Title:- I have to Save Them
Author:- Ellie Midwood
Date published:- 31st January 2024
Publisher:- Bookouture
No. of pages:- 296 pages
Genre:- Historical Fiction/ Holocaust
Setting:- Germany/Auschwitz
Rating:-
Plot:- 5/5
Writing:- 5/5
Overall rating:- 5/5
Auschwitz, 1942: Her entire body trembles as she stands in the infirmary and realises the horrifying truth. She’s a nurse, but instead of saving her fellow inmates, she’s about to be ordered to kill them…
Surrounded by thick fog from the nearby forest, Orli stumbles from the cattle truck onto the frostbitten grounds of Auschwitz. Betrayed by her own husband for being a German resistance fighter, she has no one left in the world, and this is now her home.
Orli breathes a sign of relief when her nursing skills mean she’s assigned to work in the infirmary. Even in this hell on earth, she can still try to save some lives. But when she’s instructed to assist Dr Josef Mengele, she soon learns that he is known as The Angel of Death, and is the most feared man in Auschwitz. At his evil hands, thousands of inmates are cruelly killed and experimented on. And if Orli is to survive, she will have to help him. But how can she live with herself if she sentences her fellow inmates to death?
As she stares into his eyes, she soon realises her resistance work is not over. She has to stay and find a way to stop this monster—even if that means she will pay the ultimate price.
Inspired by the incredible true story of Orli Reichert, this unforgettable World War Two novel brings to life the powerful tale of a woman who risked everything to fight against evil. Fans of The Choice and The Tattooist of Auschwitz will be utterly gripped by this unputdownable page-turner.
This is a heartwarming and emotional historical fiction that is based on Orli Reichart, a brave and courageous woman who worked at the Auschwitz clinic with the infamous Josef Mengele and how this woman saved inmates from going into a cruel death orchestrated by Mengele.
Being a history fanatic particularly Holocaust, I was particularly interested and intrigued with both fictional and non-fictional stories of brave and courageous people who fought against the Nazis and SS. Orli Reichart was one such woman. Ellie Midwood is a very talented writer and I always made sure to read all her historical novels. She writes stories based on real-life women and Orli Reichart is actually based on a real-life person. Her writing is engaging and intriguing and she had done tremendous research on Holocaust that while you are reading this book, you feel all those anger and hatred towards the Nazis, at the way they were treating the Jews, the emotional and heartbreaking moments when they were merciless killed by the Nazis…they were all too real and emotional to read. Although I did history in school, I learned a lot more about the Holocaust, the conditions at the infirmary, how the Jews and Aryans were treated at the camps, how the Jews were starved to death…it was too disturbing at the same time, one must never forget that these things did happen in real life. The writing as I mentioned was beautifully written and I liked how Midwood tackled with the history of the whole story.
I have to Save Them is one of the heartbreaking and emotional tale of a brave and courages nurse who would risk her own life to save the lives of the innocent–truly recommend this book and worth a whopping five stars!
Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, the Bookouture for making me a part of this blog tour. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author, whose works have been translated into 14 languages. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, “The Girl from Berlin.” Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their two dogs.
Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical fiction category (2016) – “The Girl from Berlin: Standartenführer’s Wife” (first place)
Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical fiction category (2016) – “The Austrian” (honorable mention)
New Apple – 2016 Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing – “The Austrian” (official selection)
Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical fiction category (2017) – “Emilia”
Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical fiction category (2018) – “A Motherland’s Daughter, A Fatherland’s Son”
Author social media
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/EllieMidwood?_rdr
Instagram: @elliemidwood
Website: http://elliemidwood.com/
Author sign up below: https://www.bookouture.com/ellie-midwood
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