The Runaway Family by Diney Costeloe was about one mother’s attempts to keep her four children away from and safe from the Nazis during World War II. It was fast paced and engrossing. Billie Fulford-Brown did an amazing job performing the narration for The Runaway Family. This mother’s courage and resilience was constantly being tested as she was forced to rely on her resourcefulness to keep her children fed, housed, loved and out of the hands of the despicable Nazis.

Ruth and Kurt Friedman owned a grocery shop in a small town in Germany. They were by no means well off but they were happy and had enough to make life pleasant. Ruth and Kurt had four children, two daughters and twin toddler sons. They were a happy and content family until the night the Gestapo came and arrested Kurt and took him away and imprisoned him at Dachau just because they could. That same night, members of the Hitler Youth and Nazi sympathizers torched Jewish businesses. Ruth’s and Kurt’s home was located above their shop. When their small grocery shop was set on fire, Ruth realized that she and her four children were trapped as the fire made its way up the steps to their apartment. Luckily, their neighbors came to her family’s rescue. The children were encouraged to jump and were caught by their loyal and endearing neighbors. When Ruth finally got all her children to safety, she realized it was her turn to jump. Ruth was lucky enough to have only endured a twisted ankle as a result. Their neighbors that owned the bakery took them in and allowed Ruth and her children to stay with them for a few days. Ruth worried for Kurt’s safety. She had no idea where he had been taken or if he was still alive but prayed that he was. Ruth knew she had to go somewhere where her children would be safe and that Kurt would be able to find them. She decided that the best place for her and the children to go to would be Kurt’s brother’s house in Stutgart. Thus began the plight of The Runaway Family always trying to stay one step ahead of the dreaded Nazis.

I would have probably given The Runaway Family 5 stars if the ending had not been so rushed and unsatisfying. After reading some reviews on this book, I was amazed to see how many other people felt the same way about the ending as I did. It lacked the attention to detail and good writing that was evident in the rest of the book. It was as if Diney Costeloe had something else to attend to and just finished the book as fast as she could. How disappointing! This was the first book that I have read by Diney Costeloe but if her other books end in a similar way then I will pass on reading them. Beside the disappointing ending, I did enjoy listening to the audiobook of The Runaway Family and would recommend it.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media LLC for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Runaway Family through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book will tug at your heart! It’s terrible what war and fear does to human beings, leading even close friends to become enemies if it means saving their own life. It’s a heartbreaking illustration of what Jewish people went through and the cruelties of what humans can do to one another. Very good book.

I absolutely love reading books about historical fiction. This story was pulling every heart string I have and made me want to hug everyone. Such an unfortunate series of events leaving to a not so great ending.

Escaping Hitler

Heartbreaking and such a sad story. When their store is burned down and her husband is arrested by the Gestapo, Ruth is left to care for her four children. She now has no home for them, the clothes on their back and little money. Where will she go to keep her children safe and provide for them.

She stays at friends and relatives staying one step ahead of the Nazi's not knowing where her husband is or even if he is alive. Just surviving she works until she hears once again the phrase shouted "Jews Out" and knows that she must move once again. Will she ever find a safe place for her family and will she be reunited with her husband.

This book shows us how terrorized the Jewish people were by the Nazi's and even by their own friends. Some that once were good friends now pretended to not know them, or shouted bad things at them. In Germany the Jewish were not allowed to have any of the freedoms as others. They could not own a business, they could not go to Cinema or the parks. They had curfews and long lines at the only shops they were allowed to shop at. Most of the time they were hungry, cold and very frightened.

It was a story of a courageous woman and how she fought to keep her children safe and to once again find her husband.

I enjoyed this story and I would recommend it .

Thanks to Diney Costeloe for writing a great story, for Billie Fulford-Brown for doing a fine job of narrating the story and to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for making it available to me.

I really liked the writing in this story and how it unfolded. The narrator did a good job distinguishing between people and drawing you in too. The story follows a Jewish family around during WWII as they get separated and struggle to survive while trying to find each other.

As much as I love historical fiction and books based on WWII, it is getting harder and harder for me to read the stories of people from that period of time. Although the stories of the survivors are good stories, the obstacles of what they have gone thru are horrifying.

The novel begins with Ruth Friedman and her four children. The night her husband was arrested and taken to Dachau, their family business and home were burned. With no place to live and four kids to feed and protect - Ruth begins her run for safety. The mother and four children acrosses Germany into Austria and beyond.

I absolutely loved the plot, the harshness of life that came upon Ruth and her little family, and the way she choose to deal with it. Her character is brave, strong-minded, and family-oriented. It's hard to keep it together, on a run with four small kids and an elderly mother. I absolutely disliked both Ruth and her husband's families. They were self-centered human beings with no care for others. There were a few characters in the novel that showed their support for Jewish people, a few had surprised me. As I read WWII novels, the hate Germans had for the Jewish population surprises me every time. What's actually unsurprising is the hate people love to share. But that's another discussion for a different day. Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus publisher for a free copy of the novel.