Name: The Girls in the Attic by Marius Gabriel
Item: The Girls in the Attic
Author: Trenzle Review

The Girls in the Attic DEALS

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After Maggie’s father passes away, her mother’s friends and family encourage her to question her about her history. When she does, Maggie discovers the hardships that Lola, her mother, endured as a Jew living in Nazi Germany, as well as the improbable odds against which she had to survive when the Nazis physically knocked on the door in the form of the son of the woman who had Lola and her sister, Heidi, hidden in her attic.

The Girls in the Attic is Max Wolffe’s story, according to the Amazon description. When Max was a little child, his father—a preacher who spoke out against Hitler—was taken away. The official version of events is that Max’s father committed treason and died in prison, and that a Nazi who took the boy under his wing while the boy was being tortured daily as a result took the boy under his wing inspired Max to dedicate his life to the preservation of the motherland and master race.

After sustaining a brain injury at the Russian front, Max comes home for what he believes will be a rehabilitation break but instead discovers that his mother has hidden two young Jewish women within his house. The knowledge that his mother will also be detained is the only thing stopping Max from going to the local police to report the women.

The Girls in the Attic truly follows the reader’s expectations once you have a sense of the location. As Max gets to know the women, their understanding of the horrors of the War and their assurance that the Allies are on their way change his perspective on the Reich’s supremacy. Max begins to doubt both his adamant anti-Semitism and his unwavering belief in Hitler’s military prowess. Max and Lola had a few inward awakenings.

The tale of Lola Rosenstein is told in the novel, despite the fact that Max is the main character. Despite being relocated from one family to another with her sister for their safety, Lola starts out a little irrationally enraged. She despises Max and all that he represents. Although Heidi is the young woman’s voice of reason, the latter is only enraged. She starts out cautious but soon grows bored of the world as they travel across war-torn Germany.

Many survivors have expressed the thought that death is a rest, and they feel that it is quite accurate. The choice to have private discussions between Heidi and Max’s mother, Magda, and to have an omniscient view into Max’s cognitive process is all part of the story being told by Lola. While Max’s thought processes and transitions may serve as an explanation for the relationship that forms between Max and Lola (not a spoiler; ANYONE reading this book will expect it), our narrator wouldn’t know about it, and that bothers me more than it should, especially as she switches to first person in the epilogue.

Lola frequently has epiphanies about the nature of man’s hearts and her own lack of control. They assist to romanticise Max since they are great gestures toward a shift in his perspective toward people and generally the enemies of existence. It makes reasonable that she would recall him as he ought to have been given that we are viewing him through the eyes of an elderly woman.

The tale is entertaining, and the characters are likeable despite being quite predictable. As strange as it may sound, Lola begins as a young woman who is a little careless. She was initially shielded by her parents, followed by Heidi, and finally Max. She has suffered from living in the slums and is aware of the sacrifices her sister made to keep her safe, but as the narrative progresses, she matures and realises how fortunate she has been to live.

The Girls in the Attic was entertaining. I’ve seen the reviews that point out mistakes. There were mistakes, but I didn’t find them to be bothersome. The story was not of the quality that I’ll seek out other books by Gabriel but it was a good, solid read and one that makes some very good points. Pick it up and let me know what you think.

About The Book

Max Wolff is a committed soldier of the Reich. So when he is sent home wounded, only to discover that his mother is sheltering two young Jewish women in their home, he is outraged.

His mother’s act of mercy is a gross betrayal of everything Max stands for. He has dedicated his life to Nazism, fighting to atone for the shame of his anti-Hitler father’s imprisonment. It’s his duty to turn the sisters over to the Gestapo. But he hesitates, and the longer Max fails to do his duty, the harder it becomes.

When Allied bombers fill the skies of Germany, Max is forced to abandon all dogma and face the brutality of war in order to defend precious lives. But what will it cost him?

The Review