Cover Image: A View Across the Rooftops

A View Across the Rooftops

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Member Reviews

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.

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I was excited to read this book as I had not read a book from this point of view of the war and I was not disappointed.
A View Across the Rooftops was a captivating story of love, friendships and hope foe the future. Its written with such depth the characters and settings come alive before your eyes. Thee opening scene was brilliant to read, its one of my favourite opening's to any story I have read for a while. The courage that the people of Amsterdam had to have had is unbelievable and is captivated in the characters of this story.
I really enjoyed reading this story and following the journey between Micheal and Josef. Josef a maths teacher gives Micheal a save place to hide while the Nazi's are occupying the country, but he needs to be careful about who he can really trust. With loose heavy in his heart he wants to help Micheal who is in love with a Dutch girl and give their love a chance in these terrible times. A captivating story that I really enjoyed reading.
I story that I am so glad I had the chance to read.

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This is another heartbreaking based on a true story set during the 2nd World War. This story is set in Amsterdam and I highly recommend it. Make sure to have your box of tissues at the ready while you read this beautifully told story!

My thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for this advanced readers copy. This book is due to release in October 2019.

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I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is an edge of your seat page turner. It really lives up to its description of a heart wrenching story.

It is full of love, hope, determination and survival. It really left me questioning if I would have survived or not.

One big piece of advice I will give you if you decide to pick up this title is read the author notes! They add soo much depth to this story.
A View Across Rooftops is incredibly wonderful but heart wrenching read. The characters are well written and the book was overall interesting from page one. I would highly recommend this to any historical buff.

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This was an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking story about heroism, love, and hope for the future of Amsterdam and it’s people after the war.
This is a story of just how far one person would go to save another’s life.
This story gave me faith in humanity especially while it seems currently the world we live in is falling apart and the act of kindness is far and few between.
This is based on a true story which makes a read sometimes way more heartbreaking, and as the softy I am yes I did shed tears. :(
I definitely recommend this book

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I'm a particular fan of World War 2 books, so with the genre, title and beautiful cover, A View Across The Rooftops instantly appealed to me. The story differs from others I've read in that though the stories are heart wrenching, dramatic, suspenseful and exciting, they are not heavy nor do they depict the true atrocities of the war and the treatment of the Jews. This isn't necessarily a downside, we're all aware of the brutality endured by Nazi hands, and this story offers different perspectives; a man who doesn't know his own bravery, just trying to keep his head down; a passionate and brave Jewish man; a woman who loves a Jew; a woman who loves a Nazi. The perspectives are  contrasting and offer such different tales and insights. This is probably one of my favourite books I've read so far this year and I'd recommend for an easy but captivating read.

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It’s 1941, Amsterdam is occupied by the Nazis. Professor Josef Held is a Mathematics Professor at the local University. Josef has never gotten over his wife Sarah dying 20 years previously but, he doesn’t let it show to others.
As the war goes on, his pupils are disappearing due to being Jews. They are either captured by the Nazis and sent off to the concentration camps, killed or are in hiding. So, when he discovers one of his worst pupils that he has. That is very confident and outspoken and poetic Michael Blum he offers to hide him in his attic.
The story also includes the story of Ingrid who is sympathetic to The Third Reich and has a relationship with a Major. She dreams of a life with Hendrich getting married and moving to Germany.
Also, Hannah Pender, the receptionist at the university who ends up a member of the Resistance and helps the cause to win the war.
I always enjoy reading historical novels about the WW1 and WW2 and this is no exception. This was a beautifully written story of Love, courage, self-sacrifice and determination. I loved the poems too that were linked in this story. They gave more meaning to the story. This was such an emotional story and so different to others that I have read in this subject. That I give it big fat 5 stars from me.

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The cover is exquisite just like the story it contains. This tells us the story of a professor during WWII Amsterdam who decides to do whatevrr he can to save one of his Jewish students, Michael. This story is told from alternating viewpoints. We see people at their worst but also see that there is hope in how peiple are at their best. This is a wonderful book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

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Many thanks to #NetGalley, #Bookouture and the author #Suzanne Kelman for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book prior to its publication on Oct. 25th, 2019. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own honest thoughts.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the picture on the cover along with the text: Amsterdam, 1941: One man will risk everything to save a life. The artwork definitely reminded me of housing that I had seen while visiting the Netherlands many years ago and stories from the Second World War are always of interest to me as my father served with the Canadian Army and spent quite some months in the Netherlands during the war.

