Hitler's Niece

As someone familiar with many within the Fuhrer's immediate circle, I found this novel a terrific tale of what may have happened between him and his young niece, Geli Raubel. All the familiar characters, Goering,Goebbels, the chauffer (who, in this book, actually competes with Hitler over Geli's affections), and many others, seem all too real. The manipulative and mesmorizing future dictator slowly becomes truly sickening, but he actually is not without some human feelings as well. The descriptions of 1920's-early 1930's Munich and Germany are perfect, and the everyday life of the Hitler and his entourage are just as good. Note the claustophobic feel of his large flat, and the slowly developing, urgent paranoia of Geli that becomes all too real. In fact, though she does feel strangely drawn to Hitler, she is among the few not drawn completely in his web. The ending may not be true , but still a great read, and fine job by Mr. Hansen!

Hitler's Niece by Ron Hansen is an enthralling, convincing look at the feeble man who became the great monster. Although Mr. Hansen also paints a splendid portrait of the thoughtless, mesmerized minions who made up his cult, the primary eyes through which this portrayal is painted are those of Geli Raubal, the daughter of Adolf Hitler's half-sister, Angela. Hitler shows little interest in his niece as a child, but when she reaches her late teens, the charming, witty, attractive, young woman - an easy character for readers to love - becomes an object of obsession to him. As he and the Nazi Party gains significant momentum and his megalomania blooms, Hitler becomes Geli's financer, caretaker, companion, surrogate father and, if he has his way, sexual partner. Hitler takes meticulous, roundabout, disgusting measures to confuse and dominate the young girl. Geli, thankful to "Uncle Alf" for bringing her out of the Raubal's poverty, lives in fear and dread of her uncle and the power he holds over her, over everything he touches, while she wears a jovial public smile. The engaging, lushly told narration slowly and gracefully moves toward the type of nail-biting conclusion whose inevitability only causes it to be more absorbing and affecting. The tale, based on actual occurrences and obviously well researched, is a believable, fascinating speculation on the emotional emptiness that backgrounded Hitler's appalling evil.

This book gives us another dimension into Hilter: his private and family life. We see that Hitler is even more twisted that we can imagine. Geli, Hitler's niece is a likeable character placed in a horrible sitation. Fortunalty, her inherent good nature alerts her to the evil of the Nazis. Nevertheless, her confused love is betrayed by Hitler and his sick perversions. Highly recommended but some of the history may put some people off if they are unfamiliar with it

Ron Hansen keeps challenging himself and keeps succeeding in ahuge way. The historical novel sheds light on the madman, clearlyexplains and defines the Nazi rise to power, and tells the tragic story of the person who perhaps knew Hitler best, his neice. Moreover, he tells us what fate met nearly all the major Nazi players and his afterword is as enthralling as the novel, itself. Bravo, Mr. Hansen.

This book really worked for me on at least a couple of levels. First, the story, while told from Geli's point-of-view, is really about Hitlers rise to power. This point of view takes the vision of Hitler as a madman to a much deeper image of Hitler as a profoundly evil and dark creature. On the other hand, who cannot identify with the need to feel loved, or the desire to feel important in someone else's eyes. The author's use of point of view intensified for me how Hitler stifled his own humanity. I've also wondered how someone like Hitler could have risen to power in the first place. In the process of developing the two primary characters, the author also gives a great description of the social fabric in Germany during the 20's and 30's which gave rise to Hitler. As a non-history buff I found this to be fascinating.