Author: Louise Fein
ISBN: 9781789545005
Publisher: Head of Zeus
People Like Us also titled Daughter of the Reich is a beautiful, heart wrenching love story written by Louise Fein.
Set in Leipzig, Germany 1930’s pre-World War II, Hetty Heinrich is a young girl living with her father Franz, a high ranked SS officer, mother Helene and older brother Karl who is in the German Air Force and a member of the BDM. Hetty is heavily influenced by her family; being young Hitler wanted to create a generation of young Aryans who were physically fit and totally obedient through programmes such as Hitler Youth in which her family supported. Hitler believed the German race to be the superior race, and people could be separated into a hierarchy of different races, where some races were superior and others were inferior. He believed he was god-like, and Jews were filthy pigs, which made it hard for Hetty as her brother’s best friend Walter Keller is a Jew. When Hetty was eight Walter saved her from drowning and she formed a crush on him. Over time they lost touch and Karl turned his back on Walter for being a Jew.
Years later Hetty is reunited with Walter and they fall in love. Under the Nuremberg Laws it is prohibited for them dating or marrying, they keep their relationship a secret from all. Time spent with Walter who encourages her to see the discrimination and prosecution of Jews, Hetty begins to question her upbringing and all that she was taught to believe and stood by.
Her family firmly believes she should marry a German but as Hetty falls deeper in love with Walter she realises she must sacrifice herself and her life by fighting against her family, brother and the Hitler ruling. Anyone against Hitler was either sent to prison or executed. Hitler wanted to take all actions necessary in order to make Germany prosper, and with Jews being sent to concentration camps and complete annihilation of the Jewish population Hetty is faced with the ultimate decision to try and save Walter at all costs.
If you enjoyed reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz you will definitely love this book filled with history, loss, secrets, heartbreak, loyalty, suffering, and sacrifice and most importantly love.
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Head of Zeus for read and review.
A selection of our members have been reading this book with us. You can find out what they thought below, or add your own review!
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.
This book takes a different approach to the usual second world war scenario and focuses on the life of Hetty Heinrich, the daughter of a high ranking SS officer.
Hetty is brainwashed into believing that Hilter is a saviour of the German people, but as she grows up she starts to see another side to the Hitler movement and the persecution of the Jewish people.
When she falls in love with Walter, an old family friend who is Jewish, Hettys life takes her on a course of heartbreak and torment.
Hettys character is so well constructed and she finds some wonderfully supportive friends who stand by her in such difficult circumstances.
I really enjoyed this book and found it gripping from the onset.
I would highly recommend it.
People like us is different from the usual World War stories in that it’s seen from the point of view of a German family. It’s interesting to read how they dealt with things too.
Hetty is a brave young girl who stands by her friends and goes against her family for her Jewish friends despite the dangers.
I enjoyed this book very much and was pleased to be able to read it.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read this book but sadly I didn’t finish it. I tried on multiple occasions to read it but it just wasn’t something I could get into.
While I have read a number of historical fiction novels set in Nazi Germany, People Like Us by Louise Fein, is different. Rather than taking a Jewish perspective, this thought provoking and evocative story describes those harrowing times from the perspective of a young, naive German teenage girl, whose family wholeheartedly subscribe to the Nazi propaganda.
This is a true coming of age tale in which young Hetty Heinrich, the daughter of an influential SS officer, struggles with what those around her are saying is “right” and what she believes in her heart.
Like many others, Hetty is at first completely mesmerized by Adolf Hitler. She idolises him like a pop star, hanging his portrait on her wall, and following his preachings with spellbound zeal. However, Hetty gradually starts to see the hatred and inhumanity that the Nazi regime inspires. Whisperings about her own family’s sudden good fortune, witnessing savage beatings and the disappearance of neighbours, starts Hetty wondering. Then when even her brother’s childhood best friend Walter – the boy who saved her life, is spurned, Hetty soon realises how unbelievably cruel and duplicitous even her own family can be.
People Like Us is a beautifully written and powerfully evocative story that really delves into how extremist views were able to take hold of a seemingly civilised country like Germany, and why so many people were taken in by Nazi propaganda. It is also a timely reminder of how important it is for people to stand up for what is right and not to get unthinkingly swept up in waves of racism and hatred. I highly recommend this book.
People like Us
Hetty Heinrich is the daughter of an SS Nazi officer. She has been raised to be a good German girl and doesn’t question her life or her parents beliefs. Hitler looms large in her life and she has been brainwashed to believe that he will make Germany great again.
