The Puppet Maker's Daughter is a historical fiction story about a woman named Marika who, along with her family, is trying to survive the Nazi invasion in Hungary in 1944. The story is heartbreaking and will make you very angry at how people were treated. I know there are a lot of survival stories from this time period, but this one is exceptionally well-written. The characters were great, Marika, her folks, Peter, Gellert, they all were fantastic. The situations were obviously well researched and were incredibly tense. While the ending is not necessarily happy, it is how it was at that time. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I find myself lately gravitating towards historical fiction surrounding WWII. This book was the first I have read focusing on the atrocities endured by the Jewish people of Hungary. It is written in such a way as to compel you to keep reading while at the same time conveying a level of depravity that will leave you feeling a sense of horror and disgust. I think it is important, that while fiction, the reader is thrown into the depths of gut wrenching emotion that any human should feel when envisioning the atrocities of human extermination. We should never forget what people are capable of when one group asserts superiority over another lest we prevent future genocide. This is a book worth reading.

A truly intense telling of the suffering of the Hungarian Jews. Particularly poignant reading with the current situation in Ukraine.. The stories told were so realistic, that I was not surprised at the end to find out so many of the characters were real.
Everyone should read this novel.

This book gives voice and grounding to a tragic situation that unfolded in Hungary during WWII. The story of the Tausig family and their experiences during the war are told in a very simple fashion. This family lived, like everyone else in an apartment building in Budapest. They had neighbors that were not Jews, and everyone got along. Their family and families around them all suffered during the war, but the Jews were hounded on two fronts, and were persecuted in every aspect of life. They had to be singled out and forced to wear a yellow star on their clothes, their outside life was curtailed, their jobs were taken away, and then they were forced to leave their houses.
Despite all this hardship, the Tuasig's risked their lives by doing humanitarian work with orphans, and other refugees that ended up in Budapest as they felt it was safer than their city.
The story also brings to light the world of the humanitarian, Roaul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who was working in Budapest to save the Jews under the German occupation. A fact that most people probably don't know. Another excellent part is how the story brings to life the Arrow Cross party.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about this period, It is well researched and clearly brings to light a very compelling story.

This tells the lesser known story of Hungary during WWII and how in Budapest even with earlier conscription of able-bodied men and restrictions on travel, the worst did not happen until 1944 when the Germans entered the city, headed by Eichmann who sought to curry favor with Hitler by eliminating all Jews from Hungary. Real events and people are portrayed in this story of a young woman, Marika, and her family, middle class Jews who have had good relationships with their Christian neighbors and friends. Marika works in a Catholic orphanage taking care of the children whose parents have been “removed” or killed. She is a valiant and admirable person who brings kindness and caring to children whose world has been destroyed.
Although factionalized, this is an edgy and hard to read account of how depraved and evil ordinary people can become when they believe lies and prefer ignorance to enlightenment. It also shows how greed and power destroy decency.

This is a beautifully intense look at a family during WWII. We see them go through horrible things and yet they still hold onto each other and to hope. As you move quickly towards the end, it will leave you breathless and desperate to get to the day that they might be free again.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

This was quite a revolution, an amazing book to read extremely difficult at times as it felt so real and full of emotion, I can highly recommend this book.

This is the harrowing story of a Jewish family in Budapest during the Second World War. As the Nazis advanced into Hungary the lives of these families are turned upside down, neighbours turn against them and, gradually, their freedom is eroded. Young nurse Marika and her medical student fiancee Gellert are forced out of the professions they love and, in their desperation to keep their family together, and simply survive, they turn to the resistance movement. With anti-semetic neighbours watching their every move and eager to report them this is extremely dangerous and they risk being arrested and tortured. However as the rumours of extermination camps emerging they feel they have no choice. Will Marika manage to keep her family safe or are her efforts all in vain?

As with all books of this period the story is extremely hard-hitting. It is a testament to the courage of so many people at this time and needs to be told over and over again so they can never be forgotten. The main characters are fixrional, but many of the events that unfold actually happened and are very hard to read about.

I had a bit of trouble getting into this book at first as there were a lot of characters to keep up with but glad I persevered and, once I got into the story, i couldn't put it down!

This is an incredibly strong piece of historical fiction that reads like a first person memoir. I have read a lot about the Holocaust and the overwhelming lesson about Hungary’s Jewish population is that they were rounded up en masse and sent to Auschwitz. While this is true it glosses over the incredible story of resistance that Karla Jay brings to life here, and I’m grateful that she has. The idea that at times the Nazi’s were protecting Jews from Hungary’s own nationalist terrorists is so shocking that you could almost laugh at the absurdity of it. These same Nazis would go on to round these Jews onto cattle trucks, but they ‘did it on orders and weren’t as cruel as the Arrow Cross’. All part of the mental gymnastics that pervaded Europes various regimes and splinter groups at the time.
Jay is an excellent storyteller and character writer. My hatred of Benedek felt quite visceral at times and my admiration for Marika never wavered and was utterly deserved.
This novel is one of pace and towards the end a breathless race to the day that we know is coming in May 1945 and having each chapter headed by a date is a wonderful way of building this suspense in the reader. While on the larger scale we know what happens ‘in the end’ with the war’s end date we do not know what that ending will look like for Marika and her family, friends and fellow resistance workers and that combination produces a stay up all night finish.
A wonderful novel and I will now be going to read everything else that the author has written.

I found this to be both gripping and emotional. The terror felt by Marika and her family as their world was torn away from them and so many of their fellow citizens turned on them was palpable. Jay had obviously researched the period thoroughly enabling her to write this powerful account.

Amazing WWII story that tells of more horror, heartbreak, yet amazing bravery in the face of evil. Highly recommended!

This book made me sit up and think about the power of historical fiction. As well as giving a voice to those who can no longer tell their stories, we can travel back in time to hear the sounds and smells - and even experience harrowing events, and the horrors of times and places which should never be forgotten.

This is rarely more important than in the city of Budapest of 1944. Karla M Jay pointes out in her author’s note that the Jews of Hungary almost made it. In only nine months they went from living under what were known as ‘restrictive regulations’ to wholesale mass deportations and the murder of 565,000 men women and children.

The opening line is ‘The Germans have arrived’ and our knowledge of the inevitable lurks in the background as we follow the lives of an apparently unremarkable family. The narrator, nineteen-year-old trainee nurse, Marika, sums up their situation in her chilling realisation, ‘The war may be living at our lives eating away at our freedoms, but now it’s found us. If we don’t leave this city, it will surely devour us all.’

Like most people, my knowledge of what actually happened in Budapest was limited to a few stark facts, which is why this book needs to be read by everyone.

As World War II draws to a seemingly imminent end, the citizens of Budapest are surprised by the arrival of the German army. At first, there is the hope that the presence of Adolf Eichmann and his troops will be a fleeting interruption to their daily lives but, as the nazi’s take control of the country, it becomes clear that things are about to change - for all of them, but especially for for Hungary’s Jewish population. As the rules targeting their community grow increasingly stringent, foreboding gives way to desperation. 19 year old Marika, a Jewish nurse who volunteers her time at a local Christian orphanage, soon finds herself struggling to safeguard her family against not only the Germans, but an equally ruthless enemy: her neighbors and fellow Hungarians.

A well-written, well-researched novel that illuminates one of history’s darkest moments - the 11th hour operation by Eichmann that saw the deportation of over 400 000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz during a two month period. The book covers aspects of this ugly history of which many may not be aware, like the equally horrific actions of the civilian right-wing Arrow Cross Party, led by a pistol-packing monk, whose brutality rivaled those of their German occupiers. Despite the grim subject matter, the very human element at the heart of this story - Marika, her family, and their supports within the ranks of a burgeoning resistance - offer hope amid so much heartbreak. Author Kay crafts a stirring story that is equal parts somber, shocking and stirring.

This book is set in Budapest, Hungary in March 1944 during WWII. The protagonist is Marika Tausig, who dedicates her time to the resistance by rescuing orphans and keeps her family ahead of being caught and send to Nazi concentration camps. This book shed light on how divisions occurred in Hungary to a level of detail I was not familiar with in prior historical fiction novels. The characters have depth and complexities, and I
was enthralled throughout the entire book. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to understand a dark period in world history.

Evening during the worse of times we must find solace in loving and helping those around us. Marika, the puppet maker's daughter, does just that as Germany occupies Budapest in the last year of WW2. I chose this book because I love historical. It has amazing context of the tribulations Hungarians went through which is not something that is often talked about when it comes to the Second World War and I would recommend it to those readers who are ready for a new point of view other that is not American.
I loved how throughout story characters drew their will and motivation through family, friends, and religion. This helped lighten the tone though the horrible conditions the characters faced. I especially loved the main character Marika and her determination to not only survive, but to help others and find moment worth fighting for. However, I was disappointed with the story. I felt like the overall plot was too broad and glossed over important events in the book. At times I felt like the story was just breezing though important details in the plot instead of building up suspense and resolving it. I would have liked to see more details in the work Marika, Peter, and Gellert did. I also wish the relationship building was stronger especially when it came to rebuilding Marika's relationship with Zofia and Jakub.

Jay's novel is historical fiction at its best. We are given two Budapests--one untouched by World War II and relatively free of Nazi occupation and then Budapest of 1944, when the world turns upside down for Hungary as the Nazis take control of the country.
This novel presents how the lives of Jews, Seventh Day Adventists, and others are cruelly devalued, interrupted, and snuffed out.
The novel is historically accurate and the characters compelling!

Karla M. Jay takes a terrifying point in history and weaves a beautiful tale of humanity, resistance, and survival. Her writing is excellent, and the storytelling keeps the reader engaged throughout. With so many books about WWII and the Jewish persecution in Europe, it would be easy to run out of stories to tell, but Jay's writing ensures that readers won't soon forget the realities of life as a European Jew. What a fantastic read.

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This was a truly wonderful read, disturbing and heartbreaking, but wonderful. The most disturbing thing about it is that you know that things like this were happening to people all over Europe during World War Two and actualy reading it on a page and your imagination will never know how truly awful things were. However saying that I think this author did a great job of bringing the harrowing details onto the page. It was beautifully written and excellently researched which was evident in the descriptions on every single page, the characters were well developed and the storyline was executed really well. I really enjoyed this read.

Author Karla M. Jay takes us to Budapest, Hungary in March 1944 to help us examine what transpired there in the closing days of WWII. War had come late to Budapest, but nineteen-year-old Marika Tausig believed she and her Jewish family were safe. She was pulled into the resistance to rescue orphans while she kept her family one step ahead of Nazi extermination plans. Did she regret the hard decision she had to make to save her family and the orphans she’d sheltered?

I’m always amazed at the new things I learn despite being an avid WW2 historical fiction reader. Jay’s research into the situation in Budapest is eye-opening. She highlights how divisions occurred - ‘us’ and ‘not us’ - which led to (1) collective violence as some Hungarian citizens turned on their Jewish neighbours and some were even eager actors in the deportations and (2) turning a blind eye to the Arrow Cross killings. One has to wonder how far away we are today from something such as this happening again. The world at the moment has been divided into two camps and violence and hatred are growing. I was unaware of the death marches in Hungary, the cave and tunnel systems used by the Resistance, nor the high percentage of Hungarian Jew deaths under the hands of the Arrow Cross fascists and the death camps. I appreciated a well-researched book to add to my understanding of this horrific time in history. I’d previously read/watched ‘A Hero’s Story,’ about the Hungarian Jews and Wallenberg’s rescue attempts during the Arrow Cross coup.

Jay’s account reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of family, even if its members are patched together with remnants of other shattered lives. Her characters have depth and the facts and fiction mesh seamlessly.

Published in time for the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and International Holocaust Remebrance Day, The Puppet Maker’s Daughter is an essential book in the journey to understanding such a dark period in history.

I was gifted this book by Karla M. Jay, Book Circle Press, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.