The German Heiress: A Novel

Clara Falkenberg, once Germany’s most eligible and lauded heiress, earned the nickname “the Iron Fraulein” during World War II for her role in operating her family’s ironworks empire. It’s been nearly two years since the war ended, and she’s left with nothing but a false identification card and a series of burning questions about her family’s past. With nowhere else to run, she decides to go home and take refuge with her dear friend Elisa. Narrowly escaping a British officer who’s hellbent on arresting her for war crimes, she arrives to discover the city in ruins and Elisa missing. As Clara begins tracking down Elisa, she encounters Jakob, a charismatic young man working on the black market and, for his own reasons, searching for Elisa. Clara and Jakob discover how they might help each other, if only they can stay ahead of the British officer.

The German Heiress is a gripping post-World War II story filled with twists and turns I did not expect. I enjoyed how each character, whether they are only in a single scene or are present for the vast majority of the book, are well written and believable. Another thing that I enjoyed is the perspective. Much WWII fiction is often focused on the Allies and tends to portray the Germans in a negative light while The German Heiress is told from a post-war German perspective (and how many struggled after the war concluded), and casts a negative light on the allied forces, particularly the British.