The German House, Annette Hess
The German House, Annette Hess
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The German House

Author: Annette Hess

Narrator: Nina Franoszek

Unabridged: 10 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 12/03/2019


Synopsis

Set against the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963, Annette Hess’s international bestseller is a harrowing yet ultimately uplifting coming-of-age story about a young female translator—caught between societal and familial expectations and her unique ability to speak truth to power—as she fights to expose the dark truths of her nation’s past.If everything your family told you was a lie, how far would you go to uncover the truth?For twenty-four-year-old Eva Bruhns, World War II is a foggy childhood memory. At the war’s end, Frankfurt was a smoldering ruin, severely damaged by the Allied bombings. But that was two decades ago. Now it is 1963, and the city’s streets, once cratered are smooth and paved. Shiny new stores replace scorched rubble. Eager for her wealthy suitor, Jürgen Schoormann, to propose, Eva dreams of starting a new life away from her parents and sister. But Eva’s plans are turned upside down when a fiery investigator, David Miller, hires her as a translator for a war crimes trial.As she becomes more deeply involved in the Frankfurt Trials, Eva begins to question her family’s silence on the war and her future. Why do her parents refuse to talk about what happened? What are they hiding? Does she really love Jürgen and will she be happy as a housewife? Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience , joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice—a decision that will help change the present and the past of her nation.

About Annette Hess

Annette Hess grew up in Hanover and currently lives in Lower Saxony. She initially studied painting and interior design, and later scenic writing. She worked as a freelance journalist and assistant director, before launching a successful career as a screenwriter.  Her critically-acclaimed and popular television series Weissensee, Ku'damm 56 and Ku'damm 59 are credited with revitalizing German TV. She has received numerous awards from the Grimme Prize to the Frankfurt Prize to the German Television Prize. The German House is her first novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lindsay L on May 22, 2021

2.5 stars. An important part of history. Eva is a translator working at the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials in 1963. Eva feels connected to the stories that she translates in court. These horrific stories and their victims keep her awake at night. She cannot shake the images in her mind of the countless w......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on December 30, 2019

Thank you @harperviabooks for the gifted copy. The German House is a thoughtful post World War II/post Holocaust novel, set during the Auschwitz Trials of 1963. Eva Bruhns is a young translator who learns about her country, and her family’s, role in the horrors of the Holocaust through her assistance......more

Goodreads review by Katie on November 06, 2019

4.5 stars When I first saw this historical fiction book was about the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963 I knew I had to read it. Even though I have read many historical fiction and nonfiction books about World War 2, I don't often read books that explore the postwar years. The aftermath of the war i......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on November 23, 2019

This is an historical fiction book which explores the Frankfurt trials, the controversial trails held in Frankfurt two decades after the holocaust which set out to convict the SS men who held senior positions at Auschwitz. This book is written by a german lady, I read the translation in english. As w......more

Goodreads review by Tammy on November 24, 2019

Frankfurt in 1963 has been rebuilt and optimism is prevalent throughout German society. When a young woman, with only vague memories of the war, takes on a job as translator for the Auschwitz trials she is appalled to learn that the average German in uninterested in dredging up the past. Those unint......more