The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri is a beautifully written novel about the choices a young woman in Nazi Germany had to make in order to stay alive. Starting as a dual timeline book, Katrine is wishing she was closer to her mother, when she gets a call asking her to pick her mother up at the hospital as she had fallen. After taking her home and getting her settled, she finds a wooden box with a swastika on it that begins a conversation about her mother's life that is both unimaginable and heartbreaking, although filled with wondrous love. I couldn't put this down, just a beautiful novel of overcoming obstacles and doing your best to help mankind.

Thank you to the author publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review:
The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri
Genre: Historical Fiction.
Publish Date: November 12, 2024

Synopsis:
After Allina takes a terrible fall, her daughter finds a box hidden under the floor boards in her house. Within the box, which is labeled with a swastika sits photos and memories, which Allina has worked hard to bury but at the cost of a strained relationship with her now adult daughter.
So, begins the retelling of Allina's story, her hidden ancestry, the terrible night that changed her life, and of her years spent in the Hochland Home, witnessing firsthand Hitler's eugenics program. It is a story of loss and love and the courage to risk it all in order to save oneself and those who need it the most.

Review:
The writing in this book is truly captivating, and Allegri is a gifted author who brings a little know part of the war to light in this beautiful heartbreaking story that captivates and educates.
Although aware of Hitler's eugenics program, this is the first book that I have read focused on a Lebensborn home.
Thank you to Net Galley and St Martin's Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. I would recommend this book, which I will not soon forget it but any reader should consider the content and language warnings before deciding to engage.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Warnings:
Language: significant profanity and blasphemous foul language used by German officers
Romance: several open-door descriptive bedroom scenes, kissing, nudity, nods to closed-door events
Trigger warnings: descriptive rape scene, violence, and bodily harm

I wanted to thank NetGalley and the author for giving me an opportunity to read this book in advance. The Sunflower house captures the Lebensborn program (baby Nazi factory) during WWII. Out of all the WWII books I’ve read, I wanted to praise the author for writing a very unique story that doesn’t involve Auschwitz and Birkenau. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read plenty of unforgettable books that involves Auschwitz and Birkenau, but I was intrigued with this story from the beginning since I’ve never heard of the Lebensborn program.

A few reasons I believe that makes a great book is the story, dialogue and how well the author develops the characters. She did a fantastic job developing Allina and Karl’s characters, especially their love story. I also enjoyed the other characters in the book that make up part of Allina’s life of sadness and struggles. The only thing I would highly recommend the author and/or the publisher change is the cover. It doesn’t portray the beautiful sunflower house described in the book. This cover is not it. Overall, this book is highly recommended for all the historical fiction lovers out there.

If you’re looking for a book that will make you think long after you’ve closed the back cover, then look no further than The Sunflower House.

Adriana Allegri takes you deep into one of the lesser known stories of WWII…The Lebensborn Program. To put it quite simply, the program was a baby making factory designed to populate the world with the perfect Aryan children. Young women were recommended by doctors and convinced that the best way they could serve their country was to produce as many babies as possible. There were dark sides to this program. Many of these babies were taken from their mothers and adopted by high ranking officers and their wives and some of them were hidden away due to their “slowness”…often times sent away for research and ultimately their deaths.

In The Sunflower House, young Allina finds her way to one of the very first homes. She uncovers secrets within the walls that don’t sit well with her. She meets a young officer who behind closed doors is doing all he can to save as many children as possible. Together they team up both professionally and personally with a goal of saving lives. Danger lurks around every corner but their determination keeps pushing them forward.

This story will keep you on the edge of your seat from cover to cover. It takes you deep into the sinister minds of Nazis out to change the face of the world. Yet it reminds you that there were good people trying to make a difference, putting their lives in danger to help those who couldn’t help themselves. I highly recommend this gripping book that will keep the wheels in your mind turning long after you’ve read the last sentence.

Thanks so much to Adriana Allegri, St Martins Press and NetGalley for early access to this incredible story!

Wonderful, fascinating story about a young woman forced into working at a Nazi home for mothers, part of Hitlers infamous plan to breed babies to become SS soldiers. After a terrible attack on her home visit, Allina Strauss finds herself assaulted, battered, bruised and in a car with a Nazi officer on their way to a Lebensborn (a home for women who are encouraged to "breed" for the Nazi cause). Later, another Nazi officer befriends her, but why? Who can Allina trust? What can she do to stop yet another horrible injustice the Nazi's are perpetrating against women and children?

