Hannah has always been told ‘Hannah must not touch’. And when she sees a book that has her Grandfather’s photo in it, she wants to know more.

As she matures and studies history, Hannah wants to see the book. Her mum, says she got rid of it.

After having children and her marriage falling apart, Hannah is determined to find out more about the photo that was in that book, especially as she has visited to site where the book was made.

After finally being given the book, which her mother never destroyed, she finally can understand why she wasn’t allowed to see it. The heartbreak she sees and feels is consuming. But now Hannah can pass this onto her children, so they can understand their heritage.

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC copy.

A well written story that intrigued me and it's loosely based on real facts! Going from past to present made it engaging and the history flowed nicely.

This is an emotional yet easy read centred around a mysterious album of photographs from a concentration camp that ends up in Australia. The author makes it clear that many of the details in this novel are fictionalised but an album like does exist and is now available for viewing at the Sydney Jewish Museum.

The fictional aspect of the book are nice, with the modern day main character, Hannah, struggling with her mother’s reluctance to explore the past, growing up in small town NSW and then the trials of adulthood and being a mother herself. I think I liked the past storyline better - for it was more tense and engaging, but overall this is a good historical fiction read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this book.

The Hidden Book is a fictional story that is based on a true story.
It is a dual timeline book set in the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria during WW2 and Australia from the 1990's onwards.
In an amazing act of bravery, the camp photographer printed extra copies of images and, with the help of a secret network, managed to hide them until after the war. They were then used during the Nuremberg trials. What isn't known is how this photo album made its way to Australia.

This story is very quick paced and moves between past and present easily. It focuses on Nico and Lena in the past and their granddaughter Hannah in the present. It shines a light on why hiding from the truth of the past can be detrimental and how it can affect generations in different ways.

A well written story that had me intrigued and led me to reading more of the real story that inspired the book.

Historical fiction is my favourite genre lately and this one did not disappoint. Told in dual timelines and over generations of a family this story is moving and emotional.

A dual timeline story set in Austria during WW2 and Australia from the 80s on. The first timeline is centred on the Mauthausen concentration camp where Nico from Yugoslavia is a prisoner. He is the grandfather of teenage Hannah in Australia in the second timeline. On one of his last visits he brings a photo album with pictures from the camp. The rest of the story is how this book was produced and its meaning as a document of the crimes at the camp and Hannah coming to terms with the family trauma of her mother. An emotional and poignant story sensitively told.

The story has a dual timeline and begins in May 1944, in Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria and the nearby Mauthausen village, up until liberation by the Allies in May 1945. We are introduced to prisoners Mateo, Nico, Jakub and Santiago. Mateo is a Spanish prisoner tasked with the job of photographing prison life and requested to make five book copies for the German Camp Kommandant. Mateo makes a secret ‘extra’ book copy, developing pictures documenting their miserable existence and daily life, with the help of a young boy Santiago (although he doesn’t know where the pictures are hidden), in an effort by Mateo to keep him safe and unable to tell others). We are introduced to friends Nico and Jakub, with Nico having ties to the later story timeline, these characters are involved in getting the photos and extra album out of the camp and into a secret hiding spot, without being discovered as this would mean ultimate death. Finally, we have Lena’s character, a young local girl living in the nearby village with her parents and sister. Whilst not a prisoner, Lena and her family know what is going on in the Mauthausen Camp, and after meeting Nico, Lena begins helping to hiding the photos/secret book, which could have dire consequences for her and her whole family if found out.

The second timeline begins in 1987, with 13 year old Hannah and follows her life for over 30 years. Hannah is living in a small country town in NSW with her mother Roza, whom she has a difficult relationship with. Her father has died 2 years prior, when her ailing grandfather (an older Nico and Roza’s father), comes to visit from Yugoslavia on probably his last trip to Australia. He brings a package wrapped in an old flour sack which piques Hannah’s curiosity. Her mother hides the book, saying it’s not for Hannah who is too young to be looking at it. Of course Hannah later takes a sneak peek at the photos contained in the book and is horrified to see such images. Her grandfather tells her she can look at it when she is older and she will understand, but throughout her life, her mother still refuses to give the book to her and as a result, Hannah spends years wondering about the book and Nico’s story, and also wondering about her own life and who she really is after he dies, as she can no longer ask him. Hannah eventually studies history at University and goes to visit Mauthausen, much to her mothers dislike. This visit is transformational for Hannah as she sees a memorial with name plaques and it hits home that these names were real people, with their own stories to be told and she further seeks to find out what happened to them.

