*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was yet another great book from this author! can't wait to read more.

I love Diney Costello’s writing style, her book covers are beautiful and her stories always grab my attention and make me ponder. The Runaway Family didn’t disappoint in its powerful depiction of what life was like for Jewish families in Germany in the years leading up to the onset of WW2. Hardship, heartbreak, bravery and fear, this one explores the impossible choices one courageous mother faced every day while trying to keep her children safe during the extraordinary circumstances. The anguish and fear were palpable in this one and I was inspired by this mothers bravery and resilience as she navigated this perilous time. The story overall was fantastic up until the ending which felt rushed leaving me unsatisfied. 3.5⭐️ From me
for this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media LLC for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is my second book by this author in recent weeks. One of my new favorites now. This story about the beginnings of the Holocaust was told from several viewpoints by members of a family. If you like historical fiction, family drama or stories with strong female characters this is the book for you.

I love Diney Costeloe’s previous books and enjoyed this book, as well. Set in Germany in the late 1930’s, Ruth Friedman’s husband, Kurt, is arrested by the SS. The Nazi soldiers soon destroy their Jewish family grocery store by setting fire to it, leaving Ruth alone with four young children to feed. As they face growing persecution, and with Kurt imprisoned in Dachau, the family soon finds themselves homeless. Ruth realizes that things will only get worse if she stays to wait for her husband, so she decides to take her young family to Stuttgart and stay with her brother-in-law, Herbert. With no way to contact Herbert in advance of their arrival, she hopes that he won’t turn them away. Herbert is not home when she and the children arrive but Frau Schultz, Herbert’s housekeeper, is there. Frau Schultz soon realizes that they are Jews, and she’s quick to report both Ruth and Herbert to the authorities. Realizing that things will only get worse if she stays, Ruth takes the children and flees once more to her mother’s home,. When she arrives, she finds that her mother no longer lives there, as the Nazi’s have commandeered it. As Ruth searches for her elderly mother, her husband is released and goes in search of his family. He experiences extremely difficult circumstances and comes up against many cruel and heartless Germans along the way, but the love for his family gives him the strength to carry on and not let anything stop him from finding them.

I really enjoyed this book, but agree with other reviewers that it had an abrupt ending.

Thank you to #Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review #TheRunawayFamily.

I have been listening to this audio book for awhile now. Bit by bit. I was taken back by the horror this family and others endured.

My Mother lived in England during the war. She had stories of air raid shelters, bombings and rationing. We are so very fortunate to live today here in the United States.

It was difficult to listen to at times. I didn't have much hope for this family to survive.

I received this audio book from Net Galley to review.

The Runaway Family by: Diney Costeloe
A special thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.
This was an incredible story about a family and their struggle during Hilter’s occupation. The changing point of view from both parents did an incredible job explaining the story.
Ruth and Kurt Friedman owned a grocery store in a small town in n Germany. During a riot one evening Kurt is arrested and their store and home are burned down. After getting her 4 children out of the second story safely, Ruth must come up with a plan to keep her family safe.
Kurt is taken to a concentration camp where he is eventually released from as long as he leaves Germany with his family and gives the warden his property.
Ruth goes home to her mothers only to find that her mothers home has been taken from her. She then works to get her children and mom out of Germany and into Austria only for Hilter to invade Austria not long after their move. Kurt spends his time trying to find his family to be reunited.
It really was an incredible powerful story that you almost have to hate. The real life events were horrible at best.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book. This book was a quick read. It was slow but I still enjoyed it.

It was a really good story, I was rooting for this family from the beginning & was surprised that they survived a lot of issues when I thought they would be caught by the Nazi’s. I was disappointed with the ending because the story just ended without letting us know what happened to the family. I guess the author wanted to leave it to our imagination but I really wanted to know if they were all reunited.

A very well written story about the beginning of the Nazi persecution of Jews that is told from the perspective of a mother, father, and daughter. Many books deal with the holocaust and the concentration camps. This book focuses on the beginnings of the Hitler Youth raids before Kristallnacht. The family struggles to find their place in the new society and keep each other safe. Twists and turns hamper the reunion of this family, but a mom makes the ultimate sacrifices to keep her children safe.

I enjoyed this World War II #historicalfiction novel. This was a powerful and chilling realization of what happened to Jews when the Nazis first took over Germany and then Austria. Ruth and her husband were separated the night of Kristallnacht where their store and apartment were burned and destroyed, and he was taken into custody by the Nazis. Ruth goes into survival mode to bring her 4 children to safety, brining them first to her mothers, then to her sister’s home in Austria. Ruth’s short-term goals are to make sure her children are fed, have shelter, clothes on their backs and that she can find her husband again. I loved listening to this book until the end. I wanted it to go on further as I feel like it was quickly wrapped up and more could have been described about their survival and the rest of their family. This was a heartbreaking story about courage, family, determination and freedom. This book was previously published under a different title and has a new pub date of today under Runaway Family.

WOW! This was a very powerful novel! It is a chilling account of pre WWII Germany and man’s inhumanity to man. For some reason I got it into my head that Diney Costeloe was a historical fiction lite writer who penned books that used historical details as mere window dressing for a romance. I could not have been more wrong! This was the most incredible book I have ever read about wartime that didn’t involve combat. I literally had a real visceral response to her writing! There were times when I had to turn off the audiobook because I was overcome with emotions that ran the gamut from tear inducing sadness to anxiety and fear for the family! The tension created by Diney, started on the very first pages and continued right until the end!
First and foremost this book is about a family, the Friedmans. Ruth and Kurt Friedman are hardworking owners of a neighborhood grocery store. They are also loving parents of 4 children. They have a good life in a neighborhood that their families have lived and worked in for generations. That is until the Nazis came to power and state encouraged anti-semitism became widespread. As Jews, both worried but it was the night that a mob, lead by the Nazi SS, came to their neighborhood, burned their grocery down and arrested Kurt that the real terror of their situation hit home. It is the story of Ruth’s attempt to keep her children safe and taken care of along with her actions to find Kurt that form the basis of the book.
But this is also a book about hatred with a warning for us all especially in my country. It is the story of how democracy can easily be demolished and one man rise to power supported by an evil regime. It’s the story of how one group can be ostracized and worse. Perhaps it is the ease in which the Jews were so easily separated out and systematically demonized that I found frightening. It started with sowing seeds of distrust, then dehumanizing the Jews leading to their mass murder. To paraphrase a great quote, History will repeat itself if we don’t learn it’s lesson. It can happen here!
I “read” this book via an audiobook. I highly recommend reading this novel via this method. The skill of the narrator at voicing different characters male and female made it easy to differentiate who was speaking. Her acting skills are extraordinary. It was her skill at voicing evil that raised the tension to heart pounding heights.
5 Stars despite agreeing with other reviewers that the ending felt anti-climatic. I always prefer to be shown when reading not told.
Recommended for all adults.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley. This fact in no way influenced my review.

The amazing story of Ruth Friedman and her children. When her husband is arrested by the SS, Ruth must figure out how to survive and care for her four small children.
Her courage and resilience during this time in history is remarkable. She must count on help from few others as she tries to keep her children safe and fed among people whom she can no longer trust.
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Their journey was extensive and the hardest part was sending some of her kids on the train towards freedom.
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I did not care for the ending of this book, but sadly we all know not all books end the way we hope. I am holding out for a sequel. The narrator was fantastic. #netgalley, #therunawayfamily, #dineycodyeloe, #dreamscapemedia, #audiobook, #stamperlady50, #bookreview, #booksconnectus, #bookstagram
2m

This was a very good story, Ruth's Husband is arrested by the S.S. Officers, It is the beginning of the awful ways the Jews were treated, She has to try and take care of her 4 children on her own, she is given a little money from her Brother in law and hides it in different places, but soon she is made to leave her home with no notice, she gathers what she can and has to leave the rest, Through the story Ruth is trying to stay one step ahead of the Nazis, Every place she ends up, things are getting worse and worse, she is treated terrible once people find out she is a Jew, and all along she still doesn't know if her Husband is dead or alive. Ruth's Husband is later released from the prison camp, only because he lies and says he has family in America, and promises to take his family and leave Germany. He returns home to find his home and Business destroyed, his wife and children gone. The story is well written, It Is easy to follow the Character's through the story, I have to say, I really wanted a little more out of the ending, a little more follow up with some of the Character's, I stilled loved the story, It is a heartfelt story, with lots of research given to that time of life

The narrator did a great job in distinguishing between people and drawing you in the story.
I just couldn't stop listening about the two countries (Germany and Austria) leading up to World War II
There are a lot of books out about the holocaust but this book realistic portrays the fear that the Jewish people where feeling during these riots. Evident was cruelty of people and their mob mentality. The story is heart wrenching, and you feel like you are on emotional rollercoaster ride. Friends betraying friends because they try to save guard their own family members.
How do you explain to a child that they are no longer allowed to play with other children in the playground? Can you image having to put your children on a train so they will have a possibility of a future and knowing full well that you might never see them again? I’m sure you will think about this book long after you finished it.

I love these history pieces. I enjoyed The Stolen Baby better, but this was still good and you can feel the characters. You feel their struggles, anguish, and relief at the end.

I enjoyed this book. I have not yet read a book about the SS releasing someone from a concentration camp. I found this story to be really sad and uplifting at the same time. I love reading about the different situations people went through during this horrific era in history. This was a story of a mothers love and what she will do to keep her children safe and out of reach from Hitler. At the same time we also learn about the dad/husband and his journey from being in a concentration camp to getting released to finding his family in the end. I enjoyed the narrator too.

The title actually tells the story. I was surprised at all the different hurdles the author showed, all of which were plausible. This story is a side to WWII I cannot recall ever reading. The book does flip between a couple of family members attempting to find each other. Their tales flow seamlessly.

The author is able to show the cruelty of people and their mob mentality. As well, arrogance of some of the elite was captured. Choices under inhumane settings are shown as well.

Billie Fulford-Brown was the narrator and did a good job.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review The Runaway Family.

#NetGalley
#DreamscapeMedia
#TheRunawayFamily
#Audiobook

The Runaway Family by Diney Costeloe is riveting. It is heart wrenching, hopeful and inspiring. The way the author writes the dialogue between characters is very natural. It is almost like listening to a conversation. She adds just enough detail to transport you into each town and building they are in. The character’s personalities come to life with each page. Her style of writing is easy to read and just as easy to follow.
This story is about one families journey fighting for their lives and out running the Nazi regime. The matriarch of the family Ruth Friedman is tough, gentle and will stop at nothing to protect and reunite her family. Through this story the Friedman family is able to overcome injustice, tragedy, hatred and cruelty.

I listened to the new audiobook version of this while on a walk and got way more exercise than I planned because I just couldn't stop listening. I lost an extra pound! SCORE!

There are so many WWII stories coming out lately that it is rare to read something unique, but this really was. This is the story of a Jewish family in Germany and later Austria escaping the Nazi's as the two nations began to be hostile to the Jews but before the official start of the war. I read so little about life in those two countries leading up to the war so this story was really compelling.

There is a lot here to spur some research and further reading. I'm excited to dive deeper into a part of history that I know only superficially.

Audiobook Review. This title is an excellent work of historical fiction. Reading the plight of this family is an emotional rollercoaster ride as they search for safety and freedom. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys World War II historical fiction. The narrator was the perfect fit for this title.