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!

Wonderful read. Couldn’t read it fast enough. Didn’t realize members of the SS actually helped many children to escape the horrors of the war.

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri is a beautifully written novel about the choices a young woman in Nazi Germany had to make in order to stay alive. Starting as a dual timeline book, Katrine is wishing she was closer to her mother, when she gets a call asking her to pick her mother up at the hospital as she had fallen. After taking her home and getting her settled, she finds a wooden box with a swastika on it that begins a conversation about her mother's life that is both unimaginable and heartbreaking, although filled with wondrous love. I couldn't put this down, just a beautiful novel of overcoming obstacles and doing your best to help mankind.

Thank you to the author publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review:
The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri
Genre: Historical Fiction.
Publish Date: November 12, 2024

Synopsis:
After Allina takes a terrible fall, her daughter finds a box hidden under the floor boards in her house. Within the box, which is labeled with a swastika sits photos and memories, which Allina has worked hard to bury but at the cost of a strained relationship with her now adult daughter.
So, begins the retelling of Allina's story, her hidden ancestry, the terrible night that changed her life, and of her years spent in the Hochland Home, witnessing firsthand Hitler's eugenics program. It is a story of loss and love and the courage to risk it all in order to save oneself and those who need it the most.

Review:
The writing in this book is truly captivating, and Allegri is a gifted author who brings a little know part of the war to light in this beautiful heartbreaking story that captivates and educates.
Although aware of Hitler's eugenics program, this is the first book that I have read focused on a Lebensborn home.
Thank you to Net Galley and St Martin's Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. I would recommend this book, which I will not soon forget it but any reader should consider the content and language warnings before deciding to engage.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Warnings:
Language: significant profanity and blasphemous foul language used by German officers
Romance: several open-door descriptive bedroom scenes, kissing, nudity, nods to closed-door events
Trigger warnings: descriptive rape scene, violence, and bodily harm

I wanted to thank NetGalley and the author for giving me an opportunity to read this book in advance. The Sunflower house captures the Lebensborn program (baby Nazi factory) during WWII. Out of all the WWII books I’ve read, I wanted to praise the author for writing a very unique story that doesn’t involve Auschwitz and Birkenau. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read plenty of unforgettable books that involves Auschwitz and Birkenau, but I was intrigued with this story from the beginning since I’ve never heard of the Lebensborn program.

A few reasons I believe that makes a great book is the story, dialogue and how well the author develops the characters. She did a fantastic job developing Allina and Karl’s characters, especially their love story. I also enjoyed the other characters in the book that make up part of Allina’s life of sadness and struggles. The only thing I would highly recommend the author and/or the publisher change is the cover. It doesn’t portray the beautiful sunflower house described in the book. This cover is not it. Overall, this book is highly recommended for all the historical fiction lovers out there.

If you’re looking for a book that will make you think long after you’ve closed the back cover, then look no further than The Sunflower House.

Adriana Allegri takes you deep into one of the lesser known stories of WWII…The Lebensborn Program. To put it quite simply, the program was a baby making factory designed to populate the world with the perfect Aryan children. Young women were recommended by doctors and convinced that the best way they could serve their country was to produce as many babies as possible. There were dark sides to this program. Many of these babies were taken from their mothers and adopted by high ranking officers and their wives and some of them were hidden away due to their “slowness”…often times sent away for research and ultimately their deaths.

In The Sunflower House, young Allina finds her way to one of the very first homes. She uncovers secrets within the walls that don’t sit well with her. She meets a young officer who behind closed doors is doing all he can to save as many children as possible. Together they team up both professionally and personally with a goal of saving lives. Danger lurks around every corner but their determination keeps pushing them forward.

This story will keep you on the edge of your seat from cover to cover. It takes you deep into the sinister minds of Nazis out to change the face of the world. Yet it reminds you that there were good people trying to make a difference, putting their lives in danger to help those who couldn’t help themselves. I highly recommend this gripping book that will keep the wheels in your mind turning long after you’ve read the last sentence.

Thanks so much to Adriana Allegri, St Martins Press and NetGalley for early access to this incredible story!

Wonderful, fascinating story about a young woman forced into working at a Nazi home for mothers, part of Hitlers infamous plan to breed babies to become SS soldiers. After a terrible attack on her home visit, Allina Strauss finds herself assaulted, battered, bruised and in a car with a Nazi officer on their way to a Lebensborn (a home for women who are encouraged to "breed" for the Nazi cause). Later, another Nazi officer befriends her, but why? Who can Allina trust? What can she do to stop yet another horrible injustice the Nazi's are perpetrating against women and children?

The Sunflower House is well researched and well written. The main characters are easy to empathize with, and all the elements of a great story are there: love, courage, evil bad guys, suspense, everything. Highly recommended, The Sunflower House is definitely 5 star read!

Thank you publishers and Netgalley for the Arc. This book was nothing short of spectacular. I really enjoyed this take on the Lebensborn Homes. I went into this book basically blind, I only knew that it was about a young woman in WW2 that was somehow involved with the Lebensborn homes. This book is in my top 10 for historical fiction. It was beautifully written with the dual timelines of mother/daughter. I was captivated throughout this book with its fast pace and riveting tale. 5/5.

I loved this book! Beautifully written, educational, and deeply human. A story I'll be thinking about for a very long time and one I'll be able to suggest to many different types of readers. 4 Stars,

If you’re someone that adores WWII Historical Fiction, it’s easy to find new stories regularly— it’s a pretty saturated market, and I read them EVERY SINGLE TIME.

So when I tell you that this debut novel by Adriana Allegri was unique, heartfelt, fascinating, and incredibly well written, I speak as a frequent reader.

We meet Allina Strauss in summer 1938, and Nazi ideology is quickly taking hold over her small German village. When she expresses her anger over this to her aunt, she learns just how dangerous these circumstances are for her— she is a mischling whose Jewish heritage was hidden away.

Before she can fully wrestle with what this means, her village is brutally attacked, leaving her a battered survivor. In her vulnerable position, she’s then assaulted by an SS Soldier that pretends to want to help her. After, he drops her off at Hochland Home, the first Lebensborn home created by the SS as a baby factory for increasing the “racially pure” population.

Allina works as a nurse at Hochland home caring for the pregnant women, mothers and babies living there. Realizing the babies are emotionally neglected, she tries to help as many as possible by partnering with Karl, a young SS Soldier with secrets of his own…all the while, worrying that her days are numbered before her heritage is revealed.

This was not a program I was very knowledgeable about before reading this book. While many of the facts about the real Lebensborn program were destroyed, Allegri does a phenomenal job weaving the facts into a heart-wrenching, engaging narrative that pulls you into the story.

This is the author’s debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she does next!

Magnificent. Powerful read. And I read many WWII historical books! Prior to the being of WWII Allina a young girl learns from her adopted Aunt and uncle that her mother was Jewish. As a Mischling she is in acute danger. One of her fiancée’s contacts issues her false papers just in case. Which comes too soon as the Nazi’s invade her town looking for a traitor. Many in the town are murdered while she is dragged away to Hochland Home, the first home in Himmlers Lebensborn program. A program to breed perfect Ayran children for the 1000 year Reich. Traumatized Allina begins work in the nursery with newborns. There she befriends a Nazi office with secrets of his own. What follows is engaging and at times terrifying. Well researched. I am thankful that this book was published by St Martin Press.

This was a first time read by this author. Well written and a very good book. Book moved along and kept my interest all along the way. I would recommend.

I just finished this book and although I have read many books concerning the holocaust I can honestly say that this was something different.
I received this ARC from NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for an honest review.
The story begins when Alina Straus, an elderly woman has a fall. Her daughter Katrina goes to her home and finds a loose floorboard. She finds a wooden box with a swastika on the cover. She confronts her mother and the story is told. The story takes place in Germany in 1939 and tells of Alina experience during the war. Alina lived in a small village with her Aunt and Uncle - Her village is attacked, the only family she knows is killed and she is brutally assaulted. She has just learned that she has a Jewish grandparent. She is sent to a Hochland Home where There is a Lebensborn program where babies are borne to good German woman. She meets Karl who is a high ranking officer. They eventually fall in love and she learns that he also has Jewish ancestors. Karl is a "good" nazi and has managed to arrange for many Jewish children to be saved by enlisting his aunt's help. The author has done a fabulous job making you care about the characters in the book.

4.5/5 stars for an impressive debut novel that covers a little-known aspect of WWII history.

"The Sunflower House" opens in present day New Jersey, when Katrine Strauss returns to her mother Alina's home and stumbles across a box of her belongings; inside are a myriad of photographs, letters, and documents that detail a history that her mother never shared with her. Seeing the confusion and pain in her daughter, Alina finally opens up about her past taking her and readers to Badensburg, a quiet village in Germany, where she grows up peacefully and is prepared to marry her childhood sweetheart. Alina's life is forcefully changed though when her town is raided, her loved ones killed, and she is taken hostage by the Schutzstaffel and brought to Hochland Home, one of the institutions part of the Lebensborn Program.

It's here that Allina learns of the true intention of the program, which sought to further Hitler's goals for making the Aryan population supreme, and housed women and expecting mothers who would give birth to children that fell under this ideology. In order to survive, she's forced to work at Hochland Home, all-the-while hiding a devastating family secret that could cost her life. When Allina meets Karl von Strassberg, a high ranking officer in the SS, she sees him as just one cog in the large machine, but little by little, begins to realize he's an ally in her goals and her determination to save a number of the neglected and mistreated children at Hochland Home. Their partnership blooms into one of love, even in the midst of the looming war and the unspeakable violence and destruction that follows.

Despite the fact that I've read a number of historical fiction novels that cover a similar time period, this novel introduced me to the Lebensborn Program and yet another group of women and children who were taken advantage of and had their lives destroyed by the goals of the Third Reich. It's clear that Adriana Allegri did an extension amount of research for this novel, and she includes a number of notes and clarifications in her afterword, which I found helpful. I found the storyline to be well-constructed, with steady pacing and complex and compelling characters; while romance isn't a genre I typically enjoy, I enjoyed the evolution of Karl and Allina's relationship and their growth as individuals.

Very much a recommended read when "The Sunflower House" is published in November 2024!