Spotlight: Searching for Gertrude by D.E. Haggerty

Book info:

Title: Searching for Gertude

Genre: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction

Published: January 22nd, 2018

Synopsis:

While growing up in Germany in the 1930s, Rudolf falls in love with the girl next door, Gertrude. He doesn’t care what religion Gertrude practices but the Nazis do. When the first antisemitic laws are enacted by the Nazi government, Gertrude’s father loses his job at the local university. Unable to find employment in Germany, he accepts a position at Istanbul University and moves the family to Turkey. Rudolf, desperate to follow Gertrude, takes a position working at the consulate in Istanbul with the very government which caused her exile. With Rudolf finally living in the same city as Gertrude, their reunion should be inevitable, but he can’t find her. During his search for Gertrude, he stumbles upon Rosalyn, an American Jew working as a nanny in the city. Upon hearing his heartbreaking story, she immediately agrees to help him search for his lost love. Willing to do anything in their search for Gertrude, they agree to work for a British intelligence officer who promises his assistance, but his demands endanger Rudolf and Rosalyn. As the danger increases and the search for Gertrude stretches on, Rudolf and Rosalyn grow close, but Rudolf gave his heart away long ago.   

How far would you go to find the woman you love? 

Buy links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077P28WDK

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/763765

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/searching-for-gertrude-de-haggerty/1127582485?

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/nl/en/ebook/searching-for-gertrude

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36640624-searching-for-gertrude

Excerpt:

Gertrude continued to cry and hiccup in his arms. With his right hand, he smoothed her blonde curls while shushing her and murmuring nonsensical words into her ear. When her breaths became less erratic, he loosened his arms from around her before grabbing her hand and tugging her towards her parents. Avi and Rosa Liebster stood at the top of the stairs leading into their townhouse and watched them approach.

Rudolf didn’t bother greeting them. “What’s going on?”

Avi Liebster turned sad eyes on him. “Rudolf, my son, we can’t stay. You know this. Deep in your heart, you know this.”

Words escaped him. He couldn’t lie to the man who he had always known would be his father-in-law. There wasn’t a moment of his life in which he didn’t know Gertrude would be his wife. Until now. Now, she was leaving. Without him. No, not without him. “I’ll come with you.” He turned to rush down the stairs intent on packing up his life. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“You know that’s not possible.” The hand on his shoulder squeezed before dropping away. “Stay. Get an education. Become the man you are meant to become. You and Gertrude have time. When the time is right, you can join us.”

“Gertrude can stay with my family until …” His words petered out. Avi shook his head. He tried to implore Rosa with his eyes, but she turned away. “We can get married. She’ll be safe with me.” His desperate plea was met with silence.  

“Rudolf!” The sound of his father’s voice startled him. 

“Go,” Avi whispered.

He turned to Gertrude. “I…” Words failed him. What could he possibly say to make things better? His eyes stung, and he took a deep breath before trying again. “I’ll come for you.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. “No matter what. I’ll find you, and we’ll be reunited.”

She flung herself at him, and he caught her in his arms. Sobs wracked her body with such force, he could barely hold on. He tightened his arms around her and leaned against the wrought iron handrail of the stairs to steady himself. He took a deep breath and brought her honeysuckle smell into his lungs.

“Rudolf.” His father’s voice came to him from one step below him. He turned to his father and watched as he nodded to the man standing behind him.

“It’s time,” Avi Liebster whispered the words before gently untangling his daughter from Rudolf’s arms. His arms felt empty as Gertrude was pulled from him. Would they ever feel anything but empty from this moment forward?

Author bio:

I grew-up reading everything I could get my grubby hands on, from my mom's Harlequin romances, to Nancy Drew, to Little Women. When I wasn't flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although on the odd occasion I did manage to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. After surviving the army experience, I went back to school and got my law degree. I jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic after returning to the law. But being a lawyer really wasn’t my thing, so I quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out being a B&B owner wasn’t my thing either. I polished off that manuscript languishing in the attic before following the husband to Istanbul where I decided to give the whole writer-thing a go. But ten years was too many to stay away from my adopted home. I packed up again and moved to The Hague where I’m currently working on my next book. I hope I’ll always be working on my next book.

Searching for Gertrude is my twelfth book.

