The Fortunate Ones: Beautiful and heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction Kindle Edition

If you like your historical fiction to be character-driven and gripping, to sweep you away to another time and place, and to really make you think about the world as it was (and is now for that matter), then don't miss The Fortunate Ones by Catherine Hokin.It's told from the points of view of a young printer, Felix, who is imprisoned in a camp and forced to work on a team trying to forge foreign currency for the Reich, and Inge, wife of the cruel camp doctor. I was gripped from the first scenes and caught up in each character's experience of war-torn Berlin but I particularly enjoyed that the story doesn't end in 1945. Hokin explores the scars of the war and its aftermath, including Nazi criminals fleeing to Argentina and efforts to track them down and bring them to justice.Another highlight is the quality of the writing here. Hokin's scenes are rich and vivid. Some of Felix's experiences, being transported across country and making a break for freedom, will stay with me for a long time. So don't miss it! The Fortunate Ones is a great read.

This is the second book I have read by this author where the plot encompasses the years prior to WWII and after the war. The setting is mainly in Germany.Again, a great and original plot. This is a romance that mostly is held in the hearts and minds of a couple in Germany from very different backgrounds.I can tell much research was employed and very well done. This isn't your normal Jewish boy meets Nazi girl story. I truly loved the story.My only difficulty in reading this engrossing, sad story is the odd sentence structure. It made for a choppy read.I would recommend to readers of historical fiction and romance. Great plot!

This was a really good book. At first, it was confusing. Hokin has a bit of a disjointed way of writing. Whether it is seguing into new ideas through paragraphs or chapters, or starting new ideas or going from past to present, they could've been made clearer with a bit of editing expertise.That said, for a first novel, this was terrific. The characters popped with their different personalities and mannerisms. Detail was very well illustrated. Felix was a strong character, surviving his horrible ordeal at concentration camps with the hope of finding his "Hannah" and having a life with her. His fixation of her was needed more for his survival than her needing to find him again.Max was an atrocious man of the Nazi party, basically Mengele's twin in conducting medical tests and experiments on Jews and others the Nazis deemed unacceptable. His calculating ways kept Inge fearing for her life. The only reason she was kept alive was for their son Wolf, who Max poisoned with lies and manipulation about Inge. But Inge was far smarter in the end than Max could've suspected. SPOILER ALERT... Although, Inge and Felix did not ultimately get together, I think that was the best result considering the perfect expectations Felix had of her. I love how Hokin made the story interweave and circle around to the coincidental ending. It seems to me that Max and other Nazis would've gotten away with their atrocities had Inge and Felix gotten together before he was taken away and she married Max. It was a sound storyline.I wish there would be a sequel. I want to see Max and the others who escaped to be found and punished. I definitely recommend this book.

I always read reviews before I purchase a book and usually start with the 1 stars to get a feeling for what wasn’t good. The recurring theme to those few reviews of this book was that they were expecting a love story and it wasn’t there. Oh yes, it was a different kind of love story but it was definitely there throughout the whole book as both Inge and Felix suffered though the horrible years of World War II and it’s aftermath. It’s not a typical love story where the couple is together during the whole book but the love was there in the minds and hearts of Inge and Felix as they lived through the atrocities, one as a Jew in the concentration camps and one as the privileged wife of a wealthy Nazi soldier who was also in a prison of domestic abuse and control. This is one of the most comprehensive of all the historical novels I’ve read about this era and I especially liked that it continued after the war in South America where so many Nazi soldiers escaped to. What a heartbreaking adventure this book will take you on.

If you like romantic stories set in ww 2 era,you'll love this. Told from characters of Inge, a German girl engaged to a high ranking doctor in the ss. And Felix, a Jew by association. They meet one night at a dance that Inge is forbidden to go to. They have a nigh together until they're ripped apart.Inge marries her SS Nazi doctor and Felix is sent to the camps and survives very harsh conditions. I honestly didn't like Inge at first...she is spoiled and seems like a five years old. But after a few chapters,she matures and realizes the horrors of what her husband actually does.I give this book 4Stars since I found the first few chapters rather dull. It gets better especially near the end and actually took my breath away. I loved how the book continue after the war and into the 50s. We also see inges New life in Argentina and her quest to bring her husband...who doesn't love her to justice.The end of the book is very sad . Especially when Inge and Felix meet again...you want them to get together but she is no longer the same. Felixs love for her never diminished. However, he never knew she was german and that she was married to SS doctor that ran the very camp he was in.There really should be a sequel to this book as you will see inthe nd

It was war..... and anyone linked to someone Jewish was destroyed. She seemed so innocent...but she was naive and foolish. He saw what he wanted to see. Together they were a mismatched loving pair. This is there saga

This was an interesting read about Berlin during the war and more about the Nazis but I had a hard time liking the hero and heroine. They were just too stupid for me and took too long to grow up.

I love this book. It was very well written. It held my attention and broke my heart so many times. I have read many historical fiction and non fiction about the concentration camps and Nazis; no matter how many I read, I am always astounded by the cruelty and inhumanity shown to the prisoners. Their own resilience also astounds me.

This is the first time I have written a book review. I was so engrossed in this amazing book, set during and after the second world war, that I felt I had to share my appreciation of both the book and the author. I enjoy reading about the second world war, having spent many holidays in northern France and Berlin, visiting and reading about places and people with wartime connections The characters in The Fortunate Ones will stay with me for a long time, as I really got to know them, with their personalities, struggles and dreams. I won't tell you the story but strongly advise you read it. You won't be disappointed.

Wenn ich könnte, würde ich für dieses Buch Minus Sterne vergeben.Die Grundlage dieser Liebesgeschichte, nämlich die Begegnung zweier Menschen in zwei kurzen Momenten, ist für mich völlig unglaubwürdig, um daraus eine über Jahre fortdauernde liebesartige Geschichte zu kreiieren. Es mag ja sein, dass es Liebe auf den ersten Blick gibt, allerdings vermisse ich in dem Buch die großartigen Emotionen, die beschrieben werden müssten, um mich in den Bann zu ziehen. Der Schreibstil ist meiner Meinung insgesamt etwas hölzern und manchmal völlig frei von tiefgründigen Emotionen. Alleine angesichts des historischen Hintergrundes habe ich mich wirklich geärgert, dass die Autorin die Protagonisten eher wie unbeteiligte Zuschauer wirken lies.Abgesehen vom Beginn fande ich manche Handlungen in dem Buch auch nicht sehr glaubhaft.

Beautifully written, very creative and unusual story even for someone who has read loads of books on the subject.It reads like a thriller. Unputtable down

This story, based on the awful times in Germany during WWII, showing 2 sides of the story, will have you capt ivated, biting your nails, wanting to cry, horror and great enduring love, an immensely gripping story that you will never forget.