ON THE EVE OF WWII, TWO SISTERS IN BERLIN FIND THEMSELVES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WAR. ONE FALLS UNDER THE FÜHRER’S SPELL—THE OTHER FLEES, PUTTING AN OCEAN AND DECADES OF SILENCE BETWEEN THEM. A CHILD REMAINS THEIR LAST, SECRET BOND.
Gerda is thirteen when Hitler takes office; her sister Ilse, eleven. While Gerda grows disillusioned by Nazism, Ilse becomes a fervent follower: The Führer’s voice on the radio is like a drug to her. Politics becomes a wedge between them.
At fifteen, Ilse is chosen for Year on the Land—catchphrase Kinder, Küche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church)—a rural indoctrination program designed to boost the Aryan birth rate. There, she falls in love with a boy from a nearby camp and becomes pregnant. When the boy is suddenly expelled, Ilse begins to fear consequences.
Meanwhile, Gerda has decided to flee Germany. As she and her husband are boarding a train, Ilse surprises her at the station, handing her a basket through the train window. As the train pulls away, Gerda opens the basket and is shocked to discover—a sleeping infant inside.
Years after the war, Ilse confronts her schoolgirl self—who was naively caught up in fascism’s false promises—and resolves to track down her sister. What will happen when she finds the daughter she gave away?
Emotionally resonant and deeply relevant, this evocative novel offers a window into the experiences of millions of Germans under Hitler—their indoctrination, resistance, and searing regrets. The German Sisters explores how ordinary lives are transformed by extraordinary times—and whether love can survive our deepest betrayals.
ON THE EVE OF WWII, TWO SISTERS IN BERLIN FIND THEMSELVES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WAR. ONE FALLS UNDER THE FÜHRER’S SPELL—THE OTHER FLEES, PUTTING AN OCEAN AND DECADES OF SILENCE BETWEEN THEM. A CHILD REMAINS THEIR LAST, SECRET BOND.
Other Books
The Latecomers is a deeply moving family drama about a young Irish immigrant, an ancestral home in New England and a dark secret that lay hidden in its walls for five generations.
What Was Mine tells the story of Lucy Wakefield—a seemingly ordinary woman who does something extraordinary in a desperate moment: she takes a baby girl from a shopping cart and raises her as her own.
The Traveler’s Vade Mecum is a unique collaboration, an anthology of new poems prompted by old telegrams from an 1853 compendium of the same name, contributed by 67 poets from all over the world.
Making It: A Novel of Madison Avenue is a coming-of-middle age story about a woman and a business (advertising.) It’s sort of like Mad Men thirty years later, from the point of view of an older, wiser, married Peggy Olson.
About the Author
Helen Klein Ross is a poet and novelist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Iowa Review.
Her forthcoming novel The German Sisters tells the story of two sisters who find themselves on opposite sides of politics in Hitler’s Berlin. They become estranged, yet—one of them raises the other’s baby.
Her novel The Latecomers is the story of an Irish immigrant, an ancestral home in New England and dark secrets hidden in its walls for generations.
Her novel What Was Mine tells the story of a kidnapping from many points of view. It was chosen by People magazine as a Best New Book of 2016.
She is the creator and editor of The Traveler’s Vade Mecum, an anthology of new poems titled by old telegrams, from 70 international poets.
She graduated from Cornell University and received an MFA from The New School. She lives in Lakeville, CT and New York City.
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