A Woman of War
Written by Mandy Robotham
Narrated by Julia Winwood
4/5
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About this audiobook
Mandy Robotham’s highly awaited next book, The Secret Messenger, is available for preorder now.
For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Kate Furnivall comes a gritty tale of courage, betrayal and love in the most unlikely of places.Also published as The German Midwife.
‘A powerful, haunting debut’ Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network
‘Incredibly powerful, harrowing but ultimately uplifting. I couldn’t put this down.’ Katie Fforde, author of A Rose Petal Summer
‘A fascinating story which had me forgetting it’s fiction! So well written, I was left pondering if the events could actually be true. Enthralling!’ Kitty Neale, author of A Sister’s Sorrow
‘Absorbing and totally believable – a wonderful WW2 novel.’ Molly Green, author of An Orphan’s War
‘I cannot give enough praise for A Woman of War. This is definitely #1 on my list of [historical fiction] books I’ve read in 2018.’ NetGalley Reviewer
‘If you are looking for a page turner, this is it. I read the book cover to cover in 48 hours. If I could give this book a 6/5 stars I would!’ NetGalley Reviewer
‘The writing was excellent and the characters realistic […] an interesting and thoughtful page turner.’ NetGalley Reviewer
‘Very compelling.’ NetGalley Reviewer
Germany, 1944. Taken from the camps to serve the Führer himself, Anke Hoff is assigned as midwife to one of Hitler’s inner circle. If she refuses, her family will die.
Torn between her duty as a caregiver and her hatred for the Nazi regime, Anke is swept into a life unlike anything she’s ever known – and she discovers that many of those at the Berghof are just as trapped as she is. And soon, she’s falling for a man who will make her world more complicated still…
Before long, the couple is faced with an impossible choice – and the consequences could be deadly. Can their forbidden love survive the horrors of war? And, more importantly, will they?
Mandy Robotham’s highly awaited next book, The Secret Messenger, is out now.
Mandy Robotham
Mandy Robotham is a Globe and Mail, USA Today, and UK, Canadian, US and Australian Kindle Top 100 bestseller. She has been an aspiring author from the age of nine, but was waylaid by journalism and later enticed by birth. She’s now a former midwife who writes about birth, death, love and everything else in between. She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes University.
More audiobooks from Mandy Robotham
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Reviews for A Woman of War
47 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was absolutely heartbreaking but also so beautiful. The main character was someone I would have loved to get to know. Full of love and genuine kindness. 10/10 would recommend
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Loved this book!!! The scenes with Anke in Ravensbrück were horrific and heartbreaking. What happened to the babies was awful and I can't imagine what those woman went through. I loved how Anke made the women feel while they were giving birth, she always thought about the mom and the baby. This was a wonderful story. Parts of it were extremely sad, but it was beautifully written. At times I even felt bad for Eva. I felt horrible for the decision that she had to make, but she knew what would happen if she didn't.Anke is a midwife and finds herself in Ravensbrück. She helps the woman in the camp give birth. Anke is taken from the camp to become the midwife of someone in Hitler's inner circle. She ends up at the Berghof. Anke needs to make sure the mother to be is taken care of and the baby is born healthy. Anke doesn't expect to fall in love or have to make life saving decisions after the baby is born. I loved the characters, story and writing style. Dieter was a welcomed surprise. I also enjoyed Anke's friendship with Christa. I know this book was fiction but it seemed so realistic and could have been something that actually occurred. Throughout the whole book I was just hoping Anke would survive and be reunited with her family. Definitely recommend, especially if you love historical fiction with a little bit of romance. I can't wait to read more books by the author. Thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author, Mandy Robotham, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anke Hoff begins the story as a political prisoner in a German concentration camp. A midwife, Anke delivers the babies of pregnant inmates, only to have the guards murder the babies at first light. It is a brutal and demoralizing existence, but she does her best for the mother's under her care. One day, she is taken from the camps and told that she will now serve as midwife to Eva Braun.This was a well written and engaging book. The characters were interesting and dynamic. There were some good twists and unexpected moments that kept me reading long into the night. Overall, well worth picking up.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/53.5 StarsWhat would have happened if Hitler had a kid? I’m sure that phrase pings a lot of interest for a lot of folks, myself included. So consider me intrigued when I got offered the opportunity to read/review this title. We follow Anke as she’s plucked from the horrors of the Holocaust to help care for and deliver Eva Braun’s child, all the while dealing with certain personages of Hitler’s inner circle and the politics of her odd situation.As the book went along, it developed some issues I had a hard time with, but they never detracted from my enjoyment of Anke’s journey. She’s an incredible character with enormous strength of character and will, willing to take large risks to ease the burden of those under her care. I enjoyed her unwillingness to be cowed by Nazi officials, even those with the power to send her back to the hell she was pulled from or even kill her outright.Her romantic connection to Dieter made for a sweet subplot. An SS officer with certain reservations about government policies and acting in small ways to counteract them was a nice gel with Anke. I pictured a Kurt Gerstein sort of figure, a man caught in a horrible scenario with few ways out and limited room to move. I also found the history and midwife tidbits the author included interesting. Though they could be graphic in places and made me squirm, the details of childbirth and all involved really made me picture Anke, her character, and profession better. I also loved getting a window into the precarious life of Hitler’s inner sanctum home. Staff members, guards, and inner circle heavy weights played their parts in the scheming for places on top or just for survival. Now for those issues I mentioned. I know the last few paragraphs extol the many virtues of this title and deservedly so. However, there are some problems that either irritated me, made me raise my eyebrow in disbelief, or just plain sour me.The first problem is the premise of the book. The idea of a gal being stuck in the world of Nazi politics while trying to deliver the child of the Fuhrer was intriguing. However, my issue arises from where they pulled her from. I guess I have a hard time believing, no matter who wanted the child or not, that a random midwife from a concentration camp would be pulled to take care of this very politically charged scenario. While Anke is a good midwife, no where does it give an explanation why she was the one picked rather than another random midwife or even a sanctified Nazi midwife. This is especially given Anke’s personal and family history of anti-Nazi activity. The whole situation was my main issue with the premise.Then there’s also the ending. I don’t want to go too far into things and give anything away. Yet, let’s just say that things are wrapped up, warp-speed! A ton of story threads are wrapped up in an epilogue that consists mainly of “this happened, then this happened, then this…”. I never really felt like I got to say goodbye to any of these people or situations properly. To me, it felt like there was at 2 or more chapters of story to tell to gather all the threads up to a satisfying conclusion.However despite those two issues I had, ultimately I enjoyed this look into Nazi inner politics and seeing Anke grow as a woman and professional. As I’ve mentioned, I loved her journey and felt very connected to her as she went through these trying times. If those two issues hadn’t arisen, I’d feel very comfortable giving this a firm 5 stars. However, they do, so it’s a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for me. Definitely give this a look, though, it’s a great journey despite the flaws.Note: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.