There are so many historical fiction books out there that are from the point of view of the British or Jew or even American. Good Town is the first I’ve read that is from the perspective of a Catholic German family. It’s been easier for me to see WWII from the British point of view, I suppose because their lives of innocence were flipped upside down. But now that I see what the German citizens likely went through is heartbreaking.

We all know the stories of Jews being sent to concentration camps and being sent to gas chambers. We know of the people who tried to help these innocent people secretly survive. But what about the everyday people who lived in quiet farms minding their own business? Yep, their lives were flipped upside down and worse.

Margarete Haupt is the daughter of well respected farmer and the eldest daughter. She has four older brothers who all went to fight for the Reich. Her father, Josef, unwillinglytakes on a role of head farmer in their community, tracking everyone’s production. No longer can they set their own rates for their produce. Now they must go by the rates set by the Reich.

The Haupt’s watch as their Jewish friends are all belittled to doing menial work, all of them forced to evacuate or be sent to one of the camps. Margarete is sent away for school, but needs to return after the school is bombed by the English. She is then expected to pull her weight around the family farm which has Polish and Russian POW working there since her brothers and farm hands were pulled for the war efforts.

It’s not long after receiving notifications that two of her brothers had perished in the war that the Haupt’s finally decided to evacuate west. This is when the real horrors begin for them. With little food and nowhere to lay their heads, they sneak into farm houses and barns. They were getting by pretty well until Margarete finds her friends from school had been taped and killed. This sight is what really put grease into Margarete.

Russian soldiers caught up to them and decided Margarete and her mother were perfect subjects for gang rape. It wasn’t a single episode as it happened more several times before the family was shipped out to an island. They adjusted to their surroundings as best they could. German refugees were sent to Poland and placed on farms doing heavy labor. But the family members were sickly and had little strength. Margarete did her best to keep her family together and fed.

This story gave me a new perspective of WWII. Just because Germany gave up doesn’t mean it ended for its people. The German citizens went through so much more torture than they deserved. I give this story 5 out of 5 tiaras because of the perspective and the events that stirred my heart for the everyday German citizen.

Thank you NetGalley and The Book Whisperer for access to this amazing work. This review is completely my own thoughts about the book. I highly recommend this for anyone interested in WWII historical fiction.

Featuring a different look at life leading up to, during, and after World War II. A farmer and his family located in East Prussia are doing what is needed to survive the demands leading up to and during the war. But simply surviving the war isn't enough. Forced to flee their farm, the family follows the thousands of citizens heading towards West Germany to try to stay ahead of the advancing Red Army. This marks the start of their harrowing journey of life after the fall of the Third Reich. Told through the eyes of a father and his daughter, this gripping tale gives a fresh perspective of life after the war that one of many families had to face.

Overall, I was captivated from the start. Wells does an excellent job of developing both the story and the characters. She provided great detail where it was needed and was able to touch on the violence without focusing on the graphic and gory details as often accompanies this time period.

I have read many books about the World War II period, but very few from the point of view of the German population living under the Nazi's rule. This book tells the harrowing story of the Haupt family, a catholic family who has been living for generations as farmers in East Prussia, and at the same time the story of their town Guttstadt, how it changed with the arrival if the SS, and how the whole region changed.
The book is based on the real life events of the Haupt family, how the father was forced to work for the SS, how the four sons were sent to war, how the family had to flee their farm when the Russians were close and the fate of the parents and the eight children.
This is not a book with fictional romances or love stories, but one that tells the real story of the struggles of one family to survive a war as much intact as possible, and the consequences and casualties of the war on each member of the family.
You know a book is good when you can't stop thinking about it after you finish reading it, this is that kind of book.

It seemed slow at the beginning but the more I kept reading, the more I was pulled in. The writing is incredible. Seeing the family make tough choices, having to choose between their lives and their faith, their gradual decline physically and mentally. It was both heartbreaking and fascinating. The horrors and effects of wars seen plainly in this family as it strips them of all signs of their former normal life. 10/10. Would recommend.

