📜Quick Summary: Set in Berlin, 1933, Max and Aurelia find themselves in the height of a new terror. Max, a film director, finds himself in a worst case scenario situation. Aurelia has to make a decision…will she fight for the one she loves? Or, will she turn to her brother Wilhelm, who’s now downing the Nazi uniform? Can she trust her brother and make a deal with him that will give her what she truly needs?

❣️Initial Feels: Right from the start, my panic sets in… I am sure that it won’t settle anytime soon.

👀Trigger Warnings: Nazi Germany regime

🌶️Spice Level: fades off the pages…

📖Read if you want: rise of Nazis, emotional and tense scenes

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: Aurelia is such a strong character, that I often kept staring at awe at the pages in front of me. The bravery she showed to the largest officials in the Nazi Party shook me to the core. She’s an impossibly brave woman who continually puts others' needs in front of her own. She is a force to be reckoned with.

🗨️Thoughtful Words: “Freedom was never easily surrendered by those in power. It could only be torn out of their hands by those who weren’t afraid to lay down their lives for it.”

“The destruction of an empire never starts with an explosion, it starts with a whisper.”

💡Final Sentiments: This is my second novel by Ellie, and I wish there weren’t 28 other novels to backlog…because her writing is exquisite! The way she weaves her words is something short of magical, and you feel like you are in that time and space with her characters. She does historical fiction so well, and maybe I’m late to the game, but she should have more hype than what I hear! This book took me a hot second to get into, but once it started moving, I was IN it. I didn’t want to put it down, and needed to know how Aurelia and Max would fare. A moving novel about what you do for the ones you love, the country you loved, and the brave people behind the scenes of utter destruction and torture.

🌟Overall Rating: 4.75 stars

🔉Special thanks to Ellie Midwood, Bookouture, and NetGalley for this arc of To Save Her Husband.

📘Grab yourself a copy on August 21, 2025!

I enjoyed reading this novel for many reasons. The background to World War 2 as perceived through the eyes of Aurelia, living in Germany, was interesting. The number of decent things people did, especially Aurelia, Zara and Max was good to read about. The way the regime controlled people was portrayed realistically, and it was enlightening to see it from someone who was in the thick of things, albeit reluctantly. And of course, as the novel progresses, will the couple survive and reunite. A wonderful ending to a different sort of World War 2 book. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC to read and review this book.

This book gives a good view of before and during the early years of Hitler.
All the signs were there yet Germans on the whole continued to ignore them.
Propaganda is one of the biggest tools of government and the main characters are in the film industry.
Before you judge too harshly, what are you willing to sacrifice to save your loved ones?
While many Germans looked bad on the outside, they were waging what war they could against Hitler in their tiny part of the drama.
There is some language in the book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

To Save Her Husband by Ellie Midwood. This is yet another heart wrenching book written by the author Ellie Midwood. Having a famous family with a well known name can be a lifesaver but it can also be a weight tied around your leg. When Aurelia Von Brandenburg and her husband Max watched Germany in the 1930s change into a country that neither of them wanted, they knew their lives could never be the same. What would a loving wife do to save her husband when the only one who can save him is her brother who is her enemy? Family and blood clashes with love and courage and only the strong will last.

A very good novel with an excellent plot! Perfect for all Ellie Midwood's fans. I found the first part of the novel very interesting as it described the rise of the Nazis, particularly showing what it meant to the world of art. I loved Aurelia and her big mouth, not hesitating to open it even facing Goebbels for instance. It did sound unrealistic though, even having a high ranking Nazi half brother. But it's a novel, so it is fine. I found her very entertaining and also very brave...or is it recklessness? The author did a great job in her historical research though, making this novel very interesting as it is always the case in all her novels. Definitely a great read!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.

I've read a couple of Ellie's books now so I had high expectations for this one.
And I'm pleased to say that it didn't disappoint.

Ellie has created such wonderful, believable characters in Max and Aurelia.
What terrible events they have endured in the past, and then endure in the lead up to the war and beyond is heartbreaking. Yet they never lost faith in their love for each other, which kept them fighting for what they believed in.

I was certainly moved to tears a few times whilst reading this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the digital ARC. All opinions are my own.

To Save Her Husband by Ellie Midwood

I really love books by this author and she is one of the best for this genre , however this one does,take a little longer to get into , but once it gets going it's a great read.
Wheelie is the,daughter from a dominant German family who support the nazi regime.
Aurelia is married to a film director Max , a Jewish man .

