Liesel’s War

by Corin Burnside

Pre-order this sweeping and emotional World War II novel for readers of Soraya M. Lane and Veronica Leigh.April, 1945.

Hamburg is a city on the brink of collapse, and Liesel Heinemann is caught in the storm of war. Once a promising student of translation, she is now a reluctant interpreter for the Nazis, her life irrevocably altered by the horrors surrounding her. Everything changes when she saves a British soldier who has lost his memory in a tank explosion. Naming him ‘Tommy’, they set off with Liesel’s two brothers on a treacherous journey westward, seeking refuge and the hope of finding their mother in England.

With danger lurking at every turn and the realities of war weighing heavily on her heart, Liesel discovers that love can bloom even in the darkest of times. Growing closer to her British soldier against the war-torn landscape, Liesel must make tough decisions to keep her family alive. In a world torn apart by war, love and hope become guiding stars on their desperate journey.

Praise for Corin Burnside'A wonderful page turner' Kate Galley

'A beautiful and fresh twist on a familiar period of history' Neema Shah

‘A beautiful romance… Loved it!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I was completely swept up in this epic story of love, loss and adventure… I hugely recommend!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

325 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2026

Reviews

[Teresa]

Liesel and her brothers and an English soldier she rescues end up walking from Hamburg to France to escape the Nazis. She wants to keep her brothers safe and go to England to find her mother, who was deported at the beginning of the war. The soldier, who has lost his memory, also wants to go back to England and find out who he is and where his family are.
Having loved the two previous books by this author I was disappointed with this one. The journey they were on was frightening and arduous but there was no real tension or action in the story. There was too much telling instead of dialogue and I didn't buy the romance at all.
I think we were supposed to feel sorry for Liesel but she did enough of feeling sorry for herself. She irritated me so much. They couldn't have done a lot of what happened without the soldier's help yet at times she was downright nasty to him. I find it very hard to enjoy a book when I don't like the main character.
There is a certain amount of sadness too with something momentous happening.
This book has it's fans so don't go on my review alone. If you're seeing this author for the first time I encourage you to read her previous two books which were brilliant.

Many thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for an early copy.

[Tina]

Despite the clichés and stereotypical characters, (hence three stars not 4) I did get involved with this story. Liesel is in her early twenties living in Hamburg at the end of WWII with her two brothers, Emil 9 and Johannes 14. The story is told mostly in the first person, from Liesel’s pov, but strangely, we get snippets told in the third person, of another character’s thoughts which I found a bit jarring.

At the beginning of the war, their father was killed, and their mother, who is English was deported back to England. Consequently Liesel, a strong determined character, (although she does do a great deal of crying, feeling faint and going weak at the knees), is left to bring up and protect the two boys. With the war ending,she is worried about what will happen if/when the Russians sweep through Germany. She fears the worst and so resolves to walk her family to the French coast and get on a boat to England to find their mother.

I had to suspend disbelief at various points in the story. For one thing, the boys would have been drafted into the Hitler Youth before the war even started. Liesel was hiding them in their flat to save them both being drafted into the army and sent to the front; (even Emil?) and so do we assume they were hiding before the war even started…?

Once resolved to embark on the long trek they are about to set out when a disaster happens in front of their flat. Liesel’s decision on how to deal with it has consequences nobody could predict. Nobody except this reader! (Well, some of them.)

I hope I’m not being too scathing because I did enjoy the story and was carried along wanting to know how it all ended. We follow their trials and tribulations, with genuinely devastating tragedy along the way, but I felt the author ended the story rather abruptly. We are left to assume various endings.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction with engaging characters and a well written plot.

Thanks to NetGalley for my kindle ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[bookedju]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love Liesel’s War, especially because I’ve loved Corin Burnside’s previous two books. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me in the same way.

I struggled to connect with Liesel, and because I didn’t particularly root for her, I found it difficult to become emotionally invested in their journey. I also couldn’t quite feel the romance between Liesel and Tommy. Their relationship never really clicked for me, which made it hard to root for them as a couple.

The journey itself was certainly difficult and heartbreaking at times, but I often felt more like an observer than someone truly immersed in the story. I also found the pacing a little slow, and I was hoping for more tension and emotional impact.

I’m honestly a little sad that this one didn’t work for me because I truly wanted to love it. 🥺 But sometimes a book just doesn’t resonate with you the way you hoped it would. 🤍 I’m still glad I gave it a chance, and I’ll definitely continue to read Burnside’s work because her previous books were such a hit for me. 🤍

[Sue Sykes]

I really enjoy this authors books, his books are always well written and have good strong characters. This is the story of Liesel who needs to leave Germany with her two brothers to travel to England to find their mother. . While fleeing they come across a British solider who has been injured and has lost his memory. Set during WW1 this is a story of challenge, endurance, survival, it is a book of hope and rescue.
My thanks as always to NetGalley and to Publisher HQ | HQ Digital and to the Author for the opportunity to have an early read of lovely story.

