Profoundly moving. Filled with growth and love and the best of human connection, and with painful glimpses of the worst humans do to each other. Strong, brave women and the men who need that, who fear that, or who learn from that. Excellent research, well-written, covering lifetimes and perspectives without causing disorientation or jarring. Absolutely worth reading. The pain and fear do not triumph, but this novel does not allow readers to glide past those moments either. ( )

The Munich Girl by Phyllis Edgerly Ring was a well-written and interesting story about Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress turned Wife the final day of his life, and the circle of people who loved and knew a different, secret side of Eva. While I enjoyed the character development and found the plot and the writing style engaging, it was hard for me to care about Eva Braun even as she is depicted here as a compassionate and caring, selfless and conflicted woman. I found it especially hard to have any sympathy for someone who so obviously loved such a monster of a man. ( )

Historical Fiction is one my favorite genres but this story really let me down. I have always been intrigued by the films of Eva Braun that I have seen parts of and the photos. I wondered how could she fall for Hitler? I have only two clues. Eva was only seventeen years old while Hitler was forty when she met him in the photo shop where she worked. The other one is that she was not interested in politics at all. The first one makes more sense to me but because I am so very political I wonder if there is just a whole lot that we still do not know about her.

When I first started to read this book, I was fascinated to learn anything more about her. I wanted to plunge into the book every evening. But there is a complicated side story which is set in the
present and was entirely fictional. At first, I just accepted the second story and it seemed to fit so well with the author's research but then there was too much of the story about Anna Dahlberg and not enough about Eva Braun. And I do not really care for romantic stories. My interest in Anna's left after the dramatic way her husband left the plane when it crashed. It felt too perfect and made me distrust author.

My interest picked again shortly before the end when the deaths of Eva Braun and Hitler appeared in the book but the second story got too unbelievable for me to be happy with it.

I have decided that I prefer historical fiction to include the real historical person and also a per son also existed at the time. Did the author Phyllis Edgerly Ring find in her research that there was no secondary real person who knew Eva Braun closely so she had to make up a completely fictional character? I still wonder about Eva Braun, contradictory facts have come out about her that reveal that she was not just the ordinary person that she claimed to be, I guess we will never know!

I received a copy of this book from the Publisher as a win from FirstReads but that in no way made a difference in my thoughts or feelings in this review. ( )

I entered a GiveAway for this novel, and although I did not win, was so intrigued by the synopsis that I bought it anyway. I'm very glad I did. I thought this was one amazing novel which, although it was Historical Fiction, read like non-fiction. Kudos to the author for that.
While I am a student of the era (WWII - hey I can remember a lot about those days even though I was a toddler), I never really thought or knew anything about Eva Braun. All I knew was that she was Hitler's girlfriend. I never even knew that in the end they married. Today, most of what you read about Hitler and Eva Braun, is did they actually survive and escape to South America? I personally think that is gibberish but unfortunately, Russia did the world no favors with their actions involving their remains.
Back to this story however, my main complaints are too much German language in the book and too much of a contrived ending involving the families. The book was over when the last of Eva's story became known but the author seemed to want to keep it going and came out with many outlandish details to keep us interested. Otherwise I would have given it 5 stars. ( )

Anna Dahlberg is facing the task of going through her mother's belongings after her death. In addition, Anna must cater to her husband, Lowell's every whim as he finishes publishing a book about World War II and manages a magazine centered around the armed forces. When Anna is given writing assignments about women war correspondents and Eva Braun, her interest is piqued. Then, her interest quickly becomes personal as Anna uncovers several items in her mother's collection that carry Eva's special monogram or Eva's picture. Added to the fact that Anna has looked at a rough sketch of Eva every night in her mother's dining room, Anna begins to see a connection between her mother and Eva. As she researches, Anna finds that her mother, Peggy, could have actually been friends with Hitler's infamous mistress. With the help of Hannes Ritter, a new hire at the magazine, Anna begins to unravel the unlikely connections.

I love stories of objects that intertwine past and present. In the case of The Munich Girl I was pulled into Anna's research into a sketch and a handkerchief that led Anna to discover secrets of her mother's time in Germany and her friendship with Eva Braun. I was astounded at how little was known about Eva Braun and much her life effected not only Hitler but the War itself. Most people think of Eva Braun as little more than Hitler's mistress; however, through the eyes of Peggy, Eva is showcased as a supportive friend, a talented photographer, a dedicated lover and a woman with her own thoughts, feelings and agenda. I enjoyed seeing how Anna became empowered in her life after reading about her own mother and Eva's life under Hitler. While Lowell was definitely oppressive in his and Anna's relationship, I do wish that Anna would have come into her own before Lowell left the scene so he could have witnessed Anna's rebirth. Overall, I loved reading about Anna and Peggy's stories in 1995 and during World War II and I certainly learned more about the importance of Eva Braun.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )