User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I really did enjoy this book. It's definitely one to get you wondering! It's the story of Anke, a young German woman who has been a prisoner in a concentration camp during WW2 as a political prisoner. However, her growing reputation as a midwife in the camp sees her relocated and forced to act as a midwife to high ranking Nazi's wives, and she finds herself at the highest echelon of Nazi officialdom.
Anke has conflicted views, struggling for working to help the regime that incarcerated her and her family, yet a desire to help any woman in need during childbirth. It's the innocent babies she's most concerned about. Yet there is always the threat of something going wrong during childbirth, where the regime will easily find a scapegoat in the midwife. Anke has no idea if she will survive this never ending war.
This is a little gem of a book, Mandy Robotham tells a tale that is so realistic that the reader is left asking 'What if...'. I recommend this book to all lovers of Historical Fiction.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
5 stars! A fresh and unique WWII perspective.
Published under both titles, “The German Midwife” and “A Woman Of War”, this novel is centred around Holocaust prisoner midwife, Anke Hoff, who is called to secretly care for a Reich mistress.
This was a captivating and suspenseful novel. If you enjoy pregnancy/midwife storylines, you will love this. The characters were truly phenomenal - I loved every one of them! Anke was an intriguing main character who I loved spending time with. Her situation was awful and several times I found myself stepping back to consider how I would handle being in her shoes. I felt the relief she experienced when removed from the concentration camps, and then the extreme worry and stress she endured as she realized what her “freedom” entailed and what consequences there could be for an unfavourable outcome. Flashbacks added suspense and tension and provided important detail to Anke’s backstory which had me fully invested and engaged in her situation.
The harrowing situations and torment the concentration camp prisoners faced was palpable. The stress they experienced when Nazi’s threatened family members safety if a prisoner didn’t agree to a request. What I found fascinating was the sense of hope that the prisoners focused on to keep them surviving and moving forward. Even during the most horrendous and devastating times, they were able to keep each other uplifted with even a small sliver of hope that things would get better. This was both heart breaking and heart warming and a true testament to the strength of the human spirit and survival.
Audio rating: 5 stars! The narrator did an outstanding job and added to my overall reading experience.
This was an excellent historical fiction novel that I highly recommend and will be added to my Favourites Shelf. Thank you to the publisher for my review copy and my lovely local library for the audio loan.
Rating: really liked it
The German Midwife or it's alternative title
A Woman at War tackles a "what if" in this historical fiction. A political prisoner in Ravensbruck concentration camp, Anke Hoff is recruited to become the midwife of Eva Braun, mistress of Adolf Hitler.
Confusion draped again like a thick fog, twisting the moral threads in my brain. I was supposed to feel dislike towards this woman, hatred even. She had danced with the devil, created, and was now nurturing, his child. And yet she appeared like any woman with a proud bump and dreams of cradling her newborn. I wished there and then, I was back in the camp with Rosa by my side, where the world was ugly, but at least it was black and white. Where I knew who to seethe against, and who the enemy was. Although the Eva Braun storyline is based on speculation rathar than concrete historical fact, the conditions of Ravensbruck that Anke and the other prisoners face and the atmosphere in Germany during this period are accurate. The author actually draws much of her research from the nonfiction book
If this is A Woman by Sarah Helm. A book that I highly recommend.
A compelling story that I just couldn't put down.
Goodreads review published 02/09/19
Rating: really liked it
Many thanks to Avon Books UK & #NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was extremely pleased to receive a copy of this book to read and review and am happy to report that I really enjoyed reading it. The cover art grabbed my attention as did the subject matter. I am a retired public health nurse and taught prenatal classes for approximately twenty years so this book was right down my alley.
If the reader is looking for a story that is strictly factual then perhaps this story is not for them, but if you have ever heard a piece of news or studied a time period in history only to wonder "What if...." then you will surely enjoy this book. The author was inspired by a real and desperate time in history - the second world war and the genocide which was waged against the Jewish people. Her main character is a German midwife who is NOT Jewish but whose beliefs about how all labouring women and newborn babies should be treated lands her in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp.
The story of women giving birth only to have their newborns taken from them to be put to death was horrifying to read and yet it did happen. There are graphic descriptions of women giving birth which have beauty in spite of the horrific location. Clearly the author did her research on the time period and her own experience as a midwife made the descriptions come to life.
Things do not end in the concentration camp though. Anke Hoff (the midwife) finds herself transferred from the camp to a completely different location where she is expected to be the private midwife to a very important German woman. The life of her family is held over her to make sure that she will co-operate. In spite of such a strong incentive she still finds herself questioning her innermost beliefs about what is right and what she will or will not do in terms of the birth of this important baby. There are twists and turns in this novel and even a little romance (although it is not the main thrust of the book). The ending came as a real surprise to me. For a debut novel this was extremely well done!
From the first pages of the book I was enthralled and had real trouble putting the book down in spite of the fact that I had a houseful of company to feed and entertain. This is a book that I won't soon forget. I highly recommend it especially if you are interested in novels set in World War 2 Germany.
Rating: really liked it
In the acknowledgements of this historical romance, author Mandy Robotham said she wanted to imagine a “what if” scenario where a midwife would be put in impossible circumstances—in this case to care for a secret baby to be born to Eva Braun, mistress of Hitler, after all the horrors she’d witnessed in the Nazi death camps. Midwife Anke Hoff is determined that her patient will be treated no differently from any other. But her assignment remains a prison, merely a more comfortable one.
This was well written and had dual timelines detailing Anke’s time earlier in the war, and switching back to the present, where she is with Eva. There is also a romance with the Captain assigned to guard her—and this relationship, along with the relationship Anke has with Eva, was the most interesting of the novel. The author is a midwife, and the detailed medical scenes were extremely well done.
Trigger Warnings: (view spoiler)
[ graphic childbirth scenes including death, concentration camp scenes (hide spoiler)]Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
Rating: really liked it
What if Hitler had a child?
Midwife Anke, a German political prisoner, is forced to attend to pregnant Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress. An interesting premise for a book! Although it started off fast-paced, I found this debut novel dragged in places, occasionally catching me nodding off. At times, this book read like a birthing manual for anyone interested in obstetrics (actually, I found these parts interesting!). Anke deplores the Reich and all it stands for, but she falls in love with Dieter, a good-looking but kindhearted SS officer (an oxymoron, in my opinion). So many incidences occurred during Anke's stay at Berghof that I would think, "Now there'll be trouble!", but nothing really came of them, leaving me to question, "What was the point writing about that?" To me, the character development of Anke fell short that I felt little emotion or affinity for her. So many possible endings could have been written that I was surprised, but a little disappointed, with the one that was chosen.
Overall, some portions were interesting/entertaining, but this isn't a book I will put on my "Favorites" bookshelf.
Rating: really liked it
In 1939 Anke Hoff is working as a midwife in the maternity section of a Berlin hospital when a Nazi directive is presented to all maternity staff that any babies born with a disability or with a deformity be reported to the authorities. As a dedicated midwife Anke does not support this directive, her belief is that regardless of any hiccup of nature every baby born is loved. This sets the scene for the reader to know Anke, a young German woman caught up in a time of great turmoil, distrust and evil and for which in 1942 she finds herself in a maternity section of a concentration camp, a political prisoner due to her father's and brother's non-support of the war. The conditions are deplorable and the unbelievable cruelty suffered by the women who in the main have become pregnant due to being raped, or the few who have arrived at the camp pregnant from their previous lives is distressing to read. Non Jewish women are allowed to try and care for their babies until in most cases they die due to the very circumstances they are born into. Jewish mothers have their babies removed at birth with immediate death the general outcome. Unexpectedly Anke is ordered to the Commandant's office where she receives compliments on her excellent midwifery skills but with the veiled threat of harm to her family unless she complies with the order he has received. She is informed that she is needed elsewhere for a very important and confidential role. She has no belongings to collect, her dress is threadbare, holes in worn shoes and is malnutriced. Anke is taken in a chauffeur driven car to her new destination. From here on the reader along with Anke is transported to a very different world, a world of luxury and excesses on top of a mountain retreat where she is informed that she has only one patient to care for. Shocked at her change of circumstances Anke now realises that she and her imprisoned family are in a more perilous predicament. The author has created a thought provoking story wrapped around the caring and responsibilities of midwifery with her central character of Anke Hoff. However, possible events portrayed in this book make cause for serious contemplation of a future world with a perfect storm of evil.
Many thanks to Netgalley and AVON publishers (div of Harper Collins Publishers) for the opportunity to read and review this remarkable book.
Rating: really liked it
This was a really good book. It was a quick read as the chapters were very short and I found I couldn’t put it down. It was so well written and very plausible, although at times I kept thinking, is this true, was there a child? At times it made me shiver with the thought of it.
Apart from that it was lovely and I’m interested in reading more of her books.
Rating: really liked it
Find this and other reviews at: https://historicalfictionreader.blogs...
Most readers seem to have enjoyed the time they spent with Mandy Robotham’s The German Midwife (aka A Woman of War), but I have to admit the novel left me conflicted.
As I understand it, Hitler’s few living relations have voluntarily committed themselves to intentionally stamping out their bloodline and I had great difficulty rectifying that knowledge against the context of Robotham’s work. I appreciate the theories that inspired this piece, but I also felt the framework Robotham chose thumbs its nose at the intensely personal decisions of very real people and couldn’t help wishing she’d opted to express herself through a different lens.
By pure coincidence, I also read this novel alongside I Was A Doctor In Auschwitz. The memoir, penned by Gisella Perl, is the firsthand account of the time its author spent as an inmate gynecologist. Fair or not, the natural overlap in subject matter prompted unconscious comparison and while I felt the fiction heavy, I couldn’t help noticing it the paler of the two. The course of Perl’s experiences with the officers of the camp also undermined Anke’s rise and at the end of the day, I found I had little patience for the fiction.
When all is said and done, I liked the ideas on which this story was built and appreciate Robotham’s style of writing but have such mixed feelings about the historic context and contemporary implications that I’d have a hard time recommending it forward.
Rating: really liked it
I am gasping!!I'm not sure if I liked it or hated it. The writing is good and I stayed in the book intensely, that's not the problem. The atrocities of WWII continue to pile up in my head. I'm not sure I was ready for this fiction or to consider having feelings for Eva Braun. Good writing but very heart wrenching.
Rating: really liked it
A woman at war by Mandy Robotham is her debut novel and what a great one it is. Set in Germany in 1944 Anker Hoff is a Midwife in a concentration camp, dealing with helping the women prisoners giving birth to their babies and the problems what occur afterwards. When she is called to Hitler’s inner circle to become the Midwife of Eva Braun, that is pregnant with the Fuhrer’s child. She has no choice but to agree, so she can keep her family safe. They are also prisoners in camps scattered over Germany.
When I read the blurb and it was comparing it to the Tattooist of Auschwitz. I had to read this. I understand that this is pure fiction and the Tattooist of Auschwitz is true life. But this didn’t deter me. I really enjoyed The Woman at war. I think it’s a brilliant first novel. The Author has really done her homework with the research. It has great characters and the novel is realistic and shows of the other atrocities and the suffering that happened in Germany in world war 2. The story made me feel I was actually there. I highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and Avon books for ARC of this book.
Rating: really liked it
Don't read this review if you are worried about spoilers. It's hard to write about this book without addressing the main event in this book and I was spoiled myself before I started this book. Although that just intrigued me... Anka Hoff, a midwife sent to a camp is the "lucky" one to be selected to help a woman through her pregnancy and upcoming delivery. The woman is Eva Braun. Yup, she's expecting Adolf Hitler's love child. But, what you think now. Eva and Adolf did not have any children. Right, this is a "what if" story. Totally fiction. However, it's so very well written that you for the moment you read this book actually starts to think about what would have happened if this would have been the truth. An heir to Hitler. But, also an innocent child. This story is interwoven with flashbacks to Anka's time at Ravensbrück. How she came to be there and what she experiences there. It's a very strong story, with some tough moments. Anka herself falls in love with someone, but can their love last?
A Woman of War is a tough book to read, but well worth it. If you enjoy "what if stories" or like to read WW2 novels than I recommend this book warmly! I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
Rating: really liked it
DNF at 44%
I’m definitely going against the grain on this one. I normally enjoy WW2 historical fiction and The German Midwife sounded intriguing. However the story itself was dull. It lacked historical detail and was mostly about delivering babies. The MC’s dilemma wasn’t enough to keep me invested. I listened to the audio and perhaps this contributed to my disinterest as the narrator’s performance was monotone. I kept tuning out and was reluctant to turn the audio back on after putting it down.
Rating: really liked it
A Woman of War is a heartbreaking “what if”story. Anke is a German midwife who is in a Nazi work camp during World War Two. She is pulled from the camp and taken to Berghof to care for a pregnant Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress. Anke struggles with doing the right thing...caring for Eva and her unborn child or helping the resistance. Mandy Robotham’s debut novel is well written and a great read for historical fiction fans!
Rating: really liked it
My #1 favourite book of 2019. From the opening pages, I was swept into an entirely real, horrific world, filled with stunning, yet subtly included - as they would be, if they were seen from the character’s viewpoint - details. We have all read wartime novels that have moved us, taken us to terrible places in our hearts and minds, but this book ... It was more. Holocaust and Gestapo stories woven together by unexpected, expert inside knowledge, fibres of the deeply personal life of the midwife, tales of love and grief that won’t leave me. I was convinced, my heart breaking, my mind hungry for more. “The German Midwife” (the title I read) was Ms Robotham’s debut novel, but it is clear she is as passionate and skilled as an author as she ever was as a midwife. And in that, I wonder if she has an equal. Every sentence, every word was beautifully crafted. I am not often moved to write to an author, but I shall be writing to her tonight. Thank you for this incredible journey, Ms Robotham. I look forward to experiencing your next journey.
One of so many favourite lines: “I raised the cup to my lips, thinking of Dieter, and I let the tears fall over the rim, the brine adding to the bitterness of the beans.”
