The German Heiress by Anika Scott

Is there a way to move on after World War II if you were part of the Nazi war machine?

 Clara Falkenberg was young, beautiful, and had a head for business.  She ran her family’s ironworks during World War II and was called the “Iron Fraulein” in the Nazi propaganda. Clara escaped before the end of the war and has been living under an assumed name.

  She finally returns to her hometown to try to track down her best friend Elisa and Elisa’s son Willy.  She is tracked along the way by a British officer who wants to see her in jail for her war crimes.  Will Clara find Elisa and Willy?  What secrets will she uncover?  Can she move on from what happened during the war?

 The German Heiress was a fast-paced suspense novel and I very much enjoyed it.  I liked the shades of grey that the plot involved.  Clara was part of the Nazi regime and she did use forced labor from other countries.  She did know it was wrong and tried to help when

she could, but was it enough?  Is she a criminal?  This is something that has fascinated me for years.  We had a local gentleman that was a guard for a very short period of time in a concentration camp and they were trying to extradite him when he was in his 90’s.  At what point should people be accountable for their actions?  Can you ever be forgiven?  I liked that Clara was a strong female lead and that this story was set after World War II in Germany, which is a time period that is not often covered in historical fiction novels.

 Overall, The German Heiress was a compelling suspense and historical fiction novel with a strong female lead and an interesting moral quandary.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow.  Thank-you!