To Look Upon the Sun by Shannon St. Hilaire
I couldn’t put it down! This formidable story, set in pre-WWII Germany, reveals the horrors of the Nazi’s race purification and Lebensborn program. “Just as we breed Hanoverian horses using a few pure stallions and mares, so we will once again breed pure Nordic Germans by selective cross-breeding…From the human reservoir of the SS we shall breed a new nobility. We shall do it in a planned fashion and according to biological laws. –Richard Walther Darre, chief of the SS Race and Settlement Main office.” (Pg 137)
On one fateful day, seventeen-year-old Ilse not only discovers she is pregnant but also that unbeknownst to her, the father, her boyfriend, is Jewish. Plus, he and his family have fled the country. She realizes her child will be a “Mischling of the first degree” i.e. an undesirable in the Nazi’s eyes.
Ilse’s father is abusive and a staunch Nazi. She must leave home. “Her head felt too heavy to lift; she hadn’t dared to fall asleep last night. The bruises from her father’s blows had become hideous purple splotches on her arms. Her body ached so much from the beating, and from shivering through the cold night…” (Pg.25)
With no other options, Ilse forges papers regarding the baby’s father and enters the ill-fated Lebensborn program. What lies ahead is unimaginable.
The author immerses the reader into the setting with excellent sensory imagery. “Outside, it was a damp, cold night. The moon was nowhere to be seen. No stars peeked through the clouds. Ilse was yet another woman in the house on the hill, screaming with no anesthetic, only a photo of the dear leader to gaze upon as a pain reliever. She, however, squeezed her eyes shut.” (Pg 72)
Ilse’s voice is vivid throughout the story. We feel her fears and hear her innermost thoughts. Her situation is unimaginable. “She traced his apple-round cheek and something fierce and wild rose up in her, a force bigger than herself. She would tear the world apart for him. She would work hard, get promoted, save money. Stay out of trouble.” (Pg.85)

Out of her expert historical research, St Hilaire has created an extremely personal account of the true horrors of Nazism. To Look Upon the Sun is an outstanding piece of historical fiction. Rating 5

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. I read a lot of historical WWII fiction and I've read about the Nazi brothels and breeding location before, but it is still as disturbing to think of young women and teens being used in this way. The writing was good and Ilse is quite the centerpiece of the story as she comes of age during WWII in Germany.

“To Look Upon the Sun” is a pre-WWII (and also during WWII) German historical fiction book by Shannon St. Hilaire. This book starts with 17 year old Ilse being pregnant and discovering that her baby’s father is Jewish - something she wasn’t aware of until she discovers the family has left Germany. Through her membership in a Nazi program, Ilse goes to another Nazi program, the Lebensborn, to have her child. Upon her arrival there, she discovers that all isn’t what she’s been told. She decides to keep her baby (instead of giving it up like she said she would) and is allowed to work at the Lebensborn helping new mothers-to-be and doing housework. Something happens and Ilse is moved to a different Lebensborn, becoming their cook. There’s more to the plot, but I cannot say more without giving away key bits of info. I have to say that at first I thought “oh, wow, another Lebensborn story - read it, know how this goes.” This one didn’t always match up with how I thought it was going to go, so that was a nice plot twist. However, something about Ilse just didn’t work for me - and I cannot put my finger on exactly why that is. I did like a number of the side characters - from her child’s godfather to the female pilot. They had more depth and I could feel sympathy with them (or maybe I just found them more interesting in general). I could tell that a bit of research went into the creation of this book - and the author’s notes confirms that. This was a fine book, thus the four stars, but this book wasn’t a consistent fantastic read for me.

An absolutely powerful, thrilling, and haunting story of one woman’s fight to own her own body and reproduction. In a world where the government is trying to limit a woman’s choices about when she can have a child, this story rings across time.