Goodnight, Vienna

De: Marius Gabriel

Narrado por: Karen Cass

Katya never wanted to look after Gretchen. Now she’s the young girl’s only hope of survival.

1937. Katya Komarovsky is studying medicine in Glasgow, living among friends and eager to begin her career as a doctor. But when her spendthrift parents announce that they’ve run out of money and are facing ruin—and that she’ll now have to support them by working as a governess in Vienna—the life she’s dreamed of goes up in smoke.

Furiously resentful, Katya rages at her wealthy employer, Thor, for stealing her future—and saddling her with twelve-year-old Gretchen, a deeply troubled child who has only a blazing musical talent to redeem her. Yet as Katya grudgingly digs into her reserves of compassion, she finds herself losing her heart to both father and daughter.

Storm clouds are gathering, though, and when Hitler annexes Austria, patriot Thor is arrested, leaving Katya wholly responsible for saving ‘imperfect’ Gretchen from being forced into a Nazi medical research laboratory. With the terrifying uncertainty of the new world order, can Katya and Gretchen flee to safety? And dare they dream of ever seeing Thor again?

©2022 Marius Gabriel. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Fantastic story

We loved every minute. On the edge of our seats all throughout the book. Grateful to have been able to listen.

Great History

This is a great WWII history lesson that everyone should read. It was difficult getting through because of the horrible experiences I knew the characters were experiencing, but he book is well written and the fear the characters experienced was fully brought to life.

Fantastic story

Narration was very good. The emotions of the storyline really came thru. I couldn’t put it down.

Outstanding Story!

Loved the story and the reader. It was one of those books that was difficult to stop reading and listening. Highly recommend!

An Unusual Love Story

This is an unusual love story because it is about a woman and a girl. Not sexual but familial.

The main characters are Tor, Gretchen and Katya.

The story takes place in Vienna in the 1930s. Katya is the child of exiled, and poor, Russian Royalty. She is told she must go to Vienna to be a governess because her parents are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Gretchen is a child prodigy who is autistic and has dyslexia. She plays the piano by ear but lacks self-control when overwhelmed by her emotions. Combine her “deficiencies” with the Nazi race hygiene practice and you have a really great story on that alone. For me, the romance was extraneous and unnecessary.

Katya is an interesting character who doesn’t know when she should be quiet. Her mouth gets her into a lot of trouble. She never learns discretion until the very last chapter of the book. I wanted to shake her several times because of this.

Katya and Gretchen have a harrowing journey with the Nazis, but it turns out better than expected in the end.

Karen Cass does an excellent job narrating the story. Her voices for each character are distinctive and engaging.

This book uncovered information I didn’t know about Hans Asperger. That led me into a rabbit hole of research, and I found out that he, Hugo Boss, Coco Chanel, and Elsa Schiaperelli had a lot in common when it came to being Nazi collaborators.

All in all a fascinating historical drama about a very dark period in world history.

Not a Five

When the story portrayed the history it was most terrifying. The insidious corruption of a society is mirrored in our own times.

The best

The best book I have listened to in years! I highly recommend reading or listening.

Superb story, prose and narration.

I'm not accustomed to giving 5 stars when 4 stars indicates "it's great". However, this audio book deserves 5 stars for 1) the story, and 2) the narration. A perfect match. I did not want it to end. The combination of writing and narration truly brought each character to life and never left the reader feeling ambivalent about any of them. I bought another one of Marius Gabriel's books and hope it can live up to the standard "Goodnight Vienna" set.

We all know the narration can make or break an audio book. Narrator Karen Cass gave life to this book. She made each character unique and never over played or under played the emotional constitution of a scene. I am also looking for more audio books narrated by her. I read more books than I listen to, but, in the case of "Goodnight Vienna", I can't imagine a better way to experience this particular story.

I have purposefully left out any details of the story. I believe the reader (listener) should experience it in his/her unique way. I'll only say the story is moving and told well and, as I said, the narration was as close to perfect as one could hope for.

Very Enjoyable

After reading so many historical fiction books about WWII I am pleased to say this was a good one. A little different take on the strategy of a way out of Vienna.
The narrator did an excellent job and was very engaging (even though some character voices sounded alike).
I would recommend this book. It’s not to deep and detailed and kept my interest.

Wonderful!

Wonderful book. Inspiring story of love and sacrifice making it a true story of the time and of motherhood.