By Olivia Hawker

This story surprised me! I’ve read a LOT of WWII fiction over the years. As I read the story, I was trying to put my finger on what made this story different. First of all, the main character, Anton, is such a positive, happy character. Even when he was feeling troubled and didn’t know how to handle a situation, he lived with incredible hope. I think it was the hope I noticed.

Another surprising thing? This book is about Germans. More specifically, regular German people who didn’t like the Nazi’s and disagreed with what they did. We don’t get to see this side enough in other fiction! And Germans suffered during the war too – as Americans, we sometimes forget that! Even better? Anton joins the resistance, trying to thwart the Nazi regime in general and Hitler in particular.

So this character is lovable, he’s interesting – a former friar trying to make a living teaching music lessons during the war. Also, he marries a widow knowing full well she is only marrying him because she’s desperate to support her children and cannot do it alone.

It’s a very fresh perspective on the war and the characters really are fascinating. Even better? The epilogue. PLEASE read the epilogue (or is it called an afterword? Or an Author’s note?) whatever it’s called, when you read it, you will find out how the author came to write this story. I promise, you will savor the story EVEN more when you read this. But I don’t want to spoil it so I must leave it there.

Want to pick up your copy? It’s definitely worth the read! You can find it here. 

Content: clean