The Sunflower House is well researched and well written. The main characters are easy to empathize with, and all the elements of a great story are there: love, courage, evil bad guys, suspense, everything. Highly recommended, The Sunflower House is definitely 5 star read!

Thank you publishers and Netgalley for the Arc. This book was nothing short of spectacular. I really enjoyed this take on the Lebensborn Homes. I went into this book basically blind, I only knew that it was about a young woman in WW2 that was somehow involved with the Lebensborn homes. This book is in my top 10 for historical fiction. It was beautifully written with the dual timelines of mother/daughter. I was captivated throughout this book with its fast pace and riveting tale. 5/5.

I loved this book! Beautifully written, educational, and deeply human. A story I'll be thinking about for a very long time and one I'll be able to suggest to many different types of readers. 4 Stars,

If you’re someone that adores WWII Historical Fiction, it’s easy to find new stories regularly— it’s a pretty saturated market, and I read them EVERY SINGLE TIME.

So when I tell you that this debut novel by Adriana Allegri was unique, heartfelt, fascinating, and incredibly well written, I speak as a frequent reader.

We meet Allina Strauss in summer 1938, and Nazi ideology is quickly taking hold over her small German village. When she expresses her anger over this to her aunt, she learns just how dangerous these circumstances are for her— she is a mischling whose Jewish heritage was hidden away.

Before she can fully wrestle with what this means, her village is brutally attacked, leaving her a battered survivor. In her vulnerable position, she’s then assaulted by an SS Soldier that pretends to want to help her. After, he drops her off at Hochland Home, the first Lebensborn home created by the SS as a baby factory for increasing the “racially pure” population.

Allina works as a nurse at Hochland home caring for the pregnant women, mothers and babies living there. Realizing the babies are emotionally neglected, she tries to help as many as possible by partnering with Karl, a young SS Soldier with secrets of his own…all the while, worrying that her days are numbered before her heritage is revealed.

This was not a program I was very knowledgeable about before reading this book. While many of the facts about the real Lebensborn program were destroyed, Allegri does a phenomenal job weaving the facts into a heart-wrenching, engaging narrative that pulls you into the story.

This is the author’s debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she does next!

Magnificent. Powerful read. And I read many WWII historical books! Prior to the being of WWII Allina a young girl learns from her adopted Aunt and uncle that her mother was Jewish. As a Mischling she is in acute danger. One of her fiancée’s contacts issues her false papers just in case. Which comes too soon as the Nazi’s invade her town looking for a traitor. Many in the town are murdered while she is dragged away to Hochland Home, the first home in Himmlers Lebensborn program. A program to breed perfect Ayran children for the 1000 year Reich. Traumatized Allina begins work in the nursery with newborns. There she befriends a Nazi office with secrets of his own. What follows is engaging and at times terrifying. Well researched. I am thankful that this book was published by St Martin Press.

This was a first time read by this author. Well written and a very good book. Book moved along and kept my interest all along the way. I would recommend.

I just finished this book and although I have read many books concerning the holocaust I can honestly say that this was something different.
I received this ARC from NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for an honest review.
The story begins when Alina Straus, an elderly woman has a fall. Her daughter Katrina goes to her home and finds a loose floorboard. She finds a wooden box with a swastika on the cover. She confronts her mother and the story is told. The story takes place in Germany in 1939 and tells of Alina experience during the war. Alina lived in a small village with her Aunt and Uncle - Her village is attacked, the only family she knows is killed and she is brutally assaulted. She has just learned that she has a Jewish grandparent. She is sent to a Hochland Home where There is a Lebensborn program where babies are borne to good German woman. She meets Karl who is a high ranking officer. They eventually fall in love and she learns that he also has Jewish ancestors. Karl is a "good" nazi and has managed to arrange for many Jewish children to be saved by enlisting his aunt's help. The author has done a fabulous job making you care about the characters in the book.

4.5/5 stars for an impressive debut novel that covers a little-known aspect of WWII history.

"The Sunflower House" opens in present day New Jersey, when Katrine Strauss returns to her mother Alina's home and stumbles across a box of her belongings; inside are a myriad of photographs, letters, and documents that detail a history that her mother never shared with her. Seeing the confusion and pain in her daughter, Alina finally opens up about her past taking her and readers to Badensburg, a quiet village in Germany, where she grows up peacefully and is prepared to marry her childhood sweetheart. Alina's life is forcefully changed though when her town is raided, her loved ones killed, and she is taken hostage by the Schutzstaffel and brought to Hochland Home, one of the institutions part of the Lebensborn Program.

