Stone Mother
by Malve S. Burns
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Pub Date Sep 01 2023 | Archive Date Aug 21 2023
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Description
Imagine growing up in a German family right after WWII with no knowledge of your country’s horrendous Nazi past or an understanding of your own family’s fierce internal struggles.
Marie is a dreamy child of a doctor whose family is offered refuge within the walls of Falkenburg Castle after the war. Within the safety of this thousand-year-old "stone mother," Marie begins her coming-of-age journey dominated by her troubled, often violent mother and comforted by her beloved father.
Soon, Marie is forced to leave the castle and is bounced from a Dickensian Children’s institution, to an inspiring private prep school for girls in Heidelberg, to the wild Alaska Highway, and back to Germany, where, at age fifteen, she discovers the full extent of Nazi atrocities and contemplates suicide.
With the help of her mother’s former teacher and the spirit prince of Falkenburg Castle, Marie begins to understand her mother’s pain. She finds a way to accept—though never condone—what she cannot change. Ultimately, when she faces the transgressions of both her mother and her motherland, she is inspired to engage more fully with her new Germany.
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
"In Stone Mother, a young girl, born during a WWII bombing raid, struggles to solve the mysteries of her mother's abuse, her father's absence, and the strange silence about what happened during the war. Beautifully written and emotionally true, this novel deals with the damage caused by secrets and the need to discover the truth."
Barbara Esstman, author of The Other Anna and Night Ride Home
"A harsh mother, a kind-hearted father. A young girl is brought up with her siblings in a castle. This should be a fairy tale, but the bombs of WWII have only recently stopped falling. Set against the backdrop of Germany's defeat by the Allies, the author pulls us into the confusion, magic, horrors, and yearnings of an unraveled world for the girl and the wider society. What does her future hold? How do we survive trauma and learn to thrive?"
Maureen Roberts, author of My Grandmother Sings to Me (Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications, 2004) and The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain (Penguin Publications, 2000 & 2021)
"Stone Mother is an emotional rollercoaster where we get to ride shotgun as Marie explores a medieval castle, is shipped off to a home for'children of criminal parents,' is left to her own devices at 15 waiting tables at the Alaska Highway — this book will take you through majestic language from one astounding place to another, and back. Marie's journey, an echo of the author's own, navigating a stylish, unpredictable and cruel mother, yet we are privileged to come along, seeing an owl family on a windowsill and hearing her father's magical lectures about life — all while being surrounded by a family and country trying desperately to cope with dark secrets and the horrors of past sins. Unforgettable."
Hildie Block, author of "People" and editor of Not What I Expected
"An evocative novel about inherited pain and redemption." - Kirkus
"Whether seeking fiction about post-German recovery or individual survival of family dynamics, libraries looking for exceptionally vivid, evocative stories that blend the magical perceptions of youth with the staid absorption of adulthood will find Malve S. Burns has created a gem in Stone Mother that ideally will also earn a place on book club reading lists." -Midwest Book Review
"This story of understanding and acceptance is a great one to get you out of a reading slump. If you need something to get you back on track with your reading goal, you cannot go wrong with Stone Mother. You’re going to love it. It is two parts “growing up” and three parts “coming to terms with life.” Burns has infused the essence of coming of age in this captivating historical drama." -Independent Book Review
"Despite its modest length, Stone Mother offers a narrative scope akin to that of an epic. The narrative’s simplicity, coupled with exquisitely complex descriptions, imbues the characters with vivid life, eliciting empathy and a sense of connection from the reader. History unfolds organically before our eyes." -Literary Titan
"Stone Mother is a beautifully written, compassionate, but disturbing story about growing up in postwar Germany that will leave you thinking a long time afterward." -Feathered Quill
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781639889242 |
| PRICE | $17.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 282 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 270818
The cover attracted me , and i really enjoyed the story, took a wee while to get into but once i did i was hooked.
Kathryn M, Reviewer
This was a great historical novel about World War 2, it really made you think about the German families in America at the time. The story worked well overall and worked with the time-period. The characters felt like real people and I enjoyed how well they worked with the time-period.
