Thank you NetGalley, Carly Schabowski and Bookouture for the ARC of The Watchmaker of Dachau.
This is my personal review.
This is an historical fiction book based on real life events. It tells the story of many  who are imprisoned in the Dachau camp. It is heartbreaking and yet tells the story of what happens during this time in history.  The friendships that are formed and help in ways to ease the lives they are all living. It is a book that will stay in the mind of the readers long after the last word is read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I know there’s a lot of historical fiction written about WWII but this is one of the good ones. Picking up near the end of the war and taking place mostly in Dachau, this is the story of two prisoners and the son of one of the senior officers.

Friedrich Becher is the young son of Senior Officer Becher. Pulled from boarding school to stay with his parents within walking distance of the concentration camp, he has no idea the atrocities happening only a stone’s throw away and elsewhere during the war. He is left alone to entertain himself most of the time as his parents become more frantic and stressed without any explanation.

Anna helps to take care of the Becher’s home. She is escorted from the camp to her work and back every day. She has lost her fiancé, her brother, and her mother, and she spends her days trying to avoid the eye of Senior Officer Becher and the anger of his increasingly unstable wife.

Isaac has managed to stay hidden for so long, it’s a surprise when he’s ambushed and brought to Dachau. The tools he is carrying reveal his skills to the guards and he is brought to the Becher’s to repair a grandfather clock. Once successful, he is kept on to repair watches taken from prisoners to be given as gifts and rewards to soldiers.

Isaac and Anna strike up a friendship on snatched conversations and small meals provided by the empathetic housekeeper. Friedrich, desperate for company, overcomes his fear caused by the Jewish propaganda to get to know Isaac and Anna while they work in his home and disappear each night to return to what he believes is a village of people like them.

Every day is a fight, a struggle to survive, and with increasingly rampant rumours about Americans coming to the rescue, the officers in the camp are becoming more cruel and frantic by the day.

A beautifully told story, the horrors of Dachau and the war are unflinchingly written in contrast and simultaneous to the love and friendship that continues to grow and thrive despite the inhumanities. Carly Schabowski writes complex characters and emotions effortlessly, making this an enjoyable read despite the content matter. For anyone else with an affinity for historical fiction, I’d recommend this well-written take on a familiar story.

Isaac, an old Jewish watchmaker, gets picked up on his way home and taken to Dachau. His ability to “fix anything” gets him put to work for the Senior Office Becker and his family, at their house a walk away from the workcamp. It’s starts off with fixing a grandfather clock and then Becker keeps finding things for him to fix, typewriters and watches and jewelry taken from those entering the camp. The book tells the story of the relationships that are being formed, their background stories and who they are now. Anna, also from the camp, works as a maid at the Becker household and becomes Isaac’s friend. Nina, Anna’s friend at the camp, Friedrich (the Becker’s 11-year-old son) who comes home from school to a loveless family and befriends Isaac and Anna, Levi, and more. Woven throughout the book is a stack of letters found in the shack where Isaac works, which ties in with the feelings of characters.
I hesitated to read this book as I wanted to be emotionally ready for reading about Dachau, but I am glad I read it, it gives a different dimension than I have read before, it still touches on the atrocities and doesn’t make light of it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the privilege of reading this book early.

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

Based on true events and set during the Holocaust and WWII, the story tells about a man named Isaac who arrives to Dachau Concentration Camp. The camp leader, Herr Berscher realizes that Isaac is a watchmaker and asks Isaac to repair the grandfather clock which was gifted by the Fuhrer and which no one was able to repair. Isaac managed to repair the clock impressing Berscher thus he starts giving more items for Isaac to repair by giving him a garden shed as his workshop, away from the atrocious working conditions at the camp. In the same house, Isaac befriends Anna, who is also the prisoner at the camp working in the kitchen at Berscher's house, Greta, a friendly German who feeds Isaac and Anna. Levi, the gardener and Friedrich who is the young son of Herr and Frau Berscher who befriends both Isaac and Anna. Isaac then comes across bundles of letters written by someone named J.A.L who used to be the gardener at the Berscher household.

As like most Holocaust books, this story was emotional and sad at the same time. The fact that these events happened in real life was too much to bear to read--the atrocities at the camp, the hunger and starvation, the brutal conditions at the camp was too horrifying but one should never forget that these things happened in real life. The author has done so much research that she has made the book as realistic as possible. The ending was sad and the author did a good job, drawing the reader into the story. I also like how the author balanced out the characters--the good Germans like Greta who tried to feed Anna and Isaac as much as she can and Friedrich who doesn't care to develop friendship with the Jews, since most of the Holocaust books are only one sided. As such, many of the characters in the book are likable. Some of the parts in the story was too emotional to read and at times, particularly towards the end, I cried at some parts...