This story was so good. I love Margerete. She seemed to carry a lot of life’s weight for such a young person. Josef is the kind of father or even husband that would make for a great relationship. I loved everyone even Dorothea.

The struggles of the Jewish is so heartbreaking. I hope to make sure my kinds never forget this black mark on history.

I would highly recommend this book.

Protecting the Family

Josef Haupt was a farmer with a family of eight children. The work was hard but the family kept the farm running and had a good life. Then the German's came. After the Nazi's came to their small German town everything changed. Josef was forced to become an official for the Nazi Reich in order to protect his family.

HIs sons were sent to war, the family was forced to take in prisoners of the Nazi's to help run the farm. One of them was an informer for the Gestapo and caused a lot of trouble for the family.
As the family was forced to flee the Russians when the war was lost by Germany they feared they would never see their sons nor their home again. It was a horrible time in their lives.

This story, based on a true story, is that of a German family in WWII. How they were treated by the Nazi's and later the Russians. The family does everything they can to stay together and never loses hope.

It is a story not of the Jewish persecution, but of the persecution of one German family. A story of a family devout in their catholic faith and in their love for each other.

The sons at war, the daughter that must take on adult responsibility at a young age and the mother that is beat down and broken by the war and everything she has lost. The father that puts his life on the line for his family.

It tells the ugly story of the results of war on one German family. The characters are perfectly fitted for each part in the story. The story is well written and keeps your attention. It tells the story of the members of the family and what befell each of them during this time.

It was a good book, interesting to read about how they were treated in their own country if they disagreed with the Nazi's in any way. I would recommend this book.

Thanks to Mary Louise Wells for writing a great story, to The Book Whisperer for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I just finished a brand new book that came out today (!)—Good Town by Mary Louise Wells. As a devoted fan of historical fiction—World War ll era stories in particular, I thoroughly enjoyed reading a story with a different point of view than most. Good Town is a story from the average German family’s point of view. Guttstadt ( German for good town) was a small village in East Prussia under German rule since the World War I. It was surrounded by family farms largely responsible for providing food for much of Germany. Josef Haupt has built a large and successful farm outside of Guttstadt providing well for his family of ten, largely ignoring the changes occurring in Germany and the world. His family are devout Catholics and not supporters of the Nazi Party but prefer to stay quiet and keep to their own business until the world and the war intrudes. Unable to refuse a position of heading the local agricultural office for the Nazi Party, Josef Haupt hopes his quiet involvement will provide his family with some protection as they try to remain separate as possible from Hitler’s government. However, as war drags on, that remains impossible. Haupt’s four older sons are drafted and sent to various theaters of war—the Eastern Front, Africa, and the Baltic regions. The rest of the family (his wife and four daughters) are left to try and farm enough to meet the government’s food demands. Day by day the news becomes grimmer and their lives get harder until the approach of the Russian army towards East Prussia forces them to flee leaving their home and farm behind. It is a harrowing tale to follow the family members as they try to attempt relocation and a new start in life.

We have all read many books recounting the struggles of Jewish refugees, concentration camp horrors, daring and dangerous stories of resistance fighters in the many occupied countries under Germany. It was somewhat eye-opening to read about Germans who tried to avoid participating in any with the Nazis and how their lives were upended by the end of the war and life in displaced person camps. This book serves as a reminder that there were so many casualties on both sides of the War and it seemed that in Europe literally no one escaped the maelstrom. I think this is a less-often portrayed view on the history of the war and I recommend it highly. Ms. Wells has done a masterful job on this story.

I was able to receive an early arc of this book thanks to Net Galley and Book Whisperer.

As Germans under Nazi rule, the Haupt family try to live peacefully while their lives are turned inside out by the brutality of Hitler and his henchmen. Well written.

