The Runaway Family

by Diney Costeloe, Billie Fulford-Brown (Narrator)

Germany 1937:

Fear and betrayal stalk the streets. People disappear. Persecution of the Jews has become a national pastime.

When Ruth Friedman's husband is arrested by the SS, she is left to fend for herself and her four children. She alone stands as their shield against the Nazis. But where can she go? Where will her family be safe? Ruth must overcome the indifference, hatred, and cruelty that surrounds her as she and her family race to escape the advancing Nazi army's final solution.

The Runaway Family was previously published as Evil on the Wind.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Audiobook, War, Historical, Roman

11 pages, Audible Audio

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

Encouraged by my publisher father, I have been writing all my life. When I was five, he took my first effort to his office and brought it back in a cardboard cover with the label, 'Tom's Party'written by Diney, published by Daddy.
I've never looked back and always have some writing on the go.
To date I have written 10 romantic novels under the name of Diney Delancey (I liked the shape of the name and it sounded like a romantic novelist) and four novels as Diney Costeloe.
All are also in large print and several recently published as e-books.
See my reviews on Amazon and on my website, http://www.dineycosteloe.co.uk or http://castlehavenbooks.co.uk

Reviews

[Cathy S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! This was a very powerful novel! It is a chilling account of pre WWII Germany and man’s inhumanity to man. For some reason I got it into my head that Diney Costeloe was a historical fiction lite writer who penned books that used historical details as mere window dressing for a romance. I could not have been more wrong! This was the most incredible book I have ever read about wartime that didn’t involve combat. I literally had a real visceral response to her writing! There were times when I had to turn off the audiobook because I was overcome with emotions that ran the gamut from tear inducing sadness to anxiety and fear for the family! The tension created by Diney, started on the very first pages and continued right until the end!
First and foremost this book is about a family, the Friedmans. Ruth and Kurt Friedman are hardworking owners of a neighborhood grocery store. They are also loving parents of 4 children. They have a good life in a neighborhood that their families have lived and worked in for generations. That is until the Nazis came to power and state encouraged anti-semitism became widespread. As Jews, both worried but it was the night that a mob, lead by the Nazi SS, came to their neighborhood, burned their grocery down and arrested Kurt that the real terror of their situation hit home. It is the story of Ruth’s attempt to keep her children safe and taken care of along with her actions to find Kurt that form the basis of the book.
But this is also a book about hatred with a warning for us all especially in my country. It is the story of how democracy can easily be demolished and one man rise to power supported by an evil regime. It’s the story of how one group can be ostracized and worse. Perhaps it is the ease in which the Jews were so easily separated out and systematically demonized that I found frightening. It started with sowing seeds of distrust, then dehumanizing the Jews leading to their mass murder. To paraphrase a great quote, History will repeat itself if we don’t learn it’s lesson. It can happen here!
I “read” this book via an audiobook. I highly recommend reading this novel via this method. The skill of the narrator at voicing different characters male and female made it easy to differentiate who was speaking. Her acting skills are extraordinary. It was her skill at voicing evil that raised the tension to heart pounding heights.
5 Stars despite agreeing with other reviewers that the ending felt anti-climatic. I always prefer to be shown when reading not told.
Recommended for all adults.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley. This fact in no way influenced my review.

[becky budd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story rubbish ending

I loved it for the most part apart from the ending... it appeared the author simply couldn't be bothered to continue. I wove loved to have known what happened to the family in detail.

[Marilyn (not getting notifications) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Runaway Family by Diney Costeloe was about one mother’s attempts to keep her four children away from and safe from the Nazis during World War II. It was fast paced and engrossing. Billie Fulford-Brown did an amazing job performing the narration for The Runaway Family. This mother’s courage and resilience was constantly being tested as she was forced to rely on her resourcefulness to keep her children fed, housed, loved and out of the hands of the despicable Nazis.

Ruth and Kurt Friedman owned a grocery shop in a small town in Germany. They were by no means well off but they were happy and had enough to make life pleasant. Ruth and Kurt had four children, two daughters and twin toddler sons. They were a happy and content family until the night the Gestapo came and arrested Kurt and took him away and imprisoned him at Dachau just because they could. That same night, members of the Hitler Youth and Nazi sympathizers torched Jewish businesses. Ruth’s and Kurt’s home was located above their shop. When their small grocery shop was set on fire, Ruth realized that she and her four children were trapped as the fire made its way up the steps to their apartment. Luckily, their neighbors came to her family’s rescue. The children were encouraged to jump and were caught by their loyal and endearing neighbors. When Ruth finally got all her children to safety, she realized it was her turn to jump. Ruth was lucky enough to have only endured a twisted ankle as a result. Their neighbors that owned the bakery took them in and allowed Ruth and her children to stay with them for a few days. Ruth worried for Kurt’s safety. She had no idea where he had been taken or if he was still alive but prayed that he was. Ruth knew she had to go somewhere where her children would be safe and that Kurt would be able to find them. She decided that the best place for her and the children to go to would be Kurt’s brother’s house in Stutgart. Thus began the plight of The Runaway Family always trying to stay one step ahead of the dreaded Nazis.

I would have probably given The Runaway Family 5 stars if the ending had not been so rushed and unsatisfying. After reading some reviews on this book, I was amazed to see how many other people felt the same way about the ending as I did. It lacked the attention to detail and good writing that was evident in the rest of the book. It was as if Diney Costeloe had something else to attend to and just finished the book as fast as she could. How disappointing! This was the first book that I have read by Diney Costeloe but if her other books end in a similar way then I will pass on reading them. Beside the disappointing ending, I did enjoy listening to the audiobook of The Runaway Family and would recommend it.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media LLC for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Runaway Family through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the new audiobook version of this while on a walk and got way more exercise than I planned because I just couldn't stop listening. I lost an extra pound! SCORE!

There are so many WWII stories coming out lately that it is rare to read something unique, but this really was. This is the story of a Jewish family in Germany and later Austria escaping the Nazi's as the two nations began to be hostile to the Jews but before the official start of the war. I read so little about life in those two countries leading up to the war so this story was really compelling.

There is a lot here to spur some research and further reading. I'm excited to dive deeper into a part of history that I know only superficially.

[Katrien Van Wambeke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️

[Jolieg G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veel boeken gelezen over de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
En elke keer verbaas ik me er over dat dit werkelijk heeft plaats gevonden.
Dat mensen zo laag kunnen zinken... niet te bevatten.
En ook ... dat in veel landen mensen nog steeds worden onderdrukt, buiten gesloten, verdreven..

[Shirley McAllister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Escaping Hitler

Heartbreaking and such a sad story. When their store is burned down and her husband is arrested by the Gestapo, Ruth is left to care for her four children. She now has no home for them, the clothes on their back and little money. Where will she go to keep her children safe and provide for them.

She stays at friends and relatives staying one step ahead of the Nazi's not knowing where her husband is or even if he is alive. Just surviving she works until she hears once again the phrase shouted "Jews Out" and knows that she must move once again. Will she ever find a safe place for her family and will she be reunited with her husband.

This book shows us how terrorized the Jewish people were by the Nazi's and even by their own friends. Some that once were good friends now pretended to not know them, or shouted bad things at them. In Germany the Jewish were not allowed to have any of the freedoms as others. They could not own a business, they could not go to Cinema or the parks. They had curfews and long lines at the only shops they were allowed to shop at. Most of the time they were hungry, cold and very frightened.

It was a story of a courageous woman and how she fought to keep her children safe and to once again find her husband.

I enjoyed this story and I would recommend it .

Thanks to Diney Costeloe for writing a great story, for Billie Fulford-Brown for doing a fine job of narrating the story and to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for making it available to me.

