Book Tour/ Feature Post and Book Review: An Unsuitable Heiress by Jane Dunn

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Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS by Jane Dunn on this Austen Prose Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Following the death of her mother, Corinna Ormesby has lived a quiet life in the countryside with her cantankerous Cousin Agnes. Her father’s identity has been a tantalizing mystery, but now at nineteen Corinna knows that finding him may be her only way to avoid marriage to the odious Mr. Beech.

Deciding to head to London, Corinna dons a male disguise. Travelling alone as a young woman risks scandal and danger, but when, masquerading as a youth, she is befriended by three dashing blades, handsome and capable Alick Wolfe, dandy Ferdinand Shilton and the incorrigible Lord Purfoy, Corinna now has access to the male-only world of Regency England. And when she meets Alick’s turbulent brother Darius, a betrayal of trust leads to deadly combat which only one of the brothers may survive.

From gambling in gentleman’s clubs to meeting the courtesans of Covent Garden, Corinna’s country naivety soon falls away. But when she finds her father at last, learns the truth about her parentage and discovers her fortunes transformed, she must quickly decide how to reveal her true identity, while hoping that one young man in particular can see her for the beauty and Lady she really is.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86028724-an-unsuitable-heiress?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=gJfTUNS0gn&rank=1

AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS

  • Author: Jane Dunn
  • Genre: Historical Romance, Regency Romance
  • Publisher: ‎ Boldwood Books (May 22, 2023)
  • Length: 350 pages
  • Format: Trade Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook 
  • ISBN: ‎978-1804835364

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

AN UNSUITABLE HEIRESS by Jane Dunn is an entertaining Regency historical romance/historical fiction with an adventuress young woman who dresses in men’s clothing and travels to London to find the father she never knew and pursue her dream of being a professional painter. This is an easy and fun to read standalone Regency story with enchanting characters.

Corrina “Cory” Ormesby has always known she is an illegitimate child. Since her mother’s death she has spent the last seven years with a cousin in the country. Her cousin is no longer willing to support her and rather than being forced into an unwanted marriage, she dresses in men’s clothes and travels with her pet poodle to London in search of the father she knows nothing about but does have the yearly gifts he sent on her birthdays until her mother’s death.

When she tries to stop the abuse of a horse at a carriage stop, she is knocked down and a trio of young blades come to her aid and befriend her. They assist her in solving the unknown identity of her father, learn her true gender, and then they all must learn to navigate the difference in circumstances for the sexes in Regency London.

I really liked Corrina and her bravery as she sets out on her journey and her determination to live the life she wants without losing her innate kindness to people and animals and her sense of adventure. The author’s research is evident in the description of norms, clothing, and language. All her gentlemen friends are realistic representatives of this period. This story has a mix of romance, a search for personal independence, friendship, adventure, and cute pets. It also demonstrates a balance between light and fun predictability vs. societal norms and strictures.

I recommend curling up in your favorite reading chair with a cuppa and letting this story take you on an enjoyable journey to Regency London.

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Author Bio

Jane Dunn is an historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters, and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She comes to Boldwood with her first fiction outing – a trilogy of novels set in the Regency period, the first of which, The Marriage Season, is to be published in January 2023. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.

Social Media Links

INSTAGRAM 

FACEBOOK 

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Purchase Links

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Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Vengeance of Samuel Val by Elyse Hoffman

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE VENGEANCE OF SMAUEL VAL (Project 613 Series Book #2) by Elyse Hoffman on this Black Coffee Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Samuel Val is blessed with a loving family and a tight-knit community in his Jewish village of Khruvina. He dreams of becoming Khruvina’s Rabbi, but his dreams are crushed when his family is slaughtered by Nazi Officer Viktor Naden, the Beast of Belorussia.

With Samuel left as Khruvina’s only survivor, he joins the anti-Nazi resistance group known as the Black Foxes. Determined to avenge his family, he swears to hunt down and destroy Viktor Naden. Samuel’s mission of vengeance, however, is put on hold when he is forced to escort a Jewish refugee to a safehouse operated by Black Fox Ten, a high-ranked member of the resistance.

While on his mission to save a life, Samuel discovers that the Beast of Belorussia might be closer than he thought. All at once, Samuel is given the chance to destroy Viktor Naden…but the cost will be high.

Will Samuel sell his soul for vengeance?

