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The Mortal Storm
A highly acclaimed anti-fascist novel, The Mortal Storm was Phyllis Bottome's dramatic warning against the warmongering, antisemitism, and misogyny of the Nazis. The story pits the developing political and feminist consciousness of Freya Roth against the Nazi machine that will destroy the fabric of her family and nation. In its combination of adventure and love story, political analysis and history, The Mortal Storm remains a powerful reminder of the greatest crisis of the twentieth century, as well as a riveting personal saga.
357 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1941
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295 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis Bottome
116 books8 followersBottome was born in 1882, in Rochester, Kent, the daughter of an American clergyman, Rev. William MacDonald Bottome, and an Englishwoman, Mary (Leatham) Bottome.[2]
In 1901, following the death of her sister Wilmott of the same disease, Bottome was diagnosed with tuberculosis.[3] She travelled to St Moritz in the hope that this would improve her health as mountain air was perceived as better for patients with tuberculosis.[3]
In 1917, in Paris, she married Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, a British diplomat working firstly in Marseilles and then in Vienna as Passport Control Officer, a cover for his real role as MI6 Head of Station with responsibility for Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia.[4][5] They had met in 1904 at a villa in St Moritz, where Bottome was lodging.[6]
Bottome studied individual psychology under Alfred Adler while in Vienna.[7][5]
In 1924 she and her husband started a school in Kitzbühel in Austria. Based on the teaching of languages, the school was intended to be a community and an educational laboratory to determine how psychology and educational theory could cure the ills of nations. One of their more famous pupils was Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. In 1960, Fleming wrote to Bottome, "My life with you both is one of my most cherished memories, and heaven knows where I should be today without Ernan."[8][page needed] It has been argued that Fleming took the idea of James Bond from the character Mark Chalmers in Bottome's spy novel The Lifeline.[9][10]
In 1935, her novel Private Worlds was made into a film of the same title. Set in a psychiatric clinic, Bottome's knowledge of individual psychology proved useful in creating a realistic scene. Bottome saw her share of trouble with Danger Signal, which the Hays Office forbade from becoming a Hollywood film. Germany became Bottome's home in the late 1930s,[7][page needed] and it inspired her novel The Mortal Storm, the film of which was the first to mention Hitler's name and be set in Nazi Germany. Bottome was an active anti-fascist.[11]
In total, four of her works—Private Worlds, The Mortal Storm, Danger Signal, and The Heart of a Child—were adapted to film.[12] In addition to fiction, she is also known as an Adlerian who wrote a biography of Alfred Adler.[13]
Bottome died in London on 22 August 1963. Forbes Dennis would die in July 1972 in Brighton.
There is a large collection of her literary papers and correspondence in the British Library acquired in 2000 (Add MSS 78832-78903).[14] A second tranche, consisting of correspondence and literary manuscripts, was acquired by the British Library in 2005.[15] The British Library also holds the Phyllis Bottome/Hodder-Salmon Papers consisting of correspondence, papers and press cuttings relating to Bottome.[16]
In 1901, following the death of her sister Wilmott of the same disease, Bottome was diagnosed with tuberculosis.[3] She travelled to St Moritz in the hope that this would improve her health as mountain air was perceived as better for patients with tuberculosis.[3]
In 1917, in Paris, she married Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, a British diplomat working firstly in Marseilles and then in Vienna as Passport Control Officer, a cover for his real role as MI6 Head of Station with responsibility for Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia.[4][5] They had met in 1904 at a villa in St Moritz, where Bottome was lodging.[6]
Bottome studied individual psychology under Alfred Adler while in Vienna.[7][5]
In 1924 she and her husband started a school in Kitzbühel in Austria. Based on the teaching of languages, the school was intended to be a community and an educational laboratory to determine how psychology and educational theory could cure the ills of nations. One of their more famous pupils was Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels. In 1960, Fleming wrote to Bottome, "My life with you both is one of my most cherished memories, and heaven knows where I should be today without Ernan."[8][page needed] It has been argued that Fleming took the idea of James Bond from the character Mark Chalmers in Bottome's spy novel The Lifeline.[9][10]
In 1935, her novel Private Worlds was made into a film of the same title. Set in a psychiatric clinic, Bottome's knowledge of individual psychology proved useful in creating a realistic scene. Bottome saw her share of trouble with Danger Signal, which the Hays Office forbade from becoming a Hollywood film. Germany became Bottome's home in the late 1930s,[7][page needed] and it inspired her novel The Mortal Storm, the film of which was the first to mention Hitler's name and be set in Nazi Germany. Bottome was an active anti-fascist.[11]
In total, four of her works—Private Worlds, The Mortal Storm, Danger Signal, and The Heart of a Child—were adapted to film.[12] In addition to fiction, she is also known as an Adlerian who wrote a biography of Alfred Adler.[13]
Bottome died in London on 22 August 1963. Forbes Dennis would die in July 1972 in Brighton.
