Sharon Maas takes us back to the town of Colmar in the Alsace region of France which has now been annexed and is in total control of the Germans during World War Two. This was the setting for her previous novel The Soldier's Girl and it was great two to see one or two characters from that book make a reappearance in this new book The Violin Maker's Daughter although be it on a more secondary level. It is 1943 and the Mayer family - father Josef, mother Leah and their five daughters Sarah, Amelie, Therese, Mannion and the youngest Sofie have been living the quietest life possible. They try to stay under the radar away from the eyes of the Germans who occupy the town and who have transformed the way of live for the residents of Colmar.

Colmar has undergone radical changes with street names being changed, people forced to speak German and even having their own names changed to more suitable German names. Any Jewish residents were rounded up and taken away from the town but as the Mayer family are not practising Jews but rather Jewish in heritage Josef did not sign any forms. Instead the family kept a very low profile trying to get by with very little as Josef's shop where he makes instruments needless to say is not very much in demand during the war years. But everything is about to change, someone has exposed their heritage and the time has come for some big decisions.

Jews were seen as polluting German society and if the Mayer family could not prove their German heritage within five days they would be taken away and brought to the camps where so many have gone but never been heard from since. It is decided with help from the French resistance that the family will flee Colmar in the hopes of eventually reaching their Uncle in America. Sarah aged 17 is to go first with two sisters following and then the parents with the remaining two daughters. It is a perilous journey which many have undertaken before them but the family cannot hope to stay in Colmar without retribution for failing to produce the correct documentation. Sarah is more than reluctant to leave her family behind and she rallies against her parents wishes. But she is given no option and soon she finds herself traversing the mountains of the region in order to make her way to Poitiers where eventually all the family members will meet up to continue their onward journey.

Right from the outset Sarah is a character who is very difficult to warm to and the more I read through the first half of the book the more she really frustrated me. I began to think maybe this was the way she was meant to be written and that the reader is being urged to feel this way because it's only as we move into the later half of the book that I began to feel any admiration for her and her eventual transformation she underwent was one which was worthwhile and certainly validated everything that she had gone through. Sarah is so naive and innocent and she doesn't realise, as she is taken to various hideouts and brought through forests and areas swarming with German troops, that really so many people are putting their lives in danger just to get her and her family to safety. Hundreds of people did this throughout the war because they felt the injustice being meted out to Jewish people and wanted to do something to help.

Sarah is like the spoilt child who wants everything her way. It took her an awfully long time to realise the bigger picture and to understand that she was but one small cog in a bigger wheel operating throughout France in order to bring about the downfall of the megalomaniac that was Hitler. She really needed to grow up but she wasn't very world wise instead she was immature, childish, rebellious, moody, reckless and silly. She never stopped to think instead rushing headlong into situations that would put herself and those helping her in grave danger. She had been protected and cosseted all her life and she was just so impulsive and emotional when really she needed to reign things in and become aware that she needed to be on her guard at all times and work with people not against them.

She really did have a steep learning curve ahead of her and as time was of the essence she needed to man up so to speak pretty quickly or else she had no hope of reaching her intended destination as planned. There were was more than one occasion where I wanted to give her a good shake and say come on you are being so careless in both your actions and words. Despite being told to be wary and careful, time and time again she throws caution to the wind because she was too ruled by her heart. She just didn't have the stamina or even the cop on to be able to lie convincingly when the need arose and I could sense that other characters felt the same way about her. She had a long journey ahead of her and although her transformation is subtle at first gaining that sense of maturity and know how her character does begin to materialise. She slowly starts to understand that I have power and I can use it to my advantage and it's then that I finally began to get her as a character and my admiration for the courage,tenacity and determination that she develops began to grow.

