I absolutely loved this book!

As soon as I saw the description for this book I knew that it was one that I would love, and I wasn’t wrong. I know quite a bit about the history from this period and I have to say that the author did a superb job at bringing the period and what it would have been like to life. I was completely hooked by the plot!

The characterisation is perfect, the characters are genuine and believable, and so well developed. I really did feel as though I knew them really well and the author had brilliant descriptions which really added to the plot.

This one ticked all the boxes for me, it really was a super read and it took me through the emotions as I was reading and I really felt for the characters at times, I was really emotionally invested in this story and it takes a very good book for that to happen to me!

It was well developed, has fascinating characters and a brilliant plot – I loved it from cover to cover and cannot recommend it highly enough – no hesitation at all, this one gets 5 stars from me!!

This was a very interesting time in history. The end of the war, but the devastation of the cities and and the society has yet to be put back together. The stories about what really went on are coming out, and lines are blurred between who is a war criminal and whose crimes can be overlooked as research for the future. Edith enters the midst of this using the code from her cookbook to send messages from uncovered plots. A story of intrigue and multi-layered with trying to work out who is on which side keeps you totally engrossed as the plot takes some twists and turns. Really well written, loved it!

This is a thoroughly absorbing post World War 2 novel, that features brilliantly the brave work undertaken by many civilians who wanted to do their bit, and who ended up getting involved in far more serious work while they were in Europe.

And in Miss Graham we have a character who goes from teaching in England to wanting to help the children in Germany by overseeing the efforts to re-open schools and educate the children. She is flagged up as a person of interest to undertake another role why she is there, and she has a brilliant way of sending coded messages back that will escape the attention of those censoring the mail.

The other women she works with become good friends, and I really loved their bond and just their absolute bravery in putting themselves forward to do this work in the first place, knowing that if they ever got caught it wouldn't end well.

There's so many twists and turns along the way as Edith spends her time building up relationships with the children she works with, along with wondering who to trust with the many people she meets. And the grim sights she witnesses really brings home the reality of war and how people were left living and having to just get on with life the best they could.

I did struggle at times to connect with Edith as a character as she sometimes came across so mechanical and straight laced, but then I guess she had to be that way when dealing with what she was facing. This wasn't a time to be very emotional or to lose your head.

What really got to me though was the stories of the brutality and horrors that people recounted to the women so they could get a real sense of what the War meant for those still living - surrounded by memories, grieving for loved ones and doing what they could to survive. It was a thoroughly sobering yet inspiring read that paid tribute to many acts of selfless acts of bravery by those trying to bring those who committed atrocities to rights. Highly recommended.

This story is set in the immediate aftermath of WW2 as various people travelled into Europe to help rebuild things after the war.
Edith Graham is a young women who spent the war looking after her mother & teaching. At the end of the war she decides that her brother/sister-in-law can step up and look after mother whilst she does her part – working in Germany as a member of the Control Commission Education Board, setting up schools for the German children (not an easy task – especially when all of the existing text books were full of Nazi propaganda!)
Just before leaving for Germany, she is approached by her “sort of cousin” Leo, a member of the British intelligence service, who convinces her to combine her new job with some undercover work - trying to make contact with an old friend of Leo’s & old flame of Edith’s, Kurt von Stavenow.
“People get the wrong end of the stick about intelligence work. Most of it’s done by perfectly unexceptional types: businessmen, travel agents, teachers, clerks, typists, shop assistants, anybody really. Ordinary men – and women. It’s mostly a matter of keeping eyes and ears open, passing on information. Women are excellent at it. Superior intuition.”
Edith slipped easily into her new role. She is not easily fazed by some of the hardships she faced, is resourceful, kind & generally a good judge of character. She is also interested in recipes, collecting them wherever she went, and had a small but very successful side job as a recipe writer for a London newspaper, under the pseudonym “Stella Snelling”. Her recipe collecting gives her a natural topic of conversation with strangers, especially the women, wherever she goes – from her landlady, to a maid, to the wife of an Austrian hotelier. Edith uses recipes as cover for coded messages that she is sending back to her friend Dori in London, who is another of the people who want to track down Kurt von Stavenow. When the recipes come under scrutiny, Edith reminds people that she is sending the same recipes to her sister. The code works because she is not trying to send full messages just hints (a cold recipe after a hot one might refer to a trail cooling down, the places named might hint at people “a Prussian recipe”)
However, Edith soon realises that multiple people want to find Kurt, and that she must be careful who she trusts. Her landlady is still holding meetings with other Nazi sympathisers, her driver seems to pop up when she least expects it, and when she finds her old friend Elisabeth (Kurt’s wife), can Edith believe the story she is being told?
As the book progresses, there are twists & turns in unexpected places and sometimes I didn’t know who to trust or who Edith could trust! This is definitely not an ordinary “spy story” and whilst there are elements of love, this isn’t a love story either – and don’t think that you can guess the ending until it happens!
There is an authenticity to this book that can only come from in depth research – the descriptions of post-war Germany were vivid. The possible implications of setting a book in the immediate aftermath of the war when the horrors of concentration camps etc were still fresh, was sensitively dealt with and we see how many of the Brits who entered Germany struggled to see the deprivation around them whilst they were eating & living relatively well.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free from the publisher via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher & author for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.