[Angela Brown]

This was my first book by Corin Burnside - I even needed to look her up to find out more.

Oh my word - what a book! Full of sadness, cruelty, kindness, and so much more.

The story centres round Liesel and her brothers Johannes and Emil. They live in Hamburg born of a German father and an English mother. Their mother was forced back to England before WW2 started and their father died and left them alone. Liesel rescues a solder from a burning tank as the Allies free Germany from the tyranny of Nazism,
But she lives in fear of her brothers being recruited to the German army and being sent to the Russian front. They are only 9 and 14.
So she nurses the soldier - who has no idea who he is and calls him ‘Tommy” - back to health and decides that they need to reach England and find her mother.

Perhaps the story stretches credibility here but one reads about people that have no homes and walking roads to who knows where. But Liesel does have a destination in mind. Of course as they pass through the different borders they have to be careful to avoid hostility - but inevitably a tragedy does mean that they meet unkindness.

It takes them days - sleeping rough by day and walking by night to reach the French coast - and work their passage across the Channel to Newlyn in Cornwall.

Johannes overcomes his dislike of Tommy and Liesel develops feelings she had not expected. They do eventually find their mother but this was the part that I found most disappointing - it was so quick and I wanted to know more about what happened to her and what happened when Robbie (no longer Tommy because he began to remember ) took Liesel home.

Maybe we will be lucky to get ‘After Liesel’s War’?

This was a well written book which I read in 2 days - obviously well researched although the authors notes were brief.

A thought provoking heart breaking read while full of hope

Thank you

[Kate Galley]

Both heartbreaking and hopeful, beautifully written and compelling, Liesel’s War centres on the impossible decision one young woman has to make to save her family and find her mother.

It was so enlightening to read a novel featuring the often overlooked casualties of war: the women left to eke out an existence to make sure their children survive and in Liesel’s case it is her two younger brothers. After a tank explodes outside their home, Liesel makes the rash decision to save the life of a British soldier. But after she nurtures him back to health she realises they cannot stay in their ravaged home in Germany and the group leave Hamburg on foot to try to reach England and to find Leisel’s mother.

A plucky heroine, a journey into the dangerous unknown and the possibility of romance. Liesel’s War has all the ingredients I love in a book. The author has also layered the story with utter heartbreak, and I will admit to tears, but the overriding feeling I was left with when I turned the final page was hope.
Thank you to HQ for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

[C A O’Brien]

As the war draws to a close, a young German woman, Liesel is determined to save her young brothers from being recruited by Germany’s desperate army and longs to reunite with their English mother who was forced to leave Germany at the start of the war. When Liesel bravely rescues an English soldier from a burnt out tank, she hatches a plan for them all to set out on an epic journey to walk from Hamburg to England.

Beset by danger and setbacks at every stage, the unlikely travellers encounter real tragedy along the way. I found myself really rooting for Liesel and admiring her resilience in the face of grief, willing her to happiness as a tender romance slowly blossomed with the mysterious English soldier.

Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, Liesel’s War is a sweeping story of courage and tenacity set against the devastation of war-torn Europe which is sure to appeal to fans of WW2 fiction.

[R Evans]

The narrative in liesels war is interesting enough but the plot has unrealistic elements. In April 1945 a woman doing translation work in Hamburg has her life thrown into chaos when she rescues a British serviceman from a burning tank. He has lost his memory so they decide to walk from Hamburg to the French ports with her two siblings in tow. No attempt to find out the identity of the soldier was made before they left. They walked from germanys major port past Bremen, another port into Netherlands, past Rotterdam, another major port and into Belgium past Antwerp and Ostend, two major ports, and then into France, past Dunkirk and Calais, two more major ports and closer to Britain than where they ended up. Surely they did not have to walk all the way to Boulogne? Then they landed in Cornwall, several hundred miles away from the channel ports, when it is only 22 miles from Calais to Dover. People swim this part of the channel.

[Su Thor]

What a story! I enjoyed every minute of it (even the sad bits were beautifully written). A romance with a definite different. A family story set in war and just after. A story of humanity - the good, the bad and the atrocious! Corin has captured the situation well - making the reader ask the question: what would you have done? so many times.
It is a heart felt story showing bravery, courage and resilience. Exactly what you'd expect to find in a novel with war in the title. But this is an extraordinary tale which will live with me long after I've moved on to another book. So thank you very much for the privilege of reading this book.
Thanks to netgalley, HQ Digital and to the author Corin for this story and for the advance copy which I have freely reviewed.