This Terrible Beauty: A Novel

by Katrin Schumann

From the bestselling author of The Forgotten Hours comes an unforgettable story of one woman’s journey to reclaim what she lost in a country torn apart by the devastating legacy of WWII.

On the windswept shores of an East German island, Bettina Heilstrom struggles to build a life from the ashes. World War II has ended, and her country is torn apart. Longing for a family, she marries Werner, an older bureaucrat who adores her. But after joining the fledgling secret police, he is drawn deep into its dark mission and becomes a dangerous man.

When Bettina falls in love with an idealistic young renegade, Werner discovers her infidelity and forces her to make a terrible choice: spend her life in prison or leave her home forever. Either way she loses both her lover and child.

Ten years later, Bettina has reinvented herself as a celebrated photographer in Chicago, but she’s never stopped yearning for the baby she left behind. Surprised by an unexpected visitor from her past, she resolves to return to her ravaged homeland to reclaim her daughter and uncover her beloved’s fate, whatever the cost.

• ISBN10: 1542020808
• ISBN13: 9781542020800
• Publish Date: 1 March 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Imprint: Lake Union Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 382
• Language: English

Reviews

[Baroness Book Trove]

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.This Terrible Beauty by Katrin Schumann is an informative tale of how life was back after World War 2 ended for the German citizens that were stuck on the east side of the wall where Russia was in control.

Could Bettina handle things differently than she did?

Bettina Heilstrom

Bettina is our main character, and the one we follow most of the time. She married when she was young and didn't have a good marriage. Bettina has done some things that I was okay with, but she could have tried not to give in to her urges of finding a different man. Either that or told the first guy that no, you couldn't marry him. Just my thoughts here. If she didn't stray from her marriage, she might have been there for her daughter while she was growing up or not.

What I like about Bettina is that she tries to be a good person and do the right things, even if the right thing for her wasn't the right thing for her marriage. What I didn't like about Bettina is that she could have tried to be with her husband more than what she did.

Three Stars

This Terrible Beauty by Katrin Schumann was something that I didn't expect to happen. Okay, I do have to admit that the only reason I wanted to finish reading it was to see if she got her daughter back. With that explanation, I can't exactly say anything about that as it is part of the plot of the story. We did go back in time a lot, and it was interesting to see what things were like for a German after World War 2 with the Russians with them in East Germany. 

After all that, I am giving it three stars and recommending this book to those who like historical women's fiction.



Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of This Terrible Beauty by Katrin Schumann. 

Until the next time,



This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove