Germany 1940. As secretary to the leader of the SS, Magda spends her days sending party invitations to high-ranking Nazis, and her evenings distributing pamphlets for the resistance. But Magda is leading a dangerous double life, smuggling secrets out of the office. It’s a deadly game, and eventual exposure is a certainty, but Magda is driven by a need to keep the man she secretly loves safe as he fights against the Nazis…

Forty years later. Nina’s heart pounds as she steps into an uncertain future carrying a forged passport, a few banknotes, and a scribbled address for The Tower House taken from an intricate drawing she found hidden in her grandmother’s wardrobe. Separated from her family and betrayed by her country, Nina’s last hope is to trace her family’s history in the ruins of the past her grandmother ran from. But, when she finally finds the abandoned house, she opens the door to a forgotten story, and to secrets that will change everything: past, present, and future…

A poignant and gripping novel about bravery, loss, and redemption during the Second World War. An unputdownable read for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, We Were the Lucky Ones, and The Alice Network.

Favorite Quotes:

Magda was shouting. She never shouted. Her eyes were black and hard, as if someone else was using them.

It’s come at a price, believe me – being with men whose values are as twisted as Himmler’s corrodes a little piece of your soul. But if it means I can help decent men keep their jobs and old friends get to safety, close is where I have to be.

He was of medium height and medium build and his hair was thinning. He had the kind of pasty complexion that suggested long hours in dark rooms. He was so completely unremarkable, he didn’t seem real.

That’s the worst of these things, Nina; that’s what I never wanted you to have to learn. There’s always a choice that isn’t a choice. It’s always impossible to save everyone.

There has been talk of a memorial on the platform the death trains went out of, but… Every time a plaque is installed there, it gets stolen. Sometimes I wonder what kind of people are still living here.

My Review:

This was an intense and tragic read yet Ms. Hokin’s writing was extraordinarily poignant, well-crafted, and thrummed with a taut and anxious tone throughout due to the constant peril her characters faced in both timelines. The storylines were rife with family drama, intrigue, subterfuge, and the constant danger of discovery. I was quite taken by the quality of the characters’ development as the individuals were realistically flawed and believable human beings who made serious errors yet were well-intentioned and endearing, even though I often wanted to give them a pinch or two.