I was completely drawn into this book and Edith’s story. Set after the 2nd World War, the main characters are committed to bringing nazi war criminals to justice but find that not everyone shares their views. This was a deeply disturbing and immoral time with different factions all competing to not only give a safe haven to high ranking and scientific experts from the 3rd Reich, but also to learn from them in order to gain the upper hand against the perceived threat of communism. Clearly, there were no easy answers and there is no doubt that atrocities were committed by the victors in this war, but it is stomach turning to know that so many nazis escaped punishment for their crimes and lived new lives, either in their adopted country or eventually back in Germany. Sadly, extremism of all forms is still a huge problem and the lessons of the past have not been learned, on the contrary, intolerance seems to be increasing everywhere you look.

A well written and thought provoking book that will stay with me.

Excellent. What more to say. Well written, setting the era perfectly. An unexpected twist me a very satisfactory ending. Thoroughly recommended

Edith is recruited to help out getting children back into education in Germany, post war. She also has to help investigate certain figures who may have hidden agendas and have been involved in war crimes. She uses recipes to hide messages and gets herself involved in some scary situations, unsure who is trustworthy and who might see her as a means to get the information they need. The characters are all so interesting and it is great to figure out who is hiding secrets.
I was fascinated by this book and couldn't wait to keep reading.

A story of life after WWII which begins each chapter with a recipe. Are they just simple recipes though or maybe coded messages from a Cold War spy? A tale unfolds of love and loss and how the evils of war and two characters in particular, carried on long after the war.
The end of the WWII leads into the Cold War and our recipe/cookbook writer finds herself caught up in continuing the fight to right wrongs and bring the guilty to account. Her part in the story takes an unforeseen turn and we are brought into the 1980’s before we see a conclusion to the story.
An excellent read that you won’t want to put down.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Atmospheric and steeped in historical detail. A refreshing setting for a novel.

Amazing. Spellbinding and heartbreaking. No spoilers but an amazing twist. Well written and interesting fully recommend

Germany 1946. The war is over and Europe is in ruins, a seething mass of displaced people, refugees and Nazis trying to escape retribution. Add to that the secret services from what were allies, all now pursuing different aims, and the war has sudden got a lot colder.
This is a brilliant story, told with close attention to the finer details, which really brings this period into vivid life for the reader. The mix of spies, Nazis and innocents all caught up in the maelstrom makes this a thrilling and exciting read, and the shocks just kept coming. A brilliant story, based on the facts of what actually went on during this time, you have to read this book! Gripping and highly satisfying! I loved it!

A remarkable story set in post-war 1945 Germany.

Edith Graham spent the war looking after her mother. She found the experience both stifling and exasperating because she wanted to be part of the war effort. Now, the chance has arrived where she can take up a position in Germany as a member of the Control Commission Education Board. Leo Chase, Edith’s distant cousin, now part of the British Secret Service asks Edith to make a special effort to find Sturmbannführer Kurt von Stavenow. Kurt and Leo had studied together at Oxford and Edith, and Kurt had become lovers.

Leo and the British Government want to trace him and hand him over to the War Crimes Court for a programme he ran for the disabled called the Euthanasia Project.

Adeline Parnell was one of the first journalists to enter Germany with the Allied Forces. She and Edith will both be in Germany at the same time.

Dori, Hungarian, had married a British Flying Officer while he was training pilots in Poland. She resided in the house where Robert Stansfield had hoped to share his life with her. Unfortunately, he was killed in the Battle of Britain.

Dori worked with a woman called Vera Atkins. Vera is part of the Control Commission, and Edith will be reporting to her. Edith loves cooking, and she hits on the idea of sending messages back to her handler hidden within recipes.

Edith soon discovers that many Nazis are still very active and full of ambition to continue their attempt to carry on their work. In fact, she very quickly realises that her landlady is still holding meetings with other Nazi sympathisers, and she uses her to try to trace Kurt and his wife, Elizabeth.

I honestly had no idea that the Allies went into Germany after the war to try to help with the restoration of the country after the devastation caused by the bombing. I also had no idea that many of the people hiding in plain sight were part of the SS and responsible for the atrocities carried out in the concentration camps. What I’ve learnt through this novel has shocked me to my core. Many of these vile war-criminals managed to escape to South America – thanks to the help supplied by the USA government. What came as an even greater shock was that many of these ruthless murderers were taken to the USA to work for places like NASA and other government organisations.

Celia Rees must have spent years researching records and following up on those who managed to escape to either South America or the USA. This book is authentic, and the author has captured the mood, the desolate countryside and all the various nations who were trying to sort out the morass from steely English to Aggressive Americans and Jews with one vision; getting to Palestine.

Thanks to Celia Rees, I found myself digging up information on the history of the Americans offering work to these SS officers. I also found a series called The Hunters on Amazon, which helped me understand why many people devoted their lives after the war to hunting them receiving the justice they deserved.


Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

Edith has been a teacher working and looking after her mother during World war 2.When the war is over she feels she must make changes in her life.She is recruited to go too Germany to help look for Nazis who have evaded capture.
Before she goes she is introduced to her contact in London,Dori.They meet up and arrange to pass information using a code behind the sending of recipes.
The book gets exciting and nail biting.It is hard to know who to trust and who is on what side.
I liked the fact it had twists and surprises in the plot and was not a bog standard love or spy story.

I have just finished this book and I’m in floods of tears. Edith Graham has spent WWII teaching children in England but when the war is over she takes a job in Germany starting up schools for the children.
Her second cousin Leo who she is close to then recruits her to help find her old German boyfriend Kurt who became a member of the SS. Edith agrees but Leo isn’t the only one who needs her help, Other people want Kurt too but for different reasons.
The cookbook part of the story refers to the recipes Edith sent back to her friend Dori, who was also involved in finding Kurt.
I read a lot of books set in WWII but I think this is the first one I have read which deals with the aftermath of the war in Germany, The book showed that the ordinary people on the streets are always the ones who suffer the most in wars. Some of the chapters tell of the horrific atrocities which took place in Germany. It is heartbreaking to read.
I liked the the descriptions of the settings, the hotels and the people. The characters were well written and I’ll miss Edith,Dori, Adeline , Jack and Harry but sometimes I didn’t know who to trust or who Edith could trust.
It taught me a lot too and this is what I like about this book. Also the fact that my heart was beating faster and faster throughout as Edith seemed to be always in danger.
The ending was genius! Particularly the description of how someone dresses, but can’t give away who or why.
I will now have to have a glass of wine, dry my tears and recover before I pick my next read.

Brilliant. I loved this book. Really interesting and really well written and researched. I wanted to keep reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is the first time that I have read a book by Celia Rees. Having finished this book I can safely say that I will look out for future titles.

The novel covers the period in the lead up and immediately after the Second World War. Mostly it is set in Germany, but with ventures in to surrounding countries.

It is difficult to classify the book clearly into a single genre. However it is packed with interesting angles on the social history of the time and places.

I really like the way that the characters are developed. The story has pace and plenty of interesting twists and turns as it moves towards a dramatic conclusion.

This is a book which has given me an insight into aspects of post war Europe about which I know very little.

I give my thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy of this book in exchange for this review.

A fast paced and fascinating book that mixes historical fiction with women's fiction creating an engrossing and entertaining plot.
I loved the well researched and vivid historical background, the great cast of characters and the well crafted plot that kept me hooked till the end.
I loved this book and I highly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I loved this book. This was my first novel by Celia but after reading this one I would definitely read another of hers. This book has the perfect mix of light heartedness and heartbreak. Fantastic

What a brilliant read. Set in post war Germany following spy Edith on assignment as she works to track down Nazis involved in the T4 programme.

I can be very critical of anything set in and around Nazi Germany having studied it at degree level and I have to say I thought the topic was dealt with really well. You get the real sense of post war deprivation faced by many people in the aftermath of war. The book focuses on the T4 euthanasia programme and touches on the einsatzgruppen neither of which are all that well known about and should be because they were both so utterly horrific.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am left wanting more.

I loved this book. It had everything I could want in a non-fantasy book: some history, food and recipes, German, international relations, some moral quandaries, not too little jeopardy and a great array of characters.
I fell in love with the main character, Edith, as soon as she was introduced. She was everything I would hope to be, if ever in her situation: kind, resourceful, always willing to help, judging people on their merit – not their race or nationality, standing up for those less fortunate than herself – and a good cook!
At the end of WWII, Edith wanted to escape from her humdrum existence in England, go to Germany and put her language and teaching skills to use, to help in the rebuilding of a post-Nazi Germany. Her ‘cousin’, Leo, a member of the British intelligence service, convinces her to combine her new job with some low-grade spying, to root out Nazi sympathisers:
“People get the wrong end of the stick about intelligence work. Most of it’s done by perfectly unexceptional types: businessmen, travel agents, teachers, clerks, typists, shop assistants, anybody really. Ordinary men – and women. It’s mostly a matter of keeping eyes and ears open, passing on information. Women are excellent at it. Superior intuition.”
In particular, Leo wants Edith to locate her ex-boyfriend, Kurt, who is wanted because of his participation in the Nazi euthanasia project and for appalling medical ‘tests’ on Jews and other captive persons.
Edith slips easily into her new role. She has had an alter ego for many years – a more glamorous ‘Bunbury’, who gives her an excuse to escape, on occasion, to London to visit friends, have fun, and to indulge her passion for food writing:
“She sent her recipes as Stella Snelling, hiding behind the pseudonym’s anonymity. She didn’t want anyone at home to know and she liked the idea of Stella as much as she disliked the way people made judgements about her based on her job and her unmarried status.”
Her recipe collecting acts as a cover in Germany and as a code for relaying information back to England. It also focusses her mind and gives her a non-threatening way of approaching strangers:
“Food reveals a great deal. It also serves to fix the memory. Better than a diary. Even years later, the recall is instant.”
Unlike many of her compatriots in Bremen, Edith is all too aware that not every German was a Nazi sympathiser. She likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, though usually still keeping her eyes and ears open – judging them on their actions, and interactions with others, not relying on the Persilschein that many brandish to prove that they are whiter-than-white. The characters in the book are seldom all-good or all-evil – each has their flaws, vices and redemptive qualities (except perhaps, Kurt). At each point you ask yourself – what would (could) I have done in those strained times.
“She knew plenty who would have joined in without question, more who would have done nothing. She knew of very few who would have dared to do anything when faced with the threat of the Gestapo and the concentration camp.”
Edith’s spying job is not straightforward. Leo is not the only person wanting to find Kurt and other ‘ex’-Nazis. Dori (Hungarian, ex-resistance) needs to find out what happened to the girls she sent into occupied France. She and Harry Hirsch (Latvian Jew) want to bring war criminals to justice. Leo, McHale (American) and the Soviets want the more ‘useful’ Nazis to work with/for them in the new Cold War. Adeline (American photographer) needs to keep her bosses happy or they will send her home. Edith must decide what information to share with whom:
“‘That’s more or less what McHale said. No one’s interested in going after them any more, punishing them for what they’ve done.’ ‘We (Harry) are, Edith.’ He took her hands and held them tightly. ‘We are.’ His eyes took on a sudden, dark intensity. ‘We are a patient people. We remember for millennia. They will never be safe from us. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far they run.’”
There is a devastating twist near the end, followed by another right at the end. Neither of which I saw coming.
This is a very well written and researched book, with great characters and outstanding historical atmosphere. I highly recommend it.