The Girl from the Mountains – ARC Book Review

The story of one young woman’s exceptional courage in the darkest of times, set in the stunningly atmospheric mountains of Czechoslovakia during the Second World War.

1938: Magda has led a sheltered life in her small village until the day she is forced from her home by the invading Nazi army. Torn away from her family and the only place she has ever known, she is offered refuge in an alpine villa owned by brilliant Dr Tauber and his talented, beautiful wife.

But despite having friends in high places, the Jewish Taubers are living on borrowed time. When the Gestapo come to arrest them, Magda is asked to protect something more precious than the silver and jewels they leave behind. Their newborn son Samuel.

Magda turns to the local Resistance, who hide Samuel nearby. Determined to help them and save her country, Magda remains in the house to serve the Nazi commander, passing messages and supplies to the secret network. But when she is caught, Magda is forced to flee into the high mountains with a price on her head.

With the Nazis in pursuit, and nothing left to lose, Magda takes up arms with a band of partisan fighters in the hope of rescuing the Taubers and reuniting them with Samuel. Even if it might mean laying down her life to win the freedom of those she loves…

This heartbreaking wartime epic of love, bravery and survival will stay with you long after you have turned the final page. Perfect for fans of My Name is Eva, The Alice Network and The German Midwife.

No. of pages:- 324 pages

Date published:- will be published on February 3rd 2021

Genre:- Historical fiction

This story is based on during WWII but instead, it talks about the courageous and brave partisans who fought against the Nazis. Based in Czechoslovakia between 1938 to 1945, Magdalene who is known as Magda goes to work as a sort of governess to a rich Jewish family, the Taubers. However with the Nazis taking over Europe, Taubers due to their Jewish background were sent off to the ghettos. But not before Frau Tauber entrusts their baby son, Samuel into Magda’s care. Magda then soon becomes a part of partisans group, rebelling against the Nazis while at the same time her heart aching for Samuel.

This is actually really a powerful and emotional story. What makes this story more special to me was, we know these events did take part in real life–the Nazi brutality, the treatment towards Jews and Partisans and the members of the Partisans willingly sacrifice their own lives to fight against the Nazis. To me, Magda is such a truly inspirational, courageous and brave girl, who is willing to risk her own life to protect her loved ones. This book actually kept me all night and I finished this book with tears in my eyes after I read the ending! It was really good and emotional as well!

This book is a powerful, gripping story and unputdownable that will make you cry and support all those brave and courageous men and women who fought against the Nazis and defeated them. Worth five stars!

Thank You Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC! The review is based on my honest opinion.

IPPY Book Award 2020 silver medal winner for SOUVENIRS FROM KIEV: Ukraine and Ukrainians in WWII.

Long-listed in the Flash500 Novel Competition 2017 for No Man’s Land/The Breach

Winner of the Flash500 Short Story Competition with an extract from Bolzano.

Winner of the Coffee Pot Book Club Book Award Box and Box Set of the Year 2019 for the Reschen Valley Box Set.

A Discovered Diamond, shortlisted for Book of the Month July 2019, Reschen Valley Box Set
Reader’s Favorite 5-star reviews for Bolzano, The Smuggler of Reschen Pass, and Magda’s Mark (featured in The Road to Liberation Collection).

HNS International Short Story 2nd Place Winner 2014 for Souvenirs from Kiev (short story in the Souvenirs from Kiev collection)

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger was born in Minnesota in 1969 and grew up in the culture-rich neighborhood of “Nordeast” Minneapolis. She started her writing career with short stories, travel narratives, worked as a journalist and then as a managing editor for a magazine publisher before jumping the editor’s desk and pursuing her dreams of writing and traveling. In 2000, she moved to western Austria and established her own communications training company. She has won several awards for her short stories and novels and now primarily writes historical fiction. During a trip into northern Italy over the Reschen Pass, she stood on the edge of Reschen Lake and desperately wanted to understand how a 15th-century church tower ended up sticking out of the water. What stories were lying beneath? Some eight years later, she launched the “Reschen Valley” series with five books and a novella releasing between 2018 and 2021, in parallel to her WW2 novels and short story collections.

For more on Chrystyna, dive in at inktreks(dot)com.