Through an unsettling and horrific event more or less at the beginning stages of her journey Sarah finds herself travelling through France with Ralf who has deserted from the German army and if he is caught there will be devastating consequences. He has agreed with the French resistance to bring Sarah on the next stages of her journey and both travel under assumed identities with danger lurking at every corner. Again here is where I felt Sarah to be so innocent, too trusting and believing and her inexperience showed. Ralf was trying to do the job he had agreed to do and I do think his intentions of accompanying Sarah were genuine but she just literally fell deeply in love with him overnight and then she couldn't understand why he wasn't reciprocating these feelings. It was like this was her first time outside the cocoon of her family and her first real meeting with a man and spending time in such close proximity that she felt she had to more or less fall head over heels in love with him instantaneously.

Don't get me wrong I knew there was going to be some romance in this story but the way it occurred so quickly just highlighted how innocent Sarah truly was for a good half of this book. It was only in parts three and four that I felt things on the romantic front took on a more even footing and I could see that it did become genuine and that there would be many trying times ahead for both Ralf and Sarah and for many different reasons. Lack of experience, lust and infatuation may have been initial factors for Sarah developing feelings so quickly but these factors were slowly pushed aside and once she grew up a bit things felt more natural, legitimate and honest. Although I will say with regard to the letter writing it did show Sarah still didn't always think to do the right thing, even I could see how thoughtless she was being.

The Violin Maker's Daughter took a long time to get going. Honestly I found the first half a bit of a slog to get through and I questioned would I reach a turning point where I just desperately wanted to keep turning the pages where I would be so eager to find out what was going to happen? Thankfully that point did occur and I thought from the time when Sarah arrives in Poitiers onwards was undoubtedly the strongest part of the book and from that point on I loved the book. It was so worthwhile to keep persisting with the first half as I thought then everything took on a new dimension, a real sense of urgency,of wanting to get things done. Yes Sarah might have felt she was in limbo, in a waiting period but this was a period that needed to happen for her so she could grow and mature and garner the strength and know how in order to peruse with her next step.

Finally the changes that Sarah needed to make began to occur and my opinion of her totally changed. I thought the final part of the book was brilliant as she really steps outside of her comfort zone and becomes the woman she was destined to be. Although I will say the last two chapters felt too rushed with tying up of loose ends occurring within every sentence which is a shame given how much research obviously went into the story and how much time had been spent setting up and developing all the different plot lines.

The Violin Maker's Daughter was a bit of a mixed bag for me with the later half far outweighing the first but I am definitely glad I did read this book and I look forward to seeing will Sharon Maas stay writing about World War Two in France or will she take us to another country set during the same time period to get a different perspective on the war?

Another great WWII historical fiction novel is added to the ever-growing book pile with "The Violin Maker's Daughter." Captivating writing, right from the start, and an engaging story line from start to finish.

Can’t Get Enough Historical Fiction…
So for the past eight months or so, I’ve been on a bit of a historical fiction kick. Basically every other novel I would check out from my local public library—was historical fiction. Much of it had been based in, Stalin’s Soviet Union. Often the in the ‘40s. But I wanted to enjoy a story from another part of Europe in that era.

Hence when I was given the opportunity to read an advance copy of, Sharon Maas’s newest historical fiction novel—The Violin Maker’s Daughter—I jumped at the chance to be the bee that did the review. It was very exciting getting the early copy, and checking out a new author (to me). Maas, has penned over ten other novels before this one. Her previous being, The Soldier’s Girl, another WWII historical fiction piece.

I couldn’t wait to have at this novel. Even with my crazy busy work schedule, I found time to read it. No matter if it was in bed before going to sleep after an insane shift. Multi-tasking while taking care of personal business. I was thrilled to read this. And I really couldn’t stop. It was almost an addiction.

But, some of that was because I was hoping for more drama and suspense. Which often wasn’t the case. At times the characters and story line development seemed rather rushed. Now I’m not knocking this novel, I did think it was enjoyable enough. Still, there was a great deal I found myself in the end wishing it had more of.

Premise
As for the main character, Sarah, she is a great protagonist. While her family’s name sounded christian, she is actually a Jewish teen from Alasce. Her father is a violin maker, and she is his apprentice. When the German’s annexed the formerly French region and forced it into German culture. The family made adjustments to blend in and not stand out to the occupiers. However they predictably are ratted out to the Nazis and forced to produce evidence of their Aryan ancestry or else.

The family plans to escape in groups. Sending their oldest, Sarah, off first. She is rather sheltered and immature. So this story quickly is a “coming of age” type of story. As the novel progresses, you still see Sarah’s struggle to grow up fast enough for sometime. But she does so more as the story moves along.

Early on in her passage to safety from the Germans, Sarah and her escort are caught in the forest by two German soldiers. I won’t give you any spoilers, but this is how she first meets (and we’re introduced) to her love interest of, Ralf (or is it Karl?). Their journey into Paris as two different types of fugitives from the Nazis (Ralf, is not Jewish), and then their desire to be together again is the real driving force to this story line.

Eventually the story probably spends it’s largest amount of time, where Sarah becomes the live-in nanny for a wealthy family of French “collaborateurs”. There we see a relationship between the sister of the parents, Monique, and Sarah. There was no character I had more of a love hate relationship with in this story than, Monique. In the end, it felt rather predictable how it ends between the two. Whilst the maid was painfully underused in this section of the story.

Ultimately, towards the end—Sarah becomes a very strong hero. And finally has grown up, whilst still rather young. But this too seems to be very rushed and lacking in more details of development.

I understand this also might not be the doing of the author. As it can be difficult to convince a publisher to print an extremely long novel—unless you have made a small fortune as a New York Times best seller. Sadly in this industry, very few are given this sort of creative freedom. And even some of those abuse that privilege and give us novels with 150 pages of needless details that could have been cut. So it is a fine line.

Worth A Read
So I don’t want to sound like I’m dumping on this novel. It’s not bad at all—it also was not the greatest historical fiction novel. I found it to be good enough to finish in a timely manner. But leaving me wishing it was so much more. The cover proclaims it’s an, “Absolutely heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction”. But I didn’t find myself that moved to be heartbroken. I never once cried reading this.

And that was what I was hoping for from what the previews had given me. I wanted to be moved that I would cry (my membership to the, Macho Mens Club of America, has just been revoked). But I’m not an emotionless droid of a man. I read another historical fiction novel earlier this year, that made me cry several times. Once to the point I ugly cried for probably five minutes. That novel also had more details and development, and I think it would have behooved this novel to have that. The premise of this novel ought to be heartbreaking, it’s the second World War and Jewish people are major characters. But I never found myself teary eyed.

Still, I did have points where I could not put this down. Perhaps the section where, Sarah and Ralf are on the run, gives the best suspense in the novel. Which does move the pace along quickly. The book is good enough that I did add the author’s previous historical fiction to my “want to read list” on Goodreads. And if you’re a fan of this type of story, I do recommend giving, The Violin Maker’s Daughter, a read.

I think it’s fair to say this was a three out of five star book. And it will be on-sale starting, July 19th, 2019. You can get it on paperback or on Kindle.

The violin Maker’s Daughter has so much potential to be a great WWII read. The reader can tell that the author Sharon Moss did a lot of research; however, the writing was not consistent. I think the beginning of the book showed so much promise. The Violin Maker, Josef Mayer, is a non-practicing Jew. He and his wife have five daughter’s and they need to escape Alsace before being taken by the German’s. Sarah, the oldest daughter, is sent on her own. Her journey is fraught with dangers and we see her immaturity. She falls in love with a German soldier, Ralf, who saves her from being raped. He was forced into being a soldier. From here, the story ihas several writing problems.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A really good WWII genre novel. At times I did like the secondary characters better than the main character Sarah. I will say she redeemed herself by the end of the book.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and Bookouture for sending me an advance copy of The Violin Maker’s Daughter by Sharon Maas to read. What follows is my honest review.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the wonderful cover art which caught my attention and let me know that the book was set in the time of World War 2 - a time I am always fascinated to read about.

The story begins in Colmar, a city in the north-eastern region of France located in what was known as Alsace, a region which was sometimes a part of France and sometimes a part of Germany. Many residents could speak both languages. In November of 1940 it has once again been taken over by the Germans, but this time they are the Nazi’s and life is about to change drastically for local violin maker Josef and his family. They have never been practicing Jews and in fact Josef’s wife is not a Jew. When the Jewish citizens of Colmar are forced to register as such, Josef chooses not to register, hoping that they have safely blended into their surroundings and that those few who know will keep their secret. Life is harder though as no one has money to spend on high quality musical instruments.
Josef has been warned that he should try and move his family away, but it is a hard and scary decision to make and so they do nothing.

One year later, their secret gets out and it becomes clear that Josef and his wife must make the difficult choice to send their children away starting with their eldest daughter Sarah, who at 17, is a violin maker in her own right. Sarah is still a teenager though, and in many respects so sheltered from what is going on in the world that she seems younger than her actual age. She fights against the decision and refuses to pack until it is brought home to her that time is running out and that she must go. Her journey will be a long one, fraught with danger and many difficulties along the way. The first challenge comes as Sarah, her chaperone and her guide are attempting to cross through an area where it is known German soldiers are likely to be around. An accident to her chaperone makes it so that Sarah must continue on alone with her guide. Sadly, they do not take enough care and are accosted by German soldiers, leading to a scene of great violence that alters the whole trajectory of Sarah’s life.

Sarah has been taught that there are no good Germans at all. They are all Nazi’s, and now she is forced to depend on one for her life. As a young and rather immature girl, she longs for someone to love her a care for her and is very dependant on others to fill her emotional needs. This leads to some extreme problems throughout her journey to safety. By the end of the book Sarah has matured somewhat even to the point where she has become involved with the Resistance. There is a surprise twist which I will not divulge.

I really enjoyed the basic story line of the book but there were a few things I struggled with. The author chose to write the story in the present tense at times and I always find this distracting. I also felt that the immaturity that Sarah showed was perhaps a little extreme – especially after some of the things that she experienced. She couldn’t seem to take the need for security seriously which led to problems which had some dire consequences. I found it hard to believe that she wouldn’t have learned discretion way earlier on. Having said that, if you like historical fiction set in WW2 you will likely enjoy this book. It definitely shows the hardships of war both for the Jewish people and the Germans who are forced to fight on the side of evil even when they would prefer not to.


I would give it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I absolutely loved this book. I cried, I smiled, I felt the intenseness of love and grief. It truly was just filled with ALL the emotions.
Perfectly written and a gripping read. I would highly recommend!

If only I could give this book 100 stars rather than 5!
This book captivated me right from the start.
This book is epic, a mesmerizing book of strength through unimaginable losses.
A forbidden love but will it be enough to overcome the pressure around them?
Heartbreaking and beautifully written this gripping tale of bravery and standing up for what you believe in despite the odds being against you.
One of the best and most memorable historical books I've ever read!
Expected publication: July 19th 2019 by Bookouture.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

WW2 based story told from the perspective of a violin maker's daughter. Her father did not evacuate his Jewish family from Alsace when he should have, so when he finally realized what was happening, he sent his oldest daughter first with the Resistance workers. The travel was dangerous and rigorous for the 17 year old. She ended up getting work as a nanny in a safe area, because she could speak both French and German, and could play the violin. The family wanted her to teach their children both. The family were collaborators. The young woman left before she could be betrayed, and joined the Resistance, going back into Germany to spy. There is so much more to this story - you just have to read it.

The market of late has been flooded with WWII books and in particular the setting is usually France, Germany or both. While historical fiction is my favorite genre and I usually gravitate to WWII, some of these novels are better than others. Some of these books are difficult to read, others not. The story of how 17 year old Sarah escapes from occupied France is not one of the easier ones, yet it grabbed me emotionally I have never read the works of Sharon Maas and look forward to more of her books.

My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. .

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Violin Maker's Daughter has a protagonist, Sarah, who is sheltered and immature. Her family, her parents and four younger sisters, live in the Alsace region of France which has been annexed by the Germans. The family is of non-practicing Jewish heritage and they initially ignore the call for all Jews to register and then be deported. Eventually, however, the father decides that they can no longer rely on the sympathy and understanding of friends and neighbors; they must evacuate to a safer place.

