Despite how many historical fiction books there are out there focused on World War II, every now and again you find one with a slightly different focus. This book is about the Lebensborn Society, which were maternity home set up by the Nazi regime. These were not only maternity homes for unwed German women but also a breeding program to support the German mindset for racial purity. While this is something I have heard of before, it was interesting to see how the author could weave the story of three very different German women concerning their time at the maternity home. This book very quickly drew me in and I just didn't want to put it down because I wanted to know the outcome for these three women. So please don't pass this one by as just another World War II book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic ARC of this book. I found this a powerful and emotional read. I could not put it down once I started. This book had several multifaceted main characters whose traits deepened as the plot progressed. Grundi is a university student who is minimally aware of the changes to the lives of 5he Jewish people as those changes do not directly affect her. One day though, a chance encounter with a Jewish man named Leo will change her life forever. As their relationship deepens, she becomes pregnant and because of her perfect physical attributes as determined by an examining doctor from the government, she is ordered to report to a German-sponsored hone for unwed mothers. While there, she discovers the home is more than a safe haven, and it is in fact a breeding ground for future children of the Reich. Lying about her baby’s father’s ethnicity, Grundi fears that if the baby has the physical features of a Jewish person rather than her Aryan ones, she and the baby will be in great danger. A second character is Hilde, who will do anything to have a baby for the Reich so she can gain affection and attention, even if it means compromising her integrity and morals. And finally, there is Irma, a nurse whose personal life is in shambles due to a poor relationship decision and who accepts the offer to work at the home because she has nothing left for her where she came from. While working there, she discovers the home’s sordid secrets and makes a personal decision that could bring her personal redemption, but cost her her very life. The author has a great historical note and reading guide at the end which enhances the understanding of this book. My only suggestion would be to have an epilogue added as I was left with many lingering questions as to what happened to the characters in the future. I highly recommend this book!

When author Jennifer Coburn reached out to me in March with the opportunity to read her historical fiction novel Cradles of the Reich I was immediately intrigued. It sat on my kindle for a while, but when I started reading it, I could not stop!

The story is told from the viewpoint of three German women during WWII. Gundi is a beautiful young woman who physically is the Nazi ideal, but works secretly in the resistance to fight Jewish persecution. Hilde seeks to find power for herself and is passionate about the Reich cause. Lastly we have Irma, who is a middle aged nurse who finds herself lost in her life and is somewhat ambivalent about what is happening to start. The three women collide when both Gundi and Hilde become pregnant and unwed and Irma moves to start a new life working at the Heim Hochland, which is a Lebensborn Society maternity home or “breeding home” run by the Nazis to produce a new generation of perfect Aryan babies. Gundi is sent against her will, while Hilde is more than happy to go after intentionally becoming pregnant by a high ranking Nazi official. However, what lays in store once they reach the home is now what any of the women expect. They will have to decide what they believe in, who to trust, and what future they want for themselves and the children that come from the home.

I had not previously heard about the Lebensborn Society homes and found myself reading with morbid fascination. The whole concept reminded me of the fictional “Handmaid’s Tale”, which made the fact that this was reality all the more horrifying. Each character was so well written and represented a different perspective. Gundi was easiest to understand because she made an early decision to fight against the wrong. I also could relate to Irma who didn’t necessarily agree with what was happening, but took some time to find her own strength and path. Hilde was certainly the most difficult character to understand and relate to given her vigor and dedication to the Nazi’s. However, the inclusion of all perspectives gave a refreshing lens to the story and added to the historical accuracy. Lastly, the author’s note details all the research completed and more information about the factual parts of the story. Through the note and the story, I learned some completely new about this period in history.

Cradles of the Reich publishes in October 2022. I highly recommend to everyone, especially fans of historical fiction. This one is excellent!

I enjoy learning new things. I had never heard, that I can remember, of the Lebensborn society. I wasn't surprised that this actually happened, just surprised I'd never learned of it before now.

What a stunning look into these women's lives, even fictional. I can't imagine and Jennifer does a beautiful job giving life to the women and their stories.

I had to take my time with this book. It felt to important to rush or skip ahead because I was feeling impatient.

I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who had a love of history, a good strong cast of characters and an open mind.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! Wow this book was a fictionalized glimpse into an aspect of WWII that was chilling and that I knew nothing about and am intrigued to learn more after reading this well written book.

Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn
Jennifer Coburn has exposed me to an atrocity in history of which I knew little. Before and during the Second World War, Germany established Lebensborn societies, homes for extraordinary German women of a certain Aryan pedigree who would be housed and nurtured with the hope of breeding strong, beautiful, “perfect” Germans. These homes would also accommodate children kidnapped from German-occupied countries because they looked exceptionally Aryan to be adopted and raised by German families.
Jennifer Coburn writes her story around three women who each experience Lebensborn in different roles. Gundi, unmarried and pregnant, is pressured to enter Lebensborn house because she is proportionally the “perfect “ German woman with perfect colouring and stature and body shape and exemplifies German motherhood. Gundi, however, is anything put the perfect Nazi and holds alliances and love elsewhere. Hildie desires to be a true “Hitler girl” and will do whatever it takes to bear a child of a Nazi officer. And Irma, a nurse who is attempting to do her job while trying unsuccessfully to notice atrocities taking place.
I read this novel from beginning to end on a travel day, and I was so absorbed in the story and characters it made all the flights and layovers I experienced fly by! This novel is a fascinating and heartbreaking novel about a time in history ( one of the many times ) where women are exploited for the “good of the country”. Be sure to add this to your Tbr list when it is published in October. Thank you to Netgalley and SourceBooks Landmark for the free advanced copy!

I had heard of the Lebensborn program, which was a Nazi program designed to increase the birth rate in Germany, particularly with babies with desirable Aryan features. It was not much spoken about until the last 20 or so years, whether research has uncovered documentation and more of the individual stories come out. In this book we have the stories of 3 German women entwining at a Lebensborn maternity home. Without giving away any of the motivations of these characters, the author has built her characters in such a way as to enable her to tell about different facets of the program. While some of earlier character buildup seems a little disjointed, there is a slow built to understanding them.
I would like to see the author write a follow-up to this novel, as the endings for the characters here leave you wondering about their future.
It is interesting to note that one of the singers from ABBA (Anni-Frid Lyngstad - the dark haired girl), was born in a Lebensborn home in Norway. Her family moved to Sweden, fearing reprisals from the locals for being seen as collaborating with the Nazi's.

Cradles of the Reich
by Jennifer Coburn
Pub Date: October 11, 2022
Sourcebooks Landmark
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
At the center of "Cradles of the Reich" is the complex relationship between three German women who meet at a Lebensborn maternity home. Gundi, a young resistance fighter, must find a way to escape the Lebensborn program before the Nazis discover the truth and destroy her family. Hilde, impregnated by a high-ranking, married SS officer, will stop at nothing to gain power within the Third Reich. While World War l veteran, Nurse Irma, finds her true calling working at Lebensborn, she soon discovers its chilling secrets.
Even though they come from very different backgrounds and circumstances, the three women end up in one of these breeding homes and their stories begin to intertwine.
If you like historical fiction, this is a must read! I highly recommend it
4 stars

Very good story. I enjoyed the different perspectives of all the different characters, however, I do hope the author writes a continuation to this story because I felt like their stories weren’t finished.

In her new novel set in pre WWII Germany, Coburn introduces us to three women who each have ties to the Lebensborn Society. Gundi discovers she is pregnant and is examined by Dr. Ebner who deems her the perfect specimen. Unknown to Dr. Ebner and her mother, she isn’t as perfect as they think. She has helped the Resistance with distributing flyers and the baby’s father is not the perfect German they think. He is Jewish. Hilde is in a young German who knows what to say to put forth she is the future of Nazi Germans, but realizes the power of catching the eye of a high ranking officer. Finally, there is Irma who was a nurse during WWI, but due to tragic events, finds that she cannot stay in nursing. Instead she hopes for marriage with the man she has dated for awhile.

The three women’s lives meet when they end up at Heim Hochland, a picturesque setting where unwed mothers come to finish their pregnancy and either marry the father or give their child up for adoption to a selected couple. Irma sees this as a chance to be the mother she never got to be, but finds some of the girls at the house are not in fact pregnant, but available for Nazi officers that sometimes visit the house and indulge in the youth and “master race” girls that are staying there.

The development of the story reminded me of when I read The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. Three diverse storylines that intermingle when their lives intersect at Heim Hochland. I also, once again in reading historical fiction, am left in awe that something like this is a part of history. The thought (fear?) that something like this could happen again is something I have no words for other than pleas that it not happen again. This thought is fed also by we should learn from history so certain atrocities don’t repeat themselves, but then the ignorance of those that want to hide dark parts of what has happened in the past. I also appreciated the strength of Gundi and Nurse Irma as the story progressed. I will add that I wish the story had an epilogue to tell of the paths of the three women and how their stories continued after their time at Heim Hochland during the course of the war and/or after it ended. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 just due to the loose ends at the end.

#netgalley #arc #cradlesofthereich #sourcebookslandmark #jennifercoburn

Interesting fictional account of the Lebensborn programme introduced to expand the 'Master Race' in Germany. Three women from different backgrounds who all end up in one of the homes designated for this purpose. A nurse, a young girl who is desperate to fit in, and one who is already pregnant. The book alternates between them, which keeps the reader's interest.

With thanks to NetGalley and SourceBooks Landmarks for an ARC.

