Secrets She Kept

A Deeply rich and moving story.Beautifully written...it tells of faith and hope, and will raise questions within yourself about the gift of forgiveness. The story is about a young women's attempt to understand her Mother who has passed away from Cancer, and left a gaping void in her daughter's life, who longs to understand why her mother was never close to her, who seemed not to love her enough, who she didn't know a single thing about..other than she was Austrian, and lost all her family in the war. The Daughter receives a call one day from a local lawyer, who has the key to her Mother's safety deposit box, and will explain as best he could the mothers dying wishes. When the daughter opens the box, she finds not money, but letters from Germany, that lead her on a profound trip of meeting a Grandfather she never knew existed, her mothers father .It is by accident she finds out the truth about her grandfather and his involvement with the horrors of the war, and betrayal of his only daughter Lieselotte (Hannah's mother) when she was a young girl. The story weaves between the onset of the war, 1938 and back in to 1973.The Characters are wonderfully written, and described in deep detail, as are the settings. This story is filled with drama, romance, love and sacrifice, it is filled with family secrets of unbelievable evil to innocent victims of the Holocaust! It takes you through Hannahs mothers first love Lucas, to the unbelievable horrors of the concentration Camps of Dachau, and Ravensbruck, and a father with a very evil heart! A very powerful book that will bring that lump in your throat and tears to your eyes. You will be absolutely swept up into this unbelievable story that passes from one generation to the next ! Excellent read !!

This book provides the answer to a question I was asked several years ago that I did not have time, nor did I know how, to answer. It includes a story that is not of the author's imagination but one that happened thousands of times over. She has done her research, personal interviews, on-site tours. I can only read about one of Cathy Gohlke's books a year because it takes so long to process the implications. It is hard to read about the pain, suffering and despair of those involved. Think how hard it was for the author to write about it. Five stars for this one!