Award-winning author Elyse Hoffman offers a heart-breaking and thought-provoking WW2 story.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122571847-the-vengeance-of-samuel-val?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=rKYgzNXRKp&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE VENGEANCE OF SAMUEL VAL (Project 613 Series Book #2) by Elyse Hoffman is a powerful WWII historical fiction novella that may be short but packs an emotional punch. This novella features a young man who lives to avenge his family against the SS Beast of Belorussia. This story is a novella that is a bridge between the first book, Fracture, and the yet to be published third book, Black Fox One. It is easily read as a standalone, but it does carryover a main character from the first book.

Samuel Val loves his family and community and dreams of becoming a rabbi in the Jewish village of Khruvina in Russia. Then the Nazis, led by the SS Officer Viktor Naden roll into the village on the sabbath, nail the temple doors shut and burn the community, including all of Samuel’s family. When he attempts to save his family members, he is shot, left for dead, but ultimately the only person in his village to survive.

Determined to avenge his family, he becomes a member of the resistance group known as the Black Foxes. As he is escorting a Jewish man to safety, he discovers the home of the Beast and must decide if vengeance for his family is worth his soul.

I loved the brilliant concept of this novella that takes you on a young man’s emotional and spiritual journey in just 110 pages. Amos, the escaping Jew is carried over from book one and is used as the opposing voice to the blind vengeance Samuel is determined to carry out. The back-and-forth moral debate is beautifully executed between Amos and Samuel, not only for the discussion of redemption vs. repentance, but also because you can understand both sides represented in the arguments. Ms. Hoffman’s writing paints a picture of this time and place in history while also being lyrical and informative at the same time. I cannot reveal Samuel’s ultimate decision, you will have to read the novella to find out for yourself. I am anxiously looking forward to the next book in this series.

I highly recommend this WWII historical fiction novella!

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About the Author

Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: the five books of The Barracks of the Holocaust and The Book of Uriel.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.elysehoffman.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elysehoffman.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Project613Books

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elyse-hoffman

Feature Post and Book Review: The Auschwitz Detective by Jonathan Dunsky

Book Description

The boy was murdered in Auschwitz. The killer isn’t a Nazi.

Poland, 1944: Adam Lapid used to be a police detective. Now he’s a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz.

Reduced to a slave after losing his family in the gas chambers, Adam struggles to find a reason to carry on living.

But when a boy is found murdered inside the camp, Adam is given the chance to be a detective again.

Ordered to discover the identity of the killer, Adam must employ all his wits to solve the mystery while surviving the perils of Auschwitz.

And he’d better catch the killer soon because the punishment for failure is death.

Readers of murder mysteries and historical fiction will be thrilled by The Auschwitz Detective.

The Auschwitz Detective is a prequel and can be read before the other books in the Adam Lapid series.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55290283-the-auschwitz-detective?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=GJZuI1MA9u&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE AUSCHWITZ DETECTIVE (Adam Lapid Mysteries Book #6) by Johnathan Dunsky is a historical fiction/crime mystery set in 1944 in Auschwitz. The mystery features former Hungarian police detective Adam Lapid while he is in the death camp and coerced into solving the murder of a young inmate. There are five previous books in this series, but this one is a prequel to his life as a P.I. in Israel after the war and is very raw and candid in its depiction of life in Auschwitz. This book is easily read as a standalone story.

Transported to Auschwitz in 1944, Hungarian police detective Adam Lapid loses his entire family to the gas chambers and is struggling to find a reason to go on. When a young man is found murdered, not by the guards in the camp, Adam is ordered to find the killer in three days or lose his own life.

This book is such a difficult book to read with the descriptive depravity laid bare that is usually somewhat glossed over in other WWII stories when they discuss life in the death camps. That said, there are small depictions of humanity and friendship intertwined throughout the story as well as an engrossing murder mystery. The research involved and carried over to the writing of this story is evident.  

After reading this story, I am going to move on to book one in the series from here. I believe this book will give me a greater understanding of Adam Lapid’s character in 1950’s Israel.

I highly recommend this historical fiction/crime mystery for a more in-depth though fictional look at life in Auschwitz.

