This was my third historical fiction read and since opening my eyes to this genre I am finding I really love it.
Based in ww2. The daughters tale follows a girl named Lina and her story of being abandoned by her mother in hopes of her finding a better life.
In a horrible time Lina finds love,courage, and strength to keep fighting to live another day. A truely incredible story that’s grabs you from the first chapter right until the end.

Horrible things happened during WWII as we know. Books were burned. Jews arrested. Millions were killed. Children were separated from their parents sometimes initiated by mothers and fathers in efforts to save their children. In this story, based on true events, a small village is destroyed with almost no survivors. This novel reflects the strength of the people in the French resistance and tells the story of difficult decisions a mother makes to save her children. Memories are pushed back and a life of secrets was led for decades by Elise Duval. I read a lot of WWII books and it seems there is always something to learn. In this case, it was the horrific fate of the people who lived in a small French village, Oradour-Sur-Glane. While it has its merits and is meaningful in that it based on real events, I have to judge this book against other WWII novels I have read. This is important and sad, but I can’t give it more than three stars. The writing style, flat and straight forward at times didn’t captivate me. There are several very positive reviews and I recommend you read those as well.

This was an ongoing monthly read with my lovely book buddies Diane and Esil.

An advanced copy of this book from was provided by Atria via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After going to St. Louis for a nerdy science teachers conference I was able to finish this one on the plane. Set mostly during WW2 in occupied France, a mother and 2 daughters flee Germany after her husband is captured. She is able to send one daughter to her brother in Cuba. What follows is a harrowing account of a mother doing everything she can to save her other daughter. While an interesting read, it seemed to jump around and randomly change POV making it hard to follow. I would've liked more details to feel more connected to characters. Overall an ok read but not spectacular. Thanks to Netgalley for an opportunity to read!

I've been reading alot of historical fiction books lately because every book you know has some sort of truth to it. In this case I learned about the massacre of a village in France. When I was reading it It didnt even cross my mind that that actually happened,until I read the end notes and learned the truth.

This book was beautifully written and the women in the book showed their love for one another. Amanda's love for her children showed the whole way through, along with the love lina had for everyone who helped her along the way. They all did what they had to do to survive the war.

The Daughter's Tale is utterly depressing. Set in the waning days before WWII and during, it's about separation, heartbreak, and survival. A young family is torn apart as a mother decides to send one daughter to safety, but keeps the younger one. They get separated as the young girl is taken in by trusted friends, only to have both of them get killed. Then she is chosen to be sent to America to an uncle, leaving the biological niece behind. The characters seemed remote, distant, and detached.

I am not sure where to start!
No one should question the love a mother has for her children.
Amanda did the unthinkable only to save her daughters lives.
The journey that Lina/Elise had taken was one that no child should have taken. I know there were misplaced children during this time frame.
To read how their lives were before, during and parts of after the war will break your heart.
The Daughter's Tale is a great read, very detailed about the incidents that had happened. The lives that were taken and how some survived.
I liked how the book ended, just sad that it took so long for Elise to receive word that her sister had survived and that she had family!

This brilliantly-written story begins in New York City in 2015. Elise Duval received a phone call from someone who said they had letters that belonged to her. When they arrive at her home, Elise recognizes the box that contains the letters written in German by her mother in 1939, and she collapses. The story then goes to Berlin in 1939 where Amanda, a bookshop owner, and her cardiologist husband, Julius Sternberg are happily married. They have two daughters, Viera and Lina. As the Nazis descend on Berlin, Julius is taken prisoner and sent to a camp where he dies. He had made prior arrangements for his wife and daughters to leave Berlin and move in with a widow whose husband was friends with Amanda's father. From there the story takes on many different facets as the war begins and progresses until it finally ends. This is a story of love, survival, sacrifice and rebirth against the backdrop of devastating tragedy. I highly recommend this beautifully crafted novel to anyone who loves historical fiction centered around World War II. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this unforgettable book in exchange for an honest review.

