Just how far from the known do things have to descend to before you take a stance and find a courage you never knew you had? Such is the case for the characters in this book, from the reticent and keep to himself professor, to the administrative assistant at the university, a young Jewish student in love with a Dutch girl who could never forget him….

This was not a story of people who decided to become people fighting against the Germans and the rise of despicable acts in their beloved city of Amsterdam – but they were more poignant for their sudden decisions to take a stand, even when every instinct is screaming for self-preservation. Starting with Josef Held, a professor of mathematics who has kept himself ‘removed’ from people and interactions since his wife’s death some years earlier. Recently, with all of the changes from the occupation, he’s been intrigued by his interest in Hannah Pender – the administrative assistant at the university, and frustrated with Michael Blum, a Jewish student who is noted for being a very reluctant student, also very in love with a young Dutch girl, Elke. But the Nazis are tightening their hold – from confiscating his wireless to taking an elderly neighbor into custody to places unknown, and he’s trying simply to survive the onslaught. His only family is a niece, brought to him after her parent’s death as a child, and now involved with a Nazi officer, bringing Josef no end of worry.

Hannah takes care of her infirm mother, who spends much of her time knitting caps for ‘the boys’ who will be cold in the coming months. She’s also friendly with a Jewish family, and the young daughter spends hours with her mother, learning to knit and sharing her worries. Hannah would like to hide the family away – but her position and her mother’s need for care have her in a bind. She’s also wondering why Professor Held runs so hot and cold, when she’s only tried to have conversations. The two have much in common – that they won’t see for ages – but the connection from the university will serve them both during the long years of occupation.

When Michael appears at Held’s doorway after his best friend is shot, Josef decides that enough is enough – and sets him up in his attic – the only view is over the rooftops. Despite the dangers, Michael is full of life, daring and imagination – frustrated by being ‘caged’ and worried for Elke – but alive. Alive in ways that Josef has forgotten – but this connection will bring the two closer together and encourage Josef’s return to a life lived with joy. As Hannah’s story progresses, her father’s shed, where he built and repaired bicycles becomes her refuge- from healing a wounded allied soldier and seeing him smuggled away, to building bicycles and finally being a part of the resistance delivering bicycles and packages, and finding her own simple and quiet ways to resist and help those she cares for. This isn’t a story that focuses on the atrocities of the war in a general way -but more the small moments, the emotions and the events that changed Josef and Hannah, along with Michael, Elke and Josef’s niece – and gives a sold sense of the atmosphere and the changes it brought under the brutal occupation.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-ayd/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

A View Across the Rooftops is a fantastic historical fiction novel. The characters are interesting and well developed. The storyline is interesting and detailed.

Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
First time reading this Author and thoroughly enjoyed this book will be looking for her others books.
I just adored this book the story line and characters was just so well executed.
The story set in in holland at the hands of the German invasion how they overcame lots of obstacles. I can highly recommend this OUTSTANDING book.

This book was really good and I couldn’t put it down. I’ve read MANY books that take place during WWII but surprisingly not one that takes place in Amsterdam. I also haven’t had many where a main character is so fully invested in the Nazi party and against their own people the way that Ingrid is. But you don’t hate her, or at least I didn’t hate her. But it shows what happens to women that sided with the Nazi’s after they lost power and abandoned those women. Josef and Michael are also strong characters that grow together and form a bond that you enjoy reading about. I also like that the resistance fighter in it all was a woman while also having someone like Elke realize that even the Dutch were doing awful things like stealing art from others to profit.

While Josef is the main character of the story it jumps between him, Elke, Hannah (a woman that works at the university), and Ingrid (Josef’s niece) so that the story is told by many different people. Because of this it is able to show how one man with no affixation to the resistance is willing to put his life at risk for one man. It’s a powerful part of the story and it does well being shown by different people because you also get the Nazi side of things because Ingrid works for them and truly believes everything that they say. But she’s not a character that you inherently dislike because she’s also just so naive and is mistreated.

The book is a fantastic one and people should pick it up when it comes out.

A View Across the Rooftops tells the story of Josef and Michael as they struggle to survive during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. While I sometimes feel that there is a flood of World War 2 novels, this book truly stands out of the pack. The themes of love even in the darkest of times still stand true today. Beautifully written, this book is a must read for anyone that wants to learn more about how remarkable the Dutch people were in their resistance of the Nazi party. Based on true events, you will not want to put this book down!

A good story about life under occupied Amsterdam in WW2. However I struggled on many occasions to pick it up once I put it down and found I didn't feel a connection with the characters. I am glad I finished it as I learned a lot about that aspect of life during the war.