Author links:

Website: http://dehaggerty.wordpress.com

Blog: https://dehaggerty.wordpress.com/category/mymusings/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dehaggerty

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dehaggerty/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7210211.D_E_Haggerty

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/D.E.-Haggerty/e/B00ECQBURU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5?qid=1438239628&sr=8-5

Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/bbmdj9

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DEHaggerty/posts

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/denahaggerty/

Bookbub author page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-e-haggerty

Email: dena@dehaggerty.com

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Settings that I'd Love to Visit

Top Ten Tuesday is sponsored by The Broke and The Bookish.

Okay,  let's see what are the top 10 places I want to visit because I read about them in a book, and if I can remember exactly which books made me interested.

1.  Ireland 

Hmm, can't remember exactly which books, but I know there were some!

2.  Forks, Washington

 Because of Twilight, obviously.

3.  Scotland

Many books, all of the On Dublin Street series by Samantha Young.  The Harry Potter castle is actually in Scotland as well.

4.  England

So many books take place in England.  A lot of them by Amy Daws.  Of course, the Harry Potter series.  

5.  New York City

Okay, this might be a little bit cheating, but NYC was always on my list, because of all kinds of books, like Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz to name one.  And I did get to go there several years ago, and have now been 4 times. 

6.  New Orleans

Another one I've already gotten the chance to visit. And because of books like the Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole or the Wicked saga by Jennifer Lynn Armentrout, I totally wanted to go.

7.  Mexico

I've always been interested in old ruins from ancient civilizations, and after the book The Ruins by Scott Smith, Mexico became high on my list.  I made that come true about 10 years or so ago, when I visited the ruins in Tulum.  My first, and so far only, time out of the US.

8.  Egypt

Egypt is one that is from many, many books, among other things.  But a few that I can remember for sure are the Time Travelers series by Caroline B. Cooney, the Blossom Culp series by Richard Peck, as well as newer books like Reawakened by Colleen Houck.

9.  Germany, Amsterdam

I have wanted to see the house, attic really, that Anne Frank and her family had to hide out in.  I also feel like I want to visit a concentration camp, and pay my respects to those whose lives were lost in the holocaust.

10.  Australia

I think the first time I really thought I wanted to go was after reading Pride of the Peacock by Victoria Holt.

So, have you been to any of these places?  Are you from one of them?  What are some locations you want to visit after reading a book that took place in that setting?

Review: Playing With Matches by Lee Strauss and A Piece of Blue String by Lee Strauss

First, thanks to Netgalley and All Night Reads for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  When I also saw that there was a very short novella that went with Playing With Matches, which was called A Piece of Blue String, I had to go download it, especially once I understood what the blue string in the title referred to.  And it was fortunate that someone finally understood that a 20 page story should be free to download, so I immediately got it downloaded.  As I've mentioned before, like many people I have always been fascinated with reading about World War II and the Holocaust.  Of course it was The Diary of Anne Frank that probably first got me into reading about it, and if you go back through my blog, you can find many other books I've read on this topic.  This book comes from a different side though.  One thing I mentioned in my review of The Book Thief is how it was interesting to read about the time from a German family's point of view, as opposed to what is usually written about, the Jewish point of view.  And this book does the same.

The main character is Emil Radle.  He is German through and through, he is in the Nazi group for kids before they get into Hitler's Youth, and is often ashamed of his parents when they say anything that is doubting what Hitler is trying to do, things that truly he could turn them in for.  Even when another kid in his school does turn in their parents, though, Emil doesn't think about doing that.  Well, let's say he thinks about how he could, but never thinks about wanting to.  And you do have to commend him a bit on his loyalty to his country.  And you can see how he wants so badly to grow up like his Uncle who is a pilot of the Luftwaffe.  His uncle visits, and you can even see the strain between his uncle and his parents.  His parents are worried about what these things will do to their country.  Afraid that it won't all be as good as promised.  At first Emil has a girl that he grew up with who is Jewish.  When he tries to talk to her, by going into her family's bakery and buying something, an SS officer steps in, and makes them give Emil his money back, but lets Emil keep the pastry.  Emil is a witness to all the glass being broken on Kristallnacht from the windows of all the Jewish owned stores.  He watches his friend and her mother as they later have to shovel the snow off the sidewalks.  And even risks himself by giving them his gloves.  And of course, he sees when they are shipped to Poland, as they are told by the press, in order to be out of their country, and sent to camps to work.

