Europe and America between the wars, misconceptions, eugenics, epilepsy treatments, love and motherhood all combined to make a sometimes uncomfortable, but mostly compelling, thought provoking read. Thankfully we've come far from the ideas of the eugenics movement. ( )

Through the story of an unrequited love, the strong point was to show how a whole nation could be mesmerized by a charismatic though unscrupulous leader. Are there lessons for our times? ( )

LOPL audiobook newsletter.

I loved this. One of the audiobooks that causes me to go for a walk or garden so I can justify listening for a while.

At first, this seemed kind of standard - a young couple in 1928 Britain. They have a young daughter. She has a couple of (seems like) epileptic seizures. The parents like to pretend it’s nothing serious.

Then they start making comments - the lowlife who murdered Eleanor’s mother. The artist that Rose has fallen in love with - he might be attracted to Rose b/c of the husbands money. OR his genes might be inferior to Rose’s. Edward is a professor, and member of the eugenics society, believes heredity causes diseases like epilepsy, and heredity is linked to poor social standing and intelligence. I’m starting not to like them very much.

But then I start loving Eleanor. Despite Mabel’s frightening seizures, she still loves her daughter. Doesn’t want to send her away, believes there has to be a treatment. They both insist there is no epilepsy in their family. Edward arranges a second opinion, which turns into an argument to admit Mabel to a home for epileptics. Mabel is FIVE. Eleanor hates this - she is told that adult epileptics are fixated on sex, so she may need to be sterilized. May be suitable for manual labor only.

Meanwhile Edward is deep into his research to support a govt program to change education. He believes intelligence is based on heredity, and leaves out research showing the opposite. He insists the ends justifies the means - because he is so sure the education changes are right. Eleanor calls him on it, is disgusted when sticks to his story.

I wasn’t sure there could be a happy ending to this story - Eleanor is turning out to be a caring moral person, Edward turns more and more to personal glory and recognition.

But then that artist friend of Roses tells Eleanor about a different treatment for epilepsy - and she takes Mabel out of the home (in the dead of night!) and goes to France to start the treatment. It works.

Meanwhile Eleanor leaving Edward has caused him to look at his life. The lies and omissions. He turns away from it, and Eleanor and Edward reconcile. Whew! ( )

As a fan of historical fiction, I immediately fell in love with the writing of Louise Fein. This book explored WWII, life in the Reich, and the power of love. The deeper in love Hettie falls, the more she sees life through a different glass - which is a concept that defies time.

This gripping story mesmerized me and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction! ( )

This novel makes for difficult reading at times, as it concerns the theme of euthanasia and a disabled child. I appreciated the thorough exploration of those who championed these policies in 1920s and the spirit of that era (post-WWI, the economic and cultural context), but I couldn't help but feel dragged down by this book and its topic at times. I feel for the family and the child in this novel and often I wanted to scream about the misguided ideas that definitely caused unnecessary suffering. That being said, I found the conclusion to be a happier and more satisficing ending that I had imagined possible for this story. ( )