“Meticulously researched and plotted like a noir thriller, The German Heiress tells a different story of WWII— of characters grappling with their own guilt and driven by the question of what they could have done to change the past.” —Jessica Shattuck, New York Times bestselling author of The Women in the Castle
For readers of The Alice Network and The Lost Girls of Paris, an immersive, heart-pounding debut about a German heiress on the run in post-World War II Germany.
Clara Falkenberg, once Germany’s most eligible and lauded heiress, earned the nickname “the Iron Fräulein” during World War II for her role 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 to, she decides to return home and take refuge with her dear friend, Elisa.
Narrowly escaping a near-disastrous interrogation by a British officer who’s hell-bent on arresting her for war crimes, she arrives home 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, who, for his own reasons, is also searching for Elisa. Clara and Jakob soon discover how they might help each other—if only they can stay ahead of the officer determined to make Clara answer for her actions during the war.
Propulsive, meticulously researched, and action-fueled, The German Heiress is a mesmerizing page-turner that questions the meaning of justice and morality, deftly shining the spotlight on the often-overlooked perspective of Germans who were caught in the crossfire of the Nazi regime and had nowhere to turn.
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“Scott’s epic novel offers a captivating tour through the reckoning years that followed WWII when clarifying identities, unearthing truths, and facing judgments was the only way to rebuild a life. The novel’s heroine, Clara, marches along the razor’s edge between the leviathan of the past and a future full of mine shafts. I will never forget her unending struggle to rise above the dark lineage thrust upon her and her battle to stay connected to the deep binds of love, responsibility, and compassion.”
— Devin Murphy, author of The Boat Runner
“Meticulously researched and plotted like a noir thriller, The German Heiress tells a different story of WWII—of characters grappling with their own guilt and driven by the question of what they could have done to change the past.”
— Jessica Shattuck, New York Times bestselling author“The German Heiress achieves what the best historical fiction can, asking us to see the past and then pushing us to see ourselves in that past, demanding: Who would you have been then? What would you have done? Unflinching and absorbing, The German Heiress does not let you look away.”
— Sarah Blake, New York Times bestselling author“It’s a special novel that opens one’s mind to aspects of history we on the ‘winning’ side have given little thought to and a moving story of courage and everyday heroism rising to meet unbearable challenges.”
— Alex Marwood, author of The Wicked GirlsBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Anika Scott, author of the debut novel The German Heiress, was a journalist at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chicago Tribune before moving to Germany, where she currently lives in Essen with her husband and two daughters. She has worked in radio, taught journalism seminars at an eastern German university, and written articles for European and American publications. She earned a BA in international relations from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. Originally from Michigan, she grew up in a car industry family.
Lisa Flanagan is a classically trained soprano, comedian, voice-over artist, and Earphones Award–winning narrator.