‘Times have changed, Mutti.’

In 1943, Charlotte (Lotte) von Klein is a young woman with grand plans. A proud German, she wants to support the Fatherland as best she can. She and her family are planning for her wedding to her childhood sweetheart Heinrich, but in the meantime Lotte wants to support Hitler’s war effort. Although Lotte’s mother would prefer her not to work, Lotte’s father arranges for her to work for the Luftwaffe. This sets Lotte on a path that will change her life.

Lotte is a young woman who has lived a life of privilege. The war changes this. Her family home becomes accommodation for other families whose homes have been destroyed, and her fiancé Heinrich is caught up in the war. Lotte finds her Luftwaffe supervisor, Erich Drescher, attractive and is unsettled by her feelings for him. They are thrown together as they flee in search of safety as Germany falls to the Allies forces.

This is another side of World War II, of people who believed (at least initially) in their country’s leadership, who ended up on the losing side of the war. It’s also a love story with more than a few twists. It’s difficult to write more detail about the story without spoiling it for intending readers.

This is Ms Blanchard’s debut novel. While there were aspects I didn’t like, overall, I enjoyed the read. The way in which Ms Blanchard bought this aspect of Germany at war to life, depicting ‘normal’ (albeit privileged) people as they came to terms with the consequences of being on the losing side in war. I also thought that the way in which Ms Blanchard depicted the anxieties of individuals, through the uncertainty of losing contact, of not knowing whether some family members were alive or dead rang true. And then, when the war is over, there’s the struggle to find a new way of life in a world that has changed in so many different ways.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Having been brought up in London during the Second World War I found this book absolutely fascinating. Here I was reading the about war from the other side. Civilians who were living through many of the problems we faced.
We are introduced to Charlotte/Lotte a young girl from a high class family, used to the privileges such a family bestows. She is excitedly making plans for a sumptuous wedding to her best friend and fiance, Heinrich. But life changes for the pair as in 1943 when the iwar is being being lost by Germany she takes a secretarial job in an administative supply section. Lotte is immediately attracted to her superior who has lost his wife and chikdren during the war.
We follow Lotte and her superior Erich, as they flee from the chaos and make their difficult way to where her mother is staying in the country with Lotte's aunt.
Along the way they realise that they are in love and we follow this pair as they try to make a new life for themselves in a Germany unlike anything either could have imagined.
It is a good read and certainly one I shall recommend to my friends and followers.

I read a lot of historical fiction books centering around Germany in World War 2, and maybe this is why I am quite critical of any books that are set in this period. Maybe it's also because my grandparents lived in Germany throughout this period, and I feel a very personal connection to that time and place. In saying all that, I did like this book, but I didn't love it. It felt a little soap-opera like at times, and I could easily see where Lotte's personal story arc was leading, no matter how many twists and trials were thrown her way. Sometimes the characters felt a bit forced, and some of the writing felt a bit contrived. By the time I got to the author bio at the back of the book, I realised that this was the author's debut novel, which I think explains some of my criticisms. Overall it was an enjoyable read, just not one that I loved (even though I did try so very hard to love it).

*Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*
Historical fiction, 'The Girl from Munich' tells the story of young Charlotte and her coming of age in the dying years of World War Two. Whilst ostensibly a wartime novel, the book is so much more about families and relationships than it is about armies and battles. The author of the novel, Tania Blanchard is Australian and the book was inspired by her grandmother's experiences as a young woman in war-time Germany. The book is at times tragic and at others uplifting as it chronicles how Charlotte and her family repair their lives in post-war Germany. The descriptions of the damage done to the country - both in the physical sense and also the social fabric - are extremely vivid and touching. Well worth reading.

Thanks Simon & Schuster (Australia) and netgalley for this ARC.

Going from young adult to actual adult is a hard process to go thru but doing it thru war is even harder. We follow the heroine on her journey though pain, love, passion, and jubilation.