Emil really does want to be a good Nazi, but every once in awhile he does have his doubts.  His best friends are Johann and Moritz.  And one day he finds them doing something extremely dangerous.  They are listening to a radio that broadcasts British news.  And the reports here aren't quite as positive and wonderful for Germany as the German news announces.  But what really strikes Emil and his friends is that even though they are reporting the victories for the Allies, they also report their own losses.  There is no word of any losses for the Germans, when hearing the German news, or reading the German papers.  And soon, it becomes something that Emil and his friends want to share with the rest of the German people.  And so they begin hand writing flyers to leave around for people to find. Again, something so dangerous.  It is here that Emil gets to know Johann's sister Katarina better, even falling in love, as much as can be done in this time.

As we read about in The Book Thief the German people are struggling.  What food is being produced in the towns is being sent to the soldiers fighting.  Soon Emil's mom must go to work, and Emil's father is sent to the war.  And as it seems there are more and more losses, and food is getting even scarcer, younger boys are being sent, including Emil, I think at the age of 15 if not younger at first.  Emil and his friends keep hoping with all that they heard happening to defeat the Germans, the war will be over soon.  But it is not over in time to save many of them.  But of course, as we all know about that time, that is the truth, sad though it may be.

Once again, I haven't read many books from the German point of view, and even though Emil does come around for awhile after listening to the British news, there are also times at the end where he does begin to feel a bit of the same, loyalty to his own country, especially as he sees his country being destroyed the Americans and British, and the horrible ways the Russians are fighting back.  I think it is easy to see how these feelings could have existed.  I know it is harder to look back, knowing what was really going on, and feel any sympathy for the Germans, but this can help to make it easier to see why they may have sat back.

Now a quick review of the short story A Piece of Blue String.  It is the diary of Katarina.  We get to see her side of the story, how she deals with all of this as a female during the time period.  How she wants to fall in love, but after losing people she's loved, isn't sure if it is worth it until the war is over.  It wasn't the best novella I've read lately, and definitely it was a good thing that it was free.  But it still had some great things to read and a few bits that really did contribute to the story, and make the crush/love between Emil and Katarina seem pretty sweet.

One final note, I loved that a character was named "Moritz", as that is my mother's maiden name!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Yes, I know I'm way behind everyone else on this one.  I've been meaning to read it for awhile.  But it was a big book, and I just had so many other things to read, that I just kept putting it on the back burner.  Finally I decided that it was time to read it before the movie comes out this November.  So when I finished my last book, I went ahead and checked a copy of this one out from the bookstore where I work.  And, once I picked it up, and got past the first 20-25 pages, I was hooked.
I loved this family that Liesel ended up with.  Her new mother Rosa, loved the way she was so grumpy, but you knew that it was done with love.  And her new father, Hans, just the way he stayed with her every night because of her nightmares.  And then her best friend Rudy, so funny, and what a great friend!  I've always had to read everything I could on the Holocaust.  Most of those books were told about Jewish people, and what they survived, or didn't survive.  This is truly a story of a basically "normal" German family.  They don't seem to have any reason to necessarily be against this war.  In fact Liesel is even in the Hitler Youth Organization at school.  When they do take in Max, a young Jewish man, it isn't because they are trying to fight what is going on in their country, it is because of a favor Hans owed to a friend in World War I.  It was just so interesting to read about the German side of the story.  While it is unforgivable that so much happened and nothing was done about it, this look at how it could have happened, is a great insight.  The fact that the author says he got his ideas from his family telling stories of their old days in Germany makes it even more fascinating.  The raids on the town, the fact that here the Germans were promised if all the Jews were taken care of they would be prosperous, yet here many were still living without enough food.  Most of what happened in this story just seemed so realistic in the way things happened.  Not everyone lived happily ever after.  But not everyone stayed maybe the way you would expect all Germans to stay.  Just because they were the good guys, doesn't mean they all survived.
Other parts of the book that I really liked, the books/drawings that Max made for Liesel.  The story that Liesel ended up writing.  I liked that what could have become a romance, Max and Liesel, never did, it stayed as a brother sister relationship.
This was a book that was 550 pages long.  I started reading on Sunday, and finished on Tuesday.  And I would have been finished sooner had it been summer time and I hadn't had to work Monday or Tuesday.  Now, I'm just waiting to see the movie, and I can only hope that they will not change too many things that will take away what makes the story so great.  I mean, look at what happened with the Hunger Games, while it was a great movie on its own, the parts of the book that I really liked, that made it what it was, were left out.
Anyway, I guess I am now one of the people that will just gush and gush about how wonderful this book is.  How about you?  Have you read it? What did you think?

P.S. - While you're here, make sure you go check out my Fierce Reads Giveaway HERE where there will be 5 winners!!