Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Vienna, 1937. When beautiful American Kitty becomes engaged to Austrian diplomat Edgar, she finds herself thrown into a very different world in Europe, and soon longs for home. But when the woman designing her wedding dress, Judith, takes Kitty under her wing, she sees the city of Vienna in a new light – a city of culture and music that she can explore with her new friend.
But when the Nazis come, the fact that Judith is Jewish means she is no longer safe. Kitty knows that as a diplomat’s wife she can steal the papers that will allow her closest friend to escape to safety, but will it mean betraying the love of her life?
Except that Edgar has grown distant and secretive since she joined him in Europe and, when war breaks out, Kitty wonders which side her husband is really on. And, as she prepares to betray him, Kitty begins to fear that she doesn’t really know the man she married at all.
Facing an impossible choice between her dearest friend and the man she loves, Kitty knows she must be brave, and do the right thing, no matter the personal cost…
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The American Wife to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The American Wife is the first book in the new series, The Dilpomat’s Wife, recently read which takes us back in time to several years before the outbreak of World War Two. It’s refreshing to see the historical fiction genre being changed up a little bit instead of books just always solely focusing on the war years. I am loving that I am getting more background information as to the causes of the war and detailed explanations and explorations of the rise of Hitler and his anti-Semitism. This book is set primarily in Austria. We have all learned in history lessons in school that Hitler invaded Austria but then the actual details and the people who lived there well we never read about what happened to them. How their lives changed and what life was like under occupation. It was like it was one sentence in a book and then we learned about the next big move by Hitler. But here the author has given a voice to so many people and detailed how one American woman full of anger and grief at the futility of what was happening did so much to help those whose lives were more or less being annihilated all because of their religion and beliefs.
Kitty is a young American woman who wants to make her mark on the world. She comes from an affluent and influential family. Her brother Nils is a diplomat working in Japan is a strong influence on her life. She travels to Japan to visit him and she is shown a world that she would long to get her teeth into as she would love to work as a foreign service officer. Kitty meets Edgar an Austrian diplomat and she is totally struck by him. She can’t get him out of her mind so much so that she decides to go to Austria and seek him out. Her father gets her work in the US consulate in Vienna and here she is where she meets Millie who introduces her to the Gang. The Gang are a group of men and women from all walks of life. They are free and liberal and no one is judged for their sexual preference, their beliefs or religion. Kitty soon becomes firm friends with all of the gang and in particular Judith who is a Jewish fashion designer. She balances her time between work, Edgar and the gang and by the end of 1937 herself and Edgar are celebrating their marriage. Little does she know her love and faith are about to be severely tested.
1938 and the Nazi’s invade Vienna.Working at the consulate Kitty and her fellow workers know that there will be a stream of people seeking visas and passports as the net tightens around them. They do their best in what becomes a difficult and heart-breaking situation and when her friends need a lifeline she tries her best to give it to them. It really struck me how if you hadn’t any way of getting a visa and getting out of the country than you really were stuck and that there was nowhere to run to. So many people must have thought why is this all happening just because they were Jewish. They must have been in such a limbo waiting to see whether they would get a visa or else face the inevitable which would turn out to be the death camps but I guess they wouldn’t even have known anything about these horrific places given it was quite some time before the official outbreak of war when the majority of the story takes place.
I loved how Kitty always fought for the cause and the resistance work she becomes engaged in was fascinating and the fact that she used what was readily at her disposal really gave her the one up on Edgar. It was like she was putting two fingers up to him as he seemed to distance himself from her the further the book developed and the country’s situation changed. More so in the later half, I became fascinated with all of Kitty’s clandestine work and the fact she was so selfless and courageous.
The book is split into four different parts and to be honest I found the first half of the book hard work and I struggled to get through some of the chapters. I found the wording was heavy going at times and I found myself stopping to reread paragraphs to try and understand the bigger situation that was transpiring and how the characters slotted into this. The start was very slow. I do understood it all needed to occur so that the main characters could meet and fall in love but having the beginning set in Japan just more or less so that the meeting of two like minds could occur did nothing for the story in my opinion. I felt the story couldn’t get going as it was bogged down in unnecessary detail. If the opening section could have been shorter and subsequently the pair got together in a chapter or two and then move to Austria it would have been much better. I just kept waiting for the story to kick off so to speak and for me that didn’t occur until the midway point.
Then when things started to click for me, I really got into the plot and Kitty became an incredible character. She could see the brutality and violence starting to erupt all around her and knew how unjust and unreasonable the whole situation was. She was a clever woman who wanted to do everything in her power to help those who needed to get out of the country. I thought she was incredibly brave and forthright and never allowed men in a role of privilege to shoot her down especially when she had such valid and erstwhile opinions. Kitty really was torn between a rock and a hard place as Edgar was on the other side working as a diplomat and legal advisor to the German office in Vienna. Initially, they had seemed like a match made in heaven and throughout the years leading up to the war and the during the annexation of Austria they became polarised in their opinions. Needless, to say this caused anguish and mistrust in their relationship.
I couldn’t fathom how a man who was so enamoured with Kitty could not share the same beliefs as her. That he couldn’t be on the right side instead of supporting what the Nazi’s were doing with their racial laws. It just seemed unbelievable that someone could turn like that and I think kitty felt the same way and grappled with the fact that the man she loved was doing the exact opposite of what she was in her daily life. That being he supported the actions and rules introduced whereas Kitty was doing everything to save those affected by the new laws. Yet, there were moments of tenderness and togetherness that occurred every now and then between them. I questioned whether Kitty should have just gotten out of the marriage? Why stay with someone who becomes part of a regime that devoured, smashed and destroyed everything and everyone in its path?
After what I believe to be a rocky start, The American Wife redeemed itself in the second half. The writing didn’t feel as challenging to read and comprehend and I could see where the story was going and how little things were starting to fall into place. Kitty really does come into her own and the bravery, courage and resilience she shows is remarkable. She goes through heartache and devastation but friendship and love will be found amidst the darkness and her undercover work trying to assist in the bigger picture deserves nothing but admiration. At the start of the book she wants to work in the foreign service and little did she know that meeting Edgar would allow her to fulfil her potential in this regard and take her on a personal journey far beyond her realms of possibility.
Towards the end, I came to a certain realisation and I was kicking myself not to have guessed it earlier given upon reflection all the clues were there and this was another point that made the book redeem itself. It was a brilliant twist and made me revaluate everything I had read and the opinions I had formed. Things were left on a cliff-hanger of sorts in terms of what Kitty now knows and what she will do.Where she will venture next will be interesting to see in book two. I am caught up in her story now and can’t wait for the next instalment which I hope we will get sometime later this year.
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