The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer is an historical fiction novel about two families (one American and one German) whose lives intersect and clash around 1950 in Huntsville, Alabama. The story is told from the prospective of both families and over two different time lines.

Jurgen is a rocket scientist in Nazi German in 1934. He and his wife, Sofie, have no choice but to go along with the Nazi regime if they want to protect their lively hood and family. As the war progresses, it becomes all too clear that they must face some difficult choices and face the devastating consequences either way.

Meanwhile, Lizzie, her parents, and brother, Henry, are trying their best to keep the family farm afloat during the disastrous dust bowl of the 1930s. When the worst happens, Lizzie and Henry know they must leave the farm and try to make a go of things in the city.

When the war is over, Jurgen and Sofie fine themselves in Huntsville, Alabama where Jurgen works for Operation Paperclip, a program developed by the US government to bring German scientist to this country to work with American scientist to further boost the space program here. Lizzie and Henry have also made their way to Huntsville, where Lizzie’s husband, Cal, also works on the space program. With emotions still running high from the war, not everyone is happy to have Germans living and working in their community.

Very interesting but hard to read at times because of all the pain and suffering these two families experience. It is all too easy to see things from both prospectives. Captivating, heart- wrenching, relatable. If you are a fan of WWII novels you don’t want to miss this one.

Kelly Rimmer has written yet another beautiful historical fiction novel. I have loved her previous works and this is no exception. The story is expertly woven across two time periods - the 1930s and the 1950s, two different countries - the U.S. and Germany, and told from two women’s points of view, one American, the other German. The tale unfolds seamlessly across these various elements and what a great tale it is.

I was fascinated by the look at the two women’s stories in 1930s - one dealing with the Great Depression, the other, the growing rise to power of the Nazis - and how their experiences impacted their lives in the post-WWII period. The 1950s timeline was just as compelling - both women ended up living in Huntsville, Alabama when the U.S. brought German rocket scientists to the country to help with the fledgling space program. The two women and their families had to face the consequences of their past actions and the difficult choices they had to make, raising many issues around morality when the cost is high or insurmountable. A very compelling and emotional read.

The German Wife is 448 pages long, yet it never felt too long and I never became bored. The pacing was consistent and the story had me captivated throughout. This will, without a doubt, be one of my top reads of 2022 and it is one I will not soon forget. A wonderful addition to the WWII historical fiction genre.

Thanks to Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The German Wife
by Kelly Rimmer
Pub Date: June 28, 2022
Graydon House
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
* Historical Fiction
This is the 11th book for author Kelly Rimmer. She is the bestselling author of ten novels, including The Secret Daughter and The Things We Cannot Say. She’s sold more than one million books, and her novels have been translated into more than 20 languages.
An impressive, well-researched, and fascinating novel. It is one of the best historical fiction novels I have read this year.
There were three distinct settings…Nazi Germany in the 1930s, a small farm in Oakden, Oklahoma during The Great Depression and the devastating dust storms, and in Huntsville, Alabama in the 1950s. The story was told through alternating points of view from the two women protagonists and switched between the latter time periods and the present one in the 1950s. Great book!
4 stars

I didn't know Kelly Rimmer prior to this book, but I will look out for her in the future. The German Wife is actually about two wives, a German wife and an American wife whose lives intersect in Huntsville due to Operation Paperclip. Paperclip remains a more obscure part of World War II and its aftermath--possibly because it is a great American shame. We took murderers like Wernher von Braun into this country so we could go to the moon. Rimmer attempts to--and succeeds at--offering a somewhat nuanced version of this story. I don't love the dual timeline approach, but since it is my only criticism of the book, I will grant that Rimmer has more than earned her 5 stars.

A duel time line story involving Sophie and Jurgen Rhodes in Nazi Germany in the 1930's with Lizzie and her brother on a farm in the United States during the Depression. Both families converge in Huntsville, Alabama, as the husbands of both women are involved in the space program. The Rhodes familiy, facing prejudice and segregation for their roles in Nazi Germany, affects Lizzie and Cal Miller and especially Lizzie's brother who fought in Europe, losing a lot of his friends and his resulting "combat fatigue . A powerful story of what happens when choices are stripped away and the painful sacrifices made for loved ones exact a high price.

