The Orphan’s Mother – ARC Book Review

1945, the German-Polish border: With Nazis on one side and Soviet forces approaching on the other, a mother and her little boy are torn apart, and so begins an unforgettable tale of courage, heartbreak and motherhood in wartime.

“If you ever get lost, Jacob, you need to stay where you are and wait, because I’ll come looking for you. And I’ll always find you.”

In the icy grip of winter, Emma is trying to escape Poland, with her two young children and little more than the clothes on their backs. With the Russian Red Army advancing, she knows their safety relies on them crossing the border. She swears to herself that she’ll do whatever it takes to keep their family together.

But before they can reach the border, her little boy Jacob falls ill, his once-sparkling blue eyes getting dimmer with each moment that passes. And Emma knows she has to get him to a hospital, where she hands him to a kind nurse.

She feels sure they will be reunited the next day. But then the bombing starts. And when she reaches the hospital again, she finds it deserted, her darling son gone.

Though her heart tells her she has to stay and find him, she faces an impossible choice. She would risk her own life for Jacob in a heartbeat, but as her daughter Sophie’s cold, little hand slips into her own, Emma is forced to make a heartbreaking decision. Unable to find any trace of her beloved son, she knows she must at least get her daughter to safety.

But she can never forget the promise she made to her little boy. That if they were ever separated, she’d come looking for him. That she’d always find him.

Whatever the danger, whatever the risk. She knows what she has to do. Because there is nothing stronger than a mother’s love…

This book is a heartbreaking and emotional book that will tear you up.

It’s almost the end of the World War II with the Russians The Red Army entering into Poland. Many of the Germans who used to live in Poland are now fleeing back to their country. One such German family is Emma and her two children, Jacob and Sophie. On their journey, Jacob gets sick and was admitted to the hospital. But soon chaos and turmoil and with the fear of the Russians entering in, Jacob gets separated from his mother and sister and soon he was adopted by a kind Polish nurse named Irina.

Normally, the historical fiction that I read are based on Jews or Gypsies or Poles but this was all different–it is about a German family who is fleeing from Poland as Germans are losing the war and the Russians are edging closer. Having done history, I know that Russians were revengeful and brutal towards Germans and so I can understand the fear that these families are going through. The author must have done research about it that it felt all too realistic to be reading about it. The middle part of the story is what drew me into the story–the heartbreak, the emotions and there were parts that you would cry when Jacob gets separated from his mother and Irina adopts him. The writing was really great and the author manage to draw the reader into the story. All these characters are all memorable to read and likable in my opinion and the story itself is very touching.

If you would like to read historical fiction based on WWII, then try this book out–this book will take you to a journey that will make you emotional and heartbreaking at the same time. Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.