Her brother Wilhelm a Nazi officer and Aurelia does a pact with him to help her husband .
It's a very emotional read which is hard to read at times when you read just what people had to endure during Ww2 .



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The story starts in Berlin in 1933.
Aurelia and Max get caught up in a crowd of Nazi supporters, and I knew then that the tension and dread would keep coming throughout the book.
The fact that Aurelia has a brother in the regime makes it even scarier.

Aurelia doesn't know what to do; she has to protect her Jewish husband, Max or not give in to her brother’s vile politics.
After choosing Max’s life, she has to deal with her brother because of that choice.
My heart hurts for Amelia and the decisions and choices she had to make. I couldn't imagine the anger, fear, and guilt associated with some of her choices. These all seem to be constants for her.

Max came into his own. Not only is he a target for the regime, but he's somewhat famous, too. This makes it all the more important for him to escape.
The couple's story as a whole is sad. Reading them being torn apart, I couldn't imagine it. The fact that it happened because of the regime was horrendous.

The emotion and tense scenes were continuous; I couldn't stop reading, eager to know the overall outcome.

This is my third book by Ellie, and it was another great read. I can't wait to read her other books.

Max, a film director foolishly returned to Berlin from the US just in time for the Nazis to rise to power. Aurelia, whose loathsome stepbrother Wilhelm is a Nazi, wants nothing more than to keep Max safe. Moral gray areas abound. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a look at the German film industry during WWII (there's an appearance by Leni Riefenstahl) and while it's less emotional than many novels in the WWII genre, it's still a good read.

“To Save Her Husband” is a historical fiction (WWII) book by Ellie Midwood. Ms. Midwood has written a number of historical fiction books, which I’ve read and enjoyed. This book takes a fictional slant on the German film industry right before WWII - think Leni Riefenstahl and Marlene Dietrich before Dietrich left for the US. While that part of the book was interesting, it took me a lot longer to get interested in the two main people - Aurelia (aka Lia or Ari) and her (second) husband, Max. Aurelia and Max are both involved in the German film industry, but per the incoming Nazi regime, Max is considered Jewish. Aurelia and Max get Max out of the country (he goes to LA and over time begins directing films there) but four years later, they are both in Europe .. the book opens with them at a train station together. Usually Ms. Midwood’s books grip me early in the book and for me this book didn’t start becoming interesting until the factual history was put in (that aspect is what usually shines most in Ms. Midwood’s books). I’d recommend this book if you’d like to know more about the German film industry pre-WWII or if you’ve liked other books by Ms. Midwood.

This is a a compelling book set during WWII. It is a story of love, hope and incredible sadness. You will be rooting for Aurelia and her husband Max. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Midwood always writes historical fiction that tears at my heart strings. Having been to Berlin when the wall fell, I feel so many emotions of the danger of those times.

Berlin in 1933, finds Aurelia and her husband Max seeing signs of hate all around. Max is a Jewish film director. He is starting to gain the attention of those around him as Jewish people were terrorized. Aurelias brother is now wearing the infamous uniform and she is scared for her husband.
She makes a bargain with him hoping to protect her husband. What is it about making a bargain that sounds too good to be true!! You can imagine.
This novel was told in a different way that shows you most people want to do the right thing, resilience and faith that things can improve. A gripping novel which will have you rooting for this couple and the people who stand up for what is right.

I have been a fan of Ellie Midwood for quite some time now. Her novel 'The Girl in the Striped Dress' was the catalyst that sparked my love for historical fiction as a genre. So, naturally, when I saw Midwood's latest offering was available to request I jumped at it!

To Save Her Husband is a gripping, emotionally charged novel that asks the ultimate question - how far would you go to save the person you love most?

Aurelia and Max are at the heart of this story, bound together by love and their shared work in film. But as the Nazi regime rises and the threat of war creeps closer, their lives are thrown into unimaginable danger. Midwood masterfully captures the slow, insidious spread of antisemitism in 1930's Germany with chilling precision. The characters are beautifully developed with Aurelia being a standout character - and one I certainly won't forget.

I highly recommend this novel for readers of WWII historical fiction who want both a compelling love story and a tense, thought-provoking exploration of courage in the face of evil.

I have read, and loved, other books by Ellie Midwood and I was excited to receive a copy of this one. While this wasn’t my favorite of hers, I still thought it was a good book. I didn’t feel as much emotion as I expected to in a story such as this, and which I usually get out of Ellie’s novels. Otherwise, I was quite interested in the story.
To what lengths would one go to in order to keep her husband alive? Would she make a deal with the devil, or in this case, devils? Aurelia and Max are happily married and work together making films. As WWII starts closing in on them, these two go to great lengths to ensure each other’s safety. Unfortunately, that means making difficult decisions and doing things they know in their hearts is not always the best thing for others. Aurelia has to heavily rely on the connection she has with her hateful half-brother, Wilhelm, who is working alongside the Nazis and who has his own agenda. I do love Aurelia and her bravado in standing up against Wilhem, a delusional self-centered man. She is definitely my favorite character in the novel. The ending was unique and I really enjoyed how it was done.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this! I really didn’t want to put it down and stayed up way too late many nights jamming in “just one more chapter”. I love how it began in the early 30s and we got to witness the rise of Hitler and the slow changes sweeping over the nation. A lot happened prior to the outbreak of war! What was especially fascinating was how the antisemitism was kind of relaxed a little for the 1936 Olympics. Which makes you think that gee if they knew the rest of the world wouldn’t like what they were doing, how could they justify it to themselves?!

This book made me rage too - Max managed to get out, and was safe in Hollywood for a time, and then he stupidly came back to the continent and that’s when the shit hit the fan. So here I am yelling at him for not just staying put, and at Aurelia for not just following him as soon as she could - but then obviously had they done the sensible thing then there would only have been a third of a book. And I enjoyed this too much to want it to only be a hundred pages long! It really made me run the gamut of emotions and I wish I had a book club or something to discuss it all with. I enjoyed the addition of Leni Riefenstahl, a name I had heard before but knew nothing about - I don’t know what was factual here and what was fiction but I like how the author made her a sympathetic character.

I’ll admit I found the beginning a little tricky to get into because there were so many names and relationships to keep track of, but once I’d settled into it, I was completely drawn in. The tension, the moral dilemmas, and the emotional weight of Aurelia’s choices were so vividly written. It’s a haunting story of love, loyalty, and sacrifice set against the rising darkness of Nazi Germany.

oh blimey what a read. and how terrifying it must have been for those that must have gone through very similar if not the same choices. the sadness tales of war time horrors and all that brings never stop bringing my tears and neither should it.
its such a deep and beautiful book. i was taken in from the very first page. i was into this world Ellie created for us and i didn't exit until the end.i was involved and i cared what happened within the pages. it had my emotions in a hand hold at times and a heart hold at others.
how hard it is to protect those you love when their very lives are aimed at? and just what would you do to protect them?
this is what brings us to this book. Aurelia and Max are our base. and they are living in a world where the Nazi darkness is growing. Max is a Jewish film maker. and hes made a noise and name for himself portraying what is happening in Germany at the time. but Aurelia's brother is part of the Nazi party, and hes definitely PART of it.
both our pair are so brave. they each have their individual fights in this game. Max must be so brave and keep going in the face of capture and being in camp. whilst Aurelia vows to make everyone see what is happening and what has happened to people in her country. she puts all at risk to do so. i found Aurelia story so brimming in my own heart. it so much part to people like her why we probably now what we do now and back in those times. people that risked it all to get the secrets and evil that was happening out to the wider world. i cant fathom what they saw and then what the spread. all for others. all to save others who so many were silenced and never stood a chance.
there is such a wrap around of sadness that is being pushed aside also by hope. the hope of good people. the hope of love. and i was so emotional throughout this book.
it makes you think of what you'd do. what you wouldn't do. and just what these people did do and go through.
this book goes to top tier all the stars and more category. just brilliant.

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This is a story of endurance over evil.
There’s only one thing stronger than Aurelia’s loathing of the name Von Brandenburg, that’s her love for her husband Max.
Max & Aurelia enjoy making films together, it is this very talent that helps to keep them both alive (or will it) during the atrocities, that and Wilhelm Von Brandenburg relying on it to keep them both under his thumb.

I enjoyed the book, nothing like a good page turner. Some of the descriptions just take your breath away.
My favourite character was Aurelia, who was strong in character, least favourite was Wilhelm who was the very opposite.
Look forward to more.

This story was a little slow to get started but once it did, it was a fantastic read! I really enjoyed it. It was a unique perspective and I liked the author's writing style. I’ll definitely be recommending this one.

I usually love this author's books. So I am Sad to say I.dnfed this.book at. 37%. . I Just did.not like the tone in the.book. thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion