The German Heiress

A Novel

By: Anika Scott

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

"Meticulously researched and plotted like a noir thriller, The German Heiress tells a different story of WWII - of characters grappling with their own guilt and driven by the question of what they could have done to change the past." (Jessica Shattuck, New York Times best-selling author of The Women in the Castle)

For readers/listeners of The Alice Network and The Lost Girls of Paris, an immersive, heart-pounding debut about a German heiress on the run in post-World War II Germany.

Clara Falkenberg, once Germany's most eligible and lauded heiress, earned the nickname "the Iron Fräulein" during World War II for her role operating her family's ironworks empire. It’s been nearly two years since the war ended, and she’s left with nothing but a false identification card and a series of burning questions about her family's past. With nowhere else to run to, she decides to return home and take refuge with her dear friend, Elisa.

Narrowly escaping a near-disastrous interrogation by a British officer who’s hell-bent on arresting her for war crimes, she arrives home to discover the city in ruins, and Elisa missing. As Clara begins tracking down Elisa, she encounters Jakob, a charismatic young man working on the black market, who, for his own reasons, is also searching for Elisa. Clara and Jakob soon discover how they might help each other - if only they can stay ahead of the officer determined to make Clara answer for her actions during the war.

Propulsive, meticulously researched, and action-fueled, The German Heiress is a mesmerizing pause-resisting story that questions the meaning of justice and morality, deftly shining the spotlight on the often-overlooked perspective of Germans who were caught in the crossfire of the Nazi regime and had nowhere to turn.

©2020 Anika Scott (P)2020 HarperAudio

Compassion for a Nazi Industrial Slaver

Well written, well told, not deep but a clever story, and unfortunately the characters are likable enough, for better or worse, that you find yourself championing a war criminal, a Nazi supporter. Even if her beauty, ignorance, or rather a blind eye, and sometimes compassion suck the reader in to create her as a heroine, nonetheless, she is former lover of an ss officer, and heiress to a Nazi work camp at an ironworks factory that she ran during wartime, and she was the one who escorted them from cattle cars, she claimed ignorance to the true happenings. The role of the British Officer whose job it was to hunt her as a war criminal, was written so well, your mind makes him the enemy. A book supporting Germany during war time may be a good read, but it doesn't mean it should ever have been written from this perspective. There's no heroine here. I am annoyed at myself for liking this book, and allowing its storytelling to suck me in to a place where a caring thought is given towards a death machine.

Really engaging

Great listen, kept me so interested I couldn’t stop! Very interesting well read! Thank you

 Loved this listen !

First time, listening to a book by this author, and it really had me hooked from the beginning And kept my attention throughout. Highly recommend if you love historical fiction. 

Interesting but not as good as her other books

I read Soviet Sisters first and loved it! This story was hard to follow and by the time it was ending I kept wondering. What was the point of the story? Interesting to learn about the German perspective during and after the war they started ,,, but I had a hard time finishing this book

Engaging historical fiction

A truly well written and engaging historical fiction set in post WW2 Germany. A story about choices, consequences and conscience. Really enjoyed listening.

Good but not not as super as My Name is Barbra

A complex story set in Germany World War 2 period. My father was a Naval officer in that War. This story The German Heiress is about a boy who believed the war was not over & hid in a cave with a canary bird as a pet & a woman who saved him. The rich owner of a coal mine business who survived this war.

Clara’s character.

I liked it. I liked the plot and the characters. I like hearing stories about the people that survived World War II.

I didn't want it to end

Beautifully crafted tale had me longing to know what happened next with every page turn.

Two sides of the war

A would have given this story five stars except that the German citizens had American accents. Which made it really confusing for me. The story was good and it was nice to hear a WWII story told from a German perspective. One that tried to do good but struggled keeping the family bond. Give the story proper accents and it will be worth five stars.

Disappointed

I was disjointed in the story. I never figured out if Clara was evil or good, If I should like her or feel sorry for her. The characters were never fully developed. In the end I just wanted the book to be over so I could start another.