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by Cathy Gohlke (Author)
2015 Carol award finalist
Increasingly wary of her father's genetic research, Rachel Kramer has determined that this trip with him to Germany--in the summer of 1939--will be her last. But a cryptic letter from her estranged friend, begging Rachel for help, changes everything. Married to SS officer Gerhardt Schlick, Kristine sees the dark tides turning and fears her husband views their daughter, Amelie, deaf since birth, as a blight on his Aryan bloodline.
Once courted by Schlick, Rachel knows he's as dangerous as the swastikas that hang like ebony spiders from every government building in Berlin. She fears her father's files may hold answers about Hitler's plans for others, like Amelie, whom the regime deems "unworthy of life." She risks searching his classified documents only to uncover shocking secrets about her own history and a family she's never known.
Now hunted by the SS, Rachel turns to Jason Young--a driven, disarming American journalist and unlikely ally--who connects her to the resistance and to controversial theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Forced into hiding, Rachel's every ideal is challenged as she and Jason walk a knife's edge, risking their lives--and asking others to do the same--for those they barely know but come to love.
Back Jacket
SUMMER 1939
ONE LETTER, ONE REQUEST . . .
On a trip to Germany with her father, Rachel Kramer receives a cryptic letter with a plea for help from an estranged friend. Married to SS officer Gerhardt Schlick, Kristine sees the dark tides turning and fears her husband views their daughter Amelie--deaf since birth--as a blight on his Aryan bloodline.
. . . LEADS TO A TRUTH SO DARK . . .
Once courted by Schlick, Rachel knows he's as dangerous as the swastikas that hang like ebony spiders across Berlin. She fears her father, an eminent eugenics scientist, may know about Hitler's plans for others, like Amelie, whom the regime deems unworthy of life. But when she risks searching his classified documents, she also uncovers shocking secrets about her own history and a family she's never known.
. . . THEY'LL RISK EVERYTHING TO BRING IT TO LIGHT.
Now hunted by the SS, Rachel turns to Jason Young-- a driven American journalist and unlikely ally--whose connections to the resistance help Rachel and Amelie escape the city. Forced to hide in Oberammergau, the Bavarian village of the Passion Play, Rachel's every ideal is challenged as she and Jason walk a knife's edge, endangering their lives--and asking others to do the same--for those they barely know but come to love.
