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Loading... This Terrible Beautyby Katrin Schumann
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On the windswept shores of an East German island, Bettina Heilstrom struggles to build a life from the ashes. World War II has ended, and her country is torn apart. Longing for a family, she marries Werner, an older bureaucrat who adores her. But after joining the fledgling secret police, he is drawn deep into its dark mission and becomes a dangerous man. When Bettina falls in love with an idealistic young renegade, Werner discovers her infidelity and forces her to make a terrible choice: spend her life in prison or leave her home forever. Either way she loses both her lover and child. Ten years later, Bettina has reinvented herself as a celebrated photographer in Chicago, but she's never stopped yearning for the baby she left behind. Surprised by an unexpected visitor from her past, she resolves to return to her ravaged homeland to reclaim her daughter and uncover her beloved's fate, whatever the cost. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyRatingAverage:
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I always enjoy historical novels. This one is no exception. It goes from the present in Chicago in 1965 to 1935 in Germany with Bettina as it's main character. She lived a lonely life with a husband she didn't love but found a teacher who she did love. She ends up having an affair with him and has a daughter. Who's daughter? We never find out. When her husband finds out, it's either her leaving Germany w/out her daughter or maybe get arrested if she comes back. What choice would you make?
Fast forward when she goes back to Germany 11 years later. She sees her daughter and has the option of either meeting her and telling her the truth or let it go since she seems to have a happy life living with her father and her new family. It broke my heart at the end but yet it ended up happy in another way. ( )