Dempsey offers descriptive passages at the same time, presenting interesting pictures with his use of words. Even though her life has led her to her current predicament, everything is still not black and white, and Franka wrestles at times with what she should do. ![]() The author allows her to speak the thoughts that must have been hidden by many German citizens in 1944. While we do learn of some of the motivations of the American John Lynch, it is through Franka’s eyes that readers are swept into a country consumed by conflicting emotions. The story is told through the eyes of several characters, although Franka is the main focus. Although Franka understands the danger that could come from her actions, she continues to do what she feels is right. Author Eoin Dempsey presents Franka Gerber with a dilemma right from the beginning, then continues to turn up the heat as the story progresses. “White Rose, Black Forest” is billed as a historical fiction, but it has all the makings of a thriller. A safe passage at one of the many bridges between Basel and Lake Constance would have been almost impossible. ![]() To cross into Switzerland from southern Germany you need to make it to the other side of the Rhine. The book lost its appeal to me.īy the way: Lessons in swimming would have been more up to the task than all the mountain climbing expertise. With so many facts bended or ignored I couldn't go on. Before, they had lost the Battle for England in the summer of 1940 and with the second battle for El Alamein late in 1942 their stronghold in northern Africa. There is no such thing as a uniform for a Secret Service Officer.Īnd the devastating defeat of the 6th German Army in Stalingrad wasn’t the first major setback for Hitlers troops. “Geheim” meaning secret – as in Secret Service. When Franka runs into Daniel Berkel in his black uniform with the skull on the hat Eoin Dempsey clearly confuses SS (Schutzstaffel) with Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei). Let me mention two other, major mistakes. If the author has no clue about the geography of southern Germany and northern Switzerland and obviously didn’t care about some research what else in this story is ludicrous, unbelievable or simply wrong? So when I came to the point in “White Rose, Black Mountains” when John Lynch tells Franka Gerber about all the skills he acquired to make sure he'd bring Rudolf Hahn into safety I stopped reading. Unless you go by way of the Austrian alps. And you know what? There are no mountain climbing skills necessary to make it from Stuttgart to Switzerland. One has to be an excellent swimmer to get from Albuquerque to Phoenix, right? No! Of course not. ![]() Hunted by the Gestapo, can they trust each other enough to join forces on a mission that could change the face of the war and their own lives forever? Their tenuous bond becomes as inseparable as it is dangerous. But when it turns out that he is not who he seems, Franka begins a race against time to unravel the mystery of the airman’s true identity. Unwilling to let him die, Franka takes him to her family’s isolated cabin despite her hatred for the regime he represents. Fervor and brutality have swept through her homeland, taking away both her father and her brother and leaving her with no reason to live.That is, until she discovers an unconscious airman lying in the snow wearing a Luftwaffe uniform, his parachute flapping in the wind. Now, as deep drifts of snow blanket the Black Forest, German dissenter Franka Gerber is alone and hopeless. In the years before the rise of Hitler, the Gerber family’s summer cottage was filled with laughter. An Amazon Charts bestseller.In the shadows of World War II, trust becomes the greatest risk of all for two strangers.December 1943.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |