The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri is one of the best books that I have read about World War 2. It was so heartbreaking to read about all the cruel things that happened to the children in the Lebensborn Program that was put in place by the Nazis. The story was very fast paced and informative. I loved the love story between Allina and Karl. There were so many secrets that had to be kept. I highly recommend this book. It will be released November 12,2024.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s press and the author for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

There is so much to say about this book. The story of love and sacrifice. Friendships that bloom in the most difficult circumstances. This was an interesting take of WW2 and just gives a glimpse from another perspective the terror that happened so long ago. How the strength and perseverance can be hidden so well no one sees until decades later and only by finding an item hidden in a floor board. This story will stay with me for years. The author did a fabulous job between the past and the present. Story-telling at its finest.

I am thankful to the author and netgalley for the opportunity for an early read. ❤️❤️

Wow. This historical fiction novel sheds light on the Lebensborn program in Nazi Germany during WW2. Allina is living a happy life with her aunt and uncle and engaged to man she loves, until everything is ripped away from her and she’s forced to move to the Hochsland Home. As she navigates the rules of the place, she finds friendship and love in unexpected ways.

For someone who knows only what school textbooks have taught me about this time period, this novel was eye opening and heart breaking. A great read for any audience.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the arc.

What a great debut! If you love emotional and heartbreaking WWII stories with strong female leads, go ahead and pick this one up when it publishes in November.

This book follows Allina Strauss, a German girl in a rural town. Her village is attacked, and she is taken to work as a nurse at a Lebensborn house. Years later, her daughter finds a hidden box with a swastika on top. What has her family been hiding all these years?

This was a wonderfully written and researched story. I rooted for Allina from the start as she did her best to help as many people as she could, all while trying to cope with her grief and trauma and survive.

Moments of beauty were juxtaposed with detailing the atrocities at this time. Some parts were very difficult to read, but then there were lighthearted moments intertwined with Allina falling in love and all the friendships she made. This helps the reader feel a sense of hope.

🚫 TW: SA, child abuse/neglect

This is a fascinating look at the horrors of Nazi Germany and its after-effects all the way into the present. It begins in the summer of 1938 with Allina and Albert as Albert leaves for Berlin and Allina makes some frightening discoveries. It's one of those novels that you have trouble believing what you read as it exposes facts we don't often learn from the history books we read as children. But it's also a love story and a tale of compassion even as we witness the atrocities that the war caused.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

What a beautifully tragic story. This historical tale set in both the present and right before World War II. When Katrina finds a wooden box with a swastika on the cover, she knows she must ask her mother, Allina Strauss about it. Allina was raised by her Aunt and Uncle in a quiet German village but as the Nazis come into power, the village and its villagers begin to change. Allina is caught in the aftermath and sent to become a nurse at a Nazi baby factory. This story tells about the horrific time during the rise of the Nazi party, the unimaginable, the terror and as well the perseverance for believing and doing what is right even when it costs you.

The author captures the horrors of this timeframe as well as the beauty that can be found in those dark times. Well researched and although a fiction, the accuracy presented provides a detailed scene in which the story unfolds. Well done, this is a story worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. It’s challenging to say I ‘enjoyed’ this book given its subject matter, which details the horrific experiences of children in Nazi Germany. Although I had some prior knowledge of the Lebensborn program, this book was exceptionally well-researched and seamlessly wove a poignant story into such a dark period. I particularly appreciated how the author skillfully alternated between past and present narratives.”

The Sunflower House offers a deeply immersive and haunting portrayal of the Lebensborn Program during WWII in Germany. The story masterfully navigates the treacherous social landscape of the era, where characters must maneuver carefully to avoid raising suspicions while confronting the harrowing reality of friends and loved ones turning into threats.

The narrative is both poignant and beautifully written, capturing the emotional and psychological turmoil of the characters with remarkable clarity. The author's skillful storytelling ensures that the book resonates deeply with readers, making it a compelling read from start to finish.

The authenticity and intensity of the experiences depicted in The Sunflower House speak for themselves, requiring little external praise. However, potential readers should be aware of the sensitive content and read the trigger warnings before diving into this powerful story.

Overall, I highly recommend The Sunflower House for its exceptional writing and its unflinching exploration of a dark chapter in history. This book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Adriana Allegri has written a remarkable, story of determination and survival in the time of the German occupation in World War II. I never heard of the Lebensborn baby program in which pregnant German women deemed “racially valuable” were encouraged to give birth.The Nazi authorities created this to increase Germany’s population and included the kidnapping of scores of innocent children. Horrifying.

Growing up with her aunt and uncle, Allina has lived a good life, even within Nazi Germany. Although she is part Jewish, no one but her relatives are aware, allowing her to live peacefully. When war breaks out, Allina must flee to protect that secret, finding shelter as a nurse at a Lebensborn home, a facility for pure Aryan mothers to give birth to more babies for the Reich. What she discovers there is more than a maternity home, and a chance meeting with Karl, a high up SS officer with secrets of his own, leaves them both in a perilous situation.

I can't believe this was the author's debut novel. It is so well written and very well researched.. The reader becomes completely enmeshed in Allina's story and her desire to help the children, then add in Karl and his desire to help her and the secrets he knows, and you have an absolutely can't put it down type of book. I definitely will be reading the next books from this author!

I absolutely loved this book. If I had had time, I would have sat and just read this right though. I had never heard of the Lebensborn program that the Nazi implemented in WWII. Another tragedy of the Nazis & WWII.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A very interesting story about the Lebensborn Program during WWII. A story that took nearly twenty years for this author to write, as she wanted to take her time and research properly, and do right by what she was publishing. Despite it being a fictional story, the events have once taken place so it makes it that much more emotional. As fan of WWII stories, I enjoyed this very much and recommend it.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Allina has kept a secret from her family for decades. Now in her eighties, her daughter finds a box with some pictures. Aliina remembers that long ago time with trepidation. This book gives an honest depiction of what life was in Germany in 1939.

Wow!! The Sunflower House was the first book I’ve read by Adriana Allegri and it certainly won’t be my last. I’ve read a lot of WWII and was not sure that I wanted to read another one but The Sunflower House was unique in that Adriana writes about the Nazi baby factories combined with a beautiful love story. I flew through the pages because the book was just so good. Highly recommend to all historical fiction lovers especially those who are looking for a little talked about part of WWII.

Huge thank you to St.Martin’s Press, NetGalley and Adriana Allegri for the privilege of reading this ARC.

This book follows a young woman named Allina, a nurse at a Lebensborn project during WWII in Nazi Germany. I don't read historical fiction often, but when I do it's usually about WWII. This was nothing like anything I've ever read before in this genre. I had never heard of the Lebensborn project before reading this and I can't believe it isn't talked about more. The author clearly did her research before writing this and it shows.

This story was filled with secrets, history, heartache, grief, and love. It is truly a masterpiece. If you like historical fiction, please do yourself a favor and read this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This is an excellent work of historical fiction covering the era of Hitler’s reign from before World War II until several years into the War. Allina is living an idyllic life in the countryside when her world is shattered. The SS destroyed her village, killing her family, and she is forced to work in the Hochland Home. She becomes a “schwester” taking care of young women and their babies in the Nazi’s Lebensborn Program where unmarried women of “pure” blood were mated to SS officers to produce perfect Aryan babies to populate Hitler’s Germany.

While there, she discovers that many of the babies are far from perfect and decides she must do something about it. Complicating matters is the fact that Allina is a Mischling – part Jewish blood.

This book provides an eye-opening look into some of the atrocities fomented by the Nazi regime.

I can not even tell you how much I loved this book. This story of love and kindness during a dark period of history was fantastic. I loved the main characters Allina and Karl and the author had a way of making me feel as if I really knew these people. I could not put this book down until I finished! I highly recommend it!

I told myself I wasn’t going to read any more books set in Nazi Germany but wanting to know more about the Nazi run “Lebensborn Program,” I acquiesced, and I’m glad I did.
Allina Strauss wakes from the nightmare of being brutally raped by a high ranking Nazi officer to find herself at Hochland House, a Nazi run baby factory. The sole purpose of the house and many others like it throughout Germany was to house women who were pregnant or willing to get pregnant by Nazi soldiers and give birth to thousands of babies who would be adopted into “good Nazi Families,” thus increasing the “superior” Aryan population. Working as a nurse at Hochland House she witnesses firsthand the horrors of Himmler’s eugenics program and with the help of a fellow sympathizer vows to save as many children as she can. Told in dual time periods this is a heartbreaking story of loss and love during the horrors of the Nazi regime. The characters are all well drawn and the story will stay with me for a long time. A must read. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri

Loved every page from the first page, this is a great novel that gently delves into the Nazis and the Jewish in the 1930's. We learn of the houses that homed pregnant mothers and the children they were encouraged to have to populate Germany
The author has an awesome writing style, the words and pages flow, I wanted to read every word. The characters were great, well described and likeable
This  is a book you pick up and don't want to put down
I would absolutely read more books by this author

The Sunflower House by Adrianna Allegra
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing an Advanced Reader Copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
This novel is a beautifully written tale of determination, resilience, and survival. It’s also a wonderful love story and a history lesson.
In a dual timeline, Allina has a story that her daughter was part of but never knew. When Allina has an accident, her daughter discovers a box with swastika on it, her questions and alarm prompt her mother to share the secrets of a lifetime.
Allina Strauss’s family has secrets. She lives with her aunt and uncle, it’s 1939, Hitler is in power. Alina works for the family bookshop and enjoys cooking with her aunt. When things accelerate with Hitler’s plans and Jews are being rounded up in the area, her family is attacked. Alina is brutally attacked and then delivered to the Hochland house and left there. This home is part of the Lebensborn Program, producing “pure” blood offspring for the continuation of the Aryan population. Women are placed there to get pregnant and have babies, some by choice.
Alina has a secret, her mother was Jewish. That puts her in great danger. She becomes a nurse at the home, in charge of the babies. She soon realizes things are not what they seem and some children are in danger. As she puts everything on the line to save as many as she can, she finds love.
Meticulously researched, this novel covers the Himmler eugenics project and the horrors that resulted during the WWII era. Adrianna Allegri did a brilliant job with this debut novel!