Like his ‘The German Girl’ this story includes the historic voyage of the S.S. St. Louis which left Germany with the intention to deliver these passengers, most all of whom were Jewish, to Cuba. Political issues prevailed upon their arrival, and a small handful of passengers were allowed to disembark, taking a smaller boat to come ashore in Cuba, but the rest were turned away.

The release of ‘The German Girl’ brought forth survivors who shared their personal stories with Correa, and out of those painfully shared personal histories, the idea for ’The Daughter’s Tale’ began to take shape.

Mothers and daughters, how one mother is forced to make one decision after another in order to save the lives of her daughters, often at her personal expense. Sending them to a place she believes will offer them safety, to become part of another family, a family that will change over time, as well.

Names are changed. Life changes, and lives change. And war changes everything. Once again, Correa shows us another historically significant event - the horrific slaughter in the village of Oradour-Sur-Glane, in Haute-Vienne, France - portrayed with accuracy, but without being overly gruesome in detail.

This story begins, briefly, in New York City in 2015 with Elise Duval, an eighty-year old woman, and weaves it’s way back to 1930s Germany, to the lives of Amanda and Julius Sternberg, and their two daughters, Viera and Lina. In part, this is also an epistolary novel, including letters that Amanda writes to her daughter over the years, beginning in the summer of 1939.

Throughout, secrets are exposed as we follow this family’s experience of the Nazi occupation in these various places, along with the sense of the growing fear. Fear makes those who have no issues with the Jews or the others targeted, to shun them in fear of Nazi retaliation. The determination of one woman to protect her daughters, the sacrifice she is forced to make for their safety, the heartbreaking guilt she feels for her decision, and the painful memories of the past that return to haunt another woman’s final days.



Pub Date: 07 May 2019

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Simon & Schuster, Canada

This book alternates between WWII Berlin and France and the present day. In the present day, 80 year old Elise receives a phone call, and then a box of letters written from her mother during WWII. In the past, Amanda and her two young daughters are forced to flee Berlin after Amanda's husband is arrested. Amanda makes a heartbreaking decision to send her oldest daughter alone to Cuba, and take her youngest daughter with her to France.

This book had a surreal/dreamy quality to it that made it seem less than real. There was some problems with the writing style and point of views that took away from the story line. At seemingly random times, the author would switch pov, which took away from the flow of the story. Overall, not a book I would re-read or recommend.

I've been on a roll with 4 and 5 star books, lately. This one is no exception! This is a must read story for all who are interested in WWII and survival of the unspeakable.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for this advanced readers copy. Release date for The Daughter's Tale is set for May 2019.

Having visited Oradour-sur-Glare several years ago and seen the awful emptiness and complete waste of lives I was interested in this book as the blurb intermated that it was based on the story.

The author does his homework and I read The German Girl which I enjoyed.

The story is filled with sadness, displacement and bravery and I found myself getting emotional many times.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Daughter's Tale is a heart breaking story of a family torn apart by war, genocide, and persecution. This story is an echo of the stories of so many families during the Holocaust; families destroyed and unable to be brought back together. The sacrifices of Amanda Sternberg is the reason her daughters survived. A mother's love and sacrifice for her children during great tragedy and trauma is a feat of strength incomparable to the heroic acts in life.
My favorite historical fiction are the stories that remind us of the strength of humanity even in dark times. This is one such story. The determination of the girls' mother and the adoptive family to connect again to the oldest daughter, Viera, through every tragic event the family personally experienced, is awe-inspiring. The Daughter's Tale is a must read for any fan of historical fiction. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in WW2, the Holocaust, and the true stories of the families affected by this historical tragedy.

The Daughterms Tale by Armando Lucas Correa is a Ww2 historical fiction novel that centers on the life of the German Jewish bookseller Amanda Sternberg, and her two daughters Viera and Lina. Opening during the Nazi book burnings of 1933, this work follows Amanda’s journey from Germany to France after a disaster strikes their family. Along with her friend Claire, Amanda is forced to make a harrowing decision, sending her eldest daughter to Cuba, while she stays behind with Lina. In France, Amanda and her daughter are soon forced to endure the Nazi puppet state of Vichy France. Meanwhile, Viera was aboard ill-fated St. Louis. I highly recommend this novel for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and Transcription by Kate Atkinson.

