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The Watchmaker's Bench
In 1937 Wuppertal, Lukas Hartmann's world is measured in the precise tick of gears and springs. As apprentice to Jewish watchmaker Samuel Grünwald, he learns that steady hands can repair what seems irreparably broken. But when conscription tears him from his mentor's workshop and thrusts him into the Wehrmacht's signals corps, Lukas discovers that some mechanisms—like the machinery of systematic persecution—are designed not to be fixed, but to destroy.
As Nazi Germany's ambitions expand eastward, Lukas finds himself maintaining the very communications networks that coordinate deportations and conquest. Meanwhile, Anneliese Brandt, the deaconess whose father's watch first brought them together, faces her own impossible choices as a nurse hiding Jewish refugees in a hospital system increasingly controlled by those who measure human worth in economic terms.
Two young people. Two forms of resistance. And the question that will define a When the state demands complicity in evil, can individual conscience survive—and at what cost?
As Nazi Germany's ambitions expand eastward, Lukas finds himself maintaining the very communications networks that coordinate deportations and conquest. Meanwhile, Anneliese Brandt, the deaconess whose father's watch first brought them together, faces her own impossible choices as a nurse hiding Jewish refugees in a hospital system increasingly controlled by those who measure human worth in economic terms.
Two young people. Two forms of resistance. And the question that will define a When the state demands complicity in evil, can individual conscience survive—and at what cost?
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 10, 2025
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December 10, 2025
Well Done!
This was an interesting take on historical fiction novels. As a huge WWII fiction reader, it’s not often I come across one written from the point of view of a German protagonists. I enjoyed reading about how one person’s actions could set off a series of events, leading to lives saved. For her first historical fiction novel, Merilu did a great job of balancing the historical accuracy and fictional components. I anxiously await a continuation of Lukas and Liese’s stories :)
This was an interesting take on historical fiction novels. As a huge WWII fiction reader, it’s not often I come across one written from the point of view of a German protagonists. I enjoyed reading about how one person’s actions could set off a series of events, leading to lives saved. For her first historical fiction novel, Merilu did a great job of balancing the historical accuracy and fictional components. I anxiously await a continuation of Lukas and Liese’s stories :)
Displaying 1 of 1 review