[Christine M in Texas (stamperlady50) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Runaway Family
By: Disney Costeloe
4 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced audio for an honest review.
.
The amazing story of Ruth Friedman and her children. When her husband is arrested by the SS, Ruth must figure out how to survive and care for her four small children.
Her courage and resilience during this time in history is remarkable. She must count on help from few others as she tries to keep her children safe and fed among people whom she can no longer trust.
💛
Their journey was extensive and the hardest part was sending some of her kids on the train towards freedom.
💛
I did not care for the ending of this book, but sadly we all know not all books end the way we hope. I am holding out for a sequel. The narrator was fantastic. #netgalley, #therunawayfamily, #dineycodyeloe, #dreamscapemedia, #audiobook, #stamperlady50, #bookreview, #booksconnectus, #bookstagram

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Runaway Family by Diney Costeloe is a gut wrenching historical read. It is set in 1936 Nazi Germany and follows the fortunes of a Jewish family up to the outbreak of war in September 1939.
Diney Costeloe always writes stories that educate and inform as well as being compulsive reads. Fact most definitely meets fiction in The Runaway Family. The topic covered, the persecution of the Jewish people means there are some difficult scenes to read as Diney Costeloe has written with remarkable accuracy. Focusing on the plight of just one family means the reader's attention to the horrors is intensified and not diluted in any way.
The novel raises the subject of God. "As she said her prayers... She thought that maybe God was listening to her after all." However as the horrors intensify, the existence of God is questioned. "He had prayed to God every day of his life... But it seemed that God was no longer listening... How could God ignore the prayers and pleas of His people?" God's silence does not equate with His absence however in the midst of the persecution, it is easy to see why people thought God no longer cared.
Many German Jews saw themselves as Germans first and foremost. They had relatives who had fought for Germany in the first World War "He thought of his father, wounded, fighting in the trenches... He'd been good enough to be a German then." It came as a great shock to be so hated and persecuted less than twenty years later.
As the story progresses the persecution and the march of the Nazis intensifies. The reader, with the benefit of hindsight, wants to yell all sorts of helpful suggestions to the family, but is helpless and can only read on.
Inspite of its horrendous subject content, the novel offers hope. The reader witnesses the fierce love of a mother for her children, of a husband for his family. The love just radiates.
The children presented in the novel are all uniquely drawn and with their own personalities. I was drawn to the all. There were some very touching scenes particularly towards the end of the book.
Not all German people were Nazis and there were glimmers of hope for the future in the novel. "There were still good people who were ashamed of how their countrymen had treated the Jews."
I can highly recommend The Runaway Family. It was a tough read through horrific persecution and at the end, I did feel like my emotions had been on a roller coaster ride. I have been left with a strong sense of unity through family though.
We must never forget the horrors done to six million men, women and children. We owe it to their memory to tell their stories to the subsequent generations and for this I thank Diney Costeloe for telling their story and preserving their memory.

[Heleen Osse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weer genoten van Costeloe! Elke keer krijgt ze het voor elkaar om je vanaf pagina 1 te boeien en niet meer los te laten tot de laatste bladzijde. Een beetje een abrupt einde, fingers crossed en hopen dat er snel een nieuw deel komt!

[Justin Neville · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the plus side, it's a moving story touchingly told. And it's important that popular authors keep writing accessible stories about these and similar episodes, so we don't forget what happened - not only during the Nazi era but also during other periods of atrocity - and therefore what is happening and will happen elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the writing is pretty pedestrian and the characterisations far from nuanced. And there is next to no exploration of the background to the environment in which our main characters find themselves. We're just presented with the hostile atmosphere which has taken hold in Germany and then in Austria. And, although there is a little bit of a balance with the occasional vaguely sympathetic non-Jewish character, there's no real depth here - so it's not as hard-hitting as it could be.

And the biggest let-down - as other reviewers have noted - is the abrupt ending, as if the author suddenly went: "Bored now!". It really is shockingly sudden and polished off in a matter of a few words when we're nowhere near ready for it. Plus, although it's comforting to have this 'they all lived happily ever after' ending, for this sizeable family to have all survived and somehow ended up together by the end is fortuitous.

Overall, I was looking for an easy and absorbing read to pass a four-hour flight and this ticked the boxes. And, again, I'm glad this was written and seems to have been read and appreciated pretty widely.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read only started reading it and couldn't put this book down.a family in Germany husband arrested and left defending for themselves had tears in my eye at one point,the hardships they faced was heartbreaking. Was disappointed how it ended wanted to know more it was cut short.but this is my second book from this author I've read and want to read more of her books,as a fantastic writer.