Kelly Rimmer never fails to project people caught up in history and the resulting affect on their lives. She deals with so many emotions in this book--the prejudice against German families in the United States after the war, the affect on famers during the Depression, and the consequences of the emotional instability of soldiers after the war. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my request to be caught up yet again the history presented by the author. I highly recommend this book

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Pub. for allowing me to read this book. It was GREAT!

Another great read by Kelly Rimmer!! If you are a lover of WWII books, this one will not disappoint and will add information that you haven’t read before. The setting of the book changes, and the reader should keep track (I didn’t at first). The setting goes back and forth between Alabama 1950, Dallas Texas 1930’s, and Berlin 1935-to 1945. At first, I wondered where the book was heading. It’s a great read that moves between the lives of three couples and their lives. The reader learned about Rocket making, Nazi’s moving to the United States (invited by the government), and the treatment of Germans and Jews.

Want to learn more about Germany and the United States during WWII and after, read this book. Want a great book that you will not want to put down or end, read this book. Want to learn how the Nazi party “encouraged” men to join the party against their beliefs, read this book.

So in conclusion, READ THIS BOOK, it is that good.

This story will pull at your heart strings because it shows the life of two different women who lived though the horror of WW2, one in America and one in Germany, one whose family was broken apart because some of her family believed in the words of Hilter while other members of her family didn't but even though they was of German blood they had to fellow the rules or pay the price with their lives. While the other one' s brother fright the German's and came back not the same and she like many Americans believed all Germans was the same.But these women are not as different as they think they are for they would fight to the death to protect their love ones . These story will show you the story of both sides, their fear, their struggle, their lose and how the war changed their lives as well as everyone else .

I just finished reading The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer and here is my review!

Two very different women from two very different worlds find themselves both having to live in a post WWII world in small town Alabama. Sofie the wife of a Scientist who wasn’t given the choice not to join the nazi’s and Lizzie, the sister of a war vet who came back not right after the war.

Sofie and her family have been giving the chance at a fresh start after the nazi’s fell, something they wanted so badly. Her best friend is a Jew and she wholeheartedly does not believe in the Reich but Germany isn’t the place it was before. Even expressing a view is punishable by death and Sofie and her husband have to tread carefully or else end up like the Jews themselves.
Lizzie’s brother henry comes back from that war a different person and she cannot help feeling that the people of Germany were all nazi murderers.

Two very different women but have one thing in common, they would go to the ends of the earth for their families.

What I loved most about this book was the different perspectives we got and how the war affected people differently. It was nice to see all the different points of view on this one to really get a feel for how people felt on different sides and in different countries. I wished that Lizzie had learned about Sofie and what they had to endure. You can see that Sofie lived in an impossible situation and Lizzie can be as self righteous as she likes not having been there, she was prejudiced to people with no idea what they went through. Everyone was tarnished with the same brush.

Operation Paperclip was a massive risk for the government and I do see Lizzies perspective that criminals got away with atrocities because the USA had a need for their skills. What a horrific time in history but Lizzies view that all Germans must have been nazis is very naive and rather cold. She makes huge assumptions and there is no room for anyone to tell her differently. After the loss of her parents and her brother not coming back the same, you can tell she isn’t the woman she should be.

I felt the whole book was really well written and the author must have worked for months doing the research. It kept a pretty good pace and I don’t usually enjoy multiple POV over 2 time frames but this worked very well for this book. I felt it gave the whole book a well rounded finish.

I thought the end was very well done and tied up all the loose ends for me.

A really solid 4.5 stars for me. If you are a historical fiction fan with a real passion for WW2 books then this needs to be on your list!

Due out June 28th 2022

Thank you netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is another brilliant story from a master story teller, it was heart wrenching and uplifting at the same time. Kelly has researched so well into the past and created a story that will make the reader really feel the emotions that were so strong, during that time in history. The characters were very vividly portrayed and so real. I absolutely loved this book and read It in two days. Set in two time period and in two countries, the story weaves together the lives of Sofie and Lizzie. Sofie is the German wife with a major past and when her life crosses paths with Lizzie, the American housewife,. From WWll in Germany, with the Nazi to the 1930’s in Texas during the dust storms. Then The two stories converge in the 1950s in Huntsville, Alabama after Lizzie’s husband’s job brings them there,

#Netgalley

I loved this book. No two ways about it.

