Cover Image: A Child for the Reich

A Child for the Reich

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

A very emotion read set during WWII when blue-eyed blonde children were being taken by Nazis from the then Czechoslovakia.

A great read - definitely recommend.

Was this review helpful?

Set during world war 2 in Czech Anna is trying to keep her daughter safe from the Germans. There are rumours of children being taken. When Ema is taken Anna does all she can too get her daughter back. A great novel based on true events.

Was this review helpful?

When Anna’s daughter is snatched by nuns looking to provide children for German families, she has no choice but to follow her trail. But as she heads into Germany, can she really hope to get Ema back without being discovered?

A Child for the Reich is a gripping tale, covering a side to the Second World War that many will never have heard about. It highlights, once again, the sheer depravity of the Nazi regime, and the torment and suffering of so many. Anna’s journey from the relative safety of her home in Czechoslovakia to finding work in the home where Ema is held is so well written and keeps the reader focused throughout.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in historical fiction, and a great book for book groups everywhere.

Was this review helpful?

Historical drama set during World War Two at a time when the Nazis were stealing blind hair ,blue eyes children. Heart wrenching and desperate mother's search for her child.

Was this review helpful?

A heart wrenching read.
Nazi scum stole thousands of children from their homes during WWII and most were never recovered.
My heart beat in fear as Anna and Desa try to shield their children from the predators. I felt Anna’s heartache and desperation as she hatched a dangerous bid to get back her child and then another child also appears.
It’s a pulse pounding, have to see what happens kind of book.
It does have a good ending when most of the true life stories didn’t.

Was this review helpful?

When it comes to historical fiction i love anything that's WWII and so expected a lot!!!

Luckily i wasn't disappointed. Great story, great characters and so well threaded together!

Was this review helpful?

This book is based on the fact that over 200000 babies and children were stolen during the war by the nazis. This story, set in Czechoslovakia and Dresden, traces one mothers attempts to find her daughter. Well written. Recommend.

Was this review helpful?

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Andie Newton’s A Child for the Reich is an intensely emotional historical novel that aims for the heart and does not miss.

Keeping her daughter safe and protecting her from harm is Anna Dankova’s number one priority. Since her husband Josef joined the Czech resistance, Anna has been solely responsible for their daughter Ema and she vows to do whatever it takes to ensure that no harm befalls their daughter. However, all of Anna’s worst nightmares come true when the dreaded Brown Sisters – nurses dedicated to Hitler’s cause – rip her dear Ema from her arms in the local marketplace. Beside herself with worry, Anna vows to do whatever it takes to take back what the Nazis have stolen from her – whatever the cost.

As a former actress, Anna has no problem taking on a completely different persona from her own, so going undercover as a devoted German subject eager to prove her worth to the Reich should not be a problem for her. As Anna begins the performance of a lifetime, she soon finds that getting close to Ema is one thing, but convincing her that the Germans are lying when they claim Anna stole her from her true parents is another.

Will Ema ever be returned to her? Or will Anna’s secrets end up costing her everything?

A tear-jerker so moving that it will sever your heartstrings, A Child for the Reich is a poignant, dramatic and compelling historical novel that is impeccably researched, superbly evocative and brilliantly atmospheric. Andie Newton creates complex, flawed and believable characters readers will root for and admire and from the minute they read the first page of A Child for the Reich they will find themselves completely hooked.

Powerful, chilling, heart-breaking and wholly absorbing, Andie Newton’s A Child for the Reich is a first-class historical novel that is hard to put down and even harder to forget.

Was this review helpful?

Fascinating and gripping read. This is an era that I am addicted to reading about. Always learning of more horrors that took place during WWII. Well written. Great story.

Was this review helpful?

A heartbreaking story rich in historical detail. I was not familiar with The Lebensborn Programme and learned so much from this book. It was a terrifying time in history.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

A Child for the Reich is a detailed fast paced story, that hooks the reader from the first page.

