This is an incredible, harrowing story of a nation’s decent into darkness and depravity as Germany is subsumed by the Third Reich. Shown through the eyes of one young man drafted into Hitler’s youth program, this unforgettable story of courage comes to life in this harrowing audio book

If you love WW2 historical fiction, “The Willow Wren” might be right up your alley. And it’s likely a story that you’ve rarely heard about.

We meet Ludwig Schott, a young German boy who grows up during the 1930s and 40s. Unfortunately, his philandering father is a pro-Nazi militant. And Ludwig is sent to a Hitler youth camp as a young boy. (They groom them early).

The writing by Philipp Schott is wonderful as is the audiobook narrator, Brian Webber. It’s actually a story of Schott’s father. The problem was that I didn’t love the content and found myself biased knowing the horrors that were being carried out by the Germans. Did I not allow myself to connect to the story? Was I being judgmental during the listening process? Absolutely. I’m a horrible book reviewer in this regard because I’m bringing my bias into the picture.

That said, I did learn what life was like “on the other side.” German families were brainwashed with extreme, fear-based propaganda and also had issues with poverty, food deprivation and migration challenges from the East to the West.

Thank you to ECW Press Audio for a listener copy via the NetGalley app. This is my honest review.

Do you wonder what it was like to be a young German child during World War Two? How about going to war at eleven yrs old? This book takes you there! I have to say the father in this story made me furious, just furious. Who does that? This is a story of a average German family before and after the war. I’ve read several stories about the war but never anything quite like this. It was good. The narrator was excellent and I highly recommend listening to this. It’s really a child/YA view of experiences. I had no idea. I just thought everyone but Germans were suffering. Silly, I know but it’s the truth.
A lot is talked about but these stuck out to me:
• The fathers involvement during the war and after.
• The aftermath that affected the whole family.
• Families struggles because they were German.
• Famine and starvation.
• The crazy things the youth was forced to take in before and after.
• The country’s devastation.
There’s a lot more to this story and I thought it done quite well.
Thanks to ECW Press Audio via Netgalley. I’ve voluntarily leaving my honest review.