The Good Town by Mary Louise Wells tells the story of The Haupt Family during their time in WWII in their hometown of Guttstadt in East Prussia. Each chapter switches back and forth between the patriarch of the family, Josef, and the eldest daughter of the family, Margarete. The Haupt Family is an upper-middle class farming family that has lived in Guttstadt for generations, until one day, Josef is forced to join the Nazi Party, or face immediate shipment to a concentration camp. From that day on, the war has a huge impact on the Haupt Family, forcing the families sons to all enlist into the military and fight Hitler's bloody war, while the women remain at home and try and keep the farm running with very little help.

As the story goes on, it's filled with a variety of trials and tribulations, and the Haupt's are not often dealt the strongest cards at life. This family and their story through WWII is heart-breaking, nerve wracking and sometimes downright depressing, which the author did a great job at, because the truth is, not every family or person experienced a happy ending. It is very well-written and I think the author did such a good job at making the story such a raw and real experience for the reader. There is such raw emotion and such truth to what Mary writes and brings alive in the chapters. It's a bit slow to start, but once the pace picks up, it is a great story.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Good Town by Mary Louise Wells is a beautiful and important WWII novel. There are no spies or resistance fighters or code breakers. This is a novel about the regular people – the people too many of us would have been. When faced with a slow creeping danger, self-preservation and protection of our loved ones is naturally a first concern. Looking the other way is a slippery slope. But as the old saying goes: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This novel shows evil triumphing and how safety under those conditions is only an illusion.

Josef Haupt is a good man. He is a wealthy, successful farmer in Guttstadt, East Prussia. A devoted, God-fearing Catholic. Father of eight. Respected by his neighbors and the people in town. But when the Nazis begin to infiltrate Guttstadt, Josef goes along to get along. He makes the mistake of speaking to an old Jewish friend in a very public way and is hauled off by the Gestapo where he is threatened with imprisonment if he does not get on board with the Nazi agenda. First, he has to become an agricultural overseer for the region. Eventually, he is coerced into joining the party. Little by little, although he never agrees with what is going on, he finds himself coopted by the party machinery. It is the only way to keep his family “safe.” All four of his sons end up fighting for Hitler.

Margarete is Josef’s eldest daughter. She is nine years old at the time the book begins but close to twenty by its end. She is witness to and victim of all the horrors of the war and its aftermath. Strong, intelligent, and resilient, Margarete doesn’t understand much of what is happening at first, but slowly becomes aware of what the Nazi regime and the war mean for her family, friends, and Germany.

The book is based on the author’s own family lore. She brings the characters fully to life with sensitivity and honesty. It is well-researched, realistic, and emotionally gripping. This novel is highly recommended.

As a lover of historical fiction I must say I a so glad I read this book as it is a wonderful read. It is told through the eyes of a father and daughter and based on a true story (I like that as it makes it all the much more real). This is an interesting account of how war affects a family and how they deal with the pressures of keeping a family safe.

What I really liked about this story is how it drew me in and made me listen. The emotions within this book seem so real and it really hit home how so many people suffered. Not all Germans were bad and this book really hit home that pint as well.

I can't recommend this highly enough as it is a story that stays with me now and always. Now that is a well written, researched and executed story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Book Whisperer for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book.

Good Town is historical fiction, which recounts the story of the Haupt family, a family that was displaced from eastern Prussia during WWII. Those living in Prussia during WWII were impressed into the German war machine, and while some of them were happy and thrived there, others resisted as best they could. The Haupt family was one of the latter - but despite their best intentions, the Nazis overtook their lives. Through the first half of the war, they were able to survive more or less unchanged, but as the war ground on, and after, they were forced to flee. Once they became refugees, their former life was gone forever.