There is a large collection of her literary papers and correspondence in the British Library acquired in 2000 (Add MSS 78832-78903).[14] A second tranche, consisting of correspondence and literary manuscripts, was acquired by the British Library in 2005.[15] The British Library also holds the Phyllis Bottome/Hodder-Salmon Papers consisting of correspondence, papers and press cuttings relating to Bottome.[16]
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 7, 2016
Extraordinary on so many levels. When I started reading, the writing style lulled me into the belief that I was nosing into an old fashioned comfortable yarn. Far from it! Written by a British woman in 1938 it emphatically lays bare the myth that nobody knew what was going on as Hitler rose to power.
The multi-layered strands weave the stories of many classes of German society, the wealthy, professionals, commmunists, peasant farmers, the disaffected, women's role in society alongside tradition and the ease with which a generation of German nationals were persuaded by the Nazi ideals.
1938 (pre Anschluss and before borders closed) publication and the novel includes descriptions of concentration camps alongside insight into the rising tide of political and anti-semitic persecution.
The story is riveting but the writing is very dated with long, long passages of descriptive and explanatory prose, which is a world away from modern writing styles. We have the benefit of hindsight looking at 1930s Germany but this is an incredible period piece, history in the making, that must have been all the more shocking on publication
The multi-layered strands weave the stories of many classes of German society, the wealthy, professionals, commmunists, peasant farmers, the disaffected, women's role in society alongside tradition and the ease with which a generation of German nationals were persuaded by the Nazi ideals.
1938 (pre Anschluss and before borders closed) publication and the novel includes descriptions of concentration camps alongside insight into the rising tide of political and anti-semitic persecution.
The story is riveting but the writing is very dated with long, long passages of descriptive and explanatory prose, which is a world away from modern writing styles. We have the benefit of hindsight looking at 1930s Germany but this is an incredible period piece, history in the making, that must have been all the more shocking on publication
January 8, 2011
The Mortal Storm is a fictionalized story of how the Nazis began in Germany and how they convinced the people it was the best form of government.
The characters are believable and the plot is good. The only problem I had with it was the people make big principled speeches when they talk to each other. This isn't, of course, all the time. But it is used frequently enough to get the book's point across that it is stilted. Once past that, it is an interesting read.
Quote: "It is beyond the power of any dictator to kill a scientific truth. Dictators die, and the laws of that reckless being, man, change with his growth but knowledge once set loose into this world of ours, goes on forever."
The characters are believable and the plot is good. The only problem I had with it was the people make big principled speeches when they talk to each other. This isn't, of course, all the time. But it is used frequently enough to get the book's point across that it is stilted. Once past that, it is an interesting read.
Quote: "It is beyond the power of any dictator to kill a scientific truth. Dictators die, and the laws of that reckless being, man, change with his growth but knowledge once set loose into this world of ours, goes on forever."