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About the Author

Jonathan Dunsky is the author of the Adam Lapid historical mysteries series. The first five books take place in the early days of the State of Israel and feature private investigator Adam Lapid, a Holocaust survivor and former Nazi hunter. The sixth novel, The Auschwitz Detective, is a prequel that takes place in Auschwitz-Birkenau in the summer of 1944.

Dunsky has also written a standalone crime thriller called The Payback Girl, in addition to publishing a number of short stories, in various genres.

He resides in Israel with his wife and two sons.

You can download one of his short stories for free at http://jonathandunsky.com/free/

Social Media Links

Website: https://jonathandunsky.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JonathanDunskyBooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonathanDunsky

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jonathan-dunsky

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE KEEPER OF HIDDEN BOOKS by Madeline Martin on this HTP Books Blog Tour. This is a story for all who love books and believe in the ultimate power of their words and ideas.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving.

With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto.

But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families – and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left – literature.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62054146-the-keeper-of-hidden-books?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=UcPnnlBz7N&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE KEEPER OF HIDDEN BOOKS by Madeline Martin is a tour de force historical fiction novel featuring a group of friends in Warsaw, Poland during WWII inspired by the true story of the public and underground libraries that continued throughout the war. This is a must read for all lovers of books who believe books have the power to uplift, nurture, embolden, and provide escape during the worst of times.

Zofia Nowak and Janina are inseparable best friends bound by the love of books. This novel follows their lives, their families’ lives, and friends during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw during WWII. It is a poignant look at the horrors perpetrated by the Nazi’s in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto and against the general Polish population in general. Hitler looked down on all Poles and wanted them eliminated or used as slave labor.

Zofia not only worked with Polish Resistance, but also worked in the library warehouse to save as many books and historical documents as possible from the Nazi book banning and burning. Janina and her family are Jewish and end up in the ghetto, but both continue to find ways to share books, remain friends and resist.

This story is beautiful and inspirational as well as so hard at times. There is a reason autocrats ban and burn books because the words and ideas are powerful. Books give hope, teach empathy, and spread ideas that can change hearts and minds. This book has an inspiring friendship at its center, mentions wonderful literary novels throughout, and reminds us to be ever vigilant of those who seek to ban and destroy books and history.

I highly recommend this marvelous historical fiction novel!

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About the Author

Madeline Martin is a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance with books that have been translated into over twenty-five different languages.

She lives in sunny Florida with her two daughters (known collectively as the minions), two incredibly spoiled cats and a man so wonderful he’s been dubbed Mr. Awesome. She is a die-hard history lover who will happily lose herself in research any day. When she’s not writing, researching or ‘moming’, you can find her spending time with her family at Disney or sneaking a couple spoonfuls of Nutella while laughing over cat videos. She also loves research and travel, attributing her fascination with history to having spent most of her childhood as an Army brat in Germany.

Social Media Links

Website: https://madelinemartin.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadelineMartinAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MadelineMMartin

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/madeline-martin

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen

Book Description

Londoner Madeleine Grant is studying at the Sorbonne in Paris when she marries charismatic French journalist Giles Martin. As they raise their son, Olivier, they hold on to a tenuous promise for the future. Until the thunder of war sets off alarms in France.

Staying behind to join the resistance, Giles sends Madeleine and Olivier to the relative safety of England, where Madeleine secures a job teaching French at a secondary school. Yet nowhere is safe. After a devastating twist of fate resulting in the loss of her son, Madeleine accepts a request from the ministry to aid in the war effort. Seizing the smallest glimmer of hope of finding Giles alive, she returns to France. If Madeleine can stop just one Nazi, it will be the start of a valiant path of revenge.

Though her perseverance, defiance, and heart will be tested beyond imagining, no risk is too great for a brave wife and mother determined to fight and survive against inconceivable odds.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen is a story of love and war, bitterness and brutality, bravery, and forgiveness. The setting moves from England to France to Australia. 

The heroine Madeline Grant is sent to study overseas at the Sorbonne in Paris.  There she meets charismatic French journalist Giles Martin. After the Christmas holiday, she defies her stepmother and returns to Paris to live with Giles.  After finding out she is pregnant Giles eventually does the right thing and marries her even though his mother has cut him off from any financial assistance.  When Oliver, their child is born, he sends Madeline and Oliver back to England to escape Nazi occupied France, while Giles remains in his homeland to join the Resistance.  After the Nazi bombings of London starts Madeline puts Oliver on a train to find safety in the English countryside.  Unfortunately, the Nazis bombed the train and Oliver is reported dead. 

The harrowing adventure starts for both Oliver and Madeline.  He is thought to be an orphan and is shipped off to Australia while she joins an elite English group of French speaking women who are trained as spies and sent to France. Both she and Oliver must endure abuse and torture.  The redeeming quality is how Giles mother rescues Madeline and helps her to escape back to England.  After the war Madeline is sent undercover to Australia to find and bring to justice the abusive Nazis.  Readers will find her as a courageous mother and resistor who wants to honor her husband’s and son’s memory. She perseveres, is brave, defiant, and a risktaker.

This is an enthralling story of love, survival, sacrifice, and betrayals. Although a rather dark story there is a happy ending which leaves readers hopeful for the future.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Rhys Bowen: I have been very conscious of these women during WWII who risked their lives in the war effort with a survival rate of 25%.  I thought what would make someone do it?  These young girls of eighteen, where an incredibly diverse group who were incredibly brave.  Then in 2019 we rented a house in Fontainebleau France and became aware of the history regarding the Nazi occupation. I went back last fall to fill in the little bits of details for the story.

EC:  How would you describe Madeline?

RB:  She grew from a naïve English girl to someone who became a fierce mother tiger.  She was sheltered, practical, and honest. She feels lost because she is not welcome at home. Madeline is looking for love, adventure, and to belong. But as she matures, she has an inner strength.

EC:  How about Giles?

RB:  Readers see him through Madeline’s eyes.  At first self-centered but he steps up to marry her when she is with child.  He becomes very brave and honorable.

EC:  How about the relationship between Madeline and Giles?

RB:  At first, he sweeps her off her feet but then she becomes the complement to him. He is an idealist, believes in equality.  They are perfect for each other when they meet.  At the beginning readers see him as a bad playboy.  As the relationship grows, they become each other’s true love.  At the beginning he was self-centered and domineering as evidenced by the quote, ‘In France people marry for family expectations with a mistress for companionship.’ But after a few years he begins to rely on her strength and stability. The turning point is when he defied his family to marry her.

EC:  How would you describe the child of Madeline and Giles, Oliver?

RB:  Very smart, brave, very observing, and is not outgoing.  While going to school in England, as with most young schoolboys, he was picked on because he sounded different and did not fit in. He is the typical only child that grows up around adults, learning to interact in an adult sort of way. He endured the hardships. People see him as a complex character. Because he changed badges with this other guy his bio says he came from the backstreets of London, yet he appears very well educated. It is war time, so he becomes a small casualty with no one double checking on the discrepancy.

EC: There is a difference between Madeline’s stepmom Eleanor and Giles mom?

RB: I was asked ‘why do I have in each of my books a cold, horrible woman?’  My own mother and grandmother were lovely.  But I went to a strict girl’s schools where all the teachers were nasty and spiteful older women. Eleanor is self-centered, uncaring, and very cold.  She did not marry for love and is jealous of the fact that the father loves Madeline but does not love her. The father is very much like Mr. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, shuts himself up in the library.  

Giles mother is caught up in the class system, coming from a very important family. She expected her son to behave as she wants.  In the beginning her reputation is more important to her than the relationship with her son. But later in the book, after helping to rescue Madeline she confesses that she has gone to Paris to see them, but then still refused to be a part of the family. Giles mother is brave, proud, and spirited, whereas Eleanor never changes.

EC:  What is true versus false?

RB:  It has a lot of real stuff. The English were anti-French. Also true, every house built a shelter. I was like Oliver having a complete panic attack during the blitzkrieg. My husband told a story how he saw a senseless act of violence when a German pilot machine gunned a bunch of people at a bus stop, so it was not unheard of that they bombed an English civilian train.

Children were moved to Australia, a British colony. They volunteered to take British orphans and children of family members who wanted their own children to be safe. Regarding the Australian nuns I read these first-person accounts of children sent to these farms controlled by the nuns.  They were spiteful and cruel. They sought out a way to make money.  When the children get old enough, they got a finder’s fee from farmers which was like indentured servants.

EC:  Next books?

RB:  The book coming out this time next year has a working title, An Abandoned Place. It is about three little girls during WWII who were put on a train to be evacuated and were never seen again.  Move forward to 1968 where a girl thinks she has been to a village now abandoned.  The protagonist is a journalist who decides to investigate.

March 2024 will be the next Molly Murphy book I write with my daughter.  It is titled In Sunshine or In Shadow.  It takes place in the Catskills where the Jewish bungalows are.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Hanni Winter Series by Catherine Hokin

Book Descriptions and Elise’s Thoughts

“The Hanni Winter series “by Catherine Hokin has four books, in order they are The Commandant’s Daughter, The Pilot’s Girl, The Girl In The Photo, and Her Last Promise. The first two books have a dual plot line.  The interesting premise involves serial killers as well as a reckoning of what happened in Nazi Germany.  The time period is in the late 1940s. The third and fourth books center on the characters’ lives, how they were affected by living through the horrors of the Nazis, and can they move forward.  The timeline is in the 1950s to 1960s.

Hanni Winter, the heroine, who is the daughter of the Concentration Camp Theresienstadt’s commandant wants to show the world his wickedness. She feels guilty because she enjoyed the benefits of the Nazi lifestyle. Freddy Schlussel is the Jewish German detective who falls for Hanni but does not realize her real background. Renny is Freddy’s sister who was reunited with him after the war and has the attitude ‘Never Again.’ Leo is the son of Hanni and Freddy who makes readers think a lot about the German morals or lack of.  Reineris Hanni’s father, someone who is pure evil, trying to bring back The Third Reich.

All these books will leave a lasting impression as readers become totally absorbed with the characters. These stories will pull at people’s heartstrings and have them take a journey with the characters as they gain courage, achieve redemption, and show the fortitude of the human spirit.  

Be aware that these books have only an English publisher, but people can get them in an e-book format or paperback through Amazon.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: The idea for the series?

Cathy Hokin: It is a four-book series. We first meet Hanni in the first book, at the age of ten in 1933 and by the end of the last book she is about 39.  The overriding arc has Hanni trying to fulfill the promise she made to herself to bring her father to justice using her photography skills. The idea for the series started because I am interested in photography.  I consider myself good, but my father was brilliant. My brother is a professional photographer.  Sometimes they don’t seem to realize about the dangers. I wanted to start off with a young photographer, Hanni, in Nazi Germany and then see her development. This last book is set during the Cold War. 

EC:  The role of photography?

CH:  Hanni feels she uses it to tell a story. She grows up in a Nazi household.  I have always been fascinated by war photographers and how they walk forward into danger.  They have a different way of framing the world.  While I am all about words, they are all about pictures. I put in this book quote, “With her heart and feelings and eyes she took pictures of the real Germany.”   I wanted the idea of Hanni using the camera to show what it is really like underneath the photograph because the Nazis used photos to manipulate things.

EC:  How would you describe Hanni?

CH:  Curious, comes from a broken family, very loyal, and guilt ridden. She feels huge guilt because she thinks she did not do enough to stop the Nazis.  Her father taunts her with this in the first book, telling her she never published her pictures or joined the resistance.

EC:  Is Hanni a complex character?

CH:  She has a massive guilt for being a part of the silence, for being complicit. Yet, when offered a scholarship to photography college by Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda, she took it. She is not just black and white.  Metaphorically she shut the windows and did not shout. She did do an inner search and decided to rectify. She does have a strong sense of justice. She is incredibly naïve about what was being done at the Theresienstadt Camp by her father. She goes on this big learning curve.

EC:  How has Hanni grown from book one to book four?

CH: She acquired forgiveness.  Hanni had to come to terms that she must take responsibility for what happened in her life.  She went along with the Nazi lifestyle.  She eventually realizes she had complicity in what happened. Both she and Freddy, the hero, had to learn to be kind.  By book four she gained a lot of strength.

EC:  Why the murders in the first two books?

CH:  In the first book, The Commandant’s Daughter, Freddy meets Hanni at the site of a crime because she is photographing it. This was a way for them to meet. Hanni was a photographer and Freddy was a German detective. As with all photographers Hanni was detailed, obsessed, and can ‘home in on something’ and take a bunch of photographs from different angles. She saw things with an eye Freddy did not see. The book is set between 1945 – 1947. Book 1 and Book 2 are about serial killers.

EC:  How would you describe her father Reiner?

CH:  A dreadfully horrible individual, a complete narcissist.  Pure evil, ruthless, vengeful, and likes to bait and humiliate Hanni.  He does not have a moral compass. In book 1, 2, and 3 she tries to bring him down but fails.  He ruins her life in book 3.  It becomes Hanni versus Reiner but she does not have the skills or contacts to bring him down. He always ends up hurting everyone around her who tries to help her.

EC:  Do you want your readers to question how much could an individual have done to stop what was going on? 

CH: She should have done more. I did admire the people who did try to do something. In Germany post 1945 no one wants to speak about the war. In the 1940s and 1950s there was no dialogue about what happened.  The reason I set the last book in the 1960s is because the Eichmann trial changed everything. This spurred Hanni to do something against her father.

EC:  The moral dilemma of the characters?

CH:  In book 1, Freddy was a detective yet had to stop a serial killer from murdering Nazi officers.  I deliberately wanted the first case of Freddy to be challenged. He had to figure out if he wanted the killer to be caught or to allow the murderer to rid the world of more Nazis. He faced the dilemma of what his job demanded of him and what his conscience demanded. Hanni had to come to grips on what she did during the war and tell Freddy. She did feel guilty all the time but had to realize there is a difference between guilt and responsibility, owning up to what she did.  Even the serial killer in the first book had a moral dimension, thinking he did the correct thing by getting rid of people he thought let the army down. Tony, the serial killer in the second book, grieved in a twisted way.  All these characters think they are doing the right thing in their strange universe.

EC:  But Hanni did try to do the right thing?

CH: In the Concentration Camp Theresienstadt she did take photographs to document what was really happening and show the world. She very much wanted to stand witness, but it took her a long time to get the courage to do it.  Her father, a Nazi commandant, is pure evil, and taunted her by saying she did nothing with the photographs for a long time and never joined the resistance. There was a gap between what she wanted to do and the action to do it. She had to get that strength of character.

EC:  Leo, Hanni’s child, asked all the correct questions in the book 4?

CH: The book quote by Leo, “Because you say all those things, but I do not know if they are true. Everyone repeats the same number all the time.  Six Million Jews were murdered in the war. But then they say nobody in Germany knew what was happening. How can that be right.  It does not make sense.  Why didn’t somebody stop them?  Why didn’t he (Reiner) go to jail at the end of the war? Why aren’t the jails bursting with killers?”

EC:  How would you describe Freddy’s sister, Renny, in the books?

CH:  She is angry, lonely, and fearful.  She becomes a Zionist.  The third book is all about her. She was a confused and horrified little girl, yet she recovered. She never trusted those in Germany after the war. Israel became Navana for many. She is the opposite of Freddy who puts his head down and ignores a lot, even after the war. He wants to build a future and not be stuck on the past. She feels it means nothing has changed. She knows how bad it is and wants to fight. She ends up being able to overcome her anger and project it for good.  She was a counterpoint to Freddy.  He was culturally Jewish but not religiously Jewish.  Renny says “I don’t want to live in a pact suitcase anymore.”  It was a common feeling for those Jews still in Germany among her age group, that Germany can never be safe.  She wanted to move to Israel and did not consider herself German like Freddy did. Even today the right wing is getting stronger in Germany. 

EC:  What about the relationship between Hanni and Freddy?

CH:  She has lied to him and until book four does not come clean with Freddy. This is what ruptures them. He had a lack of trust. There are layers that prevent them from getting together, which they need to overcome. They need to work out their problems. When they first got together, they were not ready for each other.  Both had to mature and realize the relationship was worth holding on to.  Originally the series was to finish in 1953 ten years earlier than it originally does.  But that timeline did not work because they were not mature enough to forgive each other for all the mistakes. In their early twenties they had a very black and white view of the world whereas in the fourth book, in their forties they made the transition. 

EC: Next book?

CH:  It will be out in January 2024, a stand-alone.  It is set in WWII Germany in the early 1970s and 1980s in America. I had three events taking place, partly in America during the 1970s and partly in Nazi Germany.  I explore the Office of Special Investigations that was established in 1979 to investigate Nazis living in America. I also bring in Operation Paperclip that had Nazis working on the American missile program, and during Nazi Germany the Lebensborn breeding program. The story is set between 1939 and 1980.  There will be a lot of story lines. Although it will be published only in England, all my books are available as paperbacks in the States via Amazon, that includes this series and the book coming out in January.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.