Important lessons or takeaways from the story are multi-generational trauma and its effects. In particular older generations who didn’t talk about their painful experiences as they suffered from physical and mental traumas that left deep scars and feelings of shame and guilt, which also extended to local communities who either tried to help or had to look the other way, as they knew what transpired, but also needed to protect themselves and families at the time. We see Roza particularly effected, due to her dad living through this experience, she is not open to discussions with Hannah and would rather not talk about any of it, treating it as though it didn’t happen.

Contrary to these feelings and trauma, the book highlights the importance of photographic evidence and other records of the holocaust. Whilst this is a work of fiction with these characters, it is based photos and a secret album that came to Australia and such photos had important roles in convictions of Nazi war criminals after the war, bringing them to justice for the horror and injustices they caused millions of people. We know only about this history because brave individuals risked their lives to get these stories out to be told. Preservation of documents is especially important as first hand accounts are lost due to the passing of those who were there, so it becomes important that they tell their families so their stories are told. They leave an important legacy to memorials and museums to conserve such important documents as a reminder to future generations that we need to not repeat history.

Overall, this book was a 5 star read. This is my first book by this author and it won’t be my last. This book is well written and researched, but is also a powerful and uplifting story with enjoyable characters, despite the time period it’s is referencing during WW11. We go through the full range of emotions with these characters, particularly empathy and sadness and unbelief for what they experienced. Also feelings of hope for survival for the future and absolute respect of their bravery, resilience and sacrifice.

Australian author Kirsty Manning is a firm favourite with readers and this time offers a fictional story wrapped around historical facts. Kristy sets out to honour the people involved with saving clandestine photos from Mauthausen Concentration Camp that were used to convict Nazi war criminals. History buffs are sure to appreciate her research efforts in creating compassion and awareness from this sad time.

‘There are so many stories, big and small. We need to tell them all.’

The Hidden Book is a dual time narrative based on true events surrounding a book of photos that was smuggled and then hidden from Mauthausen during WWII. The first timeline is from 1944 with several narrators at the time the book was being made. The second timeline is the present day when Hannah (grandchild) embarks on a journey to discover the history behind this mysterious book.

‘… if she destroyed the images the prisoners had entrusted to Lena, how would anyone eventually know what went on inside those dark walls?’

Whilst I honour and respect the topic, I just found this book lacked depth in the contemporary timeline. I found the inclusion of Hannah’s story troubling at times with huge time jumps and began questioning the reasoning behind it being there at all. The links - not to her grandfather's story but that of her own storyline - were too tenuous especially concerning her romantic relationships - that I began to question why they were even alluded to. I found her personal life story irrelevant and detracted from the book as a whole.

The Hidden Book at its heart is a story about WWII and the brave actions of those to ensure the truth of the trauma be revealed. Readers who enjoy historical fiction that is based on real events are sure to find value in this tale.







This review is based on a complimentary copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Lena Lang lived close to the horrifying Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, where she could see the prisoners shuffling past, accompanied by brutal SS who didn't hesitate to use their guns. Lena lived with her parents and younger sister Greta, who suffered seizures after an accident which caused brain damage. They had to keep Greta inside, away from prying Nazi eyes, or she would end up in Mauthausen along with her family who'd been sheltering her. Lena learned of Nico, one of the prisoners, and his connection to the camp photographer, Mateo Baca, and soon she was hiding photos and negatives, knowing if she was caught, they'd all die.

In Australia, thirteen year old Hannah Campbell adored her Deda - her Yugoslavian grandfather - and on that visit he gave his daughter, Roza, Hannah's mother, a package, which she hurriedly hid away. That package would play an important part in Hannah's life as she grew up, with its traumatic history taking her back to when her grandfather was young...

The Hidden Book is another exceptional historical read by Aussie author Kirsty Manning which is based on truth, of the hidden book which made its way out of Mauthausen concentration camp, and was instrumental in convicting some of the most notorious Nazis at the Nuremburg trials after the war. Well written and beautifully constructed, this fictional story set around that time in WWII is impressive. Highly recommended.

