A story about all the dangers and repercussions of the war. I was so on the edge of my seat listening to this story that I switched to the hard copy at the earliest moment so I could read it faster! This got intense very quickly and then seemed to further intensify with every page. It's a tale of true love against the backdrop of the Holocaust and the concentration camps.

Then in contrast is the story of the daughter going back to Germany to seek out what really happened to her mother in the old days and why her mother was so scarred by the war's effects that she couldn't speak of it even to her daughter. I wasn't expecting the way this part unfolded in the least and I certainly wasn't expecting her to end up in danger herself!

Two romances are melded in. In the early one it's about making the most of time with true love during a dangerous war. In the second it's a slower awakening with a couple who become friends first of all. Both are delightful.

Suitable for ages 16+ because of wartime violence.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required. My review is based instead off of a final copy I bought/borrowed from the library.

Hannah and Lieselotte. Daughter and mother - estranged.
1972. Hannah had never understood her mother and why she was the way she was. But now her mother is dead and Hannah is to unravel the threads of her family history - starting with the realization that her mother was not Austrian, but German. And that the identity of her father is unsure. And that there might be very dark places in her family history.
1938. Lieselotte is young and in love with Lukas. But the Nazi Germany is an extremely dangerous place, moreso if you are full of compassion for your fellow people - mainly if they are the Jews.

This is a powerful story about forgiveness.

Touching, sharp, smart and authentic, this is a book to be read by (practically) everyone. As everyone in life comes to the crossroads of (just) anger vs. (impossible) forgiveness. This novel deals with this hard issue thoroughly and wondwerfully. The crimes presented here are undisputable, they ar the crimes based on hatred/greed/violence/and so on. There is no shade of doubt, just a pure offense. And how can one forgive the unforgivable? Done by the family member/s, even?
Also where is God in the godless world - and what is more a godless environment than a Nazi concentration camp?

This novel is also spot-on in showing the price of unforgiveness - the bitterness of heart. No one says that forgiveness needs to be just (in some cases we need to rely on God´s forgiveness to be able to even try to forgive) or easy - but the bitterness is even harder, as it poisons the heart, so the heart has to bear the past hurt and the present bitter burden. I can relate here.

Also kudos for the nod to Corrie ten Boom - what a woman!

This is one of the best Christian novels I have read this year, one we Christians can proudly offer to the non-believing readers who doubt the quality of Christian fiction. This one is, in addition to aforementioned, the story of high quality.

After her mother's death, Hannah Sterling looks into her family history. Her search takes her to Germany to meet a grandfather that she never knew she had. As she attempts to learn more about her mother and find closure to the estranged relationship that they had, she is shocked to learn all the secrets that her mother had kept!
I love stories about family secrets and delving into the past, so I knew this one would be right up my alley! I was right. This book held my attention and combined present day characters with flashbacks and stories of the past. I was completely involved in Hannah's journey to uncover the truth, but I was equally interested in learning her mother's story! And it was quite a story! If you like family intrigue or WWII stories, I would definitely suggest picking this one up!!

A sweeping story that captivates you from the beginning and holds you until the end. You feel as if you are living in the terror and claustrophobia of Nazi Germany. Ms. Gohlke brings the story around exuding hope and light, which is always something I want to see with a novel that involves such darkness.
For fans of this time period this is a must read.

Award-winning historical fiction author Cathy Gohlke pens a novel with two parallel stories: one set in Hitler’s Germany (1943-1945), the other in more contemporary times (1973).
In Secrets She Kept, a young woman wants to find out about her estranged mother’s mysterious past after her mother’s death. Hannah Sterling takes a leave from her teaching job to sort through her mother’s house and finds letters that connect her to a grandfather still living in Germany. When Hannah travels to Germany and gets to know her grandfather, she discovers he is hiding secrets of his own.
During the war, Hannah’s grandfather (Lieselotte’s father) planned on marrying his daughter off to advance his career in the Nazi party. But Lieselotte loves another (Lukas), of whom her father disapproves–and she doesn’t know to what extent her father will go to in order to prevent her marriage to Lukas.
The stories are told from Hannah’s and her mother’s viewpoints. The secrets of their past are intertwined. The book is well-researched and rich in historical detail, realistically depicting life in Nazi Germany. Hannah’s grandfather resists disclosing his secrets until he is on his deathbed. The discovery of his secret explains her mother’s past and threatens Hannah’s future. The overall theme of the book is forgiveness, even in the midst of evil. The focus is on family secrets that shape the destiny of future generations.