On the surface, we have two stories. One, a German family caught up in the Nazi regime and being torn between their values and their desperation to protect their family. The other, an American woman caught in the Great Depression with survival for her and her brother as her only goal.

Eventually their stories, and their need for survival, intersect in 1950’s America where prejudice and hope collide.

This story is powerful. It looks at what we will do to survive, how hardship forms us and forces us into action, and how prejudices infiltrate deep into communities.

Rimmer says “I am old enough to know that history is not an archive-it is a crystal ball. People don't change, and political
parties change even less than that.” That phrase was a gut punch and, like a lot of the book, had me seeing way too many similarities between the events of the book and current events. There were parts of it that were an incredibly hard read but I’m so glad I did.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @harpercollins for my advanced copy of this book. I’ve been telling everyone to read it and hope I haven’t hyped it up
Too much.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kelly Rimmer has quickly become an "auto-buy" author for me. She never fails to write a story that draws you in completely. Even these characters, who by default should be unlikeable due to their German positions in WWII are written in an expertly way that has you see America and how they experience it in a relatable way. She has a wonderful gift for details and story-telling, which is why I know that whenever I pick up one of her books, I know that I will spend the entire day reading, because I would not be able to put it down. Highly recommended.

1933 - we meet Lizzie and Henry in the United States and Sofia and Jurgen in Germany.

Lizzie and Henry are children and work on their family’s almost bankrupt farm. Their farm failed, Lizzie married, and Henry was sent to fight in the war. Lizzie really didn’t want to get married, and Henry ended up with PTSD from the war.

Jugren and Sofia are well off until Jurgen is forced out of his job at the university because he wouldn’t comply with the German thinking and as a result had to work for the Germans on the rocket program or be without work and/or in jail.

Jurgen didn’t want to be part of it because he knew the rocket program wasn’t really going to be for rockets but for explosives, but Jurgen had no choice.

1950 - we meet the characters again in the United States.

Lizzie and her husband’s home is in Huntsville, Alabama, and Henry lives with them. Both are not fond of the Germans who are here. The entire town has a difficult time accepting the Germans and their families.

Jurgen has been here for five years working on Operation Paperclip without his family. When his family arrives, the town is to welcome his family and the other German families, but it is a difficult get together - especially for Lizzie and Sofia.

Sofia tried to explain what they really went through and that they didn’t agree but had to. Lizzie and others didn’t want to hear it.

Ms. Rimmer did an amazing job of research. I had never heard of Operation Paperclip/Rocket Program.

THE GERMAN WIFE is simply marvelous...well researched and has a terrific story line.

You will feel all the emotions each character is feeling in both time periods through Ms. Rimmer’s marvelous writing style and learn the difficult times for those who lived in Germany and resisted or spoke out and learn about the Americans who lived here during the depression and through the dust bowl.

Historical fiction fans will not want to miss THE GERMAN WIFE, but be aware readers will also learn of more horrors during WWII and the lingering effects it had on American servicemen. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

I am a threat fan of historical fiction and so was very excited to read this novel focusing on the German scientists that managed to escape justice post WWII by means of working for the US. The story is that of such scientist’s wife that learns just how deep are the secrets surrounding their family’s new life.

Thank you @netgalley and @hachetteaus for a copy of this heartwrenching book.

Thought today, as it is Mother’s Day, it would be a good day to post this book about a mother and wife. The German Wife follows the story of two women - Sofie Rhodes, who is the titular character, and Lizzie Miller, an American.

Sofie’s story line takes us back to the early days of Hitler’s rise in Germany and through the war. Sofie is married to a scientist who is coerced to work for the Reich. Sofie and her husband, Jurgen both disagree with the Nazi ideology, but must choose what is right for their family in such a situation. Sofie sees her older children slowly swallowed into the hateful rhetoric taught at school, and has to sit idle in fear that they will be taken by the Gestapo for opposing the Nazi party.

