The Sunflower House

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri 336 pages

 

I’m always surprised by the topics or slant writers use when I pick up a new World War II novel. There are so many stories left to be told, and so many atrocities that need to be brought to light, even all these years later.

 

The Sunflower House tackles the baby factories. I have not come across a book about this aspect of the Nazi debauchery before but found it fascinating, sweet and horrific. I learned a bit about the factories and the experiments Himmler enjoyed conducting on adults in Martha Hall Kelly’s fabulous novel, The Lilac Girls. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

 

Katrine is the contemporary voice (2006-2010) who is caring for, or trying to care for, her mother after she fell and wound up in the hospital. Katrine discovers a wooden box beneath her mother’s closet floorboards. Pulling it to light, Katrine is shocked to see that is marked with a swastika.

 

Now let’s time travel back to a sleepy German village in 1938. Allina Strauss lives with aunt and uncle after the parents are murdered. They are hiding a secret; a secret no one can ever, ever, ever uncover. All three of their lives depend on it. After her uncle dies from cancer, the Nazis brutally murder her aunt. They arrest Allina, but her Aaryn features and blond hair save her from beatings and a bullet.

 

Allina is sent to Hochland Home to serve the Führer as a nurse. Hochland is one of the “Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population…The women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families.” 

 

Allina is shocked at what she learns, but even more shocked when a high-ranking SS Officer, Karl, wants to become her patron. However, he has secrets of his own that must never be revealed. Eventually Allina and Karl have a sweet romance.

 

This novel at times repulsed me with the mere thought of the baby factories and made me smile when Allina and Karl fell in love.

 

The Sunflower House receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Air Raid Book Club

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons 336 pages

 

I love books about books, readers and bookstores. Author Annie Lyons has given us a wonderful little slice of heaven in this book.

 

The story begins in a suburb of London in 1938. Hitler is on the rise and war looks inevitable. Readers get to meet Gertie Bingham right away, and I immediately fell in love with her. Since 1911, she and her husband, Harry, have owned and operated Bingham Books. She is considering retiring, and since Harry’s death two years earlier, it’s getting harder and harder. At first, I thought Gertie was in her late seventies, perhaps early eighties, but she is only in her early sixties. She does have a faithful companion in her dog, Hemingway, who is aging as well, but she’s tired.

 

As she considers this life change, readers get to meet the villagers who frequent the bookstore. Young and old frequent the shop and since her village is so small, Gertie becomes close to all of them.

 

As Hitler continues his assault on Europe, one of her dearest friends, Charles, asks Gertie to help by fostering a young Jewish girl. At first, she is reluctant, but eventually she gives in, and it changes her entire life.

 

Hedy speaks some English and at fifteen years old, she is terrified of her new surroundings. Eventually the two settle down into a routine, Hedy loves the bookstore and books as much as Gertie did.

 

The bombs begin to fall, and the people of the village spend more and more time in the air riad shelters, Hedy and Gertie bring books to read aloud until the all-clear sirens begin to shrill.

 

I don’t feel that the title of this read gives the right impression. It’s less about what happens in the shelter and more about re-discovering life. Author Lyons does a wonderful job of balancing the unimaginable tragedies of war with finding happiness in a world that seems bent on destroying everything that is good.

 

I loved all the characters whom Gerti welcomed into her bookstore and her village. The one who made me smile the most, however, was five-year-old Billy, who called everyone by their full name!

 

The Air Raid Book Club receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

 

 

The Picture Bride

 The Picture Bride by Lee Geum-yi, translated from the Korean by An Seonjae 320 pages

I am familiar with mail-order brides but have never heard of “picture brides.”  That is what attracted me to this book.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a large number of Korean men left for Hawaii, then a United States territory. They worked the sugar cane fields and became successful. Some even owned land, a dream of all Koreans. When it came time to take a wife, the men depended on matchmakers back home to help them find the perfect woman. The men would send a picture and a letter to the matchmaker. Basically, it’s 1918 Korea’s version of today’s dating apps.

“In 1918, three Korean picture brides sail to Hawaii, based only on photos of their husbands-to-be. Hongju, looking for real love, discovers her husband is 20 years older than his photo; Songhwa, escaping her home life, finds her husband is an old drunkard. Willow’s husband, Taewan, looks just like his photo. But the matchmaker lied when she said he was a landowner, and she could go to school.”

That is what hurt the most. Willow is intelligent and longs for an education. It was the only reason that she consented to the marriage. As the years go by, Willow dutifully cares for her husband, their children and his father.

As 1918 slides into 1919, Willow’s husband gets involved with the Korean Independence Movement. He is gone for years, leaving Willow to manage on her own. She does have her two friends, Songhwa and Hongiu, counsel as they struggle to survive.

I wish I had read the Author’s Notes and the Translator’s Notes first. It might have made a difference in reading this novel because I felt lost most of the time.

“The Picture Bride” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.