Another wonderful WWII novel centered around a German Jewish family who flees Germany and the lengths the mother will go to in order to save her children. I really loved this story - although any WWII novel is harrowing and difficult to read, it is amazing to see the strength that people possessed and read about those who risked their own lives to help others. This book was written very well and I immediately was engrossed in the story and felt connected to the characters. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Jacob Sternberg was a cardiologist in Berlin in the late 1930s. He saw many of his friends and neighbors leave the country as restrictions on Jews increased throughout Germany. He did not want to leave his patients so he, his wife, Amanda and their 2 daughters remained. However when Jacob was detained by the Nazis and sent to a work camp, Amanda discovered that Jacob had made plans for her and their daughters, Viera and Lina, to leave the country on the St. Louis, a ship bound for Cuba. Amanda could only get 2 exit passes and planned to send both girls to their uncle in Havana. At the last minute she sent Viera alone and asked a friendly couple to care for her on board.
Viera was one of the few people allowed to disembark at Havana and the ship eventually returned to Europe with many of the passengers still on board.

Amanda and Lina then went to a small village in Southern France where they were taking in by Claire Duval, the wife of a friend of Amanda’s father. Claire’s husband and her parents had been taken by the Germans but she and her daughter Danielle were able to live the small town. Then the Germans crossed into France as they had done in other European countries. Amanda died and Lina was baptized by a kind priest and became Elise Duval, a daughter of Claire.

Once the Allied nations started invading France and other European countries, the Germans decided to retaliate against the French. Elise and Danielle were survivors of an attack on their village and ended up in an abbey with other children. Once the war ended a Duval relative in the US sent for Elise but not Danielle.

At the end of the book an elderly Elise comes to terms with her real identity.

This story, like the previous book by the author, The German Girl, is a fictionalized account of true events. The St. Louis did sail to Cuba with over 900 Jewish passengers. However only a few passengers were allowed to disembark. President Roosevelt and the Canadian Prime Minister refused to allow the passengers into their countries. So the ship sailed back to Europe where England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands each accepted some of the passengers. Once Germany conquered France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the former passengers were rounded up and sent to the camps. The only ones who survived were those who remained in England.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, a story about resilience and redemption, and would absolutely recommend it to fellow fans of historical fiction.

This was my first book by Armando Lucas Correa. It tells the story of Amanda's, quest to protect her daughters during WWII. It is a heartbreaking and riveting story that will satisfy historical fiction lovers.

I really enjoyed the first half of the novel, I felt it moved at a good pace and had a strong plot. I found the characters engaging and was interested to see what would happen to them. However, I felt that the author introduced too many characters in the latter part of the novel and the conclusion of the novel left me feeling a bit flat.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This book was just ok for me. I really couldn’t get into the writing style of the story. It is a heartbreaking story of love and loss which is typical of WW2 reads but at times I felt a little confused with the writing. Not a bad book but I wasn’t engrossed in it. Thank you netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.

Thank you to Atria Books and Net Galley for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. Once I'd received the approval, I looked up the author, and I realized I'd read his previous novel, The German Girl. One quality both of these books share is that they bring to light WWII information that is outside the norm, stories that occurred, but they aren't often spoken of when you read or watch WWII history. This book spans years, and in my mind, it was successful giving me insight into the lives of many thrown into the horror of WWII. This book is about two sisters, it's about families, those who helped and those who survived. I couldn't have loved this book more. It broke my heart in two, but it was worth every second. The words are beautiful, the characters well done, the plot outstanding. It confirmed my feeling we're all connected. Highly recommended.

This book was received as an ARC from Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Every family has long kept secrets from a while ago. The story of Elise and how she found out about Amanda and how she fled Nazi Germany to start a new life in France but was later taken away to a labor camp during the reign of Hitler in WWII. The mystery involved with this story was so captivating that I wanted to do outside research of this family and see what the true story really was since it was based on true events. This is definitely a good historical fiction choice when doing a project on Nazi Germany and WWII.

We will consider adding this book to our Historical Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Beautiful!
I was a fan of The German Girl, and Armando Lucas Correa’s newest novel crept up on me. How did I not know about it?? Sure to be on everyone’s top historical fiction list this year.
The Daughter’s tale is based on true events of the Worl War II massacre in Oradour-Sur-Glane, a small village in southern France.
Eighty year old Elise Duval has been living in New York for many years when she receives letters written to her by her mother, long ago during the war. Elise remembers and learns new secrets from her time during the war.
Beautifully told, we learn about atrocities during the war that are seldom referred to in history books. The reader is left wondering what we would do for those we love.
I finished The Daughter’s Tale a few evenings ago, but wanted time to process it before posting my review. Definitely a book that stay with you long after you finish it.

The Daughter’s Tale by Armando Lucas Correa brings us back to the Nazzi terrors in France in the 1940’s. Unfortunately this story mimics many others of this time period with heart wrenching separations, horrors and deaths, I felt like I had previously read so many similar stories that it took away from my interest in this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It is always interesting to me to hear stories from the great wars that I have never heard before. I had never heard about the village in France that was essentially burned to the ground although there are many stories like that one from WWII especially. I had heard of the ship turned away from Cuba so that was, for me, fluff added into the story. I was invested in Elise’s story and kept reading to find out what became of her. What I didn’t like so much was the sometimes otherworldly nature of characters thoughts and movements through events and the ability to see into the future by Elise was far fetched and unnecessary. I also thought the story of the mother, Amanda was crucial to the book yet her story dropped off with only a small mention of her in the end. I thought there should be less pages devoted to characters thoughts that cycled throughout and more pages devoted to the continued stories of the main characters. Overall I would give it 3 1/2 stars and I’m sure it’s going to appeal to WWII fans

This is the second book I’ve tried to read by this author, but the style of writing is descriptive with dry prose. The read is not engaging for me.