Newton has created an interesting and engaging plot by using vivid imagery and research into the hardships and treatment of the jews, the Lebensborn program and the Brown Sisters, who were the Reich women responsible for taking Aryan-looking children from their families in occupied countries and placing them in the care of German families. The writing style is easy to follow with a good mixture of description and dialogue.

The character development of A Child for the Reich gives a great amount of background information and flashbacks enabling the reader to form a deeper connection with each character. The characters are interesting and relatable. I sympathised and emphasised with Anna's character on more than one occasion and quickly became invested in her and her task.

Anna is a courageous and strong woman. Her husband, Josef, joined Czech resistance many years ago. She fluent in German and has a very loving relationship with her 5 year old daughter, Ema. When Ema is taken she feels the lost and devises a dangerous plan in order to get her back, no matter the consequences.

I would suggest reading A Child for the Reich to people who enjoy historical fiction, as it is a emotive character driven story about kidnap and one woman's determindation to find her daughter...

Was this review helpful?

WW2 historical fiction is my absolute favorite. This story is about a mother just trying to get her Child back. She will do anything even get close to the Reicht. A mother's love knows no boundaries.
Anna has been trying to protect her blond haired, blue eyed little girl from the Reicht but when her daughter is stolen out of her arms Anna will do whatever it takes to get her back.
This is book about love, loss and fightening even when the cards are stacked against you amd your not sure how to keep going.
I would highly recommend this book especially if you love historical fiction.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the oppotunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in returnf ro a review based upon my honest opinion.

This was such a beautifully written historical novel. I feel like I have read so many of the same type of books during the war and it is not often I read a different take on such a terrible time in our history. I had never read about the Nazis stealing children to be raised by their own. The characters were well written and relatable, such a tragic story and something I had not heard about or read about before, I quickly was taken with Anna. What would you do to save your child if she was taken; there was no other choice for Anna but to fight.

I look foward to many more books from this author.

Was this review helpful?

Andie Newton has done it again!
I’m not sure what it is about Newtons writing style that makes me feel so comfortable and at home but she is top of the list as my favourite author. From the very first page I am immediately drawn in to the story. I was completely unaware, as I am sure many are, of the Reich stealing babies and children from all over Europe and passing them off as pure Aryan to sell to German families. The atrocities that happened inside these orphanages where they housed the stolen children was absolutely horrendous.

Newton once again has brought to life a wonderfully developed cast of characters. Strong female characters, mothers that will risk it all to protect their children as well as characters that we just love to hate.so very much.

A fictional story based on true facts, A Child For The Reich was a thrilling page turner that I did not want to put down. There were so many twists and turns I was kept on the edge of my seat untilmI closed the book.
I cannot wait to read what Newton releases next!

Thanks to Net Galley and One More Chapter for the advanced copy.

Was this review helpful?

I was not aware that the Nazis were stealing beautiful children from their conquered countries to provide to German families. Lying to the children that they had been stolen and lying to the German families that the children were orphans.

This is a novel. At the end of the novel the author estimates that 200,000 children were potentially stolen and provided to German families for adoption.

Sometimes novels go on and on (in my opinion). Although I reviewed the advance read copy of A Child for the Reich, some parts could have been longer and been embellished for the final version. I would have been ok with that.

Thank you to NetGalley, for yet again introducing me to a new-to-me author. Thank you to Andie Newton the author and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, the publisher. This review is in exchange for the opportunity to read the advance read copy of A Child for the Reich.

Was this review helpful?

This is an interesting WWII novel about families that were torn apart by the programs Germany instituted during the war. Taking children and running experiments on them in one of the atrocities that many people still don’t understand the scope of. The book is well written and the characters come across as genuine. The pacing is good and as the reader progresses, even more sinister acts are revealed.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I found the idea that a Czech woman, whose child was taken by the SS and placed into a program, would be able to obtain a job at the same institution and remain undetected for a long period of time. It may have been more plausible if she hadn’t been a local vendor and known to many of the Germans.


I received an ARC from Harper Collins, One More Chapter through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

Was this review helpful?

I couldn’t put this WWII historical fiction book down!

This book tells the story of a family affected by the German Arayan program where women called Brown Sisters would kidnap Arayan-looking children to be raised by German families. It also mentions the Lebensborn Program which was about producing an Arayan race for Germany.

I loved Anna’s determination to get her daughter back. She flirted with danger every day she was in enemy territory which made the story exciting because you never knew what would happen next or if she would be caught. I liked that she had a few Allies to give her hope. The story was a little heartbreaking but so inspiring. It has a great ending! If you like reading books set during the war, you will enjoy this book!

Thank you to @netgalley and @harpercollinsuk for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Was this review helpful?

A Child for the Reich by Andie Newton is a moving story of the battle one Czech mother, Anna, takes to hunt down her young daughter, who has been kidnapped by the Reich to be entered into the Lebensborn programme in Germany, to be raised as an Aryan child.

I was familiar with the concept of Lebensborn programme in which the creation of racially pure and healthy Aryan children was actively sought by the Nazis. What I was unaware of was that children in occupied countries were ripped from the arms of their parents if they looked like ethnic Germans with blonde hair and blue eyes, and taken to Germany or to one of their nurseries in the occupied countries and then adopted by Germans.

In this poignant story, former actress Anna has her daughter Ema taken from her. Utilising her acting skills, Anna heads to Dresden in Germany from Czechoslovakia, under the guise of a good German woman to find her daughter. I think as a parent it’s really easy to identify with Anna, as I would travel to the ends of the earth in her situation.

I loved the comparison of life in occupied Czechoslovakia, being treated as second-class citizens as Czechs compared to the Germans who lived there, and the life that Anna lived while she was working in the nursery, with the availability of luxurious soap and rich foods that had long since been unavailable to her in Occupied Czechoslovakia.

I liked Anna’s connection with Kurt the gardener on the estate the nursery occupied, both with secrets to hide, but willing to put their trust in one another.

Although immensely relatable, this poignant book had an escalating tension, with many moments where I found my heart pounding madly, and I found myself thinking about it when I was busy doing other things. I would love to see it made into a movie, it has the dramatic quality that would work perfectly, with a strong and determined heroine.

Was this review helpful?

Set in 1944, A Child For The Reich has been both an enlightening and compelling story. While this is fiction, it depicts the story of thousands of children stolen from their families as babies and toddlers by the Nazis to be adopted and raised by German families under the Lebensborn program. This story is gut wrenching, yet the courage of heroine Anna is truly inspiring. I couldn’t put this book down.

Was this review helpful?

Historical Fiction fan?
Women's Fiction fan?
Either way you slice it, today's book is for you!

I've read quite a few books set in and around WWII, but this is the first time I'm reading one from the Czech perspective, and encountering a new branch of the evil that existed... the Brown Sisters. Don't be filled by the term "Sisters" because they are neither religious nor related. No, these women were some of the most feared by mother's left behind with young children...or rather blue eyed, blond haired children. That's right. They weren't content with destroying the world at large. They had to take the most precious thing anyone can ever be granted... children. They justified it because those they took looked like they belonged with those in the Reich's favor, and how could they leave them with those they viewed as unworthy?

The lengths to which a people will go to take what they feel is theirs. The inner strength some will find when all has been spent in order to save those they love. Both are on display between the epages, riddled with moments of heartbreak, despair, and the most tender of emotions...HOPE. You can't help but get caught up in all the feels on display as you fear for your life after a dark secret is inadvertently created by a sibling. You can't help but feel the weight of the world on your shoulders when those you know and love keep disappearing. You don't know the incredible strength you'll find when all seems lost, yet you're their last hope. This moving story brings to life a chapter from our shared history, paints it in truth, and leaves it out to dry like nobody's business. It'll keep you turning pages as everything seems utterly lost, only to gain potential ground as you hold your breath, and await for final sentence.

Was this review helpful?