The author dedicates her book to "all the unsung heroes of Holland, who risked their lives during World War Two by hiding 30,000 Jewish people, the onderduikers, in their barns, attics, and basements. We may never know your names, but the legacy of your bravery will live on forever". Following the dedication she includes a quote from Anne Frank that references looking out "over all the roofs and on to the horizon". This set the tone for me right from the start. I doubt if there are many of my age and back ground who have not heard of Anne Frank or have not at least some familiarity with her story and hers is just one of the many stories that took place. I have visited the place where Anne hid. It was easy to imagine myself hidden away somewhere, perhaps peeking out through a small crack to see the only things in sight - the rooftops, perhaps some stars or the moon. How difficult it must have been to retain any sense of hope under such circumstances.

This particular novel was inspired by a story of one individual that the author heard of, an un-named man who was willing to risk his life and health in order to save a man that he was hiding in his attic. Originally she co-wrote it as a screenplay with her friend Susannah who had first introduced her to the story. As a screenplay called "Held" it won many awards but as of now it has yet to be made into a movie. Hopefully that will change once this novel has been published. As she wrote, the question that haunted the author was "Just how far would I be willing to go to save another person's life?" as a reader, I found myself pondering this question very seriously. In many ways it is a question we should ask ourselves on a daily basis as we hear of war and devastation and genocides that still occur on an ongoing basis around the world.

The main character of the story is a man called Josef Held - a university professor who loves music but somehow ended up as a math professor. After losing his wife due to complications of childbirth, Josef withdrew into himself such that his life consisted of teaching and just staying in his home where he would open the windows and hear his neighbour playing piano as she taught classes to her pupils or practiced her own compositions. When the war arrives, his life changes - first in small ways - pupils disappear from class, he is forced to give up his precious radio but life still goes on without too many drastic changes. His most infuriating student tells him that Jews will no longer be allowed to study at the University. His niece, an orphaned child that he has always felt guilty that he could not do more for, is now dating a Nazi officer. It becomes harder and harder to look away and not see the horrible things that are happening around him. When some innocent words he speaks to his niece lead to the brutal murder of Josef's neighbour, he can no longer ignore what is happening.

When Michael Blum, the infuriating student who would rather write poetry than learn math suddenly appears at his home in desperation, Josef takes him in and allows him to hide in the attic. At first it was to be for one night but that quickly changes and as the months go by and Matthew continues to hide in the attic, Josef's life becomes more open and emotionally he begins to live again painful though that might be. As he struggles with guilt for perceived past sins and the beginnings of love for a co-worker, Josef has to act as if everything is just as it always was. He never knows when his niece and her Nazi boyfriend will descend on his doorstep putting his life and the life of Michael Blum at risk. This risk continues from 1941 through to 1945 when Michael is forced to leave in a hurry. As a reader it was hard for me to imagine that I could hide anyone in my home for that length of time and under such difficult circumstances.

I do not want to spoil the story for readers yet to come so I will not go into further detail other than to say that the reader will also meet and gain an understanding of other characters and the things that motivated them. This is a powerful novel, extremely well written and it moved me to tears more than once. If you are interested in World War history or the psychology of what motivates people to act the way they do then I think you will find this a fascinating book. I highly recommend it.

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A View Across The Rooftops tells the story of Professor Held, and did you know that Held is Hero in Dutch? This professor is very much a hero. In Amsterdam during WWII, the Dutch people fought against the Nazis, and one of the ways they did that was to hide Jewish people wherever and however they could. Professor Held did just that! This book was just wonderful! An amazing story, told by a gifted writer! At the end of this novel, which is a fiction book based on a true story, she tells you the story behind this book. This is where you learn what started her on this journey, and how this story would just not let her go.

The question that kept me up last night, well after I had finished the book, was the same as it was for the author.... How far would I go to save another human being? We always say I would do anything, but would you? Could you go as far as these people did?

Such an amazing book Suzanne Kelman!!
Thank you for sharing this story!!

I received this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Josef is a quiet university professor, grieving for his wife and following his routine life under German occupation. His Jewish student Michael is very much the opposite - passionate, wild, daring and in danger. As the Nazis continue to remove all Jews from Amsterdam Michael inadvertently ends up at Josef's house - and so begins Josef's quiet determination to keep Michael alive.
This is so well written - the tension when people start working with the resistance, the constant worry of what will happen to the characters with each step closer to discovery and Ingrid a character who seems so destined for disaster it's painful to read. Totally absorbing.