[Anoeska Nossol · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 sterren van de 5 sterren

In 'familie op de vlucht' volgt de lezer de familie van Ruth. Wanneer de winkel van het gezin vernield en in brand gestoken wordt, maken ze kennis met de harde hand van de nazi's. Wanneer haar man Kurt opgepakt wordt, begint de tocht voor Ruth en haar kinderen. Ze doet er alles aan om haar kinderen in veiligheid te brengen. Evenals andere familieleden zoals haar zus, moeder,...

Het vorige boek van Diney Costeloe ('het meisje zonder naam') vond ik wat minder. Het was chaotisch geschreven, langdradig en vooral historisch niet correct. Hierdoor had ik geen hoge verwachtingen van 'familie op de vlucht'. Echter sprak het onderwerp van dit boek me wel meer aan.
Gelukkig veranderde die lage verwachtingen al gauw. Naar mijn idee is dit boek tien keer beter geschreven dan het vorige. De plot was heel mooi uitgewerkt en als lezer merkt je dat Diney Costeloe een doel voor ogen heeft met het verhaal. Het gaat daadwerkelijk ergens naartoe en de auteur weet ook het einddoel. Naar mijn gevoel was dit verhaal ook veel interessanter om te lezen.
Daarnaast was het boek emotioneel aangrijpend. De auteur speelt goed in op de gevoelens van de lezer en probeert de emoties van de personages over te brengen. Vooral angst en verdriet worden meermaals naar voren geschoven en zijn goed uitgewerkt.
Ook de personages zijn heel verschillend en volle karakters. Elk personage weerspiegelt ook een manier van omgaan met de harde hand van de nazi's. Dat vond ik zeer interessant om te zien. Het ene personage ging deels in opstand, de ander volgde en dat bracht wat meer beweging in de personages.
Toen ik 3/4 ver zat concludeerde ik dat het boek me oprecht aansprak. Dat ik het echt een goed boek vond en nooit verwacht had dat ik er zo van overdonderd zou geraken. De auteur wist me te verrassen en liet me mijn mening herzien. Het voelde aan alsof het door iemand compleet anders geschreven werd. Ik was toen al aan het denken aan 4 of 4.5 sterren. Dit boek zou een van mijn favoriete worden in 2020.

Maar dan...
Kwam ik op het einde. Zelf ben ik geen fan van open eindes, maar dat beïnvloed mijn mening over een baak (vaak) niet. Dit kon je geen open einde meer noemen. Het verhaal stopte zo abrupt. Het leek net alsof iemand de andere helft van het manuscript zo in de vuilbak had gegooid.
Dit boek heeft geen einde. Het verhaal stopt in het midden van de verhaallijn en er wordt door de auteur niets beantwoord. Ik zit met ontzettend veel vragen en heb ook geen flauw idee wat er daarna zou kunnen gebeurd zijn.
Zelfs de plot kende geen einde. Er was geen climax aanwezig in dit boek. Geen moment dat de plot oploste en waar die rode draad van het verhaal afgerond werd. Dat een boek een open einde kan hebben met nog vele vragen onopgelost, is niet ongewoon. Hoewel dat niet mijn smaak is, stoor ik mezelf er niet zo sterk aan. Maar dit? Een onafgewerkte plot, een verhaal dat ergens middenin abrupt stopt. Nee. Bij mij kwam het zeer onprofessioneel over en ik vond het zo ontzettend jammer. Dit is zo'n ijzersterk boek, maar het lijkt net alsof de auteur geen zin meer had om het einde te schrijven.

Daarom hou ik het op 3.5 sterren. Hoewel ik zo genoten heb van dit boek, en het verhaal mij emotioneel heel sterk wist te raken, kan dit einde voor mij niet door de beugel.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het boek begint in 1937 als de Joden in Duitsland het steeds moeilijker krijgen, Diney Costeloe begint ook met het noemen van de rassenwetten van Neurenberg en de wet ter bescherming van het Duitse Bloed en de Duitse eer. Deze wetten hebben grote gevolgen voor de Joden in Duitsland. Ook voor het gezin van Kurt en Ruth. Zij moeten vluchten voor hun leven als Nazi’s hun winkel in de brand steken en Kurt arresteren. Ruth wordt eerst opgevangen door buren maar probeert daarna naar haar moeder en zus in Wenen te gaan. In Oostenrijk zouden ze veilig zijn……totdat in 1938 Oostenrijk bij Duitsland aangetrokken wordt en het daar net zo erg wordt als in hun thuisland.

