I was so looking forward to reading this new novel and am so grateful to have access. The characters always feel so relatable and the sense of loss and great hope are always balanced in the end. Thank you.

4.5*
Jay’s book is set in Budapest in 1944 as WWII ravages most of Europe. There are rumors that the war will soon end since the Allies are showing progress on the Western front and the Russians are pressing in from the East. Miklos Horthy, the Hungarian leader, aligned his country with Germany but had not taken the more dramatic steps of turning over the Jews to the Nazis. Now that the Germans are a continual presence in the country, the rules are changing. Hungarian Jews fear the perceived safety they thought they were granted, may no longer be relied upon. Further complicating the pervasive danger is the Arrow Cross Party, a Hungarian group who have taken up cruel and barbaric measures against the Jews.

Marika’s Jewish family are now faced with dangers on multiple fronts – the Germans and this radical Hungarian group. She and her family must make difficult choices about their own safety and survival. Her father was a beloved puppet maker and engineer, a well-respected man. Marika was a nursing student and now she does all she can to save the growing number of orphans. Even though the Germans seem to be losing on multiple fronts, there is a desperation to their efforts to exterminate all Jews. Marika and her family are caught up in the chaos with little hope.

Jay’s characters are beautifully rendered and the story is powerful and touching. We learn of another instance of atrocity that has been overlooked in the wealth of WWII stories. The hateful and monstrous actions of the Hungarian radicals is further evidence of the extreme barbarous behavior that added to the attacks on Jews during the war.

Due to its subject matter I thought I would find this a difficult read however the struggle of the Hungarian people during WW2 made for an interesting read.

Most Hungarian Jews felt Hungary’s balancing act of an alliance with the German state would protect them from the horrors of war until March 1944 when the military arrived in Budapest. Marika Tausig the main protagonist and her community are slowly feeling the restrictions on their daily life, curfews, food rationing and alienation from their neighbours. As the noose tightens around them Marika begins work as a nurse helping children orphaned by the war.. Her father and his trade, a puppet-maker plays a small but poignant part behind the scenes.

Thanks to Netgalley the author and publishers for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

This was a solid 4 stars. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this book. I thought that this was well written and thoroughly researched.



Thank you NetGalley and publishers of Book Circle Press for this ebook for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Not an easy read. Felt like an important story that needed telling.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Puppet Maker's Daughter" and all opinions expressed are my own. This was an interesting book told about during the war, set in Hungary. I do like to read historical fiction every now and then. This was a good read, makes you think about how horrible it was just to try to survive.

Interesting story of a young woman living in Hungary when the Nazis invaded. Could not get into this story, the main character was developed well but the affect was a little flat. The supporting characters were not developed enough and I felt no connection to them.

A historical fiction portraying the persecution of Jews in Hungary during World War II. I really enjoyed this book and had such feelings of empathy for the characters in the story that are treated in such a way. Not an easy read and gets you thinking about all the poor souls that were lost during those awful times.
Would highly recommend reading this book.

It’s always hard to know how to score Second World War novels ,too low and I feel I’m not supporting the telling of the important stories that need to be told in order that we don’t forget
There are elements in this book which are unique ,I for example did not know how very close the Jews of Hungary got to escaping the eradication plans of the third Reich .This added huge poignancy to the story .With the exception of this I felt I’d read this story before written by others more successfully
As with other books on this genre the tendency is to include as much of the actual historical facts as possible with the consequence that some of the deeper dives into peoples characters are missed and the story becomes rather 2 dimensional and flat
I loved the fact that the young women in the story yearn to go clothes shopping much as a person would today .
As I read I couldn’t help but see the similarities to the present war in Ukraine
The book is a slow starter and doesn’t really come to its own until the final third ,I was glad I stuck with it
I read a copy on NetGalley Uk

A book like this makes me think about how powerful historical fiction can be. Besides giving a voice to people who can't tell their stories anymore, we can also go back in time and hear the sounds and smells - and even experience the harrowing events, and the horrors of times and places that shouldn't be forgotten.

It's rarely more important than in 1944 Budapest. Karla M Jay points out in her author's note that the Jews of Hungary came close to escaping. Within nine months, they went from living under 'restrictive regulations' to wholesale deportations and mass murder of 565,000 men, women, and children.

In the opening line, the Germans have arrived and our knowledge of the inevitable lurks in the background as we follow an apparently ordinary family. In her chilling realization, Marika, a 19-year-old trainee nurse, summed up their situation. She says, "‘The war may be living at our lives eating away at our freedoms, but now it’s found us. If we don’t leave this city, it will surely devour us all.’

Like most people, my knowledge of what actually happened in Budapest was limited to a few stark facts, which is why this book needs to be read by everyone.

Karla Jay has done it again! Written another well researched, compelling novel, this one set in Hungary at the end of World War II. The center of this story is 19-year-old Marika, and her family, struggling to survive, just as the Germans enter Hungary. Hungary had been relatively safe until then, but no longer. Soon, it is not only the Nazis they have to fear, but the Arrow Cross Party. Karla Jay made me feel the terror, deprivation and fear felt by all, as their lives crumbled around them. The unspeakable acts committed by both the Nazis and the Arrow Cross party are beyond belief, and yet, they are all too true. The characters that Karla has created are wonderfully complex, and while her story makes you feel all their sorrow and fear, you also feel their resilience and hope for the future. I learned much about that time period that I did not know, including the existence of the Arrow Cross Party. This is an important book that sheds light on a terrible period in history that should never be forgotten. Karla's book brings that time vividly to life through the lives of the characters and stories she has created. I just loved this book! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

I actually didn’t finish this book. I didn’t find it to be very interesting so I didn’t continue reading. I kept going back to try and read some more but ended up feeling the same way about it, so I discontinued.

We follow Marika and her Jewish family through WWII in Budapest, Hungary. The war arrives late to Hungary in the spring of 1944 but the brutalities are horrifying. It is unfathomable how people could be so full of hatred and do such terrible acts against humanity and yet people still found the strength to survive. I never knew anything about the war in Hungary as most WWII stories focus on the concentration camps and I was completely engrossed in The Puppet Maker's Daughter. This one is totally heartbreaking and something everyone should read. This is a must read.

Hungary 1944. WWII comes late to Budapest but nineteen-year-old Marika believes she and her Jewish family will remain safe, even as Nazi soldiers fill their cobbled streets. With Russians to their east, the Allies to their west, everyone assumes the war is nearly over. But soon, forced out of nursing school, she is pulled into the resistance to rescue orphans and displaced Jews while keeping her family one step ahead of Eichmann’s extermination plans.

The fanatical Arrow Cross Party, a ruthless group that listens to no one including the Germans, unleashes a killing spree on the remaining Jews of Europe. And one day, as peril intensifies, she must make a decision that puts her in extreme danger to save herself, her family, and the orphans she’s sheltered.

I’ve not previously read anything WWII related from the Hungarian perspective and my knowledge is fairly limited so I had no idea that they too were forced into concentration camps.
This story was heart-breaking but so insightful. The friendships that were forged during such an imaginable time were beautiful and Marika’s grit and determination was inspiring, where people like her got such strength from is beyond me.
Thank you to @NetGalley and @ibpalovesindies for the ARC.

This was a hard book to read, but one everyone should read. There is hope and peace at the end of the book, but it takes a painful journey to get there. Not much is widely known about the fate of the Hungarian Jews. They were mostly let alone until 1944 when Eichmann was sent to rid Hungary of the Jews. As if Eichmann were not enough, the Arrow Cross members were a very willing accomplice. Again, not much is known about the Arrow Cross, but they, to put it mildly, were not nice people. It also highlights the actions of Kasztner, whose train helped many Jews to escape, and reminds us of the immeasurable help given the Jews by Carl Lutz ad Raoul Wallenberg. It should be a must read.

A superb historical fiction. I felt drawn to this story, set in Hungary during World War Two; I’ve read plenty of narratives set in France, Britain and Germany but seldom one in Hungary. With Jay’s characters, plot, writing style and vivid descriptions, I was captivated from the opening, all the way through the horror and tragedy, the resilience and bravery, to the close. I would say this is definitely in my top ten World War Two based reads. Full of emotion, well-researched, with a style that flowed seamlessly and was relishing to read, I was utterly absorbed in Marika’s story. A very good read. My first of Jay’s books and I know I will soon be seeking her others to read.

A beautiful, heart-wrenching story illustrating the perilous and often deadly horrors faced by the Hungarian Jews during WWII and the quick slide from normality into barbarism.

Incredible story of a girl and her family in Budapest just before the end of WW2. In only nine months they went from living under restrictive regulations to wholesale mass deportations and the murder of 565,000. The war was almost over, so the Germans wanted to quickly liberate the city of all the Jews, wiping out all generations. This is an important story, and timely with the recent attack on the Ukraine by Russia, and the socialist leaning current government in the US. It shows the steps that lead to such evil and power growth, as well as what happens, the torture and hatred. These are lessons that should never be forgotten. Stories like these personify the horror and persecution that occurred. You can nearly feel every bit of the pain. What's even more incredible is that the Germans themselves are rarely involved in clearing Jews from the villages and steering them into ghettos outside the towns. It’s the local gendarmes who drive the villagers from their homes and allow looting of their properties. The Arrow Cross organizations were really vicious in their treatment of Jews and those who helped them. They were ruthless in hunting them down and executing large groups. Leaves an impression!
I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#ThePuppetMakersDaughter #NetGalley #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout

Nineteen-year-old Marika, forced out of nursing school, believes she and her Jewish family will remain safe, even as Nazi soldiers fill their cobbled streets. With Russians to their east, the Allies to their west, everyone assumes the war is nearly over. Her father, once a prominent engineer, returns to his passion for puppet making. Soon, she is pulled into the resistance to rescue orphans and displaced Jews while keeping her family one step ahead of Eichmann’s extermination plans. A captivating wartime saga…. What a rollercoaster ride this book was!… Totally gripped from the beginning… Grab yourself a copy of this book!

This was heartbreaking and inspiring. Historical fiction is a favorite genre for me and I have read many accounts involving WWII and the tragedies that will always horrify me.... unfortunately is seems there's no end and there's always more stories and accounts that I was unfamiliar with. This was one of those stories, I've read more about Budapest since finishing this book. I would have liked a little bit more of their family life before the war but I felt for these characters without that. The strength and commitment and bits and pieces of humanity and courage, kept a very dark and horrifying situation from being unreadable. This was fast paced, with characters you felt strongly for and as difficult to fathom and read as this was.... the courage and fortitude and determination of the characters is what carried this through and made it well worth finishing. I will look for more from this Author and I am grateful for the opportunity to have read and reviewed in advance of publication. Thank you to the Author and Publisher for offering this book for review.