As historical fiction stories go, this is an extraordinarily generous one, rich, dense, and satisfying. It is heartbreaking at times. This is a new author to me and I will be seeking more of her work.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A View Across the Rooftops is a very moving book set during the period of World War II in Amsterdam. These are hard times and only love and compassion provides (some) solace.

Josef Held is a professor teaching mathematics, whose life seems to hold no charm after the passing of his wife Sarah many years ago. He finds Hannah Pender at the university charming and yet cannot find the urge to take the relationship forward. The Nazi occupation and their treatment of Jews, brings more pain. His neighbor Mrs. Epstein is killed right in front of his eyes, an old lady who took pleasure in playing the piano. There is also his Jewish student Michael Blum, whose easy ways he finds difficult to relate to. And yet, Josef makes a choice – he helps Michael by hiding him. Michael is in love with Elke (who is not Jewish) and the prevailing situation separates them. There are further complications and risks with his niece Ingrid dating a high-level German officer.

Josef and Michael form a bond over time – at the start without even speaking much with each other. As trust grows, they learn to share their pains and memories of better times. There are several close shaves while Michael is in hiding, and he also falls seriously ill at one time.

This is not a fast paced book, and yet it is very beautiful – a sum total of the characters, their inner feelings, circumstances and the strength of the story. It is a wonderful story of courage, letting go and find purpose in the most difficult of situations.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.

Love this cover! This was a quick story that kept me up late to finish it! I enjoyed the story and am amazed at the characters determination in such hard times. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for a great read!

If you love historical fiction and WWII books you will really enjoy this.

A View Across The Rooftops is a heart wrenching book which shows how a sample of people coped during the war. A young Jewish man in love with a Dutch woman, a Dutch man who just wants to survive, a young Dutch woman who is swept up with the wrong crowd (The Third Riech) and a Dutch woman who's story leads her to join the resistance.

I have always enjoyed WWII books and gained a recent interest in how countries other than the UK were affected. Being based on a true story, this gives an insight to how Amsterdam locals were affected throughout the war and their opinion of the Nazis.

I really struggled to put this book down, particularly the end of the book which I sat up until 2am reading and trying hard not to wake my husband with my crying!

There are lots of unexpected twists and turns and the book isn't predictable (other than the end of the war), which really keeps you interested. The characters are well written which absorbed you in them and makes you desperate to keep reading to discover what is going to happen to them.

This book has been cleverly written and I am so grateful to NetGalley and the author giving me a chance to read this pre-release.

4.25 rating
How many heart-wrenching WWII books can one read? Well, if they are like this book, I will keep reading them. Set in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation, we meet mathematics professor Josef Held as life is starting to change all around him. He has been living a simple life with his cat devoid of any real emotion as he has never recovered from the death of his wife twenty years earlier. Only the simple pleasure of listening to his neighbor Mrs. Epstein play her piano is all he allows himself. But once his Jewish neighbor is murdered right before him, everything changes. And when his student Michael, a vibrant, artistic young Jewish man, needs his help, Josef must find the strength and courage to come to his rescue putting his own life in jeopardy. Inspired by a true story, this book was beautifully written and extremely moving showing that heroes exist beyond the battlefields. Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and author Suzanne Kelman for the opportunity to read this impressive book in advance of its October 25 release.

I don't read many historical fiction as I do not know much about history. Having got an opportunity to read this book, I would try to put words to my thoughts.

1941, Amsterdam, Nazi invasion, a Professor Held, who taught advanced mathematics saw brutality occurring everywhere. His niece started dating a German soldier. Michael his pupil was banned from attending his class. In order to save his life, impulsively, the professor offered Michael a safe place to hide.

My first book by Susanne Kelman, the book read fast. The characters soon took up all my attention, and emotions were wrenched when I read about the atrocities on humanity. The author created an aura of the World War II, and life of the people living in those times and their struggle to survive.

All the characters, Professor and Michael and their love interests, told me their tale poignantly. At times, I had to tell myself to breathe as the scene would suck in all my emotions. This was a heartbreaking captivating story where sacrifice and love on the backdrop of WW2 made it a compelling read.

I loved it. Such a brilliant book about the role of individuals during the Holocaust and the Ditch resistance. It felt true to the historical setting and didn’t trivialise events.

I will review properly over at www.overflowinglibrary.com closer to publication

I’ve been a fan of historical fiction for as long as I can remember, but WWII is my favorite. I’ve read countless books on the subject and I’m kind of picky about the historical accuracy of the time period. This book is spot on on my opinion. I am both horrified and in awe of the atrocities these people suffered and sometimes I’m ashamed of the cush life I’ve lived. I cannot imagine having my children ripped from my arms. I cannot imagine staying in one room, in hiding, for days, much less years. And I cannot imagine having pure evil under my roof and having to pretend to be one of them in order to save someone’s life. This story might be fiction, but the countless heroes who risked their lives to save others are not. Thank you for your bravery and selflessness. Even one life matters.

Thank you for writing a book that made me feel so much emotion.

I’ve read many books on WW2 and the related atrocities that accompanied the battles, but I’ve never read one like this before. Mesmerising, emotional and beautifully written and from a perspective I’ve not seen before,

I'm so sad that I did not like this. The summary makes it sound wonderful, the cover is gorgeous, and I'm totally here for grumpy main characters that begrudgingly do the right thing. But the writing is just not for me. Here are a few sample sentences (and I read just the first two chapters):

"Cream sandals emphasized her shapely ankles..." (you'd think a man wrote this, but alas, it was a woman)

"...her dropped-waist, calf-length, silk dress had been reverently tucked and folded by elderly female relatives and young unmarried friends." (because being old and/or unmarried obviously means you have no hope in life)

"...I started to fall a little bit in love with your father as I watched him reciting." (she tells her husband this!! at their wedding!!)

"I'm not sure how long our love with last if you don't know how to keep love alive like that. I can't see mathematical equations making me feel quite the same way." (girl has a point about math, but girl, shouldn't you have figured this out before the wedding?)

"He continued with intense romantic emphasis, "[insert mathematical equation that I don't want to retype here]." (what is this sentence!!!)

"As their lovemaking fell into a gentle rhythm, all that could be heard was the soft creaking of the windmill as its sails lifted toward the darkening sunset sky." (this is a sentence that exists and it makes me want to hurl)

I rest my case. Other things are writing about "expectant eyes", using Holland and the Netherlands as interchangeable terms (they aren't), using the phrase "shapeliness" several times in just a few pages, and having the grumpy professor examine a female coworker while she's speaking to him like she's a piece of meat ready for consumption. If this is all men think about, no wonder the world goes to shit. And then he goes home, and asks his cat how its day has been!! Was that supposed to make me think he was a reasonable human? After objectifying a clearly married woman? Knowing that for at least half the book (I think there is a second perspective I didn't get to) I would have to be in this patronizing asshole's head did NOT make me want to continue this story.

Anyway. The story seems fine. It's what made me want to read this in the first place, and I wish I enjoyed it more. The cover is really pretty. But this book is clearly written for romance readers who feel like delving into historical fiction for a change. With that, I leave you this one last sentence that was the last straw for me:

"'I am just going to lie here until you are overcome by my incredible body and beg me to make love to you again,' he informed her." (y'all are Jewish in Occupied Amsterdam, shouldn't you have bigger things to worry about?)

What a lovely book ! So beautifully written ! If you like historical fiction you must read this book !! In a time where Jewish people are being rounded up and taken away, who is brave enough to try to save them ? Who is willing to turn against their own people and help the enemy ? It is truly a love story, different kinds of love stories all in one book. Absolutely loved it !! #buythebook

Suzanne Kelman's novel, A View Across the Rooftops, brings a different look into the atrocities we all have heard about WW II. The story features a quiet Mathematics Professor just trying to survive in Nazi occupied Amsterdam as he continues to mourn the death of his young wife 20 years earlier, a receptionist at the same University, widowed during the Great War, neither knowing the other ones story. A young Jewish student and the Dutch woman he loves, the professor;s niece and a Nazi officer all have stories to share. Students are disappearing everyday as the Jews are being taken away. A student with no where to go shows up at the Professor's house needing a place to stay and be safe. Hearing the stories told from each person's point of view is heartbreaking, encouraging and helps to show the lives these people lived through no fault of their own, only the circumstances placed upon them by the war. As U read the choices each person made, I found some brave and encouraging, some decisions predictable and I recommend this book to everyone. It will make you cry, and smile and even cheer for the characters as they go through the nightmarish years of the occupation of Holland by the Nazi's. Make sure you take the time to read the author;s notes at the end of the book.
Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and especially Suzanne Kelman for the opportunity to read this book and share my honest review with you.

I can’t put into words how I feel about this book. I learnt things about the atrocities that, although I should’ve, I didn’t know. I’ve read loads of holocaust books but this was from a different view. How people survived this I will never know, but they were very resourceful and determined. An amazing story.

A gifted author of a heart-wrenching story of ordinary people elevated to the realm of heroes through love and sacrifice. Yes, evil existed in all its vastness during World War II but the love and courage that so many rose up to conquer it. It is an emotional journey of heartache and love that will leave you in tears. One of the finest books I have ever read. Would definitely make an excellent film.