Hidden Among the Stars by Melanie Dobson

About the book:

(from the publisher) The year is 1938, and as Hitler’s troops sweep into Vienna, Austrian Max Dornbach promises to help his Jewish friends hide their most valuable possessions from the Nazis, smuggling them to his family’s summer estate near the picturesque village of Hallstatt. He enlists the help of Annika Knopf, his childhood friend and the caretaker’s daughter, who is eager to help the man she’s loved her entire life. But when Max also brings Luzia Weiss, a young Jewish woman, to hide at the castle, it complicates Annika’s feelings and puts their entire plan—even their very lives—in jeopardy. Especially when the Nazis come to scour the estate and find both Luzia and the treasure gone.

Eighty years later, Callie Randall is mostly content with her quiet life, running a bookstore with her sister and reaching out into the world through her blog. Then she finds a cryptic list in an old edition of Bambi that connects her to Annika’s story . . . and maybe to the long-buried story of a dear friend. As she digs into the past, Callie must risk venturing outside the safe world she’s built for a chance at answers, adventure, and maybe even new love.

Genre: Fiction/Historical

If this were a movie, I’d rate it: PG

About the author:

Melanie Dobson is the award-winning author of  more than fifteen historical romance, suspense, and time-slip novels, including Catching the Wind and Chateau of Secrets. Three of her novels have won Carol Awards, and Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana won Best Novel of Indiana in 2010. Melanie lives near Portland, Oregon, with her husband, Jon, and two daughters.

Connect with the author: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

My take:

Like the author, I was transfixed by a visit to Hallstatt years ago, which made me an eager reader of a book written about that lovely Austrian town. Melanie Dobson’s Hidden Among the Stars will draw fans of World War II histfic and European history and culture. It has a lot going for it — set in a dramatic time and place, rich with literary references, as well as an intriguing premise with plenty of scope.

For all of that, this one didn’t grab me, mostly because I didn’t connect with the characters. They were likable enough (those that were meant to be), but too familiar. I didn’t feel there was much to set them apart from a host of other fictional characters I’ve seen in novels set in this era.

I did appreciate how the author did not attempt to tie everything up in a neat bow, because life doesn’t work like that, and I like my fiction to mirror real life as much as possible. Instead, the author left readers with a thoughtful, bittersweet ending that seemed right for the story.

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing me this book free of charge. All opinions are mine.

Buy it here. 

After words:

What’s your favorite WWII-era novel?