We also follow Lizzie’s story which takes the reader to the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. Lizzie and her brother, Henry, survive this era, but only after losing their parents and farm. Henry is never quite the same after losing their parents. Lizzie then meets an older man named Calvin, who works for the government, and marries him.

Fast forward to 1950 Huntsville, AL, where Lizzie and Sofie’s worlds meet. Numerous German scientists who had worked for the Nazi party had been secretly brought to the US to work for the US’s rocket program. Jurgen, Sofie’s husband, is one of those men. His boss is Calvin, Lizzie’s husband. Sofie and her two you ger children try to adjust to life in America, but soon find themselves in conflict with Lizzie and other townspeople. What happens when rumors swirl and hatred surfaces?

This book was so beautifully written. There is heartache and hope filled throughout the pages. I also think it would make a great book club pick as there is so much to discuss - the segregated South and how that compares to the Holocaust, what choices would you make to save yourself and your family, and so on.

This is my first Kelly Rimmer book and I cannot wait to read other books by this author. I would say if you like Kristen Hannah’s writing, you would also enjoy this.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

This book is an absolute must read! I highly, highly recommend. It is a emotional riviting story of the very difficult, heart wrenching decision individual faced during and after the war. The history, events of the time period, and details are vivid and accurate. The writer has immediately become one of my must buy book list authors! I am now devouring her books.

A huge thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Told from two main perspectives - Sofie and Lizzie. Sofie, a German wife of a very brilliant scientist working on rockets during WWII and Lizzie, a farmer who left her family home during the Dust Bowl. Their stories/timelines merge after the war but they bring with them all of the resentment and tragedy they both lived through. But in the end, how different are the two women?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Masterfully written, this book touches the soul in a powerful way.

It takes the reader down a path of the darkness during WWII -- which one thinks is so outrageously horrible that it will never happen again. Yet, while reading this story, one can only note similarities from the past that are once again used in the present with the strategies of war: starting with propaganda.

This story links together two different families before and after the war. Sofie and Jurgen live in Berlin with their children and beloved Jewish friend and her mother. Jurgen is a brilliant scientist working reluctantly on an important rocket program. And then in a tiny town of Texas, there is Lizzie, her brother Henry along with her parents. They work on a farm and the soil is too dry for the crops to grow with the lack of rain. They have considerable debt with a cow that must be sold and tractor that is next to go.

These well-defined characters come together in 1950 in Huntsville, Texas where Jurgen is now working on the American rocket program with Lizzie’s husband, Calvin. There is a division between the Americans and German families with a considerable amount of hatred. It’s easy to picture in one’s mind everything that is going on.

There has been a number of books written about WWII. This one has a story that makes you understand the hardships, prejudice, relationships and a totally different approach to what was happening before and after the war. There were times while reading I had to pause to think about the incredible suffering that took place. This was emotional, intense at times with the dangers and through everything, it had a complicated but proper conclusion. It makes one think about the psychological effects of the war from two different perspectives and it creates many questions of: why it continues to happen.

My thanks to Kelly Rimmer, Graydon House Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with the expected release date of June 28, 2022.

Oh, Kelly Rimmer. She is, quite simply, unmatched. Her writing style is so beautiful. She gets to the heart of what it means to be human in all its complexity. Her writing makes me think so deeply and go within myself to think about what I would do if I was put into those impossible situations and how resilient humanity is. Kelly, you’re amazing! Please keep writing all the things and I will keep devouring them!

The German Wife
Kelly Rimmer
6/28/22

I read this book way too fast. I didn't want it to end, but I couldn't stop myself from binge reading it because it was that good. Not only did I love the story, which was an idea I had never read before, but I also loved the premise that not everyone who is evil is purely evil. And not everyone who is good is purely good. Kelly Rimmer is a talented writer and storyteller and I will definitely look for more of her books.

I typically read historical fiction from this era. This was beautifully written and I felt was very well researched. In the beginning, I struggled with the different character names. Once I got about 15% in, I was so engrossed I couldn’t walk away. Absolutely 5 stars.