“De Duitsers waren aangekomen, en gingen niet meer weg, en niemand moest twijfelen aan de macht van hun legers.”

Kurt wordt naar een concentratiekamp gestuurd maar mag na een poosje weer weg maar dan moet hij zijn vrouw en kinderen weer vinden. En voor hun veiligheid een hele moeilijke keuze maken.
Ook voor Ruth wordt het steeds moeilijker ondanks dat ze hulp krijgt uit onverwachte hoek. Zij wordt voor een onmogelijke keuze gesteld waarmee ze het leven van haar kinderen kan redden. De wanhoop klinkt door in het verhaal en de reacties van Ruth.

“ Ruth was vastbesloten om niet te gaan huilen waar haar kinderen bij waren.”

Door het open einde blijf je een beetje in verwarring achter en hoop je dat het uiteindelijk goed zal komen met dit gezin. Je hebt zo met ze meegeleefd. Vooral omdat het verhaal verteld wordt (luisterboek) kwam het nog meer binnen. Dat komt ook door het juiste gebruik van de stem van de voorlezer. En omdat het verhaal vanuit meerdere kanten verteld wordt, is het completer en leer je de verschillende personages goed kennen.
Door de uitleg voorin en achterin het boek kun je de gebeurtenissen beter plaatsen en besef je dat de Tweede Wereldoorlog al jaren eerder begon dan 1940.

[˖ liza!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is both amazing and gut-wrenching, capturing vividly the suffering of families and individuals under Nazi rule. It is extremely fast-paced; however, the ending feels rushed and somewhat half-hearted. More insight into the family's life would have enhanced the overall experience.

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alweer een mooi boek van Diney Costeloe. Ik ben echt fan! De schrijfstijl heerlijk vlot, het verhaal prachtig; wat heb ik meegeleefd met Ruth en Helga! Klein minpuntje; zomaar opeens is het boek uit, best wel abrupt! Aanrader

[Marjanneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Met Familie op de vlucht is het Diney Coesteloe zeker gelukt om een indringend portret te schetsen van hoe de Jodenvervolging er voor veel Joodse gezinnen uit Duitsland uitgezien zal hebben.

Zie mijn volledige review op: https://www.chicklit.nl/boekrecensies...

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book because I'd read and really enjoyed The Girl with No Name. Overall I really enjoyed it...right up till the end. Diney Costeloe has managed to bring to life the fear and the confusion that those fleeing the Nazi's faced. While the historical research and facts were well done there were issues with the structure.


Some of the characters felt like stock characters, as if the author had a viewpoint or incidence she'd researched and needed to put into the story. The problem with this was that you'd get a short section or two from this character and then they disappeared never to be mentioned again. This brings me to another point: to many narrators. If Costeloe had settled on two or three points - Ruth, Kurt and Laura for example the story would have been more streamline. Instead, she had multiple minor characters tell small segments. While this helped to showcase the time period it detracted from the story itself.

The other major issue I had was with the end of this book. I'm fine with unrealistic or happy endings in historical fiction, its fiction after all. The Runaway Family doesn't have an unrealistic ending though - because it doesn't end! It honestly felt like the author had hit a page cap and had to suddenly just stop writing. You go from an ongoing scene to a diary entry that jumps six months, which would have been fine save for the fact that I know my history. If you pay attention you'll notice Laura's diary entry is dated Aug 30th, 1939. The invasion of Poland, aka the start of WWII was Sept 1, 1939. This means that Ruth "leaving next weekend" would have been trapped as the war started two days after the diary entry shutting the boarders. So ignoring the fact that Ruth somehow managed to get four of her children onto Kindertransports, means that everyone save for Ruth managed to get to England? Plus, you go from the two girls getting to England to the diary entry telling you the boys just arrived. After all the steps and stages Ruth and her family go through trying to survive the missing six months are significant.

