I love Kagan's ability to continue to write books that draw me in EVERY SINGLE TIME. I don't need time to "get into" her stories. As soon as I read the first page I'm already invested. This was another great installment of Margo's journey. There seems to be a little more depth to the characters and the story line this time around which I quite enjoyed and of course Kagan writes villians you love to hate.
An enjoyable read once again and I look forward to picking up some other Kagan series that I have not yet read.

Thanks to Net Galley and Book Whisperer for the advanced copy.

I thought that the story was good but that the conversation between the characters was extremely shallow and lacked real substance.

This book continues the story of three sisters. For a while I didn't know if I would be able to finish this book, but I did. One reason for that is that Kagan's bad characters are really bad, really accurate. Also, she presented a very accurate pogram protrayal . I had to take breaks from the intensity. This story is continuing and I do want to know what happens next. I read an electronic copy courtesy of Net Galley. I am reviewing of my own free will.

Erik's Illness

This is the second installment of the Margot's Secret series. It hinges on the sisters Trudy and Margot and their husband's Rudy and Max. Trudy is married to Rudy but secretly in love with Max. She is jealous of her sister Margot for being married to Max.

Rudy is an SS officer in the Nazi army. Max is talked into joining the party because he and Margot's son Erik is ill and needs medical help. Rudy tells Max that if he joins the party they will help Erik get medical help. Too late he learns what this help is.

This book brings into text the Nazi parties rules on people that are not perfect, that may have deformities or medical conditions. The program the Nazi's developed to deal with people they deemed to be unworthy of their society.

It is also about the worsening of the persecution of the Jewish population in Germany.
It is about a sister that will go to any lengths, and does, to be with her sister's husband and to destroy the sister she loathes. She holds a deadly secret of Margot's that she uses to cause deadly consequences.

This was a good second book in the series and I enjoyed reading it.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of the book to read and review.

A Heart Breaking but Brilliant Story.
An Innocent Child is a historical fiction book by Roberta Kagan. This book is the second in the Margot’s Secret series by this author. I highly recommended to start with the first book The Secret They Hide which really brings the characters to life.
At the beginning of this book, you are brought up to date on the lives of the three sisters and their husbands. Margot does not get along particularly well with her twin sisters Trudy and Mattie. Margot and Max who have an extremely sick son and their friend Ben who is a Jewish doctor does everything he can for Erik but that all changes when the laws against Jews go into effect. Ben is forbidden from having anything to do with the family and this sadly is where their friendship must end for the safety of both family’s.
Rudy inform Margot and Max that Erik will have better medical services available to them for their son if Max joins the party as Rudy is in the SS. Max after discussing this option with Margot joins against his better judgement believing this will help and benefit Erik.
Rudy and Trudy are the perfect examples of Germans who believe Jews are worthless as the goal of Germany under Hitler is to have a pure Aryan society and any disability deserves to be exterminated.
The book is professionally written, and the characters are well developed. Just when you think you know what is going to happen something unexpected changes in this book. The characters continue to grow and change. The book is beautifully written with real heart and honesty and is a beautiful and moving story about survival and kinship Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Fast-paced. Riveting. Emotional. Suspenseful. This book brings it ALL! It was an artful melding of heart-pounding thrills and nail-biting suspense.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

This was a very hard book to read. Not light reading by any means but an important part of WWII life to remember.

This is book 2 in a series.
They are available via kindle unlimited.
Set during Germanys war with Nazis this book and the rest of the series are wonderful depictions of hard times and the difficult choices people make.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

After reading The Secret hey Hid, I couldn’t wait to read the next in book in the series, An Innocent Child. Kagan draws us in to the different facets of German life during WWII. Real people, real flaws. Some fall in to the trap of believing the propaganda. Others see through it and try to stand up to it, but also want to do what is best for their families. What choices would you make to save your child? I can’t wait for book 3.

In her latest novel, Roberta Kagan brings the terrors of 1930s Germany to life. Once again following Margot, her husband Max, her sister Trudy and her husband, her son Erik, and her friend Ben, readers, through Margot’s eyes, discover the horrors of living with a handicapped child under Nazi rule. As laws about Jews grow increasingly oppressive and Erik’s condition worsens, Margot and Max must make some heartbreaking decisions to keep their son and friends safe while also protecting themselves from Nazi persecution. Trudy and her husband, however, enjoy the power, protection, and favor of the Nazis, but hidden factors strain their marriage. Kagan once again brings the emotions of this precipitous period of German history to life in this novel, and she really makes the readers feel the terror, anger, jealousy, and fear that Margot, Max, Trudy, and Ben all feel as the Nazis grow more powerful. The characters are, of course, brilliantly written and well-developed, and they continue to change and grow as the novel progresses. Readers will lose themselves in Kagan’s characters and settings, both of which are vibrant, alive, and incredibly dynamic; this is a strong sequel to the previous book in the series, The Secret They Hid.

An Innocent Child, by Roberta Kagan, is the second in the Margot's Secret series. While it is not a necessity to read the first entry in this series, I do recommend readers do so as it will add context to both the family dynamics and the historical period. These are the early years of Hitler's reign when he is just getting organized, and neither gentile nor Jewish Germans can foresee the ultimate endgame. Against the darkening political clouds, Kagan presents a family drama filled with chaos, love triangles, competition, and ultimate tragedy.

Kagan's strength is her ability to plot a family drama interwoven with the most abhorrent historical period. She exposes the horrors of the Nazi regime in a straightforward manner that actually emphasizes the savagery and inhumanity. However, Kagan's weakness is her characters. They lack dimension and are either all good or profoundly evil.

While this novel merits only three stars for me, I confess that I am looking forward to the next installment in the series. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Book Whisperer for the opportunity to read a digital ARC.

The second in a series and another cliffhanger!! Kagan's books are difficult reads because of the subject matter and many characters who are evil, but that is what happens when writing books about Nazi's. However, maybe readers reading her books today will get a better understanding of anti semitism, and realize why what is happening today is fanning flames that should be put out, as Never Again seems to be happening again.
We once again meet the sisters from the first book, especially Trudy and Margot.
Truly has married a rising Nazi and Margot has married Max, but stayed friends with Ben,who is now a doctor.
But after Kristellnacht ( the 85th anniversary, which was commemorated yesterday) life for Jews in Germany becomes even more perilous.
Reading these books, knowing what is coming, is quite heartbreaking. I will be watching for the next one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Book Whisperer for my EARC in exchange for an honest review.

An Innocent Child by Roberta Kagan is the next chapter in the lives of Leo and Adelaide, and Trudy, Mattie, and Margot. Mostly people don’t change when they get older, outside of something catastrophic, like Adelaide’s husband, Alex, being burned with mustard gas and losing his good looks. His looks were pretty much all he had and when they were gone, there was nothing much left. Adelaide and Leo had been living as husband and wife for years when Alex finally died. In fact, his death, didn’t really affect much of anyone. The girls were older now and Trudy and Margot were both married: Margot to Alex, a carpenter, and Trudy to Rudy, a wealthy Nazi officer. Margot was happy with Alex and they had a beautiful son, Erik. She was still in love with her Jewish friend, Ben, but both of them had put that aside as it was no longer possible in the political climate in Germany. Trudy did not like her husband all that much much but she liked his money and what it could buy. She was still carrying the secret she had overheard about Margot years before and knew she would use it when the time was right.

Trudy was Kagan’s best character, as villains often are. She was greedy, proud, and vain. Her husband wanted her only for the children she could produce. She didn’t want children. He fooled around; she dreamed about Alex, her sister’s husband. Their son, Erik’s, bout with whooping cough had left him with seizures and general weakness, including several poorly formed limbs. Margot and Alex were desperate to get him help. At first, Ben, who had been a medical student helped, but when that became too dangerous, they sought out actual doctors. What followed was a Nazi dream and everyone else’s nightmare. It is a gently told story but doesn’t skimp on the details. It is easy to read and to follow and becomes a living-hell for so many. Well done, Kagan.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of An Innocent Child by Book Whisperer, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #BookWhisperer #RobertaKagan #AnInnocentChild

I love Robertas writing. She really brings the characters to life and makes them and their situations relatable so you can really put yourself into their shoes. This was a great continuation of the storyline. I highly recommend to readers of historical fiction.

This is the second in the Margot’s Secret trilogy. I appreciated having read book 1 before this, but it really can be read as a standalone.
As with other books by Roberta Kagan, it involves many characters to keep track of and a storyline which is all of the following: absorbing, informative, dramatic, emotional and at times deeply unsettling.
Margot and her husband Max have a son, Erik, who contracts whooping cough at a young age. Without treatment, he recovers but has significant after effects. Margot and Max have stayed out of the Nazi political situation, but Max is forced to join the party in the hopes of getting Erik treatment to improve the quality of his life. What they don’t realize is that less than perfect Aryan individuals are not going to survive in the planned Nazi societal structure. This primary storyline along with other dynamics involving extended family and friends round out a gripping and very disturbing picture of Germany in 1938 and 1939.
Overall I like Ms. Kagan’s works, particularly the characters and storylines. The characters are well developed and relatable. The stories need telling and are highly relevant to today. I do sometimes find the writing too simplistic and repetitious.
Thank you to the author, the Book Whisperer, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. I normally do not read Historical Fiction, but Roberta Kagan writes them to where I really enjoy them. I can't wait to read others by this author. I would definitely recommend this book.

An Innocent Child is not an easy read due to the main theme - the desire to create a pure race, the Aryan race, under Hitler's guidance. Margot's son, Erik, is chronically ill and depends on the care of her friend, a Jewish doctor. The child's as well as her family's lives will be totally disrupted because of the ways society was supposed to behave under Hitler's stronghold. Ms. Kagan's stories, although fiction, might have happened in real life and should be told and read by all in order to help avoid these awful mistakes from happening again.
I thank Ms. Kagan, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Historical drama giving us a closer look at what happened to Germans and Jews in the lead up to and during the war. This is the second in this series and it is best if read in sequence..

"An Innocent Child" by Roberta Kagan is a tale set within Nazi Germany. Margot's heart-wrenching journey, torn between love, duty, and devastating circumstances, pulls at the core essence of familial ties and moral choices.

Kagan transported me to a time when the world was in turmoil. Margot's story is grounded in love, sacrifice, and the complexities of human relationships. The characters are beautifully fleshed out, each bearing the burden of their choices amid the imminent danger of anti-Semitic persecution.

Margot struggles between her loyalty to her husband, Max, and the Jewish doctor, Ben. These dynamics and the ethical dilemmas that arise are portrayed magnificently. The narrative threads create plot elements of tension and suspense that kept me engrossed until the very end.

The portrayal of Erik's illness and the dire choices made in desperation strike a chord, stirring empathy and emotional connection. Kagan doesn't shy away from the brutal realities of the time, capturing the fear, danger, and moral ambiguity of wartime Germany.

"An Innocent Child" reminds us of the resilience, sacrifice, and enduring power of love in the face of adversity. The novel unveils the untold stories of bravery that perseveres through the darkest of times.

"Love and sacrifice woven through the shadows of Nazism."

"A brilliant illustration of the resilience amid the turbulent era of World War II."

"Kagan reveals the human spirit's unyielding strength against adversity."

"A captivating story of familial bonds tested by the harrowing specter of anti-Semitism."

"An emotionally charged exploration of love, loyalty, and heart-wrenching choices."

"A haunting saga set against the backdrop of wartime Germany's turbulent landscapes."

"A riveting story of hope and despair amidst the rise of Nazism's dark clouds."

"A moving portrayal of sacrifices made and secrets held amid perilous times."

"A deeply touching account of love's endurance through the fires of conflict."

"'An Innocent Child' captures the heart's resilience amidst the shadows of war."

Roberta Kagan researches and writes books that need to be told about the Nazis during WWII. This is the second in this series and I plan to read the first as well as new ones in this series. The characters are quite memorable. She also does an outstanding job of describing scenes. This is partially the story of greed, jealousy, and betrayal. This book describes Crystal night and a program established to euthanize children who are considered defective by Hitler. Another reviewer says we need to have books like this so no one ever forgets what happened. I agree. This is my honest review of this ARC. If you enjoy books set during WWII, I highly recommend. There are moments in this book to cheer us. For example, a parent’s love for their child, the unwavering love of spouses when times are tough.