The Doctor’s Daughter tells the story of Sofia, a Jewish girl who is protected by her father’s decision to act as a physician to the Nazis. He is not Jewish, but his wife and children are, so he takes the actions he does because he thinks it is the best way to protect his family. We simultaneously read the story of Isaac, a Jewish boy who lives in the sewer system of Warsaw before he and his sister Olivia are captured and sent to Auschwitz. He is put to work the farm fields outside Sofia’s home and she works in Kanada, sorting through items and clothing.

I have read a lot of books about Nazi Germany and always feel the same deep sadness for what happened and the unspeakable horrors that Jews went through. I have also thought a lot about the non-Jews that were alive then and how they must have felt, wanting desperately to help/change things. Because of this, I deeply empathize with Friedrich; there is a lot to dig into when considering his character. He was helping the Nazis because he wanted to save his family. His family feels massive resentment, which the doctor has to cope with. The internal struggle he must experience is almost unimaginable. The author does a good job weaving this into the storyline.

The relationship that develops between Isaac and Sofia does a magical job of trying the characters together. Each is forced to endure unspeakable personal demons, while relying on those near them to get them through. I loved this book on so many levels because it is impossible not to care deeply for the characters.

When an author pours her heart and soul into their work, it’s evident in the words that flow on the page. I’m always on the edge of my seat waiting for another book from her to drop and The Doctor’s Daughter is an amazing tale that will tug at your heart from the very first page to the last.

When the Germans invade Poland, Friederich Amsler think his position as a prominent physician will keep his wife and daughter safe. The catch is…his wife and daughter are Jewish while he is not. His daughter Sofia wants nothing more than to follow in her footsteps and help people but it’s slowly becoming clear that her dreams are in jeopardy given the state of things. Isaac Cohen and his family are struggling to survive in the Warsaw Ghetto. They do what they can to help those around them until the Nazis tear his parents away from him and his sister Olivia. The two then find themselves on a train to Auschwitz and the struggle to survive is even harder. When Isaac shows up at the Amsler’s farm as slave labor, Sofia does all she can to help him until the time comes for her and her mother to go into hiding with him. What will the future hold for them? Is it okay to think beyond the next day, hour or minute especially knowing what’s happening just miles from their home? Can love still blossom in history’s darkest hour?

One of the things I love about Shari’s writing is the way she has mastered bringing characters to life. She paints a beautiful yet painful at times picture of life during WWII which if you follow her work, she strives to write so that both she and others can learn from her work. I just can’t get enough and can’t wait for her next story to come out!

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Bookouture and Shari for giving me access to incredible story about strength and survival

This book broke my heart. It’s incredibly sad and at times quite dark.
I love reading books about World War II, and ones that involve the tragedies in Poland. This book was no exception.
This book makes you put yourself in the position of those who lived through this awful time in history. I can’t even imagine having to make some of these choices, or try so hard while being devastated. Ryan brings you to think about such choices. While I did cringe for a split second when thought there was going to be a love story involved in such a tragic time, once it happened I actually enjoyed it.
This book is written chapter by chapter told by different characters, but it’s not the typical repeat. Ryan added in another character story line halfway through the book and I really enjoyed seeing that characters perspective.
Historical fiction lovers, read this one! :)

A sweet and romantic story of two young people facing impossible situations and hate. It’s hard to read any story about two young people in Poland during WWII without thinking what their lives should have been.

After reading Shari J Ryan's book, The Bookseller from Dachau which actually captivated me, I was happy that I got this ARC.

The story this time sets in Poland, during the Nazi occupation and WWII. The story is told from the perspectives of Sofia--whose mother is Jewish and whose father, a doctor work with the Nazis and Issac, a Jew who moves to the Warsaw ghetto with his parents and his sister, Olivia. Isaac's parents dies and both Issac and Olivia are separated when they reach the concentration camp, Auschwitz, where Olivia, with her ability to sew works in Kanada where they sort the items of the people who come to the camp. Issac starts to work in the garden owned by Sofia's family and the two become friends with Sofia determined to save Isaac's life.

The author must have done tremendous research about the life in a Warsaw Ghetto and the conditions of being in Auschwitz concentration camp. Despite the fact that the story is fictional, the events that occur in the story are real and you couldn't imagine that these types of horror did occur in real life. The writing was good, the author doing a good job of drawing the reader into the story, making the reader feel like they are part of the story. It is interesting to read both Sofia's and Isaac's views and I like how the friendship between them developed. There were some emotional moments and heartbreaking moments although the ending was good and expected.

