Witnessing first-hand the suffering of prisoners-shivering, with faces gaunt from hunger, as they work in brutal and cruel conditions-she realises she must act. But then an encounter with an escaped prisoner changes everything, as Margarete discovers what is happening at the factory and its attached labor camp. But a girl living a secret life. A girl who was once called Margarete. Because she can’t risk being exposed for who she truly is. Not really Annegret. A light of hope entered the prisoner’s eyes and she knew what she had to do… 1942, Germany: When a young woman calling herself Annegret Huber unexpectedly inherits a huge fortune, including a house and factory just outside Berlin, her first thought is to try to see out the war quietly, avoiding the Gestapo and SS as best she can. I won’t tell anyone.” It was madness to help an escaped prisoner in Nazi Germany, but how could she not? If it weren’t for a lucky strike of fate, she might be the woman on the ground shivering with fear. I have previously reviewed Not Without My Sister by Marion Kummerow. I eagerly await the next book in the series. From The Dark We Rise is an often tense but hugely gripping historical novel. Some of the information such as Lena’s experiences are told unflinchingly in contrast with the Nazis’ dismissal of their treatment of the persecuted. This creates a dark tone within the novel yet the light of Margarete’s choice to survive and save others twinkles with hope. However, the spectre of death and fear is ever-present for Margarete. I like the way that the author conveys the brutality of the Nazi regime with a degree of separation. However a young Annegret made an enemy of Oliver who works on the estate and he is detemined to get revenge for being treated unkindly in the past and this is threatening to Margarete’s safety. This contrasts with a softness towards her maid Dora and concentration camp escapee Lena.
She is determined to save as many people as possible but is she risking too much? Margarete needs to work relentlessly to keep her true identity secret and hide the truth from those the real Annegret mistreated in the past. This is heightened when she discovers a munitions factory that she owns is using and mistreating workers from concentration camps. There is a huge tension in the book as Margarete struggles to maintain the pretence that she is not a Jew but a wealthy woman with Nazi sympathies. The plot follows on directly from the last book but there is enough information to catch up if you haven’t read it. Except Annegret really died in a bombing and her identity was taken by their Jewish servant Margarete… From The Dark We Rise is the sequel to A Light In The Window which I have reviewed previously. Germany, 1942 and Annegret Huber arrives at her country home to recover from the grief at the deaths of her parents and brothers. From The Dark We Rise, by Marion Kummerow
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