One of the best books I have read in a while. Heart stopping, emotional and satisfying. A brave Jewish brother and sister must escape Germany and flee to Denmark to find an unknown relative there. Their safety from the Nazi's depends on it. Their journey is heart breaking, dangerous and will keep you on the edge of your seat with a tissue in hand. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

Oh wow. What a powerful, gripping story. The story of twins, separated by Nazi during WWII, finding each other, and of the loss of the other half of you. Lily Graham really brought the characters to life, during all the different settings and drew me in as though I was an extra in the story. Very moving.

Read to the last Page! Unputdownable! The emotional state of Asta & Jurgen to know that their parents are taken by the Germans and that they are now being hunted. These twins are only 15 years old and have been raised in a loving home. Now they must survive on the streets. Then the worst possible scenario happens they are split apart because in order to get away they had to run in separate directions. The horrors these.children had to endure are beyond comprehension.

The author has taken us to a time period we all would like to forget, but shouldn’t because it.could happen again. Her writing is Provocative and Explosive! The characters are strong and believable! You want to cheer them on so you keep turning the pages. I couldn’t stop so I ended up reading this in one sitting!

I definitely would recommend this book and plan to add it to my personal collection!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

“She remembered what he’d told her once about a swallow will always find its way home”
(The German Girl was previously titled The Flight of the Swallows)
The German Girl is a historical Holocaust novel. And, what a emotional read full of bravery, perseverance and courage.
The story is told in two timelines of the present day in 1990’s in Sweden and going back in the past to 1938 in Germany.
The main characters are twins, Asta and Jurgan. As with twins, they have a unique relationship. Their love for each other is heartwarming. Their journey is heartbreaking yet, uplifting in so many ways.
The authors writing and research that she put into the story is eye opening and engrossing.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and author, Lily Graham, for the opportunity to read The German Girl for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank You Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC! This book is based on my honest opinion.

I am a Holocaust fiction fan and so I was really grateful and privileged to read this book. In a nutshell, the story is divided between the present day set in 1990's in Sweden and the past, setting back to 1938, Hamburg, Germany. In present day Sweden, Ingrid is helping out her grandfather, who is suffering from the early stages of dementia, who hated German language and who insisted that Ingrid reminds him of Asta. Then Ingrid later on finds out that her grandfather was actually a German Jew, who lived in Hamburg, Germany with his twin sister Asta and their parents.

Now in the past, Asta and Jurgen are carefree children who played pranks for fun. When Hitler came to power in 1933, things start changing for both Asta and Jurgen as they faced discrimination due to the fact that they are Jews. Things start heating up with Kristallnacht and their parents taken to Dachau Concentration Camp, the twins with the help of a person they have been playing prank on escape Germany and begins the arduous journey from Germany to Denmark through a forest range, along with other Jews. But towards the border, the Jews get caught and Asta manages to escape and enter into Denmark with the help of a man named Kalle.

This book, just like any Holocaust books I have read is very emotional. The story talks about the courage and bravery the twins faced together, during the ruthless rule of the Nazis in Germany and how they overcame it together, without having to go to a concentration camp. The author has done a tremendous research on Holocaust and kudos to the author for writing such a good book! (this is the first book I have read from this author). I like the sibling relationship between Asta and Jurgen. The ending was shocking and very sad that I was teary at the end. I simply couldn't put this book town, and I felt I was drawn back to that time.

Overall, this book is an emotional and gripping book, that is unputdownable. Worth five stars!

It is a while since I have used every spare moment to read so avidly. Flight of Swallows tells the heartbreaking story of twins Asta and Jurgen and their flight from Nazi Germany into Denmark where an Aunt lives. This narrates as a tense and harrowing recount and the detail and story telling really made me feel like I was running alongside them. The story seems so real you can imagine it being so and the unfolding of events in Denmark and the reuniting of the twins presents as a wonderful relief until further tragedy strikes.
The downside of the story is that I wished it had been longer as some timeframe periods were skimmed over and I felt could have been further developed. However, I will definitely be reading more by this author and would highly recommend.

The Flight of Swallows is a fantastic WWII story. For all of his adult life Jurgen has kept his past a secret from his family. Only when dementia starts to set in does he finally reveal the heartbreaking story of his childhood. If you are a WWII historical fiction fan you will love this emotional book. Thanks to the author Lily Graham, publisher Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I absolutely loved this book; it was beautifully written being heart-breaking and heart-warming in equal parts. Told from two time perspectives, we start the story in 1995 in Northern Sweden. Jurgen is an old man suffering from worsening dementia, and his granddaughter Ingrid visits him daily. When one day he calls her Asta, Ingrid realises that there are things about her grandfather’s past that he’s never spoken about. The story then moves on to Hamburg, Germany in 1933 where we meet Jurgen as a young boy, and his twin sister, Asta. The author then takes us on a heart-breaking and frightening story of what it was like to be a Jew living in Germany under Hitler’s power.