A MUST read. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the privilege of receiving an ARC of The Daughter’s Tale. After reading The German Girl by Amanda Lucas Correa I had no doubt I would love his 2nd book. World War II, a mother’s love, families destroyed, new identities, a town in France destroyed, a ship that sailed to Cuba,, loss, love, guilt, all play a gut-wrenching part in this historical fiction novel based on true events. An excellent discussion for book clubs. I will be up all night pondering if I would be able to make the decisions that mothers were forced to make during this horrific time, as well as pondering the guilt I would feel surviving. Even though it is early 2019 this will be one of my favorite reads. The Daughter’s Tale comes out May 7, make sure to get a copy.

I have been reading a lot of WW2 books. This was a great book of the time period. This book is based on a true story. It tells of a mother's desperate struggle to save her daughters during one of the darkest periods in our history. It is a story sacrifice and love. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

The Daughter’s Tale # NetGalley
Armando Lucas Correa

I enjoyed this historical novel that is based on true events during World War II. It is a family saga of love, sacrifice, betrayal, secrets, survival and redemption. Berlin in 1939 was not a safe place to be for Jewish families. The story is mainly driven by a Jewish mother fleeing Berlin in an attempt to save her two daughters after her husband is tragically taken by the Nazis into a concentration camp of which he did not survive. She is forced to make decisions regarding their safety that are extremely painful. She will do whatever she can to protect them even sacrificing herself. There are many characters that you are introduced to along this journey for safety and freedom. It is a heartbreaking story that you cannot help asking - what would I have done in the mother’s place and would I have been brave enough to survive the things she was forced to do?! I also was hoping that the end of the book would reveal what happened to the surviving sisters, but it was very vague in that regards. I think the author did a good job portraying the events as he saw them. The author, being Cuban, wrote about some of the refugees being sent to Cuba and being denied safe refuge, a fact that was new to me. The storyline touched me deeply and I was moved by it as I am by all the World War II books that I have read. This book would deserve serious decussions in a book club setting. I would recommend this book to all my friends and family and rate it 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy read of this book for an honest review.

The Daughter's Tale is the story of a family torn apart by the ravages of World War II. A mother is forced to make unimaginable sacrifices for her two daughters, sacrifices that have far reaching consequences over 80 years later.

This is a great work of historical fiction that captures some of the most heartbreaking events surrounding World War II, including mass killings in France and how countries like the US and Cuba could have helped refuges, but turned them away. I recommend this book to anyone who is a great lover of historical fiction. It will break your heart and stick with you emotionally, but it's worth the read.

I am having problems finishing this book. Normally I get engrossed with books about Jewish struggles during WW II as I am Jewish and can identify.....a case of: there by the grace of destiny go I.

But this novel never pulled at the proverbial heart strings as so many have of this theme. The author is not a beginner writer and uses the English language well. Finally I decided that he just takes too darn long to get into his main story, the separation of the family and what occurs. The story line goes off into many fragmented pieces do that we kind of never really identify and thus empathize with anyone.

And then there are silly inconsistencies in the story. One example: Lina is being groomed to appear German. To this end they change her name and have her call Claire Mother....and then this whole scheme to save Lina is just dropped, never used. And then there are ridiculous decisions of Amanda which leaves one shaking one's head in disbelief, for example not sending off her youngest daughter to safety and freedom with the flimsy excuse that she was too young, but KNOWING that the daughter was in danger from the Nazis as her own husband had already been killed.

I am giving this book 3 stars ONLY because a good editor could have turned this book into a 4 star with a few changes and a judicious amount of cutting to tighten up this story

I've just had the privilege of reading The Daughter's Tale by Armando Lucas Correa. It is due to be published on May 7th, 2019. #NetGalley #TheDaughtersTale

Many thanks to #NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read an advanced readers's copy in exchange for an honest review.

I believe it is very important to read books that tell the stories of those who lived during the era of the rise of Fascism, the second World War, and the time afterwards. They have much to teach us and are still very applicable to our lives. Sometimes fiction is the best way to share a story and regardless of whether these are "real" characters or not, there were in fact many people who went through experiences like the ones shared in this novel and they no doubt served as an inspiration to the author.

There has seemed to be a real explosion of books based on this particular era and many do it by telling the story both in the past as it was occurring and in a look back from the present day. Correa chose to do this too, but quite differently from most authors. He introduces us to Elise in the present day. She is an older woman whose health is poor and who only has a daughter and grand-daughter as family. She receives a phone call from a stranger who wishes to visit her and give her some letters that are written in German. Upon the arrival of her visitors, the shock is too much for Elise and she collapses, waking some time later to find herself in hospital close to death. She uses breathing techniques to calm herself down as she faces what she believes to be her final moments. The story then moves into the past and doesn't return to the present until almost the end of the book.

The story itself is a heart-wrenching one.. Amanda Sternberg and her husband live in Berlin, deeply in love. He is a cardiologist. She runs a bookstore and they are expecting their first child - a daughter. Life is beginning to be very difficult for them. Amanda must turn over any books that are "suspect" to be burned and she can't bring herself to do it. She hides one under her pillow and means to sort through the rest, but leaves it too late. A mob comes in and burns all of her books. Life continues and after the birth of their daughter Viera, another daughter named Lina comes along. Her husbands cardiology practice which had been booming - including some patients who were Nazi officials - is suddenly reduced to nothing. and then he is arrested and sent to a concentration camp. One of his erstwhile clients informs Amanda of his death and the fact that he had been preparing to to move the family out of Germany to Cuba where Amanda's brother lives. She is told to take her daughters to where she can load them on a boat that is heading to Cuba. When the time comes to send them off, she has a difficult choice to make. One daughter goes and one remains.

I don't want to spoil the story by telling everything that happens.. Life is not easy for those left behind. Initially they move to a small village in France where they feel at least some sense of safety, but nowhere in Europe is really safe and when France capitulates, the writing is on the wall. There are some twists and turns in the story. It is beautifully written and kept me hooked from start to finish.

A big takeaway for me after reading the book is the fact that war brings out the best in some and the worst in others and in between are those with a mixture of both. Ultimately though, the survivors are touched in ways that will impact them throughout their lifetimes. We need to learn that and take it to heart

I would highly recommend this book to anyone.with an interest in the Holocaust or World War 2. I feel it could also be of interest to a book club as there is lots of material worthy of discussion. I am very glad that I had a chance to read it. The story will definitely stay with me..

For me, the story was beautifully written - the author conjures up vivid imagery and emotions - it's not hard to see why this story has been called heartbreaking by so many.
From the 1930s in Berlin, we witnessed the all-too-familiar story of the rise of fascism, and the effect it had on the Steinberg family made for compelling reading. The injustice grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go, as we pray for a positive outcome for Amanda and her daughters, knowing all too well of the atrocities that could befall them.
Sending Viera off to Cuba alone, having her letters returned, and then to have to send Lina to the safety of another woman - Amanda was such a strong character, wanting the best for her girls and living with the guilt of 'abandoning' them.
Lina became Elise, and despite still being in hiding she blamed herself for so much - again, so heartbreaking to see a young girl having to deal with so much trauma and guilt. Wow!
However, at this point my heart went out to Danielle -she was such a tough cookie, following her mother's will to the letter, yet always the one on the outside. Unbearably sad.

To be honest, the modern day story of Elise didn't appeal to me. I could quite happily have read the story without that aspect of it. That being said, I guess it provided some closure on Elise's life and for that alone it would be worthwhile to include.

As I've said, the writing is beautiful. However, at times the gorgeous prose slowed the story down and I found myself skimming to get ahead. Nonetheless, a tragic story that encompasses so many emotions in a way that we can only be thankful to only read about those days, rather than live through them ourselves.