April 12, 2018
This was an amazing book. Really. It was written in 1940 and it was chillingly prescient. Furthermore, it is still incredibly timely in today's polarized political climate. Bottome, who spent time living in Germany in the 1930s, tells the inside story of a family living in Munich during Hitler's rise to power, and each individual in the story has to find their own way through the events of the times. The two eldest brothers have signed up with the Nazis. The agnostic Jewish scientist father holds fast to truth and tolerance. The Austrian mother grapples with how her first husband's choices have affected the choices that her sons from that marriage are making as they grow older. And Freya, the daughter caught in the middle, grapples with whether or not to befriend her communist acquaintance Hans.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because at times the writing is a little ... popular? It's quick paced and definitely grabs you, but feels a little sentimental sometimes. Overall, very worthwhile and thought provoking though.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because at times the writing is a little ... popular? It's quick paced and definitely grabs you, but feels a little sentimental sometimes. Overall, very worthwhile and thought provoking though.
September 8, 2016
I read this book after seeing the movie by the same name on TCM. It is about the early days of the Nazi's. It was quite a frightening book and also amazing how much the author appeared to know about what the Nazi's were doing as early as 1938 when the book was written. This was an excellent book.
May 30, 2012
Excellent read, I've read the book and watched the film. Portrays the prejudice and heartbreak of the begining of the war. Sad story.
March 14, 2019
Completely forgotten today, this sprawling and poignant novel was a massive best-seller in the thirties, and is especially notabler for being the first major literary work to denounce the horrors of Nazi Germany. It was adapted into a prestige movie by celebrated romantic director Frank Borzage: it’s a terrific motion picture, beautifully made and acted, but it actually takes many liberties with the book, mostly to avoid censorship and political controversies (some of the characters of the novel are communists). As successful as the film is, it is a toned-down version of the original material. Bottome’s novel is a remarkable achievement, that highly deserves to be rediscovered. She knows her subject matter (and especially Germany, where I believe she lived for a while) very well, and the sincerity of her voice gives immense power to her story, centered on the tragedy of a Munich family destroyed by the rise of Nazism. Her writing is of great quality, and she intelligently avoids the clichés that will populate many subsequent potboilers taking place during the Third Reich. She describes with subtlety and emotional understanding how a family united by strong bonds of love and affection can slowly but surely be torn apart by dividing beliefs, and how the German political climate in the early 1930s quickly deteriorated, to the point of becoming a lethal threat to so many citizens. As we, today, know much more than the reading audience of the era about what was then going in Germany, some pages tend to feel a bit too explanatory and expository, but they probably had a huge impact at the time, revealing facts that must have been jaw-dropping to discover. Cleverly suspenseful and psychologically complex, The Mortal Storm takes us on a dark and somber journey whose sole light of hope comes from the soul of its heroine and the unshakable faith in humanity that some of the people she loves (and will lose) keep nourishing. She may come across, sometimes, a bit too naïve, but her strength and courage grow as the country falls into barbarity, and we carry her burden with her through the pages, until the final denouement. For anyone who knows the movie, the book offers a much more complex and detailed background of what happened, and it does take some narrative trails that are very different than the one pursued by the screenwriters. The intelligence of Bottome's understanding of what was going on, and her prescient pessimism (she knows war is coming), are stunning.
December 31, 2021
I picked this up because it was the basis for the excellent 1940 move of the same name, starring Margaret Sullivan, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack, Bonita Granville, Dan Dailey, and a host of other familiar names.
Author Phyllis Bottome was in Austria with her husband, a diplomat, in 1924, as post-war inflation took hold in Germany and the Nazi movement grew; she moved to Munich in 1930 and witnessed the dramatic social, economic and humanitarian changes described in her novel. Through Freya, our heroine in the book, we witness the evolution in Germany, but through each member of her family, we witness how differently individual citizens reacted and were affected.
Freya's father is a world-recognized professor of medicine, but also a non-practicing Jew. His wife was an aristocrat, who, like her husband, has a strong sense of integrity with no intention of compromising her principles. Her two sons from her first marriage have embraced the Nazi party, to different ideological degrees. And through the youngest son, Rudi, we witness the confusion and fear children experience as Jewish pogroms begin and social freedoms end.
The catalyst to familial change is the meeting between Freya and Hans, a young farmer and professed communist. Although pretty Freya has been pursued by the son of a Baron, who also has joined the Nazi party, she feels an immediate connection with Hans. But communists, like Jews, are considered enemies of the state by Nazis, and her friendship, which seems harmless, becomes dangerous for the family - already suspect due to their Jewish roots.
I looked forward to picking up this book each evening. Most of the books I read, I enjoy for what I learn - the pieces of information I pick up - but this, I enjoyed for the story and the writing. It does differ from the movie, not in the message but in the story (according to an intimate, Bottome believed that the film ‘brilliantly retained’ the ‘core and spirit’ of her novel). And, although I usually read print-to-screen books for more detail on the characters, it's the message that is the most important part of this story. An excellent read - like the main character - without compromise.
Author Phyllis Bottome was in Austria with her husband, a diplomat, in 1924, as post-war inflation took hold in Germany and the Nazi movement grew; she moved to Munich in 1930 and witnessed the dramatic social, economic and humanitarian changes described in her novel. Through Freya, our heroine in the book, we witness the evolution in Germany, but through each member of her family, we witness how differently individual citizens reacted and were affected.
Freya's father is a world-recognized professor of medicine, but also a non-practicing Jew. His wife was an aristocrat, who, like her husband, has a strong sense of integrity with no intention of compromising her principles. Her two sons from her first marriage have embraced the Nazi party, to different ideological degrees. And through the youngest son, Rudi, we witness the confusion and fear children experience as Jewish pogroms begin and social freedoms end.
The catalyst to familial change is the meeting between Freya and Hans, a young farmer and professed communist. Although pretty Freya has been pursued by the son of a Baron, who also has joined the Nazi party, she feels an immediate connection with Hans. But communists, like Jews, are considered enemies of the state by Nazis, and her friendship, which seems harmless, becomes dangerous for the family - already suspect due to their Jewish roots.
I looked forward to picking up this book each evening. Most of the books I read, I enjoy for what I learn - the pieces of information I pick up - but this, I enjoyed for the story and the writing. It does differ from the movie, not in the message but in the story (according to an intimate, Bottome believed that the film ‘brilliantly retained’ the ‘core and spirit’ of her novel). And, although I usually read print-to-screen books for more detail on the characters, it's the message that is the most important part of this story. An excellent read - like the main character - without compromise.
December 20, 2020
Incredibly this book was published and reprinted multiple times in 1938. The author sounds the alarm of Hitler and naziism on the eve of war. But without the benefit of seeing how it all turned out, her insights and perspective are all the more impressive as told through thoughtful characters voicing a variety of opinions.
July 18, 2025
3.5/5
At its best when it's examining the varying psychology of the people who go along with the Nazis, or portraying the tensions between longstanding interpersonal relationships and current political realities; at its most plodding when the urgent speechifying starts to outstay its welcome by several pages and/or become repetitive.
At its best when it's examining the varying psychology of the people who go along with the Nazis, or portraying the tensions between longstanding interpersonal relationships and current political realities; at its most plodding when the urgent speechifying starts to outstay its welcome by several pages and/or become repetitive.
January 3, 2023
It reminded me of ‘In The Garden of the Beasts’. Surprisingly, Freya’s parents are respectful of, and accommodate her ideas and preferences.
July 16, 2025
Story of how a family reacts to the growing power of Nazis in Germany. Part of the family joins the movement. Very melodramatic.
March 30, 2018
It is a rare pleasure to open a book and find yourself thrust into the life of a smart, decisive, unpretentious, and affectionate young woman who you recognize, like, and admire. Kudos, Phyllis Bottome for the first three pages alone.