Having just finished reading I still feel like the last chapter or two of the book were missing... probably not helped by the fact that I read the ebook version where the final 80 or so pages are a preview for The Throwaway Children.

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

As soon as I finished this book, I ran downstairs to find my mum, who was cooking us tea, and then I cried.
Reading this book made me realise once again how horrible it was for Jews in the holocaust. The way they were treated was disgusting and inhumane and I just wanted to say that it is important that we don't forget horrific events, like WWII so we know not to repeat it again, and also in remembrance for all those who lost their lives.
This book was just upsetting because the whole time the Jewish family was just being mistreated and it just made me so upset, especially the whole thing with the ending, and it makes it worse because I know that things like this actually happened. To real people. To real families. To humans.
And the Jews were so brave and my heart went out to all those Jewish families.

One thing I found interesting is how the German government basically said 'All Jews are bad' and everyone who was Aryan said 'Okay, I agree' and simply because the government said, the Aryans basically went against human morals and treated Jews so disgustingly. (Now, I do just want to say that I know many Aryans did not agree and didn't want to say as they could have been in massive trouble) But on the whole, the people just listened to whatever the government said, and they believed it and put it into practice.

But to talk about the actual book, I did enjoy this, I was enjoying it a lot until slightly over halfway when I got a little bored and also there were so many characters I literally forgot who was who and one whole chapter didn't make any sense to me.
I also agree with a lot of the other reviews which say that the ending was too abrupt. It ended way too quickly, almost as if the author hadn't finished the book but just decided to go 'yep. That'll do' However, despite the abrupt ending, I thought this book did a great job at showing the horrors of living as a Jew in Germany. There are so many horrific things that happened to Jews and this book barely covers it but it has such a strong theme of family. A theme so strong it was upsetting.
Anyway, that's all I have to say about this one.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was both heartbreaking and gripping in equal measure. I love good historical fiction and this didn't disappoint. An insight into life in Germany for a Jewish woman and her young children in the months leading up to outbreak of WW2. Her anguish and fear as she tries to keep her children safe from the SS is stark throughout, and you can't help but put yourself in her shoes..'what if.. What would I do...'

Only negative comment is the abrupt ending. Almost as if the author ran out of time... A shame really as the rest of the book was fantastic

[Margaret Wakeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart rending. A German Jewish family caught up in the Nazi cleansing of Jews. Horrific conditions. Set in 1935 to 1939. Crystal Night, Kinder transport it’s all there. I didn’t ‘enjoy’ reading it but it should be a compulsory read at school.

[Booklover BEV · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic read from start to finish loved it

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great work of historical fiction by Diney Costeloe. This is an amazing story of how a family 6 gets separated, the trials they go through as Austria, where part of the family has taken refuge, now becomes part of Germany and ultimately come together in the end. The downfall for me is that the ending was very anti-climatic as the author seems to wrap up everything very quickly and abruptly. 6 out of 10.

[Marlou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weer zoals de andere boeken van Diney. Een opstapeling van spannende scènes waardoor het verhaal vlot weg leest. Soms wat langdradig en dan ineens abrupt. Het verhaal bevat historische feiten wat ik zelf altijd belangrijk vind. Sommige personages voelen wat 'normaal' waardoor het verhaal en het gehele boek wat diepgang mist.

[Donny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really brings home the horrifying reality of being a Jew living in Germany at the start of Hitler's final solution. Shows how the laws that were brought in made it impossible for Jewish people to make a living and the way previous friends and neighbours turned against them out of fear and ignorance. Very frightening.

[Welmoed · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Halfway through I couldn’t take it anymore. Terrible flat characters, I can’t feel anything for them. This book could have been better, but the writing is so flat. Perhaps a nice read for people who know nothing about Ww2 and don’t want to learn anything about the history.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to put down. As others have expressed..the ending was very abrupt after all the details shared throughout the read it was a strange way to just end. I would still recommend the read

[Isabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooi verhaal, maar zit nog op mijn honger naar de afloop….

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again this lady has outdone herself. This right here was a true grit story about hardship love and unfairness. It was a awesome read. Onto the next one.