Wow. It's hard to describe this book or my feelings about it.
The Eva in the title is Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress-cum-wife who died with him in Berlin. Author Sibylle Knauss conducted interviews with Eva Braun's real-life cousin prior to writing this novel. While it is FICTION, Knauss's interviews with Getrude Weisker did provide inspiration for parts of this story.
I think that the majority of people can agree that Hitler was evil - no doubt in my mind. Yet there were people around him - i.e., Eva's cousin - who never committed any dastardly crime (although some could argue that sitting around doing nothing was a crime itself), but reveled in the luxuries that the elite of Nazi society enjoyed.
This book is both haunting yet enjoyable - if a book can be that way. One knows the history of the THird Reich, but this takes real and imaginary people and becomes a fictionalised historiography that makes fascinating reading. At times I felt sorry for Marlene, yet other times I wanted to reach trhough the pages and shake some sense into her.
An interesting book, worth reading. I hope the next reader will 'enjoy' it as much as I did -- it does make one think.
The Eva in the title is Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress-cum-wife who died with him in Berlin. Author Sibylle Knauss conducted interviews with Eva Braun's real-life cousin prior to writing this novel. While it is FICTION, Knauss's interviews with Getrude Weisker did provide inspiration for parts of this story.
I think that the majority of people can agree that Hitler was evil - no doubt in my mind. Yet there were people around him - i.e., Eva's cousin - who never committed any dastardly crime (although some could argue that sitting around doing nothing was a crime itself), but reveled in the luxuries that the elite of Nazi society enjoyed.
This book is both haunting yet enjoyable - if a book can be that way. One knows the history of the THird Reich, but this takes real and imaginary people and becomes a fictionalised historiography that makes fascinating reading. At times I felt sorry for Marlene, yet other times I wanted to reach trhough the pages and shake some sense into her.
An interesting book, worth reading. I hope the next reader will 'enjoy' it as much as I did -- it does make one think.
Helpful Score: 2
I found this book interesting, as it was based on true experiences, but lacking in it's narrative. I wanted it to draw me in more, express more of the conflict and tension of the time period, and give me more insight into the characters than it did. However, there were events and 'storylines' which kept my interest enough to keep me reading. If you're interested in this time period, it's a unique perspective.
Helpful Score: 1
In the summer of 1944, twenty-year-old Marlene is thrilled when her older,more glamorous cousin,Eva Braun,Aldoph Hitler's mistress, invites her to come to their Bvaraian mountian retreat. There Marlene finds herself in a world of opulence and imminent danger, of freedom and surveillance. But a clandestine mission of mercy will force Marlene to question her allegience to both her cousin and her country- and to face the chilling reality that exists outside her sheltered world.