Reviewer 654759
I enjoyed this story, and am intrigued to know how much of it is autobiographical and how much fiction. I love the continual connections to the castle, made of stone, as well as the main character's mother, who is often so stony. A difficult life for sure but hard work and determination gets her out the other side. The writing was a bit simplistic and predicable, but still enjoyable. I would like to hear from the author!
Mary C, Reviewer
Thank you to NetGalley for this advance ecopy of Stone Mother by Malve Burns in exchange for a honest review.This is the story of Marie born in Germany during the waning days of WW2.Along with her brother; Bastian and sister Ingrid , Marie suffers unimaginable violence at the hands of her mother. Her father ,a doctor, is sent to prison when Marie is young because he helped a war veteran commit suicide, Her early years are filled with upheaval and turmoil..The only place she finds peace is in Falkenburg Castle which she refers to as her Stone Mother.It offers her a place of solitude and comfort.Marie is moved about many times in her childhood- from the Castle, to boarding schools to living with her father upon his return from jail and to Canada where her mother has emigrated and where she hopes to find an escape from her demons.During the book Marie also wonders why no one talks about Hitler.It is only in her teenage years when she returns to Germany from visiting her mother does she finally learn about the horrors of the Holocaust . This revelation leads her to look at her fellow Germans in a new light.This is a very revealing book about a time in German history where people were afraid to bring up the past. Very revealing!
Brenda R, Reviewer
What a great book, A coming of age story of a girl born during WWII in Germany. An emotional read for sure, you are taken through the life and times of this girl who is trying to figure it out what it all means. With a gentle father and an abusive mother, we watch her grow and navigate life.
Philipa C, Reviewer
"....the war had no body for me" - this was a phrase I felt was a turning point in this coming of age novel. The author has written an autobiographical story but with fictional additions and one of the main characters is Falkenburg Castle in Germany where the author (and not really the child as she was too young) told a lot of the history of this impressive building and its links to Barons, Princes and then the war (it was the site of someone involved in the attempted assassination of Hitler).
Above all this is a story of parents and siblings portrayed through Marie (the narrator) and her Mutti and Vati (mother and father) one of whom is very abusive and one who has to face ethical dilemmas and both who are separated from their children because of various life events.
I did find some of the plot quite difficult to follow with movements of the family not only within Germany but abroad to Canada. It did read like a diary of events at points rather than a book but above all Marie's strength, intelligence and humility alongside severe family problems led the way.
I was interested to read about the schooling of German pupils following the end of WWII and the consequences of the Nazi domination of previous life in Germany.- "letting the past rest" was both a problem but a need to resolve the history of Germany but also the family relations for Marie.
Overall an interesting read fleshed out in parts with emotional turmoil and religious and human emotions.
Rachel M, Reviewer
This story is about Marie and her siblings growing up after WW11 . Marie lives in a castle where she dreams about reading all of the old manuscripts. Her father is a doctor and her mother a Baroness.
Marie's mother has a violent temper. She abuses the children and her husband. Marie's father gets sick and leaves the children in the mother's care. They have to leave Marie's beloved castle.
The family moves around and separates. Marie is coming to an understanding of what WW11 was all about and what role her family played in it.
I enjoyed this book... It put a different perspective to the war and what it felt like for the German people after the war. I found Marie charming and her siblings and father as well. This book is well written and informative.
Emily B, Reviewer
thank you for letting me read an arc of this book! it was quite different to other ww2 historical fiction novels i’ve read as it read more like a personal coming of age story or a memoir. it is also very unique as it focuses only on the years after the war in germany, which i have not read about at all. i think this is a very fresh perspective in historical fiction and i would love to read and learn more about the aftermath of the war after reading this book! as for the story, i really enjoyed it. i connected with all of the characters and loved to see them and their relationships grow as they grew. i also loved the author’s storytelling and ability to create descriptive imagery, especially of nature. overall, i definitely recommend reading this if you are interested in history, coming of age stories, and memoirs!
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