Hitler's Niece
By Ron Hansen Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-0060932206 In ninth grade history they teach about the world wars and the mysterious tyrant Hitler. When you hear about him, even in school, the focus is on the thousands of lives he took. But our teacher showed us home videos of Hitler running around with children and laughing gaily. It was a shocking and a slightly perplexing sight to see, especially of a man you only hear horrible things about. Naturally, seeing a novel based off his niece was a fascinating notion and I just had to read it. Before I go on, I'd also like to state that any positive statements about this book do not show favor to Hitler, but to the author Ron Hansen for writing such a riveting story. To begin with, I'll just get the bad news out of the way. If you're not into slow starts, well, the beginning of the story is going to drag a bit. Naturally, where all life starts, Hitler's Niece starts all the way back at her being a baby. It is a slow start with a lot of historical background information pertaining to Adolf's family. Oh, and there are a lot of German words, between people's names, terms and phrases being used, as well as places. And it can be overwhelming at times. Moving on, there are a lot of positives to the novel. Without a doubt Hansen will leave you feeling deeply for Angelika (or Geli as she is called most often) Raubal. She is a sweet, witty, passionate girl, who turns heads everywhere she goes. She is Hitler's pride and joy, he will do practically anything for her. And this causes a tumultuous relationship over the years, one that ranges from fatherly and kind to an awkward dramatic romantic situation. It is fair to say that Hansen creates quite a roller coaster of emotions and fears. A picture of a dictator, already emotionally unstable, dealing with emotions of love. But as the reader grows more attached to Geli, you'll find yourself fearing for her when times are tough and cheering for her relationships. Even when you find yourself questioning why. Moreover, as you dive deeper and deeper into this historical fiction, it's hard to tell what's reality and what's fiction. Hansen does a wonderful job of working with actual dates and names from the Nazi party. I actually became so curious about some of the events that I ended up going on a historical research quest. The author does provide a short author's note in the back of the book to try and discuss the delicacy of writing historical fiction. Most of all, as a spoiler alert, this book takes place before Hitler started the concentration camps, which plays out very interesting. Finally, I have to say that this book has a gloomy ending. But it is about Hitler, what other type of ending could there possibly be, right? Hitler's world was one of mysterious turmoil, death, deceit, and even heartbreak. Be aware that that is all part of the journey of this novel. Major credit to Ron Hansen, I'm not a history buff, but I found myself looking forward to picking this book up every night as part of my routine. I highly recommend it and look forward to reading more of his novels.
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October 2022
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