4 stars for a historical fiction book about Heinrich Himmler's Lebensborn Program of N**i Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of producing babies for the Reich.
The book opens in the present day, when Katrine finds a box of letters and documents about her mother's time in Germany during and before WWII. She is horrified when she sees a picture of her father in a N**i SS uniform. Allina, her mother, has never told Katrine about her life in Germany. She now agrees to tell her everything. It is now 63 years since they arrived in the US.
Allina led a happy life in the small village of Badensburg, where she worked in her Uncle's bookshop and helped her Aunt make strudel. Then her life is destroyed when German soldiers come to the village and kill everyone except her. She is a beautiful woman and Gud, the commander, takes her in his car and rapes her. He drops her off at a Lebensborn home and tells her that he will be back periodically for visits.
The head nurse at the home trains her to be a nurse for the babies. How she meets the man who marries her, protects her from Gud, and her escape to the US makes for a story of courage and sadness.
The author did a great deal of research on the Lebensborn program.
One quote from an actual Lebensborn brochure: "A man can die peacefully if he knows his family and everything he and his ancestors have worked for will continue through his children. The best gift for a widow is the children of the man she loved."
Thank You Sara Eslami at St. Martin's Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley
Update Oct 4, 2024: My wife just read this book and she says 5 stars. It made her angry, sad and disgusted. She added that some people deserved to die.

Pub Date Nov 12 2024

Work of fiction but based on historical facts. It’s about the Lebensborn program (a secret, program increasing the number of children born who met the Nazi standards of racially pure & health”). As with all stories related to all things Nazi/Hitler it’s a horror to read but the story sticks with you. While this tells the tale of a grief-stricken and abused young women brought into the program and works as a nurse, it’s a story of secrets, hardships, friendship, love, and determination. The love of new husband, how they worked together, and how he kept her safe. How this determined young woman, an unwilling participant of the program, found the ability to improve the lives of some of the children prior to having to escape. The escape to America with her daughter to create a new life and kept her secret for years until her daughter finds her hidden box. Researched very well, wonderful pacing, informative and entertaining. A wonderful debut.

An absolutely stunning debut, Allegri uses a deft hand to write a challenging story about a dark part of history too often ignored. She provides a beautiful and heartbreaking portrayal of the horrors of life Nazi Germany, the things people are willing to do to survive, and the battle to reconcile the people we love with the history they lived.

This is an important book that should be read by everyone.

While the subject matter is undeniably compelling, I found it challenging to stay fully immersed in the book. The pacing felt uneven, with some parts dragging on while others rushed through key moments that deserved more depth and attention.

Ultimately, The Sunflower House presents a captivating story with plenty of potential, but it didn’t hold my attention as much as I’d hoped. The historical context is thought-provoking, yet the slow pacing and underdeveloped emotional arcs made it harder to remain engaged. It's an insightful read for its historical details, but some readers may find it difficult to push through.

An intense and highly charged look at the Lebensborn project and its abuse of the women and children in its system, as well as a terrific and tragic romance between two people who really cared for people in the face of horror.

A disturbing and heartbreaking portrayal of yet another Nazi atrocity in which young women bore children in an institution solely to bolster the aryan race. The characters are well-drawn and the story has a nice flow to it with vivid descriptions detailing the terrible events taking place. This will be a hit with book clubs. For fans of Heather Morris and
Mario Escobar.

This story takes place in Germany, where a woman named Allina is taken to work as an aide at a reproductive facility. There, she learns that the children are not treated equally due to the specific racial preference they seek. She meets a Lieutenant named Karl and learns that he wants to save the unwanted children. They plan an escape together; however, Karl is relocated, leaving Allina to follow through with the escape on her own.

What a tense story! Allina and Karl were heroic. They knew the dangers they were putting themselves in and still fought for what they believed. This story takes a different angle where the story is about Germans who didn’t agree with what the Reich wanted. However, there’s a twist. Both Allina and Karl were not fully Germans and had to forge their documents in order to survive and have access to personal files.

I enjoyed this story. It was well written and researched.

A Historical Fiction and Romance novel

1939 in a sleepy German village life will change for ever.

This meticulously researched novel uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. This is a tale of Allina Straus, a Mischling, who was forced into service as a nurse at a state run baby factory called Hochland Home. There she discovers the horrors of the eugenics program. The sole purpose of these homes was to perpetuate the Aryan population by giving birth to thousands of babies who later would be adopted. Allina must keep her Jewish identity a secret in order to survive and not only save herself but the children in her care.

Through the eyes of Allina this tale is one of determination to resist and survive and is more than the SS Lebensborn program it also is one involving a mother-daughter narrative and family secrets hidden in a box embossed with a swastika. Curiosity and questions arise and a heartbreaking story is told. It opens in the present day when Katrine finds the box of letters belonging to her mother. Allina agrees to tell her everything...

“The Sunflower House” is also a love story. When Allina met Karl, a high-ranking SS with his own secrets they marry and join force to save as many children as they can.

I was pulled in from the very start. Not only this story is a fascinating one it is very active, well-said and well researched. It is also easy to empathize with the main characters; they are so realistic I even forgot they weren’t real. Although this novel is a fiction historical truths are woven in, sadly too real.

I enjoyed reading “The Sunflower House”. The story is very compelling and emotional.

Secrets are slowly and carefully doled out in the Sunflower House. The book centers around a very painful time in Germany. Pregnant women and those wanting to birth a pure Aryan child are taken care of in the Lebensborn program. Allina, the main character, works there and wants to find a way to help the children who are not fit for adoption. She connects with a Nazi officer who has a story and secrets of his own. The Sunflower House is a powerful novel.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️From Publisher St. Martin's Press: In a sleepy German village, Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic. But it's 1939, Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s family hides a terrifying secret—her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling.

One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.

The Sunflower House is a meticulously-researched debut historical novel from Adriana Allegri that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families. Allina must keep her Jewish identity a secret in order to survive.

When Allina meets Karl, a high-ranking SS officer with secrets of his own, the two must decide how much they are willing to share with each other—and how much they can stand to risk as they join forces to save as many children as they can.
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My review: I spent the entire book being nervous, worried, scared, and uncomfortable. But I guess Nazis can do that to a person.
Allina and Karl are brilliant and brave. The book goes between two timelines as we learn about Allina's life in Europe as the world gears up for war. Secrets that families keep for safety come into play in both timelines.

I was not very knowledgeable about the "orphan" homes in Germany and the novel led me to some research. The mark of a good historical fiction book for me is how much research I end up having to do. This one hit the mark.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance digital copy in exchange for my review.

I appreciate NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of Adriana Allegri's The Sunflower House. I'd heard of the Lebensborn Programs in Nazi Germany before but didn't know much about them. Alina ends up living in one after a terrible experience. In the span of a few days, she finds out her late mother, who died when she was very young, was Jewish - not a good thing to be in Germany. Her small village is attacked by Nazi soldiers and she narrowly escapes death when she is "saved" by a German officer and taken to a Lebensborn home. While there she realizes that things at the home are not as they seem. Below the beautiful art and furnishings on the surface, terrible things are happening to the children. She meets Karl, a high-ranking SS Officer, who also is hiding a secret. Together they try to make things better for the children and fall in love. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next - would they save the children and themselves? I found myself rooting for the pair throughout the book.

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri

Have you ever heard of the Lebensborn Program? Part of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program consisted of housing and providing for pregnant “Aryan” women with financial assistance, a series of private maternity homes where they could live and give birth, and adoption services. But the program was so much more (or less, depending on how you look at it). Young women taken into the program were encouraged to "mingle" with the SS soldiers who visited the homes for a variety of "social" activities. The homes were baby factories of only the purist of Aryan children. The program was expanded eventually to include the kidnapping of “biologically valuable" children to be adopted by German couples deemed to be excellent party members. Any children that did not meet the standards of perfection were eliminated in one way or another.

In 1939, sixteen year old Allina Strauss lives in a small village with her aunt and uncle. When Allina's family and most of her village is wiped out by German soldiers looking for traitors to the party, Allina is severely beaten and more and then is made to work as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. Among the many horrors that Allina witnesses is the fact that the babies are not to be touched any more than absolutely necessary to clean them, change diapers, and feed them. Those are the lucky babies, the babies deemed suitable to carry on the Aryan race. There are worse horrors at this house and Allina will do whatever she can to help the children.

Allina is under the protection of the brute who brought her to the house and later to a Karl, a high-ranking SS officer who isn't like the other officers. This is such a difficult story, seeing all the devastation of lives, the use of humans that are disposed of once they are no longer useful. Plus, learning the background of Karl and the guilt that eats at him even while he is trying to help what children he can help. Karl's story is heartbreaking in its own way and I was torn in so many directions by the choices he made in the past, by all his choices.

I'm ready to read whatever Adriana Allegri writes next. I could not put this story down despite knowing my heart would be broken. I applaud the way she handled the two timelines set so far apart in time. We see only what we need to see in the present day and instead get to be with Allina in her younger days, as she lives events that will be a part of her for the rest of her life, even if she keeps them locked up in her heart.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, SMP Influencers program, and NetGalley for this ARC.

While this fine historical novel about the Lebensborn houses that were run as part of the Nazi’s eugenics program started out in a formulaic way - contemporary woman discovers the story of her past, dissolve to the past, end with contemporary woman’s reconciliation with her past - it far outstrips the more usual novel of its genre, primarily due to author Adriana Allegri’s strong writing. With the exception of the chapter about Karl’s experience after death, The Sunflower House is a believable novel with strong characters, a plot that draws the reader in and keeps her there, and vivid scenes. The story moves at a face pace. Readers of historical fiction will be pleased to find this book. Recommended.

"Every life matters."

“The madness cannot end while he lives.”

When Allina’s grown daughter discovers a wooden box decorated with a swastika hidden under floorboards in her mother’s closet, curiosity, questions arise.
A heartbreaking story is told.
This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.
I was pulled in from the start and found myself crying many times throughout the book. Once again I learned something new about the Nazi Party.
As Allina starts to tell her story of losing her entire family. How she ends up in a Lebesborn home, one of the Reich’s secrets. A horrifying secret, a baby factory where young women lived and gave birth to babies adopted to populate racial ideas of the Nazi Party.
Family secrets are revealed as Allina fights to save herself and as many others as possible.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this poignant and well written book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Sunflower House" and all opinions expressed are my own. I thought that this book was really good. I liked learning about this aspect of history that I haven't read about before. I was really interested as I was reading the story. Definitely heartbreaking story but there was also love and secrets. Overall I loved this book.

We meet Allina in present day and at 86 years old when her daughter brings her home from the hospital.

While her mother was resting, Katrine went upstairs to clean up what her mother had fallen on and came across a box with papers inside and with a swastika on top. Was my mother a Nazi?

When she looks up, her mother is in the doorway

Her mother decides that she needs to tell her daughter how they got to America and what she dealt with while she was in Germany.

We are taken back to 1938 when Allina‘s village is raided and all the residents were slaughtered.

A German officer saved Allina from it all, but she said she would rather have perished with everyone else than to go through what she had to go through.

The officer took her to "Hochland Home" which was the first

Lebensborn facility where German women were required to have babies to German officers to make sure the "perfect" race was not wiped out.

The rules and guidelines enforced by Heinrich Himmler for the women and especially the babies and children made Allina sick. They were so strict and uncaring.

SUNFLOWER HOUSE is a heartbreaking but enlightening read where secrets were kept for years and where the reader can’t believe it happened.

A marvelous debut - wonderful research, wonderful, pull-you-in writing, and some tender moments despite what was going on.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

I’ve read a lot of historical fiction and nonfiction about World War II and this book definitely sits in the recommended category. The book is about Allina Strauss - the main character, who is living a carefree life in a German village. On the cusp of adulthood, life is good and she has much to look forward to. But all is not what it seems. She discovers that her birth mother is Jewish, and in 1939 Germany, that is frighteningly devastating as Hitler and his comrades, especially Heinrich Himmler, are on a mission to implement their eugenics program. As her village is targeted (not revealing why) and destroyed, Allina is forced to work in Hochland Home where the objective is to ensure that pure-bred children are born and placed in Nazi families. To survive, Allina has to conform. But on learning of the secret floor of neglected children, she daringly risks all together with Karl, a high-ranking SS officer who has secrets and demons of his own, to save the children. This book drew me in immediately. It was fast paced and kept me turning the pages. I enjoyed how the author structured the storyline - a short glimpse into the present, and then taking us back to the past. The characters leaped across the pages and felt real with their array of emotions as they grappled with the enormity of their situations and utter disregard for humans by Nazi Germany. History and the world in general tend to paint things in stark terms - one side was good, the other bad. But there were many people, as this book illustrates, who supposedly fell in line and conformed, but who clandestinely worked tirelessly to save countless lives at their own peril. This book kept me engaged and interested and I did not want to put it down - the hallmark of a successful novel. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Such a stunning, sad, touching, and beautiful story. This book follows a narrative tale taking place within the Lebensborn program, where women were housed in particular "homes" and carried "Aryan" children for the Nazi officers. It was extremely well-researched and the characters were so wonderfully complex. I would definitely point out there is a sexual assault trigger in here. I greatly enjoyed learning about something that I did not have much of a knowledge of prior, and knowing there was a great deal of research done for this really showed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fantastic, authentic, historical fiction novel.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Historical fiction piece, WWII era, Germany.
Alina is a young woman who has just lost all of her family. She is forced to work as a nurse to German mothers and their babies, fathered by Nazi soldiers. Allina finds that this perfect Aryan race isn’t so perfect. Most babies are adopted out to Nazi families but the slow non-conforming babies are eventually put to death.
Allina forms an alliance with a commanding Nazi officer, Karl. They are both committed to trying to save the children of Germany, the not so perfect and the ones of the “wrong” heritage (a heritage that both of them secretly share).
Although I loved the concept for this book, I think it could have been even further developed. We find little out about HOW Karl gets children out of Germany. Great story though and pretty heartbreaking.

It’s interesting when you think you know your parents well but you actually don’t until you hit upon their secrets, right? Well this is what happened in this novel and I love this type of setting. A daughter stumbled upon a secret which her mother kept for many, many years. The mother was forced to tell because she has no choice.
She starts her version of how she was involved in war when she was a teen. Her little town was taken over by the Germans. Her family was killed in this process and she was brutally taken away from her hometown only to be assaulted. Her betrothed was in another city doing underground work saving Jews. The high ranking German officer decided that the main POV should work at the place where they breed the young women for pure blooded Aryan babies thinking he had impregnated her. She has kept her identity as being a Jew thanks to her her uncle and her betrothed.
From there it describes the conditions of the place of women, nurses, German soldiers, and babies. She also falls in love with a German officer who’s also in love with her. She struggles to have the toddlers well taken care with other nurses after finding them abandoned/not well taken care off upstairs. It was quite a journey for both them.
It was an enjoyable read. It’s not a fast paced reading. This is a novel based on WWll that I haven’t even thought about but would be interested doing a research on it.
I’d give a high four stars.
Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this eARC. As usual, all of my reviews are purely my own opinions without any influence from any publisher.