Overall, if you like a heartbreaking emotional historical fiction, then this one is for you--worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

A heartbreaking story about what a “mixed race” (as they were referred to by the Nazi’s) went through during WW2. The story is fast paced and offers different views on what an individual had to endure to survive and keep their family safe. This story will grab and hold your attention, so be prepared to stay up and finish it!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was amazing but so sad at the same time. I loved all of the characters and while I've read a lot of books about the Nazis and the concentration camps this one was so different than the others that it really stood out. What I liked the most about this book was it wasn't just written through one persons point of view we got multiple which doesn't always work well but in this case it gave the reader a deeper connection to its characters and the hardships and trauma that they were going though. We got our main character Sophie who's father works as a doctor for the SS, which leads to bigger problems since Sophie's mother is Jewish, and then we have Issac a young Jewish boy who is trying his best to survive. This is one book to read for sure if you enjoy this subject as sad as it is. The author does a great job of showing how terrible things were but at the same time it shows the other side and the dire confusion that I'm sure was going on around everyone.

This is another fantastic, heart-wrenching, poignant read by author Shari J. Ryan. The story begins in 1941 in Poland when the Jews are being sent to live in the ghettos before being sent to the "work camps." The Cohen family consists of parents Ludwig and Ania along with their two children, Isaac and Olivia. After living in the ghetto with conditions getting more dire all the time, they decide to join others and hide out in the sewer tunnels. Ludwig was working with the resistance and one evening when he did not return, Ania decides they needed to go look for him. They are captured and sent to Auschwitz where Isaac and Olivia are separated from their mother. Isaac is assigned to do farm work while Olivia is sent to sort clothes.

The Amsler family consists of father Friedrich, who is a physician, mother Lena and daughter Sofia. Friedrich is Protestant while Lena and Sofia are Jewish so they are considered a "privileged marriage" The Waffen-SS approached Friedrich to train the incoming SS physicians and he accepts in order to protect his wife and daughter. As Sofia peeks out the window watching the prisoners work the land behind their house, she locks eyes with Isaac. Sofia and her mother begin plans to try and save as many prisoners as they can.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this riveting page-turner.

A fabulous piece of historical fiction. Beautifully written, well researched, a fantastic read.

Sofia's parents have what is classed as a "privileged marriage" - her father is Protestant and her mother is Jewish. Her mother and indeed Sofia herself are protected by this classification, and become even more protected when her father becomes a doctor for the SS. Sofia and her mother cannot forgive her father for helping the enemy, and are determined to find a way to save at least one of the Auschwitz prisoners who are forced to work on the family farm. Isaac is one such prisoner, who catches a glimpse of Sofia watching him from her window. Can they all survive the war, and how will their stories intertwine?

Told from multiple points of view, this is a moving insight into the Jewish suffering in WWII.

Beautifully written, with such heart. Not only did it make me cry, it made me see the world in a different way.….fully recommend you read the doctor’s daughter for yourself!

I really enjoyed this book it was well written with well developed characters and a compelling and sometimes heart-wrenching storyline. I have read a lot of books about World War Two, bith fiction and non-fiction and I am ashamed to say I didn't know about privileged marriages at this time. For anyone else that doesn't know this is marriages that took place before Hitler came to power between people who were not jewish and people who were jewish. Although the Jews within these marriages were treated abhorently, they were still treated better than those jews who were not part of a priviledged marriage.
I think the book captured the struggle of the privileged jews perfectly it was easy to imagine how awful it must have been for them seeing the way that others were treated, even people they knew, knowing that you were at least treated slightly better and were safer than them, whilst at the same time knowing that you were living on a cliff edge that you could be pushed over at any time.
This was a heartbreaking read but one that is definitely worth a read. This author is definitely becoming one of my favourite authors. I loved it.

Another amazing book by Shari J. Ryan. I had very high hopes reading this as The Bookseller of Dachau had to be one of my favourite books of last year and as soon as I found out about this one I had to try to get an advanced copy so I could read it as soon as possible.
The Doctor's Daughter predominately follows the lives of Sofia, the half-Jewish daughter of a German doctor, and Issac, a Jewish boy who is the same age as Sofia without all the privileges that come from being born into a privileged marriage.
I loved how Shari decided to explore yet another topic that isn't talked about much in History (let alone historical fiction) and that is that there were, to begin with, "privileged" marriages in the Nazi regime between Jews and non-Jews (from before the Nazis came into power) that meant that some Jews were safe for a while longer than other. It is a topic that I did know a little about but didn't think about the lives these Jews would have had to live being on that balance line between surviving and getting murdered.
The two sides of the story show how although the non-privileged Jews were treated horribly they knew where they stood in society but the privileged Jews didn't know if, or more likely when, the Nazi regime would turn on them in order to achieve their goal of eradicating the Jews. There is almost the same level of desperation in the stories of Sofia and Issac but for two completely different reasons.
Overall, this was another excellent book by Shari J. Ryan and I would recommend everyone reading it when it comes out on April 28th.

“The Doctor’s Daughter” is by WWII historical author, Shari Ryan. In my mind, this is the story of three people - Sofia, the daughter of a doctor, Isaac, a young man trying to survive on the streets of Warsaw with his sister, and Frederik, Sofia’s father. While Frederik is a secondary character, his actions, I think, show how much he tried to protect and save his family, something I kept feeling, during my reading of the book, neither Lena nor Sofia understood.

What I found interesting about this book was that I knew a little about the “Privileged Marriage” law, but I didn’t fully understand what it entailed. I did not know that property would not automatically be taken by the SS, for instance. I also didn’t realize that the law had been rescinded so late into the war. It took a while for the stories of Sofia and Isaac to combine and it felt, for a while, that there were two separate stories. I felt overwhelming sadness for Isaac’s sister not knowing what was going on, but also understood Isaac’s guilt in not being able to communicate with her. Ms. Ryan writes with understanding and compassion - but also shows how throughout all there is hope, and sometimes that what one must cling to in order to survive. Personally, I felt Frederik’s pain - in not communicating with Lena, he felt he was protecting the family, but also in not communicating with her, she felt bewildered and confused by his actions. When Sofia also tried making sense of her father’s actions, she also failed. I was pleased that, in the end, possibly with some insight from Isaac, both women realized that Frederik did the best he could for them. And it’s moments like those in Ms. Ryan’s books that I greatly enjoy.

There's a pull of emotion that comes from reading historical fiction, especially about World War II for me. The Doctor's Daughter is the heartbreaking story following multiple POVs during the harrowing time when Germany invaded the country of Poland. Sophia is Jewish, along with her mother, who are being temporarily protected while her father, a doctor, trains the physicians of the SS. Sophia is devastated by the horrors currently taking place in her country, and does everything she can to help those that she feels so guilty who are suffering. This book is heartbreaking, I shed so many tears reading about the horrors that took place in the concentration camps, and how so much evil existed at that time. The kindness that others extended to each other during such impossible times is what makes these stories so hard to put down. I read this book in under 24 hours, and I would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy beautifully written historical fiction. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this amazing ARC!

The Doctor's Daughter by Shari J. Ryan

Auschwitz, 1941: It was her father’s job to save the lives of the SS. But she chose to risk everything and save the lives of prisoners.

In Nazi-occupied Poland, Sofia cannot look her father in the eye. Sofia’s mother, her papa’s cherished wife, is Jewish—how dare he work as a doctor for the SS? She cannot forgive him, even if the bargain was made to spare their lives.

In the middle of the night, Isaac emerges from a packed train with hundreds of others. Beneath Auschwitz’s barbed wire, soldiers surround them, and gunshots pierce the dark sky. The SS decide prisoners’ fates on the spot—and Isaac is chosen to work, rather than to die.
A fabulous , fabulous read. Poignant , heart breaking , yet beautiful in its story.
Loved hearing all about Sofia and her determined way of fighting the wrongs of her father and the Nazi's in general.
A true love story.

“This war isn’t about who has more muscles, or who has a higher level of intelligence, more money, or power - it’s about hatred, and the repercussions of such a feeling are more powerful than any weapon in the world.”

The Amsler family live in Oświęcim, Poland, a town just 3 miles down the road from the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Frederik and Lena are protected by “Privileged Marriage” - Lena is Jewish and Frederik is Protestant. To keep this status, the Waffen-SS have strong-armed Frederik, a prominent doctor, to train the incoming SS doctors. Their home, much to the dismay of their 16-year-old daughter, Sofia, is frequented by high-ranking Nazi officers. Sofia, not understanding why her father is entertaining Nazis, feels he has turned his back on Poland. Everything in her world is changing. Where she used to hear birds chirping from the fields, she now hears “ghosts singing in the night.” That’s not all, her father is changing under the pressure into someone she doesn’t recognize.

“He’s slowly changing into someone neither of us knows and I’m not sure how much skin one person can shed before they are completely unrecognizable.”

Two things happen to change the delicate balance of security in the Amsler home: 1) she sees a teenage boy working in the fields of her family’s farm and 2) the Nuremberg Laws declare “Privileged Marriage” no longer an exception to the eradication of the Jewish people.

The Cohen Family had been living in Krakow before being deported to the Warsaw Ghetto in 1939. Ludwik and Ania and their teenage children, Isaac 18, and Olivia, 14, head for a life in the sewers when they discover others in the ghetto are being rounded up. When their father fails to return one night, they sneak out to look for him - a decision that will haunt them forever.

You’ll have to read this 5-star story to discover how Isaac and Sofia’s paths cross and if fate has something else in mind for these two Jewish teens.

Ryan is an auto-read author for me because she is one of the best historical fiction writers at capturing emotion and producing a visceral read. She seems to know just how much detail her readers want from this horrifying slice of history and presents the Holocaust in such a way that readers learn and increase their empathy. Both these ingredients are needed to begin our journey in making sure this never happens again.

Ryan takes us to Nazi-occupied Poland and explores the serendipitous moments that arise when we find ourselves in between a rock and a hard place. She shows that even if your freedom has been robbed, and your loved ones torn from you, nobody can steal your hope.

I was gifted this advance copy by Shari J. Ryan, Bookouture, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.