With thanks to Allen & Unwin AU for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to the team at @allenandunwin for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Kirsty’s upcoming release. One of the things I loved about moving to Melbourne, is discovering Australian stories and authors - which I miss now I’m home in the UK..and this one.. I just couldn’t put it down. The chapters flit between time frames, allowing the reader to become more immersed in the character’s lives which I always love. Hannah’s investigation into her grandfather’s life, his history alongside her discovery of her own life as she grows up was enchanting, haunting, emotional and exactly why I love historical fiction.. it opens my eyes to a world I didn’t know much about. Absolutely loved it 💛

The sixth novel by Australian author Kirsty Manning explores the legacy of WWII trauma and loss over several generations.

It was inspired by the true story of an album of photographs smuggled out of Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. The graphic and shocking photographs were taken by an inmate of the camp under instructions from the camp commander, who wanted five albums made to present to his superior officers – itself a rather sickening act, I think.

The photographer risked all to create a sixth copy of each photo, which he kept hidden, until they could be smuggled out and kept in safety by a local villager. After the war, the photos were used by prosecutors during the Nuremberg war crimes trials. The album was brought to Australia in the 1970’s and today is kept at the Sydney Jewish Museum.

From these historical events, the author has woven a tale of courage and heartbreak, the pain that memories can inflict and the importance of truth telling. She has imagined how the album got to be in Australia, creating a cast of fictional characters and relationships that are entirely believable and compelling.

Hannah is a teenager in 1980’s rural Australia with her mum, who emigrated from then-Yugoslavia and married an Australian man. Hannah’s father has died and she has a difficult and complicated relationship with her mother, Roza; but she adores her grandfather Nico, who visits every few years.

On his last visit he leaves a mysterious book, wrapped in an ordinary calico bag. Roza refuses to allow Hannah to see it and hides the book, but Hannah later finds it. What she sees are confronting images, bewildering to her young eyes. Over the years, she learns about the war, the Holocaust and the camps, and longs to see the album again, to make better sense of it and to understand the legacy Nico’s experiences have left for her family. She studies history at university and decides to undertake an honours thesis, on aspects of WWII camps related to her grandfather’s experiences:

‘You couldn’t rewrite history, but you could explore different ways to study it and bring it into the present political and cultural domain…the whole of Mauthausen, inside and outside the camp, needed to be treated with reverence and remembrance. The question of how to present and tell stories of the past could perhaps be one of the backbones of her thesis.’

The Hidden Book, ebook location 123 of 221

Alternating with Hannah’s contemporary story are those of Nico during his long years at Mauthausen camp; Santiago, a young Spanish boy who helps the photographer Mateo in the darkroom; and Lena, a young woman in the village who is entrusted with the care of the photos. All of these characters risk punishment and likely death if their activities are discovered.

The novel is a tale of incredible courage and endurance, and of completing a journey that began decades earlier for Nico, Roza and Hannah.

It is a moving story about war and its aftermath. Readers who enjoy historical fiction with a foot firmly in real historic events, will love The Hidden Book.

It is published by Allen & Unwin in August 2023.
My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a review copy.

The Hidden Book by Kirsty Manning was difficult to put down as it was an incredible read. Set in two periods of Europe in the 1940s and Australia in the present day, the story tells of book created in the 1940s in the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria and ends up in present day Australia.

The publishers’ blurb is an excellent introduction:

Europe, 1940s: Imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, Spanish fighter and photographer Mateo Baca is ordered to process images of the camp and inmates for a handful of photo books being made for presentation to top Nazi figures. Just five books in total, or so the officials think …
Mateo manages to make a secret sixth book and, with the help of a local woman, Lena Lang, it remains hidden until the end of the war.
Australia, present day: When thirteen-year-old Hannah Campbell's Yugoslavian grandfather, Nico Antonov, arrives in Australia to visit his family, one of the gifts he brings with him is an intriguing-looking parcel wrapped in a flour sack, which Roza, Hannah's mother, quickly hides.
Later, Hannah sneaks off in search for the mysterious package. She is horrified to find in it a photo book full of ghastly historical photographs of a terrible place full of people suffering.
At first Hannah has little context for what she sees, but over the years as she experiences love, grief and trauma, she understands what these photos came to mean, for herself, her freedom and for those who risked their lives to 'bear witness' to history. 
A startling story of clandestine courage and treachery in World War Two, and how we must meet and overcome our pasts to move into our futures.

The characters are wonderfully developed with Lena Lang being a strong young woman with a mathematical mind and Hannah a strong, determined historian.

Kirsty Manning is an excellent writer - she has taken a historical truth about a book of concentration camp photos and has woven a fictional story about it; about those in the photos and how ended up in an Australian country town.

Highly recommended read.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Allen & Unwin via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#TheHiddenBook #NetGalley #NetGalleyBingo - author I’ve read before

Mateo Baca is a Spanish prisoner at Mauthausen concentration camp, the Commandant Weber is in charge and he gives him the job of taking the prisoners identity photographs and it means he doesn’t have to work in the mine. He’s ordered to create five photo books to be given to high ranking German officials, he creates a sixth book, when it gets too dangerous to keep hidden in the camp he gives it to a local woman who lives in the nearby Mauthausen village.

The people living in the town are aware of what's happening in the camp, if anyone complains, they face being imprisoned themselves and are scared of Germans. Lena Lang works a secretary at a tool manufacturing factory, every morning she sees the prisoners march past, she feels sorry for them and the guards are brutal.

The story has a dual timeline, it’s told from multiple points of view and including, prisoners Mateo, Nico, Jakub and young Santiago's, and two women, Lena and Hannah's and it's set over seventy five years and from 1944 to 2019.

Hannah Campbell is thirteen and she lives with her mum on a farm in New South Wales, Australia and she's very excited when her Yugoslavian grandfather visits. He brings with him a parcel wrapped in calico and Hannah's mother Roza hides it. Like most teenagers Hannah is curious and when he mum isn’t looking, Hannah finds the book and it’s full of terrible images of starving people. Hannah grows up and she studies history, she realises what the photo’s represent and it becomes her quest to discover why her grandfather had the book of photos and was he a prisoner at Mauthausen?

I received a digital copy of The Hidden Book from Allen & Unwin and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Kirsty Manning uses the true information of how war criminals were found guilty due to photographic evidence, and a book of photos from the time was found in a shed in Australia in 2019, how it made it's way to Australia is a mystery and it's since been donated to the Sydney Jewish museum.

Mauthausen was a concentration camp in Austria, held here by the Germans were political and Soviet prisoners of war and Jewish men. The conditions in the camp were terrible, everyone was starving, and they had to work in the mine, climb up steep stone steps and wearing wooden clogs. Reading about the conditions in the camp is harrowing, the commandant in charge was a monster and so were the guards.

Lean's character in the novel gives you an idea of what it was like for Austria's citizens living near the camp, Roza's character was a child of a survivor and she didn't want to think about the past. Her daughter Hannah's character was my favourite and knew it was important to look back at her family's history, to honor those who endured the unthinkable conditions in Mauthausen and pay a tribute to them with her historical studies. Once again Ms. Manning has written a well researched and compelling narrative, about war, humanity at it's worst, courage, over coming adversity and loss and five stars from me.

I am a lover of all Kirsty Manning books and this one didn't disappoint. Based on a true story from WWII and a book that was hidden for years only to be found in Australia in 2019. This is a dual timeline novel which spans many years and a few countries and brings to life the atrocities of the war and the horrors that people went through, lived through and died from.

This is such a powerful novel that grabs you and takes you back to those concentration camps and towns during the wars. It is heartbreaking but there is strength, bravery and courage throughout and the emotion leaps from each and every page.

Another well researched and written book by Kirsty Manning and one I highly recommend. It is a book that will leave an imprint on you for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A beautifully written book that pays respects to the horror and sacrifice endured and to ensure the bravery and trauma will not be forgotten.
Based on true events, the story revolves around an artifact, smuggled out under the SS noses to become an important piece of evidence and history of the Mauthausen concentration camp.
I thought the book explored some different viewpoints of history and how it should be preserved.
I enjoyed it very much.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author and publisher for a temporary copy in exchange for an honest review.