Kirjahaku

Forced to protect him. Determined to bring him down… Previously published as Her Hidden Life ‘An absorbing, well-researched story that brings to life an extraordinary period in history’ GILL PAUL, bestselling author of The Secret Wife Germany, 1943 Magda Ritter longs for a peaceful life. But war is drawing closer, and soon she is forced to serve the one man she hoped never to encounter – Hitler. Taken to his mountain retreat, she is assigned the most dangerous job of all. She is to be the Führer’s ‘Taster’ and check his food for poison. Desperate to escape, Magda joins an underground resistance group intent on ending Nazi rule. To stop the atrocities around her, Madga must risk everything – her position, her family, and even her life. A poignant tale of hope, danger and betrayal from the heart of history’s darkest moments.

From the acclaimed author of The Magdalen Girls and The Taster comes a powerful, unforgettable novel of strength and resilience, set against the backdrop of the Irish famine. Ireland, 1845. To Briana Walsh, no place on earth is more beautiful than Carrowteige, County Mayo, with its sloping fields and rocky cliffs perched above the wild Atlantic. The small farms that surround the centuries-old Lear House are managed by her father, agent to the wealthy, reckless Sir Thomas Blakely. Tenant farmers sell the oats and rye they grow to pay rent to Sir Thomas, surviving on the potatoes that flourish in the remaining scraps of land. But when the potato crop falls prey to a devastating blight, families Briana has known all her life are left with no food, no resources, and no mercy from the English landowner, who seems indifferent to everything except profit. Rory Caulfield, the hard-working young farmer Briana hopes to marry, shares the locals' despair--and their anger. There's talk of violent reprisals against the callous gentry and their agents. Briana's studious older sister, Lucinda, dreams of a future far beyond Mayo. But even as hunger and disease settle over the country, killing and displacing millions, Briana knows she must find a way to guide her family through one of Ireland's darkest hours--toward hope, love, and a new beginning. Praise for V.S. Alexander's The Taster "This haunting and engrossing novel will appeal to fans of Anthony Doerr and Kristin Hannah."--Booklist "The 'taster's' story adds to a body of nuanced World War II fiction such as Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See, and Tatiana de Rosnay's Sarah's Key. Book clubs and historical fiction fans will love discussing this and will eagerly await more from Alexander." --Library Journal

Dublin, 1962. Within the gated grounds of the convent of The Sisters of the Holy Redemption lies one of the city's Magdalen Laundries. Once places of refuge, the laundries have evolved into grim workhouses. Some inmates are "fallen" women--unwed mothers, prostitutes, or petty criminals. Most are ordinary girls whose only sin lies in being too pretty, too independent, or tempting the wrong man. Among them is sixteen-year-old Teagan Tiernan, sent by her family when her beauty provokes a lustful revelation from a young priest. Teagan soon befriends Nora Craven, a new arrival who thought nothing could be worse than living in a squalid tenement flat. Stripped of their freedom and dignity, the girls are given new names and denied contact with the outside world. The Mother Superior, Sister Anne, who has secrets of her own, inflicts cruel, dehumanizing punishments--but always in the name of love. Finally, Nora and Teagan find an ally in the reclusive Lea, who helps them endure--and plot an escape. But as they will discover, the outside world has dangers too, especially for young women with soiled reputations. Told with candor, compassion, and vivid historical detail, The Magdalen Girls is a masterfully written novel of life within the era's notorious institutions--and an inspiring story of friendship, hope, and unyielding courage.

Based on true WWII stories of life in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Occupation and the women who served the Allies as agents and spies... Casting light into one of the darkest periods of World War II, acclaimed author V.S. Alexander's powerful historical novel tells of two Jewish sisters - one imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto and the other who joins the Special Operations Executive in a daring attempt to free her family from the ever-tightening Nazi stranglehold. It's not just a thousand miles that separates Hanna Majewski from her younger sister, Stefa. There is another gulf--between the traditional Jewish ways that Hanna chose to leave behind in Warsaw, and her new, independent life in London. But as autumn of 1940 draws near, Germany begins a savage aerial bombing campaign in England, killing and displacing tens of thousands. Hanna, who narrowly escapes death, is recruited as a spy in an undercover operation that sends her back to her war-torn homeland. In Hanna's absence, her parents, sister, and brother have been driven from their comfortable apartment into the Warsaw Ghetto. Sealed off from the rest of the city, the Ghetto becomes a prison for nearly half a million Jews, struggling to survive amid starvation, disease, and the constant threat of deportation to Treblinka. Once a pretty and level-headed teenager, Stefa is now committed to the Jewish resistance. Together, she, Hanna, and Janka, a family friend living on the Aryan side of the city, form a trio called The War Girls. Against overwhelming odds and through heartbreak they will fight to rescue their loved ones, finding courage through sisterhood to keep hope alive . . . Praise for V.S. Alexander and The Sculptress "Fans of Alena Dillon, Lucinda Riley, and Alexander's previous work will appreciate the historical accuracy saturating every page of this moving, compassionate novel." --Booklist