Surviving the Fatherland cover art

Surviving the Fatherland

A True Coming of Age Love Story Set in WWII Germany

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Surviving the Fatherland

By: Annette Oppenlander
Narrated by: Naomi Jacobson
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About this listen

Winner 2017 National Indie Excellence Award

Winner Chill with a Book Readers' Award

Winner Readers' Favorite Book Award

Indie B.R.A.G.Award Honoree

Finalist 2017 Kindle Book Awards

An IWIC Hall of Fame Novel

Surviving the Fatherland tells the true and heart-wrenching stories of Lilly and Günter struggling with the terror-filled reality of life in the Third Reich, each embarking on their own dangerous path toward survival, freedom, and ultimately each other. Based on the author's own family and anchored in historical facts, this story celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the strength of war children.

When her father goes off to war, seven-year-old Lilly is left with an unkind mother who favors her brother and chooses to ignore the lecherous pedophile next door. A few blocks away, 12-year-old Günter also loses his father to the draft and quickly takes charge of supplementing his family's ever-dwindling rations by any means necessary.

As the war escalates and bombs begin to rain, Lilly and Günter's lives spiral out of control. Every day is a fight for survival. On a quest for firewood, Lilly encounters a dying soldier and steals her father's last suit to help the man escape. Barely 16, Günter ignores his draft call and embarks as a fugitive on a harrowing 47-day ordeal - always just one step away from execution.

When at last the war ends, Günter grapples with his brother's severe PTSD and the fact that none of his classmates survived. Welcoming denazification, Lilly takes a desperate step to rid herself once and for all of her disgusting neighbor's grip. When Lilly and Günter meet in 1949, their love affair is like any other. Or so it seems. But old wounds and secrets have a way of rising to the surface once more.

©2017 Annette Oppenlander (P)2017 Annette Oppenlander
Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Survival War Inspiring Tear-jerking
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Very well written with a fascinating insight into living through the 2nd World War. I found the narrators accent a bit irritating- having someone with a strong American accent provide a voice for German characters doesn’t seem authentic.

Fascinating story

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An unusual story told by children of their war time survival. Beautifully enacted. A rich history of real families, how they held up under extreme circumstances of which they had no control.
One of the best books I have come across revealing the suffering of innocent German children during the war. Well done to the author telling the story of her own family.

Stunning

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Wasn't sure what to expect but it certainly was from a perspective I hadn't any knowledge or forethought about. Can't say I loved it because the suffering is awful but I really found the content very interesting. Exactly what I was looking for!

Food for Thought!

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