Overall, this is an emotional book to read, unputdownable and that will make you cry till the end and you didn't want to miss this story about friendship and courage at the will to survive the horrid conditions. Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Carly Schabowski, Bookouture and #NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance reader copy of The Watchmaker of Dachau. The opinions expressed are my own.

Kudo’s to the author and publishers for choosing an incredibly evocative cover for this novel. The more I read, the more I realize that if the cover doesn’t appeal to me, I may never read the book. This cover drew my attention and led me to request an advance readers copy of the book for review. 

I have read numerous books that tell stories of events that took place during the Second World War and stories that tell of the horrors of the Holocaust. I believe these books are an important reminder to society that we need to learn from them and make sure such events never happen again. Many such books focus on the most famous concentration camp – Auschwitz, but this one told a story set in lesser known Dachau. It was inspired by true events but the tale itself is fictional. Although the book begins and ends in present times, most of the story is set in the past and brings the time alive to those of us fortunate enough not to have lived there personally. What makes the story even sadder for me is that most of the events happened when the war was clearly on its way to an end. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like for those who managed to avoid the Nazi’s reach throughout most of the war only to be captured and imprisoned in it’s final months.

Isaac, was a well known watchmaker as was his father before him. A widower, he lived in a small town and managed to avoid the notice of the Germans until 1945 when he was captured and sent to Dachau. He had no time to go home and pack a suitcase. He was simply pulled off the streets and all he had at hand were the tools he used with his watches. Surprisingly, these tools kept him from immediate death and led to a job working at the home of Sturmbannfuhrer Becher. He was called on to fix just about anything that was broken. It didn’t matter if it was a watch or a car. As long as he could fix it his life seemed safe, if not pleasant. He was always hungry and even though it was winter he worked in a shed that offered little protection from the weather. When he returned to the main camp, other prisoners sometimes resented the “ease” of his job.

Anna Reznick is another inmate of Dachau who has been chosen to work at the home of Becher. Her job is as a maid, and although the housekeeper befriends her and does her best to provide extra food, Anna lives in terror of the ire of Becher’s vapid wife Liesl. She knows that she must remain useful in order to keep her job which helps keep her alive and also allows her to bring food back to Dachau to share with her friend Nina.

As the war situation has become more dire, Becher’s son Friedrich has been ordered home from boarding school, but neither parents is really pleased to see him or willing to pay him much attention. He has no idea what is going on at Dachau or what his father does and has not been molded into an upholder of Nazi ideology. His interactions with Isaac and Anna are kinder but very dangerous if his parents become aware of them. 

These characters among others are the main focus of this story. While Isaac is working in his shed he finds a batch of letters hidden under some floorboards. He doesn’t know who wrote them but as he gradually reads them, they begin to offer hope as they tell of love in a place of darkness. The writer shares a sentiment that has been expressed by Viktor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor who wrote in his book A Man’s Search For Meaning, that no matter what the Germans did to him, they could never take away his power to choose how he would respond or what his attitude could be. That book had a powerful impact on my life from the time I read it as a teenager and this resonated with me once again as similar sentiments were expressed by the anonymous writer. Shabowski manages to tie these hidden papers into the fabric of the book in a very special way.

This book is not an easy read in the sense that everything ends with a happy ever after. It does cover some of the horror of life in a concentration camp (although not to the depth I have seen in various other stories) but the focus is more on the relationships between the characters and the impact that simple actions can have on their lives. It moved me deeply and I would definitely recommend it to others.

The Scent of Lemons

A lonely widowed Jewish watchmaker , Isaac, now in his sixties, hides an engraved watch beneath the floorboards of his shop. On the way home the Gestapo catch him and send him to Dachau concentration camp. He works as a gardener at the commander's house.

In a basement a family is hiding from the Nazi's. As they watch their father passes away. They go with their uncle to bury him outside town. Their uncle leaves them to pray over their father and they are caught by the Germans and sent to Dachau camp. Nina and her brother Kuba.

Anna is an inmate of the Dachau concentration camp, she befriends Nina and they live in the same barracks. Anna works as a maid at the commander's house.

Friedrich was the camp commander's young son and Greta was the cook at the commander's house. Greta, Anna, Isaac. and Friedrich become friends. These people all were affected by the war and the Dachau camp. They saw and suffered loss of loved ones, and horrible acts of cruelty.

It is a story of survival and of death. A story of great cruelty visited upon innocent people just for being Jewish. It is also a story of suffering people, starving to death, working and freezing to death, but somehow finding the strength within to befriend each other and try to help each other in their most horrible circumstances.

Of the young son of the commander of the camp befriending the Jewish watchmaker. The cook Greta having mercy on the Jewish help Isaac and Anna. The young son Friedrich befriended the Jewish help and was punished because of it still he escaped from the house and went to spend time with Isaac.

It is a story written of a time in history of which we would all rather forget, but that must never be forgotten thus it be repeated.

Thanks to Carly Schabowski, Bookouture, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Thanks netgalley for letting me read this very moving and horrific book about Dachau.
The book was told not only pf the horrors of war.but also of friendship that kept people alive and love that was found also in the camp.
Isaac was a watchmaker,  but in the camp he repaired watches, clocks and even cars.

The Watchmaker of Dachau is a fantastic book.  It follows Issac after he is taken by the Nazis and put in a camp.  He is given the job of a fixer of watches and other things around a major Nazi guy's house.  There he meets Anna and Freidrich and they develop friendships.  The book is beautifully written with excellent character depth.  Of course, the subject matter is horrifying, but this is another story that must be read.  I do not think I will ever smell lemons again without thinking of Issac. I look forward to reading more by this author.

This book tells a heartbreaking story of Isaac, Anna, Nina and Levi, that were imprisoned in the Dachau camp for being Jews. This is a book that reminds us that the Second World War even though impacted non-Jew civilians and caused casualties from many nationalities, targeted the extinction of the Jewish population through what we today call the Holocaust.

The horrors of the Holocaust may be difficult to read, however the author presents them through the life of these characters that you come to know as individuals with a past, family and dreams.

Isaac, the watchmaker, is commanded to go to work to the house of Senior Officer Becher and his family. Just a few miles from the camp the house will be the setting for Isaac to meet Anna, a woman from the camp also working here as a maid; and Friederich, the officer’s eleven year old son, who has hundreds of questions and a curious mind. 

While this book takes you on a horrific ride where you are afraid of the horrors and the outcome of each of the characters’ lives it does so in a beautiful way, exploring also in a wonderful way some controversial topics, and the dilemma on some of the German characters.

I liked it very much! I will be searching for more from this author.

Inspired by a true story, this WWII novel focused around Anna and Isaac (the watchmaker), who are prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp. They are both given work at a nearby officer’s home and become friends. Will the kindness of others and the friendships they forge in the midst of war help them to survive?
This was my first book by this author and it won’t be my last.  I was drawn to the main characters immediately and found myself turning the pages hoping that they would survive.  I was pleasantly surprised how the author seamlessly intertwined the character’s lives throughout the novel.  Add this to your to read list now and look for it on its January 20, 2021 release date.

This novel is told during WWII. Issac is chosen once he arrives at a camp to fix things for the camp leader, at the leaders house. He fixes watches, trains, and anything else he is asked to. Anna is also chosen as a maid in the leaders house.

This story is very different than other WWII books about the concentration camps because the story is focused on Issac and Anna as they work in the leaders house. We get a glimpse into the camp as Issac and Anna sleep there but we mostly hear about their work outside of camp.

I liked the different point of view as each person’s life during this time was different but also felt the story was missing some of the elements of WWII and you could almost forget it was set in WWII at times.

My favorite character was Frederic, the leaders son. He is a young boy and does not truly understand what is happening around him. He is not very loved by his parents and has been told that Jews are bad but he does not believe this. His acts of kindness throughout the book are heartwarming to read.

I enjoyed this book and the different point of views. It is not a traditional WWII concentration camp story.

💫 Book Review 💫 
The Watchmaker of Dachau by Carly Schabowski 

This book was a book that took me back to the emotions of walking into Dachau as a “so-called” tourist for the first time.  I went with my then boyfriend and another couple as the camp still existed 60 some years later. I will never forget driving through the green hills and small town that is around the camp till you pull up to the gates which houses the ghosts of the past. I mean what I say when I tell people that it’s eerily silent as your walk through the concentration camp. Whoever built it up did so with great care to show the atrocities that happened within Dachau. I had ear phones that told descriptions of each building but I didn’t need them.  Because you felt death all around you. Seeing the barracks torn down but the pegs still there. Walking into the crematoriums and tracing the steps that men, women and children did. Some knowing what is ahead and some not. I didn’t need those ear phones to tell me what happened there. It was hard enough to walk through without sobbing with tears at the pain and suffering that I could never know fully. 

Family and friends that visited us over the many years we lived there always asked me to take them there. Some wanting to see for themselves and some because it was the “thing” to do.... I also had family who said ‘don’t you get tired of going to the same place’ and to that, I have an easy response: 

You never get tired about history. History teaches. History is where we learn. And this particular horror story of real life should never be forgotten. So yes I went back (many, many times) and always felt that same feeling of walking Among ghosts... but I also knew how important it was for others to see the people who suffered there. And to know that it must never happen again. 

And so, despite having read many novels on WWII, I will never stop reading or sharing them. Because they all have a different voice to be heard. A face to remember. And historical fiction is a genre that helps us never forget.  

Oh... and this book. Just read it. It’s so darn good. It’s got kindness amidst evil. It has friendship against traitors. And it ticks his way into your heart. Well done Carly 💕

Bookotoure 
Pub date Jan 20

Isaac Schuller has a skill that he never thought could possibly save his life.  As a watchmaker, he has the ability to fix a lot of things with motors and such and instead of working in a concentration camp, he is asked to go to the home of the supervisor and fix things in his home.  With a maid who sneaks him food and a place to work, this could completely alter his life.  

Yes, this is another one of those World War II books that as hard to read, but worth every page.  There were moments where I had a difficult time reading because the horror of what happened was weirdly beautifully written and captivating.  There are times when we each need to be reminded of what happened in the past, so we have the hope to not repeat it and this book presented what happened in a way that I could digest it and see the truth pain that was inflicted on a group of people.  

If you think you have read all of the World War II books, you should add this one to the list, but read with caution as it is hard and heavy.

A beautiful historical fiction about events that happened during WW2.
In 1945 Isaac, an old watchmaker was on his way home when he was taken by the military and forced in a train, with destination Dachau. Because he was found useful, he was kept alive, and he lived in the camp, repairing things. He finds a friend in Anna, a 29 yo Jewish girl, also kept alive because she was useful. She became a maid and when she could she would sneak food for Isaac and they would talk.

I loved young Friedrich, the boy that was a nuisance for his own parents but found a friend in Isaac. Isaac told the boy to visit his shop when he will grow up, and he did that, in the memory of his old friend.
This is a beautiful story about humanity, ageless friendship, and about the innocence of children.

Thank you, Carly Schabowski and NetGallery for this book! #ARCreader #TheWatchmakerofDachau #NetGalley

This was a powerful and moving book. Told from several angles as each chapter is divided by the person telling their side of the story. 
This makes for a fascinating read and being based on a true story even more so. I was totally hooked to see what would happen to everyone involved.
This is a must read for 2021 if you are into this genre of book.

BOOK REVIEW
The WatchMaker of Dachau by Carly Schabowski

Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis
Anna lives in Dachau, and each day is sent to the Bechers house nearby as a household servant. She knows nothing of the Bechers or their relationship with Hitler, only that she she needs to keep her head down and survive. Isaac ,new to Dachau, is sent to the Bechers to work on repairing a clock. Together they form a fast friendship, based on shared stories of loss, and a will to survive, a strength that binds them.

Review
Human compassion, the will to survive, strength, resiliency, sheer determination. These are the words that pull me in. The author makes the reader feel hope in a time of despair. In Isaac’s relationship with the young Becher child we see the potential to open minds and hearts to a future filled with compassion and acceptance.  Hope is a powerful weapon. 

I read historical fiction because of the personal stories, because of the author’s ability to capture the human spirit. Where there is tragedy, war, death; there is also kindness and light. These stories teach me to be humble, to be grateful, to hold my loved ones tighter and smile brighter. Isaac and Anna sound like friends I would be blessed to know.

Recommend for readers of  WW2 historical fiction.

I loved this, I really loved this book. I felt for the characters and the character development alone, fantastic!!!

A world war II drama taking place in Dachau. This is my first book by this author so I didn’t know what to expect.

What was different about this book is that while it takes place in a concentration camp and the house of the commander the focus of the book is mostly on the characters. There is very little about the daily life and horrors of the camp, but all about the connection between the characters. Their lives get touched and forever change because of their meeting for a short amount of time. There are small things that happen between them, but in those circumstances they have a big impact.

It made for a beautiful and engaging read.

Make sure you have a box of tissues ready when you read this book! The fact that this is based on a true story, makes it even more heart wrenching, yet difficult to put down.

Isaac Schuller, a Jewish watchmaker, arrived in Dachau, Germany in January 1945. He finds himself spending his nights in a concentration camps and days “working” in a Senior Nazi Officials home. Isaac is required to use his watch making skills to fix things in Officer Becher’s home. Anna Reznick, also a Dachau concentration camp prisoner, also finds herself working in the Becher’s home. She waits tables, cooks, and cleans. The differences between the life that Anna and Isaac, who become close friends during an incredibly dark and difficult time, and the life that the Becher’s live is mind boggling. But as time goes on, all kinds of secrets are discovered and the kindness of strangers is heartwarming. 

Carly Schabowski writes a touching story about an incredibly dark time in history. The unimaginable horrors that are witness and experienced by the main characters are difficult to read, but Schabowski does an incredible job of highlighting the strength of not only the prisoners but those who quietly were against the attrocioties committed during the holocaust. A must read for anyone who enjoy Historical Fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for my Advanced Reader Copy.

Isaac is a fixer of things, watches and clocks. He is taken to Dachau and is brought to the commander's house to fix a grandfather clock, which he does. He then is instructed to fix other things. Anna is brought to the commander's house to be a maid. This is the story of their lives in the last days of Dachau.
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.