This is a historically-accurate novel, and clearly describes the experiences of a fairly typical upper-middle class family of the time - a family that loses everything, including some family members, over the course of the war. While not quite as horrifying as the experiences of those sent to concentration camps, it is nonetheless a story of the horrible way the Nazis treated not only those they tried to exterminate, but their own citizens. Due to mature themes and some explicit scenes, this novel is recommended for readers high school age and older.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A stark look at a German family’s experiences in East Prussia before, during, and after WWII.
Wells does a good job of describing the Haupt family, their values and what kind of people they were.
Resistant against the shadow of the Reich, eventually the family has no choice but to comply with autocratic demands.
Their losses were plentiful and acute,which make them like most Germans, but different because this is their story.
The author doesn’t hold back so expect graphic descriptions.

Compulsive and gripping! Suspenseful, addictive and complex! Will keep you swiping the pages furiously. I felt every emotion.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book from in order to read and provide a voluntary and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Good Town relates the story of the Haupt family living in a small farming community in East Prussia (Germany) through the years 1937-1950. The Haupts are “good” Germans who are Catholic and live peacefully and conduct business with their neighbors who are Jewish and Protestant. Things begin to change when the SS arrive and demand that Haupt must serve the Party. Neighbors start to disappear and one by one his four sons are conscripted to serve Hitler’s army,

The reader is easily swept along by the excellent prose and can empathize with the family throughout their travails. Without giving away what occurs, I can say the atrocities of the war on the Easter front are well depicted as are the horrors of the interment camps. Several incidents are portrayed with a tremendous amount of poignancy.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this novel to any reader and thank Mary Louise Wells, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

Good Town by Mary Louise Wells

In 1936 Josef and Dorothea Haupt lived in East Prussia with their eight children in the town of Guttstadt translated Good Town. The Haupt’s are an aristocratic family who own a large farm. With the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party they have tried to ignore all the changes that are coming in to their town and have tried to stay true to their Catholic faith but then one morning Josef sees one of the town elders who was Jewish sweeping the sidewalk he could not help but speak to him unfortunately for Josef overnight it has become a criminal offence to acknowledge a jew and now Josef faces criminal charges and is threatened to be sent to a labour camp or he can work for the Nazis and become the Nazi government’s local agricultural leader or an Ortsbauernfuhrer.

Good Town is a heart wrenching story of how the Haupt family is torn apart be WWII and what they must do to survive. I am not ashamed to admit that I found the story very touching and had to reach for the tissues on many occasions especially in the last quarter of the book.

Mary Louise Wells is a wonderful author who brings all the characters to life, so much that you feel you are there with them in the book. I can not wait to read Mary Louise Wells next books.

I would like to thank Net Galley and The Book Whisperer for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

“I don’t think I’m very brave”, she admitted. “You may not feel it, but courage comes simply from taking another step forward-for yourself and for others-when times are difficult. Bravery is simply the choice to act.” Margarete comes of age in The Good Town, a riveting WWII novel that follows a German family as they try to survive the changing landscape of German politics. The Haupt family each have their own way of dealing with the Reich encroaching and then taking over their small town in East Prussia. The patriarch is complicit just trying keep his family safe and fed? The matriarch survives by carrying on as if nothing has changed. She keeps the family farm running as it always has. Making sure her children are growing up knowing their social station in life. 4 sons go off to war. 4 daughters witness atrocities no one should ever see. Family bonds are tested and stretched, but not broken. Germans that did not follow or buy in to the Nazis regime had nowhere to turn. They found themselves being prosecuted by their own countrymen as well as those that were the enemy of the Nazis. A perspective of WWII that we don’t often see.

Told from the point of view of a well-respected farmer and his family, Good Town brings to life the struggle of German citizens who love their homeland, but do not prescribe to the Nazi rhetoric. The characters are real and authentic. I enjoyed the writing and storytelling.

A good book about the struggles of a family during WWII and after. We’ll write. Unbelievable what this family went through and how they triumphed and years.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
I read a lot of WWII historical fiction, but this one still stands out because it focuses on a family in East Prussia who try to ignore the Nazis and stay apart, but are pulled in to survive. The suffering of Germans who weren't interested in taking over the world is a different vantage point worth reading.