It took Allina's suffering a fall in her home for her to finally reveal the secrets she had kept from everyone for decades. Her reasons? Some secrets are too painful to face, but the time has come to tell her story to her daughter. THE SUNFLOWER HOUSE, a novel by Adriana Allegri, opens in a small German village in 1939. An orphan, Allina had been raised by her aunt and uncle and she worked at her uncle's bookshop. She had a fiancé and friends, but there was tension in the air. Hitler was Chancellor and massive changes were coming. Before Allina's peaceful life was obliterated by unspeakable acts one night, she learned a family secret. Her mother had been Jewish, making her a Mischling. Those she loved were dead and she was brutally attacked and then taken to work at Hochland House which was in essence a baby factory and a shop of horrors. It was there that she saw firsthand the purpose and results of Himmler's Lebensborn Program. In order to survive, she had to keep her heredity a secret. However, it was not just her survival at stake. It was that of the neglected children at the facility.
Impeccably researched, the novel reveals much about this eugenics program that was carried out in a number of places. While THE SUNFLOWER HOUSE is a work of historical fiction, it is based on fact. It is told primarily in the past and the depth of the narrative brings forth a remarkable protagonist and the man she fell in love with, Karl. They were people who in spite of their secrets came together to assume roles their values had shaped them for. Whatever the reason, they were brought together by the circumstances of their time and their decisions and actions would shape their future.
Beautifully told, the author has skillfully crafted a tale that ties together elements of loss, determination, survival, commitment and love. Profound and memorable, this book is well worth reading. Highly recommended.
Family secrets come to light as a young woman fights to save herself, and others, in a Nazi-run baby factory—a real-life Handmaid's Tale—during World War II.
In a sleepy German village, Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic: she works at her uncle’s bookshop, makes strudel with her aunt, and spends weekends with her friends and fiancé. But it's 1939, Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s family hides a terrifying secret—her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling.
One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.
The Sunflower House is a meticulously-researched debut historical novel that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families. Allina must keep her Jewish identity a secret in order to survive, but when she discovers the neglect occurring within the home, she’s determined not only to save herself, but also the children in her care.
A tale of one woman’s determination to resist and survive, The Sunflower House is also a love story. When Allina meets Karl, a high-ranking SS officer with secrets of his own, the two must decide how much they are willing to share with each other—and how much they can stand to risk as they join forces to save as many children as they can. The threads of this poignant and heartrending novel weave a tale of loss and love, friendship and betrayal, and the secrets we bury in order to save ourselves.
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