It's here that Allina learns of the true intention of the program, which sought to further Hitler's goals for making the Aryan population supreme, and housed women and expecting mothers who would give birth to children that fell under this ideology. In order to survive, she's forced to work at Hochland Home, all-the-while hiding a devastating family secret that could cost her life. When Allina meets Karl von Strassberg, a high ranking officer in the SS, she sees him as just one cog in the large machine, but little by little, begins to realize he's an ally in her goals and her determination to save a number of the neglected and mistreated children at Hochland Home. Their partnership blooms into one of love, even in the midst of the looming war and the unspeakable violence and destruction that follows.

Despite the fact that I've read a number of historical fiction novels that cover a similar time period, this novel introduced me to the Lebensborn Program and yet another group of women and children who were taken advantage of and had their lives destroyed by the goals of the Third Reich. It's clear that Adriana Allegri did an extension amount of research for this novel, and she includes a number of notes and clarifications in her afterword, which I found helpful. I found the storyline to be well-constructed, with steady pacing and complex and compelling characters; while romance isn't a genre I typically enjoy, I enjoyed the evolution of Karl and Allina's relationship and their growth as individuals.

Very much a recommended read when "The Sunflower House" is published in November 2024!

I received a complimentary ARC of The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri in exchange for my honest review.
This is a masterfully written novel with prose that puts you right with the characters you are reading about. The characters are well developed and the descriptive text draws you in. I could picture everything clearly, and I easily got lost in this novel for hours.
I laughed, cried, felt fear, anger and compassion wash over me. I can not say enough good things about this amazing work.
This book tells the story of a Jewish woman, Allina, who is forced to work in the Hochland House, a Nazi baby factory, during the German Invasion.
Alliana must work to try and save herself, those she cares about, and the children who are being used in Heinrich Himmler's horrific eugenics program..
The woman of pure blood are called upon to perpetuate the blood line of Aryan children by sleeping with SS officers and bearing their children, who are then adopted out to select families.
During her time at the Hochland House, Allina meets and falls in love with a high ranking SS officer, Karl Von Strassburg, who is different from the others.
Karl is harboring secrets too, secrets that could get them both killed
This book will leave you wanting more!
#NetGalley
#Goodreads

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time. It is a novel that tells the story of Hochland House, the first of the houses which was part of Heinrich Himmler's Lebensborn Program. I have read other books about this program, but none have been as detailed or well researched as this one. It is a heartbreaking story (in more ways than one) and for those who lived through being a part of this program, there were no doubt long term consequences.

The story is told in dual timeline. in 2006, Katrine's mother has been ill and in the emergency department. When Katrine takes her home and goes to her bedroom, she discovers that her mother has been searching for something and finds a hidden box under the floorboards of her cupboard.

In 1938 Badensberg, Germany, the story begins with Allina, her fiance and two friends spending time together before the war has begun. It was a time when minds were already being geared towards hatred and blaming of the Jews. Allina's friend is marrying a man who has fallen prey to these beliefs, and though they all have a mutual friend who is Jewish, he now believes they should cut her off from their lives. Allina has a tendency to be outspoken and has to be careful where and to whom she speaks and what she dares to say. Unbeknownst to her, her family hides a terrifying secret—her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling - a target for hatred and persecution should anyone find out. Once she learns the truth, it is imperative that she not let anyone know.

When her community is attacked and her parents are killed, Allina is captured and brutally sexually assaulted by a German officer who then places her into the Lebensborn Program at the Sunflower House. Deeply traumatized by her experiences, her arrival is not an easy one and she dreads the possibility that this officer will come to use her again to make her pregnant. Fortunately, another German Officer, Karl, who is higher in the chain of command, takes Allina under his wing. Their story is a gripping and heartbreaking one and should be read to experience it in its fullness.

One of the issues discussed in the book was the regimentation of care for the women who lived in these houses, and the children who were born in them. Very few women were able to keep their child and woe betide the child who was less than perfect. These babies were not given much in the way of love and affection, and there were some who simply failed to thrive putting them at risk of being sent to a eugenics hospital where they would be killed. In the novel, Allina, Karl and some friends of theirs work to give these children a second chance. It is a bright moment in a very dark place.

One might wonder about the title of the Sunflower house. It refers to Karl's home which is a bright cheery place, filled with sunflowers. Readers will learn more about this home.

