Für Elise

A Novel

By: Mark Splitstone

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

He waited half his life for a homecoming, only to discover his home no longer existed.
. . . But perhaps he can create a new one.

In 1956, more than a decade after the end of World War II, Hans Becker is finally released from a Soviet POW camp and returns to Germany. The reunion is disheartening—his beloved Dresden is largely blackened rubble, and his feelings of disorientation and melancholy hinder his attempt to revive the life—and love—he left behind.

Elise, the once delicate teenager whose memory Hans carried in his heart, has, through unspeakable trauma, transformed into a strong, independent woman skeptical of love. Yet just as she and Hans can spot traces of splendor in the ruins and oppression of Iron Curtain–era Dresden, so they each can see flashes of what attracted them to their long-ago sweetheart. But they—and their world—have changed so much. Are they willing to risk everything to seek a new beginning?

A piece of history mingled with reality...love can survive

I like that there are touches of reality along with fiction, that allows us to see a glimpse into this complicated war...with so many victims, no matter what their beliefs were. Parts of this story resonate with me because my parents survived WW2.

VV ruined the story.

FUER ELISE, Audiobook and eBook - This is an immersing story with interesting characters, intriguing story lines, and a gamut of emotions. Dresden was bombed by Churchill for other reasons than he could and his hatred for Germany. This story is the result of that bombing and the Russian control after WWII. The narration is done by Virtual Voice and it ruins the story. The pronunciations should be in German, not sloppy English. Why German accents and pronunciations were not used takes so much away, but then I'm a native speaker. VV does a terrible job with French pronunciations, too. The story is a four star but VV is a one star, hence the three star rating. Source: My Audible and Kindle libraries. 3*

A First For Me

This story is about the average German citizens living through WWII. How powerless and manipulated they were. They were left to endure the retribution of the world ravaged by the Nazis. It is so very sad. I suggest it would be better read as a traditional book as the “narrator” is clearly not human (remember HAL?). Not as bad as some humans who can make the listening intolerable, but still.