Published in early 1938, The Mortal Storm is set in Munich, it is the story of a well to do German family in the early 1930's. It opens on a very happy day. The heroine, after months of intense study, has just finished a grueling exam and is now preparing for a family birthday party for her brother, where you meet introduces Freya's family, their social circles, their loves, their interests, their aspirations, and their differences. For the first half of the book not much happens as you live with, and learn more and more about this lovely family, such that when conflict surfaces, it is serious but not melodramatic.
The second half picks up and gets scary. In the midst of this loving family chillingly familiar phrases slip out as people pursue a patriotic agenda of "making Germany great again." Subtle shifts of blame lead step by step from whispering about people who are 'not really German', to taking precautions to defend Germany against people who are 'not really German', to publicly demonizing people who are 'not really German', and finally incarcerating people who are 'not really German'. All of this before Kristalnacht in late 1938.
Phyllis Bottome wrote many other books, and apparently mentored Ian Fleming of 007 fame. She is one of those interesting women whose work has been overlooked and forgotten. So, if you want a great story, from a woman's perspective, that is both action and cautionary tale that satisfies your yearning to drink in the rich writing of overlooked women authors, this is it.
Published in early 1938, The Mortal Storm is set in Munich, it is the story of a well to do German family in the early 1930's. It opens on a very happy day. The heroine, after months of intense study, has just finished a grueling exam and is now preparing for a family birthday party for her brother, where you meet introduces Freya's family, their social circles, their loves, their interests, their aspirations, and their differences. For the first half of the book not much happens as you live with, and learn more and more about this lovely family, such that when conflict surfaces, it is serious but not melodramatic.
The second half picks up and gets scary. In the midst of this loving family chillingly familiar phrases slip out as people pursue a patriotic agenda of "making Germany great again." Subtle shifts of blame lead step by step from whispering about people who are 'not really German', to taking precautions to defend Germany against people who are 'not really German', to publicly demonizing people who are 'not really German', and finally incarcerating people who are 'not really German'. All of this before Kristalnacht in late 1938.
Phyllis Bottome wrote many other books, and apparently mentored Ian Fleming of 007 fame. She is one of those interesting women whose work has been overlooked and forgotten. So, if you want a great story, from a woman's perspective, that is both action and cautionary tale that satisfies your yearning to drink in the rich writing of overlooked women authors, this is it.
July 27, 2025
Published in 1938.
Set in Germany (1933 burning of the Reichstag). Fascinating historical insight, for the background details of the novel give readers a time travel visit to Hitler’s pre-war Germany. The readers know where these events lead. Our author did not. The real time aspect is fascinating.
The plot was a mix of the sermonizing found in Little Women and the melodrama of Peyton Place with Nazi hatred lurking in the background.
Set in Germany (1933 burning of the Reichstag). Fascinating historical insight, for the background details of the novel give readers a time travel visit to Hitler’s pre-war Germany. The readers know where these events lead. Our author did not. The real time aspect is fascinating.
The plot was a mix of the sermonizing found in Little Women and the melodrama of Peyton Place with Nazi hatred lurking in the background.
January 18, 2016
Incredible impressive novel about the rise of the nazi's and the impact on family life in Germany. The novel is about a family with four children from which two are from a former marriage. Father of the family is Jewish, so two children are part jewish and two are not. The children where very close with each other, but this splits up with the rise of the nazi's: the two eldest brothers join the nazi's, while Freya (daughter) makes friends with the communists. The father is put in a concentration camp and is murdered by the nazi's.
I'm not sure what is real and what is fiction in the novel, since it was first published in 1937. Is it possible that german people could have known about the (possibility of) concentration camps, even before the war? It certainly turned out to be real.
I'm not sure what is real and what is fiction in the novel, since it was first published in 1937. Is it possible that german people could have known about the (possibility of) concentration camps, even before the war? It certainly turned out to be real.
March 31, 2017
This story was written by a German woman, Phyllis Bottome who emigrated from Germany to the US and wanted to tell the world what the Nazis were doing to Germany and their true threat to the world.
December 23, 2016
a masterpiece of human experience in war, enlightening and relevant still, should be on the curriculum for secondary schools today.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews