Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Working in her father’s chocolate factory, Kasia risks her life every day hiding notes vital to the Polish resistance in the carefully packaged boxes. The information tucked beneath the truffles is crucial to freeing her country and her family from the Nazis. But each of her recipes is sent out under the watchful eyes of her boss, Sebastian—the man who broke her heart.
She has never been able to reconcile the kind, sweet boy she once adored with the man now allied with the Germans. Yet the more time she spends around him, the more he seems to hint at sympathizing with the resistance. And the risk of revealing everything to him seems to shrink day by day.
Until one coded message hidden among the rich chocolate makes her fear for her mother and brother’s lives. And though she’s on the factory floor with a group of fellow resistance women, she can’t let on what she knows. Because her network has been betrayed.
As she searches the faces of those closest to her for any sign of guilt, her eyes meet Sebastian’s, full of care and concern. With time running out, Kasia wonders if she can trust him with this deadly secret? Or are the soldiers already on their way to arrest her?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Wartime Chocolate Maker to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Wartime Chocolate Maker is the new book from Gosia Nealon which follows Kasia and her family during the German occupation of Poland specifically her home town Gdansk. It’s June 1943 and Kasia has returned from Warsaw where she has spent several years living with her Aunt following a disagreement with her father. Her father has recently passed away and she purposefully missed the funeral but she knows her mother and younger brother need her now. The opportunity for reconciliation with her father will now never present itself and overtime this eats away at Kasia. She still can’t believe that her father turned despite being German (her mother is Polish) against what the family stood for and started supporting the German movement which has overtaken their beautiful city and in many ways the running of the family chocolate factory. Throughout the book she tries to decipher whether it was all a front or was his head really turned? It’s a conundrum amidst many that she must face.
Times are tough for the people of Poland. Their lives have been irrevocably changed but throughout it all Kasia grows as a person. She is compassionate towards other and uses her intelligence carefully. She takes a wise approach to situations but I felt she threaded a fine line. I was always fearful that the work she continued for the Resistance movement when she returned to the city would be discovered and the worst fate would befall her. Her hardworking nature saw her start work at the factory but her father’s business partner Sebastian Richter was in my mind someone not to be trusted.It was like he always had ulterior motives.
Kasia was wary of him given he was the root cause of her having to leave her family. The issues from that time still have their roots firmly set in 1943. Sebastian really tried to worm his way into her life. I found him to be sneaky and underhand but Kasia’s mother could only see good in him. Kasia had to pretend to be someone she was not when she was around him and as she began to see a bigger game developing she showed cunning and had her wits about to start playing it well but again I was anxious that she would be discovered. She works in the factory as a way of proving her loyalty to the Reich even though she detests everything that it stands for but at the same time she can gleam bits of information that might help her fellow members in the Resistance with their big plans.
I found I needed a bit more tension, unease and suspense throughout the book. Yes, there were moments when dangerous events occurred but they were too brief. I wanted things to escalate and reach a dramatic climax but this didn’t occur. What I did enjoy was reading chapters from Felek’s point of view. He had been arrested, terrorised and interrogated by the Gestapo in Warsaw but freed by the Resistance. Making his way to the Resistance group in Gdansk he was determined to continue to do his bit. I would have loved to have discovered a bit about his background and family as there wasn’t anything mentioned about that at all. He disappears for periods of the book and again it would have been brilliant to read about what his missions entailed. Yes, there were a few very brief pages detailing a significant event that occurred for him towards the last quarter of the book but again not enough detail was given. The same could be said for the epilogue. The story ended then we had the epilogue and I felt it didn’t feel in the blanks enough.
Overall, throughout I just had the feeling of needing more regarding several aspects. I did enjoy the mentions of characters from previous books and I found myself seeking them out.The feelings that develop between Kasia and Felek although they need to be kept hidden for fear of what Sebastian would do if he found out did feel real. They trusted one another and as they were part of a bigger group working towards one common goal they shared common goals and viewpoints. In a way they were kindred spirits whom I wished the war had not affected their lives so that they could be together always. Instead, daily Kasia and Felek navigate a world where danger lurks around every corner and there are hard times for all the characters involved.
The Wartime Chocolate Maker was a slow burner of a book that takes some time to get going and when it does it is only for a short time. This one was a bit of a mixed bag for me as I felt it was more of an observation of the period rather than a real, solid specific plot that the reader could get their teeth into. Yes, for the most part the details of the time and what the people were going through was present but I felt it needed more. There was a lot covered but I felt it flitted between characters too much and that events were mentioned and swiftly dealt with but they needed more exploration and development. This is not a bad book by any means but it just wouldn’t be my favourite from this author and the chocolate aspect in my mind was under utilised as there was so much potential there. Overall, an interesting and somewhat enjoyable read but not the best in the historical fiction genre that I have read so far this year.
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