The German Wife by Debbie Rix – Book Review

*AD-gifted: I received a copy of The German Wife in exchange for this post. Affiliate links are marked with a*

I’m back with my first book review of 2022 and it’s a great one at that! I spent lots of time reading over Christmas and New Year and this book was one of my stand-out reads. Over the years I’ve read many genres, my younger years were mainly horror! But I’ve come to love historical fiction and it’s now my favourite genre. I have some fabulous book tours lined up over the coming months with Bookouture – many of them are historical fiction with some psychological thrillers thrown in!

But for now, here is my review of *The German Wife by Debbie Rix. Inspired by true events, this is a heart-stopping, unforgettable story of ordinary people fighting for survival in the darkest of times. I’m sure you will be utterly gripped by this beautiful, tragic World War Two novel.

Book Description

Germany, 1939: Annaliese is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband Hans has become cold and secretive since starting a new job as a doctor at Dachau. Every morning she watches from her kitchen window as he leaves in his car. The sight of him in the dark uniform of the SS sends shivers of fear down her spine and she longs to escape…

When a tall, handsome Russian prisoner named Alexander is sent from Dachau to work in their garden, lonely Annaliese finds herself drawn to him as they tend to the plants together. In snatched moments and broken whispers, Alexander tells her the shocking truth about the camp. Horrified, Annaliese vows to do everything she can to save him.

But as they grow closer, their feelings for each other put their lives at risk. And Annaliese finds herself in grave danger when she dares to fight for love and freedom…

America, 1989: Turning the pages of the newspaper, Annaliese gasps when she recognizes the face of a man she thought she’d never see again. It makes her heart skip a beat as a rush of wartime memories comes flooding back to her. As she reads on, she realizes the past is catching up with her. And she must confront a decades-old secret – or risk losing her only son…

What I Thought

I really enjoyed the beginning of The German Wife. It started off with Anna living in America with her grown-up son. It’s 1984 and she is going to tell him something about their past and you get the feeling that it’s big and possibly going to change everything.

As Anna tells her story, you hear about her life in Germany. From Annaliese, a teen at 17 who has just buried her father and then married a German doctor, Hans. Who went on to join the SS to protect himself, his wife and career. But it didn’t turn out the way he had hoped.

Hans gets assigned to Dachau to work in the medical department to work on cures for diseases to help protect german troops. As time goes on he is told to conduct disturbing experiments on the people imprisoned in Dachau against his will. This takes a mental toll on him and he becomes withdrawn from Annaliese, as their marriage starts to unravel.

It’s not helped when Hans gets a Russian prisoner, Alexander to work in their garden. Annaliese spends more time with him and begins to fall in love.

I’ve read many historical fiction books around the time of World War II and I still get shocked reading about the concentration camps. The German Wife is well researched and tells it from a German Officers point of view. As much as I find it hard to read about the way the prisoners were treated, it’s such an interesting read and it’s done in a brutally truthful way. The characters are well thought out. Annaliese is a tough but sensitive character who stays true to herself and tries to make things work.

A great first book of 2022 for me and well deserved of 5 stars.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my copy.

Author Bio

Where To Buy

Book Tour

Here are the other bloggers on The German Wife tour. Why not head over and check out their reviews!

Other Books You May Like

• From The Dark We Rise by Marion Kummerow
• The Girl On The Platform by Ellie Midwood
• The Girl Across The Wire Fence by Imogen Matthews
• The Girl In The Striped Dress by Ellie Midwood

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you’ve enjoyed this review. You can check out my bookcase of past reviews here.