A powerful wartime novel by the bestselling author of Daughters of the Night Sky. Alternating between WWII and the present day.  A taste of history and well researched. A story of family, love, and loyalty.  I loved the several POV and alternating timelines.  A wonderful story from an author I love!

Once again, Runyan proves herself a master of pacing and character development: not to mention brilliantly integrated research.   I always find her books so immersive.




I hosted the author for a fb live chat and shared on instagram, facebook and twitter

Inspired by true events, Runyan weaves a dual timeline story of sacrifice, courage and love in the post Pearl Harbor years.  Undoubtedly requiring endless research, she has crafted three  memorable historical perspectives bringing the reader to the heart of the action. Beautiful prose and swift pace. Recommend for historical fiction fans who want a lesser know angle of WWII fiction.

Aimie K. Runyan’s fifth novel is anchored in two historical periods – California in 2007, and Germany during WWII – and told from three perspectives. The story combines a classic plot pattern of a young woman discovering her father’s secret wartime history with his first-person account of that history, along with a third strand from the viewpoint of a German woman, a female pilot and aircraft designer who’s an aristocrat by marriage, and who has secret Jewish heritage. The stories interlock, but not the way you’d assume.

In the modern era, Beth Cohen is startled to discover a decades-old snapshot of her father, Max, gazing into the eyes of a pregnant young blonde. At the end of his life, at age 90, Max Blumenthal is finally ready to reveal his involvement with the woman he loved and lost before he met Beth’s mother, hoping to solve a mystery that’s lingered for decades. In 1944, as a newly minted dentist, Max decides to enlist rather than wait to be drafted, feeling an obligation to do his part for the war because of his lost relatives from Latvia. Part of a medical detachment during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest near the German border, he gets pulled into the resistance movement after one night when he intercepts a young woman stealing medical supplies for a friend she claims is working against Hitler. He chooses to let her go.

Of the three protagonists, Johanna Schiller is the most intriguing. As a skilled test pilot, she doesn’t fall into the Nazis’ preferred role for women, and she grows uneasy about her brother’s quick absorption into the Hitler Youth and fellow Germans’ reporting on each other’s “unpatriotic” activities. Johanna also has a younger sister, Metta, who seems resigned to the life planned out for her as a loyal wife to the Reich. The story moves from the sexism German women faced under Nazi rule to the heroism of the resistance, and the courageous paths traveled by those who actively yet covertly rebelled. The plot has a couple of incredible coincidences but wraps up in a way that enables the characters to heal from the wounds of the past.

This is a lovely story of WWII, family, love, and secrets.  The story gripped  me from the beginning and was very compelling.  
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Beth Cohen’s dad Max is 90 and living in an aged care home and one day he asked his daughter to find a box containing his mementos from his time serving as a medic during WW II. Of course she has a look at the contents of the box and she discovers a photo of her dad with a pretty pregnant woman and the lady isn’t her mother?
1944 Max finished his dental training; he decided to serve his country and joined the army as a medic. While stationed in Germany he met a young married woman called Margarethe, they had a very short romantic relationship, after the war ended he tried to find her, he couldn’t, he had no idea what happened to Metta and her baby. Older Max had one wish; he would like Beth to find out what happened to Metta and her baby. After 60 years Beth doesn’t like her chances of finding them and her dad doesn’t even know her last name.
Johanna Patterson is Metta’s older sister, during WW II engineer in Germany she designed and flew planes.
Post war Germany was a mess, people lost contact with each other during the chaos and it was difficult to find someone missing. Both Max and Johanna separately spent over two years trying to find Margarethe and they had no luck eventually they had no choice and moved on with their lives. All three main characters stories are connected, you have Max who knows his time is running out and he wants closure. Beth has recently divorced and wants to make the most of her time that she has left with her dad and let him rest in peace knowing what happened to his first love Metta. Johanna has married again; she no longer lives in Germany and after 60 years and still wants to find out what happened to her beloved sister Metta?

Across The Winding River's plot is based around Max, Metta’s and Johanna’s experiences during WW II; it’s a gripping dual timeline story about war, love, loss, sacrifice, destiny and finally finding closure.

This book sucked me in to a fabulous story of war and love. Runyan's writing is as timeless as this story is. Her novels are always packed with lovable characters and her portrayal of historical times is entertaining and intriguing. I have not read a book by Aimie K. Runyan that I didn't love!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* ngl this book really ended up drawing me in, these books tend to be more hit and miss for me but this was really great and i found myself wanting to get back to this book when i had to, against my will, take breaks lol

I've enjoyed every historical fiction book I've read by this author, and this story was no different. It's a wonderful heartfelt story about Beth uncovering history about Max, her elderly father from his time as a medic in WWII after she stumbles across an old photo in a box of his old treasures.

We often hear of how veterans never discuss the horrors of the war and family often doesn't hear about everything they endured until late in their life (if ever.) In this book, Beth has already lost her mother, has ended a troubled marriage, and this old photo of her dad with his arm around a pregnant woman gives her a glimpse into possibly uncovering family she'd never known.

The author (as always) does a great job researching history, and it's a wonderful story about family, heart, and hope. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this wonderful book!

I've really enjoyed Ms. Runyan's previous book and this book didn't disappoint. I loved the story itself and getting to meet these characters.

A lovely historical fiction story.  Max, an elderly man at the end of his life asks his daughter Beth to retrieve a box of WWII memorabilia from his storage unit and starts her on a journey into the past.  Told from the perspective of Beth in the current day, Max during his time during the war and Johanna, an engineer with a crossover story.  An enjoyable interweaving tale.

This is a historical based women's fiction story based on a true story told in three narratives. It is a heartfelt story of love during war time and how the war changed lives forever. I loved the charcters as they were beautifully drawn to the story and all told their side of the story with great depth.  The war time descriptions were spectacular and very true to fact.   The three narratives blend perfectly for a outstanding read that I highly recommend. 