"Cradles of the Reich" is one of those books with an interesting subject matter that didn't quite hit the mark in my opinion.

The main characters don't get a lot of development throughout the novel and the development they do get sometimes doesn't really feel in character or at least feels rather rushed.

It's hard to say that I enjoyed this book due to the subject matter but I do enjoy reading about WW2, and the Holocaust. I faintly remember hearing about the Lebensborn program, but not enough to search it out. Thank you Jennifer Coburn for checking. Very interesting book. I'm trying not give away any spoilers, but there are a couple of characters that I would like to know what happened with them. I will also be looking into this more and reading up on it. Thank you for opening my eyes to this. I

Wonderful book on a lesser known topic during the WWII time period. I loved the three different POVs and really connected to the characters. I wish it could have gone on longer with one particular character, as I felt the ending was a bit abrupt. However this book is highly recommended!

A very good read and I will suggest for book club.
Ms. Coburn accurately and realistically depicted how young women ended up believing in procreating for the Reich (or not).
Three main characters meet in this home, none for the same reasons, none with the same opinions. Each one is under pressure from men and the Nazis. This will give the reader an eye opening look into the Lebensborn Society.
Highly recommended!

--I have received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are purely my own and not influenced in any way.--

I've been in a sort of slump lately with historical fiction books and I've admittedly grown a bit tired of the same books with the same cover of a woman in old fashioned clothes in the distance with an old-timey plane flying overhead and roughly the same plot of "Nazis are bad". I was initially drawn to this book BECAUSE the cover wasn't the same generic "this book will take place during WWII" picture (though we still have the plane!), and the plot was about something actually DIFFERENT: the Lebensborn Program, which I have never heard of before.

We are transported to Germany in 1938-1939 and introduced to our main cast: Gundi, a young woman in the resistance, Hilde, a young, directionless woman who firmly-or at least mostly- believes in all the Reich's teachings, and Irma, a nurse of the lost generation who had equally lost herself. All three women have very unique personalities and voices and each one you actually find yourself sympathizing with, or at least understanding where they're coming from. Personally, Irma was my favorite because I loved watching her grow from a bitter woman who just goes along her life seemingly aimlessly to really finding who she has always been in the end. While I liked all of our main characters, I found Gundi to be the least interesting, but that was probably because I've seen the resistance fighter thing done so many times in past books and this one, though it did have a few different notes, was still fairly predictable in where it was going. That said, what this book does REALLY right is world building, and Jennifer Coburn did a great job with describing how ornate the house was while also nailing the sinister undertones with the "mothers-in-training".

I personally found this book to be a pretty refreshing read in a pretty oversaturated field of World War II historical fiction books. I actually learned about something I never heard of before, and all of our characters were memorable and unique. Though this book is a bit predictable at points, it definitely has widespread appeal but has just enough uncharted ground for veterans of historical fiction to get something out of as well.

A very good read accurately and realistically depicting how young women ended up believing in procreating for the Reich (or not). The three main characters (2 pregnant women and a nurse) meet in this home, none for the same reasons, none with the same opinions at to their situation, but all under pressure from men and the Nazis, whether they are aware of it...or not. Highly recommended!
I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from NetGalley, and I am leaving voluntarily a review.

“Cradles of the Reich” is a historical fiction WWII book by Jennifer Coburn. This book follows three women eventually tied together by the Lebensborn project, where the Nazis promoted “the best children representing the best German ideals.” If you haven’t read any other books about the Lebensborn project, this book is a great introduction describing the project from different angles, such as nursing and being a patient. I did like the different characters and they were easy to keep apart (though a minor character had a similar name to one other character so it took me a while to keep them apart). I found the Author’s Note very interesting - especially how she got the idea for the book and also the research involved and interviews conducted. I enjoyed the writing style and the humor Ms. Coburn injected (the part about Gundi being told about the few women going and her doing the math and calling it a coin flip made me laugh). A gripping and interesting read.

This was a fascinating novel covering an important period of history that is not often addressed in popular media. Telling the tale of 3 women, each connected to the Lebensborn Society in different ways, this novel explores a Nazi initiative to promote a breeding program for racially desirable children representing German ideals.

The novel provides background on each of the three women, all who have their own revelations in understanding what the program will mean for them. It’s uncomfortable reading at times, which makes the book all the more poignant. The level of detail, from German colloquialisms used during the era, to descriptions of the uniforms, was excellent and informative.

I would have liked to see the book explore a little more on some of the surrounding characters, particularly Edouard and Erich, to offer a male perspective and add more depth to give the reader more context on this lesser known historical era.

Overall, recommended for fans of historical fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sharing the eARC with me.

Absolutely unable to put down! I wish there were more books about the Lebensborn project, both fiction and nonfiction. Not only does this book portray an often-overlooked part of Nazi history, but it portrays the real history behind Maragret Atwood’s An Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments.