Today I have When We Were Innocent by Kate Hewitt on the blog. Thanks to Bookouture and NetHalley for the ARC of the book to bring you this review.
You love your father with all your heart. But what if he’s not who you think he is? What if he’s kept an unforgiveable secret from you his whole life?
Libby Trent believes she knows the difference between right and wrong.
But everything changes when she finds out about a man named Hans Brenner, a Nazi who escaped Germany after the Second World War. A war criminal who has lived his whole life in hiding.
Because the man suspected of being Hans Brenner is Libby’s own beloved father.
The sweetest, gentlest man she knows. Who raised her alone, who lives in her family home. Who cares for and watches over Libby’s own children.
When Libby finds a secret box in her father’s bedroom, she knows it might contain evidence. But does she dare open it, if it could prove her father guilty of the most heinous crimes in history?
Because if she finds evidence, she won’t just have to choose between right and wrong, she’ll have to choose whether to betray her own father…
A totally heartbreaking and powerful story about a daughter’s impossible dilemma and the darkest of family secrets, perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Amanda Prowse, and Diane Chamberlain.
Kate Hewitt writes the most most amazing, heartwrenching and uplifting books. She has the skill to pull me right in to the moral dilemmas and decisions of all her characters.
When We Were Innocent is told over a dual timeline, by Libby in the present day and Hans, her father, in the second World War. Libby has everything she needs, a husband who loves her, children and an absolute gem of a father who lives with them. The day a stranger knocks on her door with information she can’t believe, is the day she begins to attempt to unravel a mystery to prove her fathers innocence, but will she?
A book that takes me back to the second World War and the concentration camps of the past always tears my heart apart. The amount of research Kate Hewitt has done makes it a real and vivid read. Right down to the actual guards who worked in Sobibor Death Camp,and the SS members there.
The dilemma Libby finds herself in had my own mind working overtime too. I wouldn’t know what to believe either in her position. I don’t even know what I would do. Would I be able to pass evidence on if I found it, or would I pretend it wasn’t there?
If this review feels a little vague, it’s because I don’t like to spoil the impact this story has. Kate Hewitt has written a book that explores the emotions that everyone involved experience. What I took away from this book is that not everything is black and white. Sometimes forgiveness is the strongest thing people can give too.
If you, like me love to read well researched historical fiction I really do recommend When We Were Innocent.
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0B786FXF4social
Audio Links:
UK: zpr.io/TAXdMfYRARci
US: zpr.io/nRGPdbuwdfUP
Listen to a sample here:
https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/when-we-were-innocent-by-kate-hewitt-narrated-by-amelia-sciandra
You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo
Author Bio:
Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.
https://www.kate-hewitt.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KateHewittAuthor/
https://twitter.com/author_kate
Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Kate Hewitt here: https://www.bookouture.com/kate-hewitt
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