About the Book
Title: The Munich Girl: A Novel
Author: Phyllis Edgerly Ring
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 356
Synopsis: Anna Dahlberg grew up eating dinner under her father’s war-trophy portrait of Eva Braun. Fifty years after the war, she discovers what he never did—that her mother and Hitler’s mistress were friends. The secret surfaces with a mysterious monogrammed handkerchief, and a man, Hannes Ritter, whose Third Reich family history is entwined with Anna’s. Plunged into the world of the “ordinary” Munich girl who was her mother’s confidante—and a tyrant’s lover—Anna finds her every belief about right and wrong challenged. With Hannes’s help, she retraces the path of two women who met as teenagers, shared a friendship that spanned the years that Eva Braun was Hitler’s mistress, yet never knew that the men they loved had opposing ambitions. Eva’s story reveals that she never joined the Nazi party, had Jewish friends, and was credited at the Nuremberg Trials with saving 35,000 Allied lives. As Anna's journey leads back through the treacherous years in wartime Germany, it uncovers long-buried secrets and unknown reaches of her heart to reveal the enduring power of love in the legacies that always outlast war.
Author: Phyllis Edgerly Ring
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 356
Synopsis: Anna Dahlberg grew up eating dinner under her father’s war-trophy portrait of Eva Braun. Fifty years after the war, she discovers what he never did—that her mother and Hitler’s mistress were friends. The secret surfaces with a mysterious monogrammed handkerchief, and a man, Hannes Ritter, whose Third Reich family history is entwined with Anna’s. Plunged into the world of the “ordinary” Munich girl who was her mother’s confidante—and a tyrant’s lover—Anna finds her every belief about right and wrong challenged. With Hannes’s help, she retraces the path of two women who met as teenagers, shared a friendship that spanned the years that Eva Braun was Hitler’s mistress, yet never knew that the men they loved had opposing ambitions. Eva’s story reveals that she never joined the Nazi party, had Jewish friends, and was credited at the Nuremberg Trials with saving 35,000 Allied lives. As Anna's journey leads back through the treacherous years in wartime Germany, it uncovers long-buried secrets and unknown reaches of her heart to reveal the enduring power of love in the legacies that always outlast war.
My Review
The Munich Girl is an absolutely consuming story that takes readers on a journey into history as Anna discovers the secrets of her past.
Anna is trying to deal with the loss of her mother and the guilt of having been to busy to visit her mother, which ultimately ends up being the dying woman's last request. Anna now resides in her mother's home and has started the process of sorting through her things. What Anna discovers leaves her questioning everything she once believed to be true. Anna begins working with Hannes Ritter, a German professor, researching and writing an article about women correspondents from World War II. As she becomes consumed with learning about these fascinating ladies, she also learns about Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress, but what's even more stunning is that her mother's name surfaces on more than one occasion. Hannes helps Anna piece the puzzle together and she's surprised to find that her mother and Eva Braun where actually close friends. Finally, with Hannes's encouragement, Anna makes a trip to Germany to retrace her mother's footsteps in hopes of putting the final pieces in place, but what she uncovers changes her life forever.
Filled with characters that are vibrant and alive, The Munich Girl easily captivates readers. The storyline is so believable you'll become lost in the pages and forget you're reading a work of fiction. Anna's journey is portrayed with such emotion that her sorrow became my sorrow and I celebrated her triumphs as if they were my own. As I approached the final chapters I found myself reading slower and slower in order to prolong the story's end. The author is a gifted storyteller and her talent shines through in this well written absorbing novel.
I highly recommend picking up a copy.
Anna is trying to deal with the loss of her mother and the guilt of having been to busy to visit her mother, which ultimately ends up being the dying woman's last request. Anna now resides in her mother's home and has started the process of sorting through her things. What Anna discovers leaves her questioning everything she once believed to be true. Anna begins working with Hannes Ritter, a German professor, researching and writing an article about women correspondents from World War II. As she becomes consumed with learning about these fascinating ladies, she also learns about Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress, but what's even more stunning is that her mother's name surfaces on more than one occasion. Hannes helps Anna piece the puzzle together and she's surprised to find that her mother and Eva Braun where actually close friends. Finally, with Hannes's encouragement, Anna makes a trip to Germany to retrace her mother's footsteps in hopes of putting the final pieces in place, but what she uncovers changes her life forever.
Filled with characters that are vibrant and alive, The Munich Girl easily captivates readers. The storyline is so believable you'll become lost in the pages and forget you're reading a work of fiction. Anna's journey is portrayed with such emotion that her sorrow became my sorrow and I celebrated her triumphs as if they were my own. As I approached the final chapters I found myself reading slower and slower in order to prolong the story's end. The author is a gifted storyteller and her talent shines through in this well written absorbing novel.
I highly recommend picking up a copy.
About the Author
As she writes fiction and nonfiction, Phyllis Edgerly Ring watches for the noblest possibilities in the human heart. She's always curious to discover how history, culture, relationships, spirituality, and the natural world influence us and point the way for the human family on our shared journey.
Her newest novel, The Munich Girl: A Novel of the Legacies That Outlast War, traces a pathway of love and secrets in WWII Germany when protagonist Anna Dahlberg discovers that her mother shared a secret friendship with Hitler's mistress, Eva Braun. Her journey to discover the truth about this, and her own life, will challenge most every belief she has about right and wrong.
The author has worked as writer, editor, nurse, tour guide, program director at a Baha'i conference center, taught English to kindergartners in China, and served as instructor for the Long Ridge Writer's Group. She has written for such publications as Christian Science Monitor, Ms., Writer's Digest, and Yankee, and also published several nonfiction books about creating balance between the spiritual and material aspects of life. More information can be found at her blog, Leaf of the Tree: https://phyllisedgerlyring.wordpress.com/.
Her newest novel, The Munich Girl: A Novel of the Legacies That Outlast War, traces a pathway of love and secrets in WWII Germany when protagonist Anna Dahlberg discovers that her mother shared a secret friendship with Hitler's mistress, Eva Braun. Her journey to discover the truth about this, and her own life, will challenge most every belief she has about right and wrong.
The author has worked as writer, editor, nurse, tour guide, program director at a Baha'i conference center, taught English to kindergartners in China, and served as instructor for the Long Ridge Writer's Group. She has written for such publications as Christian Science Monitor, Ms., Writer's Digest, and Yankee, and also published several nonfiction books about creating balance between the spiritual and material aspects of life. More information can be found at her blog, Leaf of the Tree: https://phyllisedgerlyring.wordpress.com/.
