DESCRIPTION:
I always knew it would come out one day. They are finding everyone who has stayed hidden. They would have come to me in the end.
Hamburg, 1942 Seventeen-year-old Anna knows she can never tell her proud parents the truth about where she is going. She must hide the fact that she is pregnant, that the father of her unborn child is dead and that she is on her way to a special maternity home, where her baby will be given to a perfect family. She tells herself that this is the best solution. She doesn’t expect to feel the rush of love for her beautiful baby boy in the white blanket, or the devastation when he is snatched from her, never to be seen again.
Desperate to forget her grief, she sees an advert for a secretary in a prison, far away in the east. Days later, she leaves Hamburg, travelling eastwards by train, feeling as if a whole new life is about to begin. It is the biggest mistake she will ever make.
London, 2016 Ninety-year-old Anna sits on the edge of her bed, hands trembling, eyes brimming with tears, as she looks at the picture of the soldier in the newspaper. Her friends and neighbours know her as a kindly old lady who bakes cakes and always has time to listen to their troubles. They don’t know about the hated green uniform she burned, the memories of the prisoners she tried to help and the bombed and blackened city she once called home. But now the time for a reckoning has come, will revealing the truth free Anna or destroy her?
A gripping read that will break your heart and have you hooked, perfect for fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and My Name is Eva. The Woman Outside the Walls will take you on an emotional journey and show you that in war, even when you are on the wrong side, you can still do the right thing…
Hamburg, 1942 Seventeen-year-old Anna knows she can never tell her proud parents the truth about where she is going. She must hide the fact that she is pregnant, that the father of her unborn child is dead and that she is on her way to a special maternity home, where her baby will be given to a perfect family. She tells herself that this is the best solution. She doesn’t expect to feel the rush of love for her beautiful baby boy in the white blanket, or the devastation when he is snatched from her, never to be seen again.
Desperate to forget her grief, she sees an advert for a secretary in a prison, far away in the east. Days later, she leaves Hamburg, travelling eastwards by train, feeling as if a whole new life is about to begin. It is the biggest mistake she will ever make.
London, 2016 Ninety-year-old Anna sits on the edge of her bed, hands trembling, eyes brimming with tears, as she looks at the picture of the soldier in the newspaper. Her friends and neighbours know her as a kindly old lady who bakes cakes and always has time to listen to their troubles. They don’t know about the hated green uniform she burned, the memories of the prisoners she tried to help and the bombed and blackened city she once called home. But now the time for a reckoning has come, will revealing the truth free Anna or destroy her?
A gripping read that will break your heart and have you hooked, perfect for fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and My Name is Eva. The Woman Outside the Walls will take you on an emotional journey and show you that in war, even when you are on the wrong side, you can still do the right thing…
BUY LINKS:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0B8TFHVDPsocial
Audio Links:
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MY THOUGHTS:
Author: Suzanne Goldring
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of Pages: 311
Date of Publication: October 18, 2022
My Rating: 5 Stars
At the age of 17, Anna discovered she was pregnant and did what she could to hide it from her parents. She found herself at a maternity home they promised to give her baby to a good family. She agreed. Anna never saw her child again after it was born. When she finds out about a secretarial job at a prison, she feels that she can get past the sadness that came with giving up her child.
Anna innocently took a job that would impact her for the rest of her life. It was not the best decision by far. That is the story about Anna during 1940s Hamburg, Germany. However, this utterly heartbreaking story does not end there. In fact, during modern time in London, Anna is now 90 years of age and is considered to be a kind, friendly, helpful woman. However, she has kept a secret for decades, and that secret is about to be revealed.
As the story goes back and forth between the past and the present, it is easy to see that Anna was truly an innocent woman who made a bad decision, one that still deserved to have consequences. While working at the prison, which Anna soon learned that it was far more, so she did what she could to help some of those who were suffering. This made it clear that she had not chosen the wrong side, but definitely got caught at the wrong end of things. As Anna is now in her nineties, how did she get past working at such a terrible job where countless innocents lost their lives? In fact, now that the light is shining regarding the actual happenings during the war, Will Anna suffer any consequences now as an old, frail woman?
As this story goes deeper into the present, readers see how Anna's past just might determine her future. What a compelling read! Heartbreaking at every turn, a moral dilemma to be sure, Suzanne Goldring definitely pulls you into this story. A story where pain and loss were clearly tangible. In fact, having tissues nearby would be suggested here. With the addition of two characters who play pivotal roles in this thought-provoking story, Lauren and her son Freddie, both sides of the story will definitely leave a lasting impact on me.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Please enjoy my YouTube video review -
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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