Historical
Three young artists in 1930s Germany are torn apart by love, ideology, and war. Years later, haunted by trauma and bound by memory, they reunite at an art exhibition, where past betrayals and enduring connections collide in a final reckoning of conscience, identity, and redemption.
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Families at War is a sweeping tale of love, loyalty, and the brutal legacy of war.
In 1930s Friedrichshafen, a shared passion for art binds English-Jewish Judith, idealistic Matthias, and zealous Hinrich, until Nazi ideology tears them apart. As WWII ignites, Judith returns to England to serve as a wartime nurse.
Matthias, haunted by his love for Judith, fights on the Eastern Front, battling not just enemies but his own conscience. Meanwhile, Hinrich descends into darkness as a sadistic SS officer. Their families, too, are drawn into the maelstrom — some resisting, others complicit. Years later, an art exhibition reunites the trio, each scarred by the past.
Now artists, Judith and Matthias must confront the memories that shaped them, while Hinrich reappears in a guise both familiar and changed. Moving and unflinching, this is a story of shattered innocence, the enduring power of memory, and art’s ability to redeem or destroy.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
What a tale! Enjoyed the structure, and obviously so well researched. Told with compassion for its characters, and within the greater narrative, so many well observed moments imagined.
A good read, long time since I couldn’t put a book down - only stopped by two eye operations where I wasn’t allowed to read too much. Great intertwining stories and quite a surprise at the end.
Brought together by a shared talent for art, the three main characters are beautifully detailed in the opening chapter of this gripping WW2 story. Judith Lareine, an English jew, a gifted painter, in Germany due to her father's job as a professor at Friedrichshafen university. Matthias Krieger, a German catholic, a skilled sculptor, helps out with his father's building business and farm. Lastly Hinrich Richter a portraitist, a member of the Hitler Youth, aspires to the SS like his father. Hope this makes you want to read on to discover the stories around the three protagonists. A cracking read!
A fascinating read following three young people and their families across the second world war. It is unflinching in descriptions of the horrors of war and how people are individually and collectively impacted.
This is a most moving book that tells how the lives of three families from a small Southern German town were transformed and their petty jealousies became hatred. The catalyst for this transformation was the rise of the Nazis and the terrors of the war that was to follow. It covers the complexities of the atrocities experienced by the Jewish population, the privations and conflicts faced by the ordinary German soldier in his wish to survive and how some people were able to manipulate the chaos to their advantage at an horrific cost to others. Well researched and vivid portrayal of the characters.
