Celebrate Lit / April 25, 2021

The Good German Girl

About the Book The Good German Girl

Book: The Good German Girl

Author: Erica Marie Hogan

Genre: Historical Romance

Release date: April 15, 2021

Omaha Beach
June 6, 1944

When battle-hardened Private Bernie Russell witnesses a fellow soldier shoot a young German boy with his hands up, he’s shaken to his very core. Then, as that same boy is dying, he presses a packet of photographs and letters into Bernie’s hand and utters three words in English.

It must end.

After having the letters translated, he discovers they were written by the soldier’s twin sister and the photographs within the packet reveal evidence of Hitler’s plan to wipe out the Jews.

Berlin, Germany

Margot Raskopf is a young art teacher, forced to conform to the education Hitler has designed. Then, when one of her sources with the underground resistance receives a letter for her from an American soldier, she’s shocked and filled with renewed hope. But Margot has been harboring a secret. In her house she hides a young Jewish woman she’s known since childhood, risking being discovered by the Gestapo with each passing day.

As they begin a dangerous correspondence, both Margot and Bernie embark on treacherous journeys. One taking Bernie across Europe and right into Germany. Another taking Margot through the gates of Auschwitz … and under the scrutiny of Josef Mengele.

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My Thoughts on The Good German Girl

I love WWII history and this book is no different. While it’s fiction it also gives us some good looks at the history and what it must have been like. Not only what it was like for an American soldier, but also what it was like for a German girl.

Both characters are strong and fierce and have quite their own story to tell. You get to read that story and live it through these pages. This is a raw book. It tells a story that too often lately I think we are forgetting. So many lives were lost and so much destruction was done. This is not a feel-good book, this is a raw emotion book.

That being said, this is a wonderful book. The characters are vibrant and bring you into their world. You are in Germany, you are in Auschwitz. These are not places to be taken lightly during this time.

This is not a story for children though. This is a story for adults. There is a lot of information in here that would make this a rated PG-13 or even R book. Several scenes hold things where you know what is happening even if it’s not actually stated. There are battle scenes, suicide, implied rape, blood, and abortion. Plus there is Dr. Mengele. He was an awful Dr who experimented on children in Auschwitz and just knowing that you know a bit of how awful that part of history is.

I do recommend reading this book. It’s a great book and though it does have some areas that are sensitive and graphic I really hope you’ll read and enjoy it.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received through Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of The Good German Girl

From as far back as she can remember, Erica Marie Hogan loved to write. When she was a little girl she adored make-believe, but gradually her imagination became too big to restrict it to playtime and so, she wrote.

Erica was born and raised for nine years on Orient Point, Long Island, New York. After that, she moved with her family to Virginia and, finally, to Texas where she now lives. She was homeschooled, is an avid reader, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives to plot new stories, enjoys a good tear-jerker, and chocolate is her cure for any ailment.

Erica’s wish is to continue to write stories that not only drop her readers into the middle of historical time periods, but also to show the ability to rise up out of adversity and tragedy in hope, faith, love, and strength. When it comes to genre, she has no limits.

Along with The Winter Queen Series Erica’s World War I standalone novel, The Lost Generation, is also available now from Elk Lake Publishing, Inc.

More from Erica

There are two things I love in a good story. History and Romance. And when the two come together? Well, I’m sold.

Hi, I’m Erica Marie Hogan, the author of The Good German Girl, book one in a Historical Fiction series called A League of Extraordinary Women. When I set out to write a novel based during World War II, I never imagined The Good German Girl would be the end result.

I started with an idea about a young German woman living in Berlin who wants to fight back against Hitler’s rule. This mustard seed of an idea took me on a journey through the battles at Omaha Beach, Aachen, Germany & the Battle of the Bulge. It took me through the gates of Auschwitz and right into Josef Mengele’s lab.

This little idea took me on a quest for love in the most horrible of circumstances. Where war and death divided two people who should be enemies but, through a miraculous correspondence, found each other and knew in their hearts they were meant to save each other.

The Good German Girl is a Historical Fiction novel about the tragedy of World War II with the gentle beginnings of an epic love woven through the pages. I hope you enjoy the story of Margot Raskopf and Bernie Russell as much as I enjoyed writing about them!