A Light in the Window by Marion Kummerow
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2, Germany
Read: 13th July 2021
Published: 20th July 2021
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Margarete stumbles out of the bombed-out house, the dust settling around her like snow. Mistaking her for the dead officer’s daughter, a guard rushes over to gently ask her if she is all right and whether there’s anything he can do to help her. She glances down at where the hated yellow star had once been, and with barely a pause, she replies “Yes”.
Berlin, 1941: Margarete Rosenbaum is working as a housemaid for a senior Nazi officer when his house is bombed, leaving her the only survivor. But when she’s mistaken for his daughter in the aftermath of the blast, Margarete knows she can make a bid for freedom…
Issued with temporary papers—and with the freedom of not being seen as Jewish—a few hours are all she needs to escape to relative safety. That is, until her former employer’s son, SS officer Wilhelm Huber, tracks her down.
But strangely he doesn’t reveal her true identity right away. Instead he insists she comes and lives with him in Paris, and seems determined to keep her hidden. His only condition: she must continue to pretend to be his sister. Because whoever would suspect a Nazi girl of secretly being a Jew?
His plan seems impossible, and Margarete is terrified they might be found out, not to mention worried about what Wilhelm might want in return. But as the Nazis start rounding up Jews in Paris and the Résistance steps up its activities, putting everyone who opposes the regime in peril, she realizes staying hidden in plain sight may be her only chance of survival…
Can Margarete trust a Nazi officer with the only things she has left though… her safety, her life, even her heart?
A totally heartbreaking and unputdownable story about how far someone would go to save one life, that fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See will adore.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Marion Kummerow's heartbreaking A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW.
I fell in love with Marion Kummerow's writing style with "Not Without My Sister". While her stories are set within a much written about time period, the concepts with which she portrays them are so unique and wholly original. They are not your usual run-of-the-mill tales re-telling the plight of the Jews. The premise of A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW was certainly an intriguing one that promised a fascinating tale to be told.
Berlin, 1941: The story opens with a bang - quite literally - an air raid on the city sees the Hubers scrambling to the safety of their cellar. An officer of high standing within the SS, Huber and his wife along with their daughter Annegret push their maid aside in an attempt to save themselves without sparing a thought for her. And why would they? She was nothing but a dirty Jew, employed as a housemaid to undertake their every whim and every chore...ableit unpaid. Her life meant nothing to the superior greatness of the German people.
But as the bombers disappear and the dust slowly settles, Margerete is the only one left standing in the rubble. As she crawls through the debris seeing the family she had slaved for laying dead, she wonders how she is to survive in a city where Jews are spit upon or worse, sent sent to death camps. As she passes by the lifeless form of Annegret, an idea begins to form. Before she can change her mind, she swaps identity papers with the dead girl and drapes her in her coat bearing the yellow star that identifies her as Jewish. And she becomes Annegret Huber in order to protect herself from the harsh atrocities of war and to stay alive. She steals away to Leipzig to her only surviving relative, Aunt Heidi, who is an Aryan but had married a Jew and gets herself a job at the university library.
Meanwhile in Paris, Wilhelm Huber is a low ranking SS officer who is enjoying the easy life in the French capital with throngs of beautiful women and delicious food when he is suddenly recalled to Berlin to attend the funeral of his parents. His elder brother Reiner is a high ranking officer in the SS who is faithful to the Furher and his cause. Although he has yet to produce a male heir, his two daughters are named Adolphina and Germania in honour to his faithfulness to Hitler. Whilst staying with Reiner's family, Wilhelm's eyes are opened to his brother's complete disrespect for women, including that of his own wife. But Reiner simply states that she just knows her duty is to serve her husband in every way and be a good German wife. That, however, doesn't stop him from bedding any other woman he may get his hands on...including raping his parents' Jewish servant girl.
Upon learning that Annegret has disappeared since the bombing that claimed their parents and their servant girl Margerete, word has reached Reiner that Annegret has been seen in Leipzig. Wilhelm decides to make the journey to see for himself but what he discovers is nothing what he expected. Instead of his sister he finds Margerete has been passing herself off as Annegret and is immediately angered. But before he can turn her in, circumstances take a different turn and Margerete flees the city for an unoccupied part of France whilst Wilhelm returns to Paris without his sister or revealing the subterfuge.
In Paris, Margerete awaits the connecting train that will take her to her destination when she comes face to face with Wilhelm once again. Instead of revealing her true identity, he introduces her to his friends as his sister Annegret citing that she has come to join him for Christmas. Margerete has no idea if Wilhelm will report her to the Gestapo and yet she knows that if he does he faces charges of treason himself for maintaining the deception. Instead, he has a proposition for her. She is to continue to live as his sister so that he can marry her off and gain control of her inheritance. All they have to do is to continue to hide her from his brother Reiner who will spare neither of them should he learn the truth.
As Margerete becomes Annegret, she battles daily with her conscience and her own identity feeling as in doing so she is betraying her people. But Margerete is fighting for her life and before long she finds that isn't the only battle she is up against. Over the weeks they have lived together, Wilhelm has shown her a kindness and respect she does not associate with Nazis. But how is she to survive trusting this man, a Nazi, with the only things she has left? Her safety, her life and even her heart? And instead of the freedom for which she longs, Margerete finds herself trapped with an impossible moral dilemma of love, life and death.
"Was one person's life worth more than another one's? And who got to decide which person was allowed to live?"
A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW is a heartwrenching tale of survival that is a compelling read you won't want to put down. It draws you in and has you questioning the moral dilemma of whether one human life is worth more than another. The despicable views of the Nazis concerning Jews and even the French people has you shaking your head with disbelief. The German people actually believed the brainwashing propaganda of the Nazis concerning their superiority and the unworthiness of the "filthy Jews". There were times when Wilhelm shook his head in disbelief when he was actually puzzled as to why the French did not welcome them with open arms. He actually believed the propaganda Hitler spouted.
This is a story of strength, courage and survival. A story of determination against all odds. A story that highlights the prejudices and bigotry whilst reminding us that there is hope. But it is also a love story...
A tale that is heartbreaking as well as intriguing, A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW is ultimately Margerete's story and her plight to survive the war. Does Margerete get her happy ending?
An emotional read from beginning to end. Recommended for historical fiction fans.
I would like to thank #MarionKummerow, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ALightInTheWindow in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Inspired by the true story about her grandparents, who belonged to the German resistance and fought against the Nazi regime, she started writing historical fiction, set during World War II. Her books are filled with raw emotions, fierce loyalty and resilience. She loves to put her characters through the mangle, making them reach deep within to find the strength to face moral dilemma, take difficult decisions or fight for what is right. And she never forgets to include humor and undying love in her books, because ultimately love is what makes the world go round.
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