The German Heiress

A Novel

De: Anika Scott

Narrado por: Lisa Flanagan

"Meticulously researched and plotted like a noir thriller, The German Heiress tells a different story of WWII - of characters grappling with their own guilt and driven by the question of what they could have done to change the past." (Jessica Shattuck, New York Times best-selling author of The Women in the Castle)

For readers/listeners of The Alice Network and The Lost Girls of Paris, an immersive, heart-pounding debut about a German heiress on the run in post-World War II Germany.

Clara Falkenberg, once Germany's most eligible and lauded heiress, earned the nickname "the Iron Fräulein" during World War II for her role operating her family's ironworks empire. It’s been nearly two years since the war ended, and she’s left with nothing but a false identification card and a series of burning questions about her family's past. With nowhere else to run to, she decides to return home and take refuge with her dear friend, Elisa.

Narrowly escaping a near-disastrous interrogation by a British officer who’s hell-bent on arresting her for war crimes, she arrives home to discover the city in ruins, and Elisa missing. As Clara begins tracking down Elisa, she encounters Jakob, a charismatic young man working on the black market, who, for his own reasons, is also searching for Elisa. Clara and Jakob soon discover how they might help each other - if only they can stay ahead of the officer determined to make Clara answer for her actions during the war.

Propulsive, meticulously researched, and action-fueled, The German Heiress is a mesmerizing pause-resisting story that questions the meaning of justice and morality, deftly shining the spotlight on the often-overlooked perspective of Germans who were caught in the crossfire of the Nazi regime and had nowhere to turn.

©2020 Anika Scott (P)2020 HarperAudio

Really engaging

Great listen, kept me so interested I couldn’t stop! Very interesting well read! Thank you

 Loved this listen !

First time, listening to a book by this author, and it really had me hooked from the beginning And kept my attention throughout. Highly recommend if you love historical fiction. 

If you love World War II dramas it’s for you

A rather clunky and flat narrative style. Characters I never really got particularly invested in, but the storyline had some interesting twist and turns. I wouldn’t put it on anyone’s must-read list.

Nuanced and interesting

On the one hand, it portrayed a lot of the situations people were in after World War II in Germany. On the other hand, it didn’t seem super realistic.

Compassion for a Nazi Industrial Slaver

Well written, well told, not deep but a clever story, and unfortunately the characters are likable enough, for better or worse, that you find yourself championing a war criminal, a Nazi supporter. Even if her beauty, ignorance, or rather a blind eye, and sometimes compassion suck the reader in to create her as a heroine, nonetheless, she is former lover of an ss officer, and heiress to a Nazi work camp at an ironworks factory that she ran during wartime, and she was the one who escorted them from cattle cars, she claimed ignorance to the true happenings. The role of the British Officer whose job it was to hunt her as a war criminal, was written so well, your mind makes him the enemy. A book supporting Germany during war time may be a good read, but it doesn't mean it should ever have been written from this perspective. There's no heroine here. I am annoyed at myself for liking this book, and allowing its storytelling to suck me in to a place where a caring thought is given towards a death machine.

Incredible reader!

Love the story and the reader did amazing! Very fun voices and lots of historical facts in this story!

Twists and Turns galore!

Another page turner from Annika Scott. Couldn’t stop listening. Fabulous performance. It swept me away.

Then and now

Historic-after reading so many war novels from this time period, it was good to look at the potential lives of those who just tried to get by. In a time that facist ideals are come out internationally and in the US, it is wise to think about the decisions we all make.

Engaging plot

This book kept me entertained from start to finish. Somewhat predictable in the end but the route taken to get to the end was a very enjoyable listen.

good but the ending seemed forced

The story was well done - except for the ending. I understand sometimes the reader is left to use their imagination but this ending seemed sudden? Like a student who had reached the minimum number of words so they ended it. Good book overall.