Book Recommendation -- Hidden Among the Stars
I've seen a great deal of buzz for Melanie Dobson's books, particularly her latest, Hidden Among The Stars. So, when I had a chance to get a copy of it, I knew I needed to check it out. I was immediately drawn in to the story. This was a dual timeline story, which is fast becoming a favorite genre of mine. It combines both history and contemporary (hence the dual timeline), both mystery and romance, and often finds a resolution from the earlier timeline in the modern one, so there's almost always closure in the story of these books. This book did not disappoint on this level. Ms. Dobson is a very talented author, making the book flow both lyrically and between the timelines. The modern timeline was written in 1st person whereas the past timeline was written in 3rd. That actually helped the flow of the book and made it easy to remember which timeline you're in, which is sometimes difficult in this genre.
This book starts in Vienna, Austria in 1938. Annika Knopf has grown up in the shadow of a castle that her father is the paid caretaker of. The castle is owned by the wealthy Dornbach family. Their son, Max is a few years older than Annika, but she is completely smitten with him. Because of that, she is willing to keep his secrets and help him with anything. As Annika grows through the duration of the book, her love for Max is fully demonstrated. Max is in love with Luzia Weiss, who is a Jewish musician. The past timeline shadows the lives of these 3 individuals. The modern timeline follows the life of Callie Randall, who owns a bookstore along with her sister Brie in Mt. Vernon, OH. For her birthday, Brie gets Callie an original German copy of the book "Bambi" and Annika's name is written in the front cover. Callie begins to search for Annika or her descendants to get the story behind the odd added script contained within the pages of the antique volume. As she seeks the story behind the book, the timelines intertwine and Ms. Dobson does an excellent job of drawing the 2 story lines together. This book brought me to tears and really brought to life the plight of the Jews during Hitler's reign. There was also a good bit of character development and growth in both timelines.
The author came across the idea for this novel 15 years ago. She and her husband went back-packing across Europe for their 5th anniversary and one of their favorite spots on the trip was a small town in Austria - Hallstatt. The alpine lakes and the mountains, with the ancient feel of the buildings made Melanie and her husband want to learn more about the history. They learned that near the end of WWII, as the Nazis were fleeing south, they stashed their treasures in nearby lakes, mines, and forests. This was excellent fodder for Ms. Dobson's book. What most captured her imagination, though, was the abandoned castle on the lake shore. As time has passed and information has become more readily available on the internet, she dug further into this mysterious castle and learned that it was used during the war as a Hitler Youth camp. She filled in some of the before and after gaps and built her story around this estate.
A few personal tidbits that made this book particularly interesting to me - the lead character in the modern timeline shares a maiden name with me. We attended the same college and her cat's name was a mix of my dog's and my sister's dog's names. She shares a middle name with my younger sister, and her first name sounds eerily similar. After only a chapter in, I began to wonder if the author had been stalking me! However, it made it much more fun and relateable. I was able to picture exactly where Callie's bookstore was and during the scene where she took a bike ride to clear her head, I could see all of those streets well as I've traveled them myself.
This is a book I would strongly recommend regardless of your genre of choice! Link to my review is below.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2509459129
This book starts in Vienna, Austria in 1938. Annika Knopf has grown up in the shadow of a castle that her father is the paid caretaker of. The castle is owned by the wealthy Dornbach family. Their son, Max is a few years older than Annika, but she is completely smitten with him. Because of that, she is willing to keep his secrets and help him with anything. As Annika grows through the duration of the book, her love for Max is fully demonstrated. Max is in love with Luzia Weiss, who is a Jewish musician. The past timeline shadows the lives of these 3 individuals. The modern timeline follows the life of Callie Randall, who owns a bookstore along with her sister Brie in Mt. Vernon, OH. For her birthday, Brie gets Callie an original German copy of the book "Bambi" and Annika's name is written in the front cover. Callie begins to search for Annika or her descendants to get the story behind the odd added script contained within the pages of the antique volume. As she seeks the story behind the book, the timelines intertwine and Ms. Dobson does an excellent job of drawing the 2 story lines together. This book brought me to tears and really brought to life the plight of the Jews during Hitler's reign. There was also a good bit of character development and growth in both timelines.
The author came across the idea for this novel 15 years ago. She and her husband went back-packing across Europe for their 5th anniversary and one of their favorite spots on the trip was a small town in Austria - Hallstatt. The alpine lakes and the mountains, with the ancient feel of the buildings made Melanie and her husband want to learn more about the history. They learned that near the end of WWII, as the Nazis were fleeing south, they stashed their treasures in nearby lakes, mines, and forests. This was excellent fodder for Ms. Dobson's book. What most captured her imagination, though, was the abandoned castle on the lake shore. As time has passed and information has become more readily available on the internet, she dug further into this mysterious castle and learned that it was used during the war as a Hitler Youth camp. She filled in some of the before and after gaps and built her story around this estate.
A few personal tidbits that made this book particularly interesting to me - the lead character in the modern timeline shares a maiden name with me. We attended the same college and her cat's name was a mix of my dog's and my sister's dog's names. She shares a middle name with my younger sister, and her first name sounds eerily similar. After only a chapter in, I began to wonder if the author had been stalking me! However, it made it much more fun and relateable. I was able to picture exactly where Callie's bookstore was and during the scene where she took a bike ride to clear her head, I could see all of those streets well as I've traveled them myself.
This is a book I would strongly recommend regardless of your genre of choice! Link to my review is below.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2509459129
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