Of course by now such an evacuation involves a much more involved and dangerous journey. As the oldest, Sarah at seventeen must depart alone to make the journey to safety with a series of underground contacts. Numerous times Sarah endangers herself and those helping her by her impetuous and childish behavior. Repeatedly warned, Sarah progresses through the underground system while falling in love with a German deserter who had saved her life. The suddenness of her love appears almost like infatuation since she is so inexperienced and childish. Her emotional outbursts and sudden honesty about her heritage to just about anyone who will listen makes her a rather unrealistic and unappealing character.

DNF. I didn’t realize before starting that The Violin Maker’s Daughter is narrated in third-person limited, my least favorite narration style. I got about 15% of the way in, and I just can’t do anymore. The descriptions are lovely, but I just can’t truly identify with Sarah, a sheltered agnostic/non-practicing Jew. Plus, the title is annoying. Why must all these books identify a female protagonist via a man: “The Violin Maker’s Daughter,” “The Banker’s Wife,” “The Mapmaker’s Daughter,” etc.

This book was okay, it wasn't my favorite. The characters seemed to just be there and didn't seem to move the plot forward all that much. It was okay, it has a beautiful cover. Someone else may enjoy it more than I did.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This is a good interesting read. The historical detail was good and educational. I felt though that the story lacked depth.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Sarah Mayer is the eldest of 5 daughters of luthier Josef and Leah Mayer, nonsecular Jews in France 1940. When the Germans invade France and start deporting the Jews, Josef decides to send his family to a safer place via the underground and Sarah is the first to leave. This is the very well-written story of her flight to freedom and the various people she encounters, some trusting and others not so. I really enjoyed this book; however, I really disliked the character of Sarah who came across as a spoiled brat and put other people in danger because she did not want to follow the instructions given to her. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this page-turner in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Sarah and how she escaped from Nazi-occupied France during WW2. It tells of her many hardships along the way as she traversed dangerous territory in both her physical situation and having to grow up faster than she would have liked. It depicted the realness of war from the perspective of a 17 year old girl. A fairly quick and easy read. Enjoyable from beginning to end.

Her childhood has been idyllic and then the war which was getting closer by the day. Sarah was being sent away by her parents - being sent to safety as they were Jews. While there were other family members that also had to seek safety she was the first to go as it was easier to get one or two people safe, than a family of seven. We travel with Sarah on her journy, not only to safety, but from a somewhat feather-brained teen to a young woman with resolve to help defeat the Nazis. Quite them moving story.

Any story which has a WWII background whether it is from any country involved in the war is poignant and very emotional. This one is no different.
Even when the Nazis walk into Colmar Josef a secular Jew believes he will be safe. He produces beautiful violins for a living and thinks that it is all a question of too much hype. When the actual situation dawns on him it is very late, and he has to think of a way to get his children away. He succeeds with his eldest sent at the age of 17 from an extremely protected background to one where subterfuge and lies becomes a way of life.

Sarah's painful and difficult journey across France from being a Jew to being a German from Alsace with a change of name and personality to match her goal is Poitiers. It is not smooth the journey and meeting Ralf who saves her from rape, and then becomes a deserter from the German army is not going to help matters at all. Germans are the enemy and having Ralf as a protector is not helping at all.

Love and loyalty, a lot of sacrifice and plenty of betrayal make this a wonderful story for lovers of historical fiction.

The story is set during World War II in France occupied by Germany. The book follows the story of Sarah who is a Violin maker daughter. As the family has Jewish ancestry, Sarah was the first one from her family to flee across the mountings to be safe in Spain. In her way, she met Ralph, a German soldier deserter and from there the adventure starts.
I must say I did not connect with Sarah, she was extremely immature, always making the wrong decisions., but as the story goes on we can see how she grows up, and realize that War is dangerous and not a game.
Easy reading, some chapters quite interesting and get you trapped until the end.
Nice work.
release date: 19 July 2019
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC

I’m a huge fan of historical fiction and this one didn’t disappoint. I felt it was a good book about the horrors of wartime France
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book