At first I thought this book was going to skew a real image of God, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a very strong gospel message throughout.

I loved both Ember and Hanna's timelines, but I did prefer Ember's timeline due to how relatable she could be--even though none of us have gone through what she has gone through, we can all relate to the overwhelming burden of guilt and shame. I had a bit of trouble remembering the names and how people tied together--Charlie, Johnny, Titus, etc. So I got a little lost toward the end, but the complexity of this novel with the timeline is actually breathtaking. I don't have enough words of praise for this novel by Melanie Dobson. This is the first book I've read from her and it probably won't be the last.

I really, really wanted to read this book. It did not disappoint. The reason of my particular interest is because my parents were Germans living in their in this time period. Although their situations were greatly different then that of Hanna, they too, were caught up in this horrible time.
The book is a time slip book, something I seem to have read quite frequently, lately. This one was expertly accomplished and very believable. The story of Hanna was totally captivating to me. I couldn't put the book down. It was dramatic and poignant. The contemporary and historical timelines wove together into an excellent story as they converged perfectly. The research done was excellent. I highly recommend this book.

I received an ebook version from NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

Melanie Dobson writes powerful novels that touch you deeply, cause you to think, and may just play a role in changing your life, leaving you more empathetic and serious about the choices you make. This book is set in 1940 Nuremburg as the third Reich extends its control over citizens and its territory as it seeks world domination. Hanna Tillich, a German archeologist, is caught in the tentacles of Hitler’s regime, wondering what has happened to her Jewish neighbors.

The other portion of this time-slip drama, set in present time, features Ember Ellis, who is researching details of the Holocaust and trying to unravel mysteries of the past. Throw in the twist of her White Supremist parents and her friend’s mother who cannot remember all her early past, and the threads tangle and tug, drawing you into the intriguing web that needs to be unraveled and explored.

This tale was a bit more challenging to read than some of the author’s past novels since it does address dark subjects, but it is just as rewarding when everything unfolds and connects and touches the readers’ hearts. I appreciate that she doesn’t include graphic violence—she doesn’t need to. I received a copy from the author. All opinions are my own. #TheCuratorsDaughter #NetGalley

Ember has spent years trying to recover from the trauma of her years in her father’s Aryan cult commune in Idaho. After the FBI raid and her parents’ deaths, she changed her name, moved to the other side of the country and tried to blend in as a normal high school teenager. But now someone from the cult has found her and is sending her threatening notes at work. She is working on her dissertation on resistance to the Nazis during WWII, but she’s having trouble finding accounts of people who did so in Nuremberg. And the one lead she gets comes from the grandmother of the boy from high school she’d rather forget along with all her other past trauma.

Hanna loves working as an archaeologist, but she isn’t sure how much longer Himmler is going to let her do so. She’s the last woman on the field, and sure enough, she soon receives orders to return to Nuremberg and her family estate. Hanna thought her cousin and husband would be at the house, but there’s no sign of them and Hanna soon learns that many other Jews like her cousin Luisa’s husband have also been disappearing from the city. Himmler has plans for Hanna, but she also can’t ignore what is going on.

Dobson has woven a tale of three women from different time periods who are very much victims of circumstance, but that isn’t the end of the tale. The story is ultimately one of doing what they can, despite the chains that bind them. A story of resilience and overcoming trauma. A story of redemption, from any past. Dobson says in the back she wanted to write a story that reminds people to love and not repeat the mistakes of the past. It is definitely that. But getting to the point of redemption does take a while so the beginning and middle of this story in both time periods is not very “fun” per se. It is at times very frustrating (as it should be) and heartbreaking (again, as it should be). That does make the redemption and ending all the more powerful, but be warned it is a little bit of work to get there. The mystery of Hanna's relationship with Lilly (who Ember interviews) was well done and was the main thing that kept me reading. Recommended for those looking for poignant Christian time slip fiction about overcomers.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues. Two women are forced into marriages not of their choosing. One talks about how a husband wants children and an unmarried relationship that crossed lines in the past (without going into details). No sexual content beyond a kiss and those discussions. The horrors of WWII are largely in the background. They are hinted at but very few violent things described or on page. There is one incident with a knife and another fall only vaguely described. Long past incidents that resulted in deaths in Nuremberg are also mentioned. (Again, only vaguely described.) A character gets drunk at one point. Racism comes up a lot as the Nazis atrocities against the Jews and the Aryan cult Ember’s family was a part of were key to the plots. Smoking of people during WWII is mentioned (as was common at the time).

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A deeply evocative and thought provoking look at how history shapes so many lives. This is dual timeline story that weaves and intersects as it is told from two character’s points of view. Ember is contemporary, but not as removed from the Nazi reign as she would like to be. She has devoted her life and research to overcoming the horrors of the Holocaust. She reconnects with an old teacher and learns that not all things are as they seem. In the process of connecting and sharing, Hanna’s story comes to life and affirms the truth that things are not always black and white. There is much healing to be received and growth to be realized. I love the vivid, historical details of the 40s in Nuremberg, Germany. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own, freely given.

#The Curator's Daughter# by Melanie Dobson is a Christian Historical fiction book. Melanie is a respected author. Five of her novels have received the Carol award for Historical fiction. The setting of this book is Nuremberg, Germany in 1940 during World War 11. The book is a split time novel told from the perspective of Hannah who is an archaeologist for the Third Reich and then back to Ember who lived eighty years later . Ember Ellis is a Holocaust researcher who wants to confront the hatred towards the Jewish race and other minorities. The contrast of the two time periods is interesting. World War II is a very difficult time during our history. The themes in the book are good vs evil, courage, honesty. The characters and time period are well described. The reader will remember the story and characters long after reading the story. Thank you to the author, the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

This dual timeline historical fiction is based on frightening truths of events in Germany during WWII.
It is set in Nuremberg in the 1940s and in present day America. The lives of three women Hanna, Lilly and Ember that are connected over the years and through family is told in an intriguing, emotional and gripping story. I enjoy a multi generational saga and this didn’t disappoint. The Curator’s Daughter shows how history can repeat itself if individuals choose to turn a blind eye and do nothing.
I have read many books about WWII and the horrors inflicted on Jewish communities during this period of history and this book touches on this horror in an honest and respectful way . It is well researched and brings to light the Nazi’s interest in archaeology, the Lebensborn program of raising the birth rate of Aryan children and the beginning of the Nuremberg war trials.
A must read for lovers of historical fiction.
Thank you Tyndale House Publisher for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Hanna is an archaeologist in Germany during World War 2; but because she's a woman, the SS sends her back to Nuremberg to be a curator logging in the many items they are confiscating from Jewish homes. Ember is a student working on her PhD, and her dissertation will be on people who helped the Jews during World War 2. Her research leads her to Nuremberg and Hanna's story.

Dobson did an excellent job of flowing between the dual timelines without losing the plot in either one. She gives an excellent depiction of what it must have been like for those who disagreed with Hitler's ideas and cared for their Jewish friends. The many ways they used to keep track of information that could be used after the war was quite interesting as well as the bravery of those involved in doing it. Also her descriptions of Nuremberg created a vivid picture of the city during these times. Hanna was an incredible young woman to go through all that she did, and Ember's determination to connect the dots between her elderly friend and Hanna was much to be admired.

Masterful writing, two intriguing plot lines, and wonderful characters combined to make this a wonderful read.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review.

3.5/5 stars

I have read three of Melanie Dobson's previous historical fiction books, each of them I enjoyed for their unique storyline during WW2. With The Curator's Daughter she again has written a dual time period story with the past during the war. The difference is that this one takes place in Germany with a story I was unfamiliar with.

Without divulging parts of the story not mentioned in the blurb, this story showed a side of the Nazi reign that I knew nothing about and for that I am grateful for the educational lesson. It is evident the author knows her stuff and has research extensively. The characters were real and even though I didn't feel an emotional connection with what Hanna was going through there was enough to keep me reading.

As for the present time period, I struggled with that and honestly wish the whole book was just about the past. The writing during that time just seemed off to me somewhat, compared to Dobson's past books. There wasn't the depth of character I crave and at times it felt disjointed. But given all the glowing reviews it could just be me.

My thanks to Tyndale House for a e-arc (via Netgalley) in exchange for a honest review.

Amazing book drawing on mulitgenerational families love and hate. Such a strong reminder of how we can be of a support to family. The author takes you seamlessly between time frames and I struggled to put the book down.

A great blend of historical and contemporary makes for a terrific read!

In 1940, archaeologist Hannah Tillich is searching for the Holy Grail for Himmler’s antiquities group. As a child who went through Germany’s defeat and humiliation in the great war, Hannah is proud of the Third Reich and their work to reunite Germans. But when she learns that she has been reassigned to work as a museum curator in her home of Nuremburg, she finds the façade begins to crumble. Soon she is forced to marry a SS officer, who has fully bought into Hitler’s vision. After being unable to conceive, her husband presents her with an adopted daughter, who she comes to love as her own. When she learns what is happening to Jews across the continent, she comes up with a plan to save their stories that just might cost her own.

In 2019, Ember Ellis is pursing her post doctorate on hatred of the Jewish people while working at a Holocaust museum. She is no stranger to the hatred of people as she was raised in a white supremacy convent and was able to escape when she was fifteen. When she reconnects with a former teacher whose mother was a friend to Jewish people in World War II, she sets off to Nuremberg to find out what information she can. But somebody is watching Ember and doesn’t seem to want her to discover the truth or expose any secrets best left forgotten.

When I first read the synopsis for this book, I thought maybe it would be an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade type of adventure, mainly because of the holy grail search during World War II. Even though it wasn’t all action and adventure, it easily captivated me at the first page through the very last sentence. Dobson did a great job of paralleling not only the two main characters to each other, but also to the story of Saint Katharine. There are lots of hidden nuggets throughout this book that readers will love to find.

There are three main points of view throughout the book: Ember, Hannah, and Lilly. At times, Lilly’s POV can through you off early in the book, but it quickly pieces things together as it moves along. It also felt more like it was set in the future at times with the march against the Holocaust museum, but that could have easily happened in 2019. It’s sad that there is still so much hate in the world. Dobson did a great job of putting that on display and showing how love can help diffuse it.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Dobson writes good historical fiction. She combined archeology with the Lebensborn program. The Nazis plundered historical treasures but they also stole thousands of Eastern European children. I like how the wither combined both topics into a cohesive story. The book’s themes resonate today. I’m fascinated by both areas and reading The Curator’s Daughter only piques my interest more.

From the first chapter, I was completely immersed in this story and found it very hard to put down.
Melanie Dobson is a master at creating intriguing time slip novels where the past and present collide.

The Curator’s Daughter is certainly my favorite of hers, so far! I’m always fascinated with the mastery she displays in creating stories of an era gone by and the present day, weaving them together with details so intricate and mysterious.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book and found it to be a deeply emotional book for me. I felt the story was profound and poignant. Dobson carefully and delicately details the frightening wars between races over the last several centuries while displaying the tragic repetition our world has in history with prejudices in the human race. Meanwhile, she balances that brokenness with a heartfelt tale of finding healing, hope and love as her story comes alive in the pages. My heart swelled and marveled at how she portrayed such tragedies, while still offering the hope and redemption that comes from a deeply rooted faith in God.

A must-read for sure!

This novel is very well-written. It is beautiful, enriching and very satisfying. I adored the characters, who were well rounded, diverse and relatable. The novel was easy to read, moved at a great pace and I enjoyed the frequent change in point of view as the story unfolded. Overall, I believe those who enjoy time slip novels, novels set in the WWII era, and historical fiction will enjoy this story.

*I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts below are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

Following multiple stories across two different eras, this is a complicated book that will keep the reader intrigued. We follow Hanna and Lilly through the World War 2 era, and Lilly and Ember through modern day. All three have their demons to fight and ghosts to hide, and their lives in intertwined much more than the reader will realize until the end. The author has definitely done her research, and this is a very timely book as history appears to be attempting to repeat itself. We must read these stories, based in truth, and learn from the past.

This read quickly became a riveting page turner, as we live in the time of great evil in Europe, to the present day life in America

Hanna Tillich rather naively works for the Third Reich as an archeologist, and she loved her job and felt she was helping her country.

The evil government has other ideas and she is soon married to someone she didn't want to marry, and a mother to a young adopted child, but throughout all that is playing out around her, we see she does her best to help to tell the story of what is really happening here.

We also meet Ember Ellis, current day, whose life has now become entwined with Hanna's, in a way that you will never see coming, or expect to hear about in the USA!

What a wonderful job Melanie Dobson has done with this story, and we need to never forget what happened here, the hate of a religion so deep that they stop at nothing, and remember those that selflessly gave what they could to thwart!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Tyndale, and was not required to give a positive review.

Talented writer Melanie Dobson deftly weaves two different timelines into a fascinating, though heart-rending story of redemption, forgiveness, and courage. The main characters are multi-layered and flawed, but believable and realistic. With settings in Nuremberg, Germany during World War II, and modern-day America, the two stories intersect and combine with another smaller side-story which ties them all together.

Some comparisons are drawn between what happened in Germany and the formation of factions in the United States which seek to replicate the idea of creating a superior race. Care must be given to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

Filled with rich historical detail, this tale is deeply absorbing and intriguing, and it’s obvious Dobson has researched this subject well. I must admit to a little bit of confusion with the different timelines and people, especially at the first, but it is certainly a satisfying and thought-provoking story. 4.5 stars

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy from Tyndale Publishers through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Curator's Daughter was not quite the book I was expecting, but I was nonetheless pleased with the story. Dobson tackles a tough topic and a unique viewpoint of an overdone time period in her latest novel and gives readers a dual timeline narrative full of suspense, history, and hard truths.

One storyline follows Hanna Tillich, a German archaeologist working for the Third Reich. Although Hanna doesn't necessarily agree with everything Hitler is preaching, she values her job and the history her work reveals. However, the Nazi party has other plans for her, and Hanna finds herself thrust into an unwanted marriage and an eye-opening museum curator position. When her new husband adopts a traumatized young girl, Hanna must decide what--and who--is worth protecting and just how far she'll go to keep sharing history, even if that means going against her country.

The other storyline follows Ember Ellis, formerly known as Sarah Heywood. Ember was forced to be part of her father's Aryan cult as young girl, and although she escaped and made a life for herself, her trauma and the hatred of the group still haunts her. As Ember is finishing up her PhD dissertation on anti-Semitism and Jews in WWII-era Nuremberg, she discovers that her former social studies teacher may have a story that will show that some Germans put their lives on the line to help the Jews of Nuremberg. But her work has made her public, and threatening letters have started arriving, letters addressed to 'Sarah' that put all Ember has worked for in jeopardy.

In her latest novel, Dobson has masterfully interwoven Hanna and Ember's stories to create a tale where people rise above their heritage and refuse to let the past define them. It's occasionally hard to keep character names straight, especially as peoples' names change either out of necessity or deceit, and there was really enough suspense to keep the plot moving without having Ember threatened by a mysterious someone from her past. That said, this is still a great read. Hanna's work and the history of her home, however fictional, is fascinating, and her relationship with Lilly is so incredibly sweet. Ember's story forces readers to face the anti-Semitism growing in today's culture; Dobson does not back down from her stance on the ugliness and hatred of these people, nor should she. Creating a character like Ember who has known such hatred through her time in the cult but has become someone fighting for the remembrance of the Jewish people and confronting their attackers shows that people can change and give hope to others. Frankly, I don't think I've ever encountered a character quite like Ember, at least in terms of her background, and while her story was hard to read, it was unforgettable.

The Curator's Daughter shows how history repeats itself if good people do nothing and proves that one person's actions can change the life of countless others. Hanna and Ember's stories deftly mirror one another despite the differences in time and circumstance, and the mystery of what happened to Hanna kept me glued to my phone until the final page. I certainly recommend this book, and I'll be checking out more of Dobson's work in the future!

Every life has a story. When the Nazi regime began to snuff out the Jewish race, Hanna, an archaeologist working as a curator, collects the stories of the people who begin disappearing from Nuremburg and hides their stories so they will not be forgotten. Told from the point of view of three different women, The Curator's Daughter takes you back to one of the greatest atrocities in human history. During the story, Hanna works to preserve the past, while Lilly seeks to uncover her past and Ember uses the past to hopefully educate and prevent the past from repeating itself.

Though not set during a pleasant period in history, this story is beautifully written. A story like this has the potential to be overly graphic in nature in order to help portray the level of evil, but this one was not. Although the subject matter is "heavy" I did not feel the need to take breaks from reading in order to
"recoup" as I sometimes do with novels of this nature. The stories of these women are woven together to create an engaging story of suffering and survival, forgiveness and redemption. It made me think of the movie "The Zookeeper's Wife", while not set in the same city, some of the overarching themes were the same.

If you enjoyed reading "The Medallion", by Cathy Gohlke or enjoy Kristy Cambron's WW11 novels, then I think you would enjoy reading The Curator's Daughter.

Thank you, Tyndale House Publisher and Net Galley for the free DRC of this book. The opinions expressed here are my own.

DNF at 24%. It wasn't a poorly written book, and I have read & enjoyed another book by Melanie Dobson. I'm not sure why it just didn't click for me, but when I find myself not picking it up in my free time I know it's time to go to another book on my TBR pile.

"The Curator's Daughter", by Melanie Dobson is one of those books that when you finish it you have to sit back a while and think, absorb what you have just read. The type of book where you don't just jump right on in to the next read. Well I have been sitting here "absorbing" for a while now, and I think it is time to share my thoughts and feelings about this story.
Told through 3 separate threads, 2 of which are set in the most horrific era of our history, WWII and the rise of the Nazi regime, is the story of 2 women, both suffering horrific trauma and heartache, both wanting to preserve history for future generations. Dobson weaves their stories with style and care, intricately immersing the reader in the lives of these heroic women.
Hannah is a good Germain, working for the Reich and obeying the new laws that have been imposed, until she discovers the truth behind what is told to be simply chronicling items of art to preserve the Aryan races legacy. With her newfound knowledge comes danger, Hannah cannot sit quietly by and let the atrocities continue without doing something. She begins to record the stories of the people who have disappeared, so that they will be rightfully remembered when the war is over, putting herself in grave danger by doing so. Then her SS husband brings a traumatized little girl home to her without a clear explanation as to where she is from or how he came to have her. Now Hannah must protect not only herself, but this poor little child.
I loved this book, the stories flowed seamlessly from one to the other, and were woven together flawlessly. I recommend this to all historical fiction lovers as one of the must read novels of 2021. It is up there on my list of best of 2021 so far with "Sisters of the Resistance" and "The Black Swan of Paris", both of which I loved.
Thank you to the publishers at Tyndale House Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of the e-book, I am giving my honest review in return.
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