Whilst it seems strange to say I loved this book, it’s the only thing I can say! I didn’t love what happened, how people were treated or the sadness that came from the pages. However, I did love how beautifully the story was told, the sense of loyalty and love between many of the characters and how it keeps in our memory something which should never be allowed to happen again. We all know the history of the Holocaust, but the author has done an astounding job in researching what it was like to be a German Jew at this time. I’ve read many fiction books on this subject, but this book has definitely taught me many things as the story has moved on.

Old man Jurgen has obviously kept his past hidden from his family. We don’t get to find out what happens to him until the story moves back to his childhood, and we only return to the later years when his story has been told. I loved his character, both old and young. As a young boy and then man, the love for his twin sister, Asta was obvious and so understanding. It was really interesting to see how, for the majority, Jurgen had to be the ‘grown up’ of the two twins, with Asta behaving more like the child she really was. The stories of Jewish people being referred to as inferior, not allowed to hold positions of power and being taken away to camps is nothing new, but I had no idea all this started to happen before the War began. The book was so realistically written, that at times I wondered whether I was actually reading a true story.

I did initially wonder where the storyline was heading, with the start of the book beginning in Sweden. The pace of these first few chapters was slower, building up the mystery as to what Jurgen’s story was. By the time the storyline had moved back to pre-war Germany, I was completely hooked. The author has done a fabulous job in capturing what it must have been like at the time, and as I read, I could feel the tension and how frightening it must have been. The suspense which filled the pages kept me on the edge of my seat and had my heart beating so fast with the anticipation of it all. The chapter endings were written perfectly with so many cliff-hangers that it was impossible to put down!!

It was an absolutely amazing book, one which I was completely captivated by. Full of emotions and sadness, but also with lots of love, family and friendships. This book will stay with you for such a long time after you’ve finished reading it. For people of the Jewish community who paid such a big price, this book is a fitting tribute to them. Would highly recommend!!

How would you feel if you were stopped on your way home from school and told never to return to your home because someone had taken your parents and were out, at that very moment, hunting you down? Lily Graham expertly explores this possibility in her five-star historical fiction novel, ‘The Flight of Swallows,’ to be published January 12, 2021.

Set in Hamburg in the eve of World War Two, this novel focuses on the power of family, the need for belonging and the lengths we will go for the ones we love. For a few years, the Jews in Hamburg have been nervously anticipating Hitler’s next move. As more laws are signed, more freedoms are lost for the Jewish people. For the Schwalbe family, the day in 1938 that changes their lives forever begins like any regular day for two working parents and their 16-year-old twins. While at work, Mr. Schwalbe is asked to produce his documents to verify that he’s made the necessary changes. In addition to having a ‘J’ stamped on their passports, Jews have been forced to add new middle names to their documents, Sara, for females and Israel, for males. When he resists handing over their passports to the authorities and producing his documents, both he and his wife are arrested and taken to Dachau work camp. They never get to say goodbye to their children. Owing their life to the canal boatman, Asta and Jurgen escape and head for their aunt’s home in northern Sweden. Your heart will be pounding and, with tears in your eyes, you’ll be frantically flipping pages in an effort to find out if the twins make it to safety.

The second timeline, set in Northern Sweden in the mid-1990s, is about a granddaughter who lovingly provides care for her cantankerous elderly grandfather who has isolated himself in a cabin in a remote hamlet. Graham’s writing evokes the gamut of emotions and you’ll be smiling at some of the one-liners Ingrid’s grandpa comes up with: “You don’t have to look after me – I have underpants older than you.” Told to leave countless times, she pushes through the protective wall he’s built to discover who he really is underneath his gruff exterior. Keep the tissues handy, you’ll need them by the end of chapter 3!

By far the absolute best book I’ve read this year! Lily Graham’s writing will entrance you from the first page and keep you absorbed in the twins’ plight until the very last page. I devoured it in one sitting. Not only has she done extensive research making this a historical fiction masterpiece, but she’s also managed to craft exceptional characters in a heart-pounding and suspenseful read. I love it when author’s titles make me pause. The Flight of Swallows; Is it about birds? Is it a surname? How does it relate to the plot? You’ll have to read this masterfully written account to find out. I love to learn as I read and, although I was familiar with the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht, I appreciated learning more about how they affected the Jews throughout Europe. I also learned about the Kindertransport and the Elsinore Sewing Club. This book will stay with me for a long time and I don't think I'll ever look at my toaster again without thinking about Esther!

Please keep writing, Lily Graham, the world needs more of your books!

A heartfelt thank you to Lily Graham, Bookouture and NetGalley for this amazing advance copy in exchange for an honest review.