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Lebensborn Secrets
Summer, 1941.
An elite SS force take over a small French village. Leader of the group, the charming but cruel Major Reinhard Hurst, demands strict rules. Antoinette Gauthier, her family, friends and members of the Resistance, even their pets, find life difficult. For Antoinette it means being a servant for the Major and three other officers in her home. She and her father, the mayor, must live in the attic.
To learn the reason for SS being in her village, Antoinette makes a courageous decision. She will allow the Major to seduce her, then finds herself discarded when he chooses other women in the village. When she finds that she is pregnant, he rushes her off to one of the new Lebensborn Homes in Bavaria.
Once she arrives, the pregnant women and staff think she is a spy and treat her poorly, changing her name to Hannah. When she bakes pastry for a baby-naming ceremony, Heinrich Himmler sends her next door to be the new cook at his SS party house. Major Hurst's fiance arrives from Berlin for a weekend and tension builds when they invite Antoinette to join their party.
It fits into her plan to rescue a downed English navigator she has hidden in the potato bin in the Lebensborn cellar. After the war, her secret role in the Resistance and the valiant role she played is finally revealed for villagers who have only thought her a collaborator.
An elite SS force take over a small French village. Leader of the group, the charming but cruel Major Reinhard Hurst, demands strict rules. Antoinette Gauthier, her family, friends and members of the Resistance, even their pets, find life difficult. For Antoinette it means being a servant for the Major and three other officers in her home. She and her father, the mayor, must live in the attic.
To learn the reason for SS being in her village, Antoinette makes a courageous decision. She will allow the Major to seduce her, then finds herself discarded when he chooses other women in the village. When she finds that she is pregnant, he rushes her off to one of the new Lebensborn Homes in Bavaria.
Once she arrives, the pregnant women and staff think she is a spy and treat her poorly, changing her name to Hannah. When she bakes pastry for a baby-naming ceremony, Heinrich Himmler sends her next door to be the new cook at his SS party house. Major Hurst's fiance arrives from Berlin for a weekend and tension builds when they invite Antoinette to join their party.
It fits into her plan to rescue a downed English navigator she has hidden in the potato bin in the Lebensborn cellar. After the war, her secret role in the Resistance and the valiant role she played is finally revealed for villagers who have only thought her a collaborator.
318 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2010
About the author
Jo Ann Bender
9 books3 followersI grew up in Iowa where tall corn grows and where some natives do get restless and move West.
I make my home now at the base of a mountain in Eastern Washington State five miles from Trail, B.C., where my husband and I have created a rustic B&B called the Lazy Bee.
I've been a writer since childhood when I was given a little diary with lock and gold key at the age of eight. By the age of ten, I wanted to be both a writer and a detective. Now, I write adventure stories, a combination of both.
Living a mountain lifestyle means the ranch needs to be supplied, planted and pristine for B&B guests. It requires organization and energy. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I'd find a little cabin by a river and do as Marjorie Kinnen Rallings and find a cook/housekeeper and sit on the deck and write.
We have ten children. Bud has seven and I have three and together there are twenty-four grandchildren. Every day I praise God for my life. I've traveled world-wide, most recently to Turkey. I've lived madly and someday will write about my job-shopping trip to the West.
I've lived madly. Loved exeedingly. Mellowed a bit. Learned how to write a simple sentence and the difference between showing or telling a story.
I believe age should not be relevant for any woman. True age is inner spirit. If a woman is true to her spirit, she can be any age: a little girl giggling with friends, a frustrated mother talking to a difficult child in a soft voice, a wise elder woman helping someone sort out a problem, or a writer taking a love scene to conclusion.
Authors who inspire me: Doris Mortman and Nelson DeMille.
My novel in progress is A Cowboy and His Women, a contemporary western set in Montana. It is a sequel to Rusty Springs, a book that was recently being sent around by a literary agency. Maine Effort is having a wild summer and I can't wait to see why Marsha Mason
has showed up. However, now I must be a writer who sells books.
All is well in my world when my husband begins a day by saying, "I am glad you like being loved because I love loving you."
I make my home now at the base of a mountain in Eastern Washington State five miles from Trail, B.C., where my husband and I have created a rustic B&B called the Lazy Bee.
I've been a writer since childhood when I was given a little diary with lock and gold key at the age of eight. By the age of ten, I wanted to be both a writer and a detective. Now, I write adventure stories, a combination of both.
Living a mountain lifestyle means the ranch needs to be supplied, planted and pristine for B&B guests. It requires organization and energy. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I'd find a little cabin by a river and do as Marjorie Kinnen Rallings and find a cook/housekeeper and sit on the deck and write.
We have ten children. Bud has seven and I have three and together there are twenty-four grandchildren. Every day I praise God for my life. I've traveled world-wide, most recently to Turkey. I've lived madly and someday will write about my job-shopping trip to the West.
I've lived madly. Loved exeedingly. Mellowed a bit. Learned how to write a simple sentence and the difference between showing or telling a story.
I believe age should not be relevant for any woman. True age is inner spirit. If a woman is true to her spirit, she can be any age: a little girl giggling with friends, a frustrated mother talking to a difficult child in a soft voice, a wise elder woman helping someone sort out a problem, or a writer taking a love scene to conclusion.
Authors who inspire me: Doris Mortman and Nelson DeMille.
My novel in progress is A Cowboy and His Women, a contemporary western set in Montana. It is a sequel to Rusty Springs, a book that was recently being sent around by a literary agency. Maine Effort is having a wild summer and I can't wait to see why Marsha Mason
has showed up. However, now I must be a writer who sells books.
All is well in my world when my husband begins a day by saying, "I am glad you like being loved because I love loving you."
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