sections that described the brutalities inflicted upon Jews (and others who were considered "enemies" of the regime) were difficult to read, yet I understand why such details were necessary to the story.   With that said though, I also felt the writing was a bit uneven in certain areas — the narrative was told entirely from Hetty's first person perspective, yet some sections were descriptive to the point that it didn't seem to match the voice.  I also felt the story dragged a bit in the earlier chapters and it wasn't until around the halfway mark that the story became much more engaging — though with that said, for me at least, the last section of the book was the strongest in terms of plot, character, and emotional nuance.

Despite some issues with pacing and flow, this was a good story overall, and definitely a worthy entry into the canon of WWII-era fiction, in my opinion.  Over the years, I've heard many people complain about the over-saturation of WWII era novels in the market and while I agree for the most part, I also feel it's extremely important for these stories to continue to be told, if anything, to serve as a lesson for us and future generations, that history cannot be forgotten.

Received ARC from William Morrow (HarperCollins) via Bookbrowse First Impressions program