This is a debut novel for Adriana Allegri and is impressive indeed. I highly recommend it if you enjoy historical fiction that features WW2 era.

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review. All view are my own unbiased ones.

This novel opens in New Jersey in 2006 with Katrine finding a hidden box beneath the floorboards of her mother’s house and then hops back to 1938 Badensburg, Germany to give us background on Allina Strauss.

Allina has been hiding a secret for most of her life. Keeping it hidden when everything is taken from her becomes a necessity. Allina is forced into nursing at Hochland home where she uncovers the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s eugenics program and the atrocities committed in perpetuating the ‘master race’. Unable to restrain herself any longer, she risks it all to ally with an SS officer, Karl von Strassberg, who she discovers, has secrets of his own.

This debut novel is more than 20 years in the making and highlights the Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Although I’ve read a few books centered around this program, I appreciated Adriana Allegri’s dedication to research. Her teacher’s heart came through as she uncovered the atrocities the children lived in daily and the bleak outlook many in the home faced. Allina’s courageous decision adds to the tension and I found myself rooting for her as she walked with her heart behind every step.

Why historical fiction readers will want to read this one:
✔️it shows that something beautiful can grow in the absence of light
✔️it shows the importance of nurturing our sunflower souls so that no matter how dark it gets, we will always chase the light.

I was a little shocked at the language.

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for an honest review. This is an outstanding historical fiction novel covering Germany from 1939 to 2009.. The chapters alternate between Alina in the 1940’s and her daughter, Katrina as an adult . The story follows Alina Straus (Gottlieb, Von Strasberg) living a good life until Hitler came to power when she was in her twenties . Alina and her SS husband , Karl, discover that they are both “michlings”, having Jewish grandparents. They must hide this information if they want to survive in Nazi Germany. Alina is forced to work in Hochland Home where Heinrich Himmler’s Eugenics. Program is in full swing . The book also delves into the SS Lebensborn program where young single girls try to have babies with pure Aryan soldiers to populate Germany for Hitler . The book was very interesting and I learned a lot about these Nazi programs. Most of the story is based on real situations and events, but, many of the characters are made up.

This is a wonderfully written novel by a new author. With so many books set during the WWII era, it’s nice to see one that covers a different topic, the Lebensborn program. Pregnant women sent to Lebensborn homes to have their “Aryan” babies so they could be adopted to.good Nazi families. Many of the women/girls were expected to have multiple children to further the Fuhrer’s program.
After Allina’s family is killed, she is taken to Hochman House by a Nazi soldier who sponsors her and expects her to bear his child. Alina has a secret that no one can find out if she is stay alive. She begins to take care with the children at the Home and discovers a sinister secret of the Lebensborn program. After meeting a sympathetic Nazi officer, Karl, Alina and Karl begin a dangerous quest to save unwanted children from their horrible fate. Along the way, we learn that Karl has a secret too, one that if it is uncovered could mean death for him and Allina.
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG what a read! Thoroughly enjoyed every moment, even the heart breaking one's. While it is fiction, it makes you pause and realize the history of that time.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGallery for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The Sunflower House. My heart is still pounding and my eyes are still filled with tears. This novel grabbed me from beginning to end and wouldn’t let go. Adriana Allegri discovered yet another atrocity practiced in Nazi Germany that is little known. A program was developed in order to insure the continuation of the Aryan race. German women and men were rewarded for producing ideal genetic children. The characters in this novel were so well developed. Allegri gives depth to the conflicts they face, the secrets they must maintain and the decisions they are forced to make. I felt tension throughout my reading experience. As much as I wanted to get to the end, I savored my time learning about everyone’s motivation. I learned so much about another piece of history with which I was unfamiliar. I look forward to public a day when this story becomes available to others.

4.25. A very engaging WWII novel in so many ways. The story focuses on Allina Strauss, a teenage orphan living with her aunt and uncle in a small town in Germany. Her town is annihilated by the Germans, and is taken to work at Hochland, a Lebensborn facility with the goal to increase the racially pure and healthy Aryan population based on Heinrich Himmlers Nazi eugenics theory. A tale of secrets, cruelty, survival, and love. An interesting look at the Lebensborn program. The story also focuses on Mischlings and to what extent people went to hide their identities but also to save those subject to the cruelty of the Nazi regime. The story also touches on those serving in the Nazi regime, some in high positions, but do not agree with what is happening, and their attempts to try to make things better. Well done and great read Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advance copy in exchange for a candid and unbiased review.