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There are numerous books out there about normal and humble Dutch citizens who risked their lives to help the Jews during the war. All of them remarkable. I mean, the risks they were taking, but the sheer humanity and emtions which made them have to do it. I can’t imagine the heartbreak and anguish of being in a situation like that for either the Dutch people who took them in or for the Jews themselves. Persecuted for religion? Seems like we never learn. I think that’s why these books are so important to read. I am in awe of all of those who helped and to the Jewish people who survived such an ordeal beyond words.

This story is especially remarkable as it’s about an ordinary professor, a man you might not think is capable of anything extraordinary. He was a maths professor and is now retired. Living a simple unassuming life until he is met with a decision that will change his life and that of his friend. He ensures that he shows symptoms of a disease so that he can get urgent medicines. The medicine is not for him however, but for a Jewish friend who is suffering from the same disease. If that is not humanity at it’s finest, I don’t know what is. The story explains and explores his reasoning, what happens next and puts that in the context of a city on the edge, where everyone is pushed to extremes. I was floored by a lot in this novel. What a man!

With the horrors of the Jewish persecution ongoing, this novel shows one light in the darkness and it’s a homage to all that is good in the world. I think this novel will make you tear up when you realise it’s based on a very real story and very real man.

Humbling to read.

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A really good book about the German occupation of Amsterdam during World War II. The story centers around a Dutch professor who hides a young Jewish man in his attic. He has a crush on a woman who works at the university, but he thinks she's married and unavailable.

I really enjoyed this book. It moves quickly and has many sweet moments.

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This book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions- happiness, sadness, anger
This story made me cry and the writing style is amazing
An amazing book

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Romance and resistance in Amsterdam.
What matters to you enough that you would sacrifice your own life? Widowed math professor, Josef Held, is faced with a decision to help a student, Michael, when the Jewish raids begin. Yet when Josef’s niece, Ingrid, becomes involved with the Nazi’s, Josef not only must decide where him and Ingrid’s relationship stands but he must also choose to follow his moralistic principles or surrender his values to solidify his own safety. Michael’s girlfriend, Elke, is faced with turmoil when Michael goes missing and she struggles to accept that he is gone.


My notes: As a reader, you will not learn much history that has not already been accounted for in a plethora of other novels. The atmosphere of war and the setting of Amsterdam 1940-1945 is well constructed. However, the focus is on the characters and their tales during this time. The inhumane atrocities experienced by Jews and their life in concentration camps is not accounted for. Overall, the novel was a light, easy read. The plot did not create a complexity of profound thoughts or cause for deep reflection. For me it was not gripping or intensely captivating, but rather a normal WW2 read that avoids harrowing specifics.

There is a good true story of sacrifice buried in here, and it is revealed and noted by the author in the end. Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture, and Suzanne Kelman for a copy. Opinions are my own.

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I loved this book. It felt like it was privilege to read it. It is beautifully written historical fiction. It shows the bravery and strength and determination of the Resistance and other people who stood up to the Nazi Regime. It shows humanity at its best and also at its worst.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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A View Across The Rooftops by Suzanne Kelman is a story set in Holand during World War Two.
A university professor puts his life at risk by helping a student who is in danger of being arrested and he will do anything he can to keep him alive.
This is a heartbreaking story of bravery, hardship and survival.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Right up there with The Alice Network!

I have to say I wasn’t sure if I would like this book because I feel WWII has saturated the historical fiction genre. However, I am so glad I decided to give it a chance.
The book centers on university professor Josef but also follows the war experiences of Hannah, Michael, Ingrid and Elke. I ran the gauntlet of emotions while reading each character’s vastly different experience.
If you enjoy a well-written character driven story, then definitely read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I really enjoyed this book. It is a story of love and survival in Amsterdam during WWII. It is beautifully written. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

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If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. From the first moment I started reading the story, I could not stop. I was captured by the story and the characters. Descriptions made me feel like I was right there and surrounded by events and people. The dust, smells, pain and emotions were felt as I turned each page. This is a story of intense dedication of people who cared deeply for others. Amidst turmoil, death and fear of the unknown, friendships and love win out. Author Suzanne Kelman has written another great story. I received a complimentary copy of the book. No review was required.

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