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley. My review opinions are my own.

A women finds an old photograph in her father's WWII memorabilia and that is where the mystery begins.  I found it helpful to read the author's notes before I started the book because the book has three timelines and three POV's, so can be difficult to keep it all straight at times.  Reading the author’s notes helped simplify the complexity of the story for me.   

This is a story about family, love and loyalty.  There are many characters and throughout the story you become invested in them all.  It is a complex and entertaining  story based on facts that kept me engaged to the end!!

I would recommend this book if you like WWII genre, you won’t be disappointed!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my review
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#NetGalley #AcrosstheWindingRiver

This was the first time I had read anything by Aimie K. Runyan. I recieved this as an Arc from NetGalley. I really enjoyed this historical fiction  book because it was wrtitten from a male character point of view. It was well written and I could imagine  the hole book in my mind. I will be reading more of Amie K. Runyan's future books.

Calling all World War II and historical fiction lovers!! Have I got a book for you, Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan is such a magnificent story spanning three different timelines and many decades. There are three viewpoints in this book - Beth in present day 2007, her father Max (set during the war and shortly afterwards), and Johanna who is an engineer and test pilot for Nazi Germany. I absolutely loved how Runyan intertwined all of the stories together and my jaw dropped open more than once during the book.

Since we're dealing with war, Across the Winding River is definitely not all sunshine and roses, so I was very happy that the author infused it with so much humor. I loved that so many parts made me laugh, while it was also serious, heartbreaking, and inspirational as well. I also thought it was really cool that there was a character based in the Luftwaffe since that is something I know very little about. Two characters (one being Johanna) are very loosely based on actual women who worked there which was so incredibly interesting. I loved the author's note at the back so be sure not to skip that either!

I actually ended up listening to the audio of Across the Winding River, and it is truly something you don't want to miss. Thanks to this being under the Amazon Publishing umbrella (which means the audio is Brilliance Audio), I was able to get the Kindle version plus audiobook from Kindle Unlimited and I absolutely loved the audio. It is narrated by Kathleen Gati, Lisa Flanagan, and Michael Crouch and they all did such an amazing job. It helped me feel like I was right there with the characters, and I would gladly listen to this book all over again thanks to them.

I thought that Runyan did such an amazing job with the complex novel that is Across the Winding River, and it made for an addicting read, especially with the addition of the mystery. I loved so many of the characters, and even though she wasn't a POV, Johanna's sister Metta was a huge part of this story as well and I loved her so much. I can't believe I haven't read a book by this author before, but I cannot wait to get to her backlist now!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an advance review copy of this book! All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Another wonderful historical mystery from Runyan!  Winding between the present and WWII, it's the story of Max and the German woman he loved.  Max's daughter Beth feels compelled to find the woman in a photo she discovers and this is that tale.  Runyan's a good storyteller and this will keep you engaged and reading.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  An excellent read.

This was such a satisfying story. So many feel good moments throughout the book. There are a few different story lines, but the author seamlessly wove them all together, convincingly. 1944 WWII Germany, Max Blumenthal meets the beautiful wife of a high ranking Nazi officer. She's working for the Resistance. He helps her cause, but then they lose touch and he ends up back in California after the war. He continues to search for her. Then there is Johanna, who is working for the German Air Force, designing aircraft. She's harboring a secret, she's not 100% Aryan. Present day, Beth is Max's daughter and she finds out about the mysterious woman when she helps Max get his war photos and memorabilia organized at his care home. Beth comes across a never before seen photo of her father with this young woman. She decides to help her father find the woman, before he dies. Then there's a German woman who might be connected to the long lost woman from the photo. So many lost souls, memories, and regrets, but all come to a satisfying outcome. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this book. 
A read not to be missed!! EASY 5 star read. 
I devoured this fantastic book in one day.

4.5 stars

This was a beautiful story of love, loss, and the healing powers of closure.

Beth’s father, Max, is getting on in years and may not have much time left. So when he asks Beth to bring him a box of memorabilia from when he was a medic in WW2, she discovers much more about her father than she anticipated. It all started with a photo of Beth’s father standing next to a beautiful, young, pregnant woman, and from there she is led down the rabbit hole in search of information about this mysterious woman from her father’s past

I absolutely loved this book! It was so well written and emotionally driven that I couldn’t put it down. Max and Beth were wonderful characters, and I loved how their story came full circle at the end.

Highly recommend!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3493434288

An excellent story written about the events of 1944 Germany where American medic Max Blumenthal meets the beautiful German woman Margarethe, a member of the resistance, and is drawn into her world.  Margarethe is the wife of a cruel Nazi officer, but does not let her fear stop her from risking her life for her cause.  She and Max have an immediate connection and a hope of a life together once the mission is complete. 

This story is told in triple narrative over multiple timelines, but it was easy to follow.  It begins in nearly present-day with Max’s daughter Beth and her worry about her elderly father.  In a nursing home, Max asks Beth to bring him a box of war memorabilia from home and the contents start a quest neither of them could have imagined.

There were many characters intertwined in this book and I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that it was deeply moving.  I was very much involved in these characters' lives and their outcomes.  I couldn’t help but compare the hardships that people in wartime of that period and earlier lived through, both on the front and at home.  Not to diminish what people go through today because our servicemen and their families sacrifice so much, but those earlier people had nothing but an occasional letter that would arrive written months earlier.  There was no phone contact, email, Internet, or Facetime contact.  The author made all this so real and heartbreaking.  This book was compelling, well-written, and thoroughly researched and I even enjoyed the “Author’s Note” at the end.  This one will stay with me for some time.  I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read it.  I gave it four stars.