Hetty falls in love with Walter, a Jewish boy who was her brothers best friend. Walter had saved Hetty from drowning when she was a young girl and the family had held him in high regard until the Nazi regime and their hatred of the Jewish population takes over Germany. Her brother Karl no longer associates with Walter. When Hetty meets up with Walter a few years later there is an instant attraction but as he is a Jew it is a forbidden relationship.
Hetty slowly begins to realise that she does not agree with everything her father or Hitler stands for.
The story is written from a German perspective of war which is a somewhat different take from what is usually written about in WWII historical fiction. It is a heartbreaking read but the journey of Hetty and Walter is so worth it. Such a powerful well written story. Highly recommend it 4/5
I was fortunate to recive this ebook during the COVID home isolation. I havent had the chance to read much lately so it was a welcomed distraction. The book piqued my intrest as it’s a period of history I find fascinating although abhorrent.
Set in Germany during Hitlers regime Hetty a young girl of a Nazi Officer becomes aware of the injustice sourounding her contunrty. A childhood friend of her brothers, Walter reenters her life when its impossible for them to be together. Love must conqure but at what cost?
This story told from Hetty’s POV and takes us on a journey of the trials and tribulations of life and love during one of the most horrific times of war.
I rate the book 3 stars, not because it isnt written well, or a story worth telling its just not that disimilar from other books ive read so I wasn’t as absorbed in the storyline as I anticipated.
Thank you Beauty and Lace Book Club and Head of Zeus Publishers for the reading and reviewing opportunity.
I was slow to warm to this book: at first the picture perfect image that Hetty portrayed was very difficult to read about, especially as all of her family seemed to be brainwashed as I guess some people were at that time
I persevered and was so glad I did. People Like Us is a coming of age story. It tells us of Hetty growing up in Nazi Germany with her father a corrupt SS officer and a mother prepared to turn a long eye to keep up appearances
Hetty is a free spirit and even though she has grown up indoctrinated into the Nazi way of thinking, starts to question things.
She falls in love with Walter a childhood friend who is Jewish. This leads to her starting to question things.
This is a very powerful novel. It tells of choices made and beliefs shattered. A love story that exemplifies the strength of humanity
Despite the slow start, I thoroughly enjoyed this work by Louise Fein. Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read and review this book that made me quite unsettled but in a good way
People Like Us is a heart wrenching story that rings true with all the known/reported history of Hitler and the Third Reich’s program to eradicate the Jews, and their belief that Germans are a pure and superior race.
Written from a German perspective is quite different from the usual books.
Hetty is a young German girl who’s prominent family holds this belief and she is raised in a household where herself and her brother are raised not knowing any different.
As a young girl, Hetty nearly drowns and her brothers best friend Walter is the one who rescues her.
She develops a crush on him.
When it is announced that her brothers best friend is Jewish, and as her brother has moved into another group of friends, who are more suitable and not Jewish, he is no longer permitted to visit.
When Hetty reunites with her brothers friend, they fall in love and this brings about unforseen
consequences that are far reaching.
We follow the hopes and dreams of Hetty as a young girl who believes her love will overcome the Hitler movement, and watch as she becomes disillusioned with everything she has grown up believing.
Reading about the way young people in Germany were brainwashed by the Hitler Movement made me angry, but I also think this is because I have read about the ‘Death Camps’and the thousands who perished in them.
This book will not be to everyone’s liking, it is brilliantly written and fully researched
I can see how Historical lovers will read this – I will not say enjoy,
not completely, but there are parts that are good.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read this.
This is the first e-book I have read on a computer, I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy the process of not holding an actual book, however the storyline dragged me in and I didn’t want to stop reading. I really enjoyed how the characters were portrayed as ordinary people that were changed by extraordinary times prior to the announcement of World War 2 in Nazi Germany. The main character Hetty had me frustrated at the start as she seemed so unaware of what was truly happening around her to past friends. When Hetty opens her eyes through her love of Walter, the world that she once knew is turned upside-down.
I really wanted to see how their love could flourish but I also felt like I watching a train wreck about to happen, how, could their love survive amongst all the horror surrounding them. The ending was satisfactory although I could have wished for otherwise, to know that the authors own family so luckily escaped a similar fate of some of the characters made me feel very grateful to those who helped keep them safe.
Thank you ‘Beauty & Lace Book Club’, for the opportunity to read and review Louise Fien’s e-book ‘People Like Us’.
This fictional story based in the years leading up to World War 2 follows the life of a young German girl who falls in love with a Jewish boy. Herta has grown up in a strong Nazi family and doesn’t think any different until she finds out that the boy she has had a crush on for years is Jewish. Walter makes her rethink everything she has ever been told. She has her eyes opened to what is really transpiring in her city and the suffering faced by anyone who doesn’t follow the Nazi plan. What follows is a story of trust, love, learning and some heartache.