Secrets She Kept

I would give this book 10 stars, if possible. It was one of the most compelling stories that I have EVER read. I have read many WW2 books but I learned so much that I didn't know from this one book. I loved that it was set in 1973 which gave a new dimension to the story that I had never realized before - how the lives of those who lived through WW2 were still being effected from the Nazis and the hatred of the Jews even in the 70's. This story was so heartbreaking in so many ways. It has left me emotionally wrung out but so introspective into what true biblical forgiveness is and how it's presence or lack thereof, can truly change a life.

This book was astounding. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a deep book dealing with hard issues. The spiritual side is incredible. This is not a fluff seaside summer read. It is about hard issues and a family full of secrets which have torn it apart, and then about how God fully redeems all our sins.
I don't need to relate the story line again. Don't miss this book. Not many books bring me to tears but this one did. I couldn't put it down. It will keep you wanting more from this author.

I loved this book! The characters were rich and complex. The story kept my interest totally and I couldn't wait to find out how it was going to end. The final act of forgiveness was real and relatable. Highly recommend this book.

Another great book by this author! I've been having trouble finding books to read that make me want to keep reading them and this one does! Fiction based on WWII is one of my favorites though it's hard to imagine how people lived through that horrible time in the camps. May we never forget and not allow it happen again though with the news from the Mid East I'm afraid it is happening now and once again the world doesn't seem to be doing anything about it.

Secrets She Kept is the first book by Cathy Gohlke I've read. It caught my attention because it blends history, suspense, romance, and more - several of my favorite genres. I especially love World War II era fiction, so it made the book even more interesting. Hannah is on a mission to discover the secrets of her mother's mysterious past, a quest which takes her to another country and relatives she didn't know existed. Secrets She Kept seamlessly blends the past and present and unfurls a satisfying ending. The book description reads:

"All her life, Hannah Sterling longed for a close relationship with her estranged mother. Following Lieselotte’s death, Hannah determines to unlock the secrets of her mother’s mysterious past and is shocked to discover a grandfather living in Germany.

Thirty years earlier, Lieselotte’s father is quickly ascending the ranks of the Nazi party, and a proper marriage for his daughter could help advance his career. Lieselotte is in love―but her beloved Lukas is far from an ideal match, as he secretly works against the Reich. Yet Lieselotte never imagined how far her father would go to ensure her cooperation.

Both Hannah’s and Lieselotte’s stories unfold as Hannah travels to Germany to meet her grandfather, who is hiding wartimes secrets of his own. Longing for connection, yet shaken by all she uncovers, Hannah must decide if she can atone for her family’s tragic past and how their legacy will shape her future."

Secrets She Kept definitely didn't disappoint. First of all, the cover is gorgeous. A good cover is so important to setting the feel of a book before you even open it - and this one is eye catching and perfect. The story itself was compelling and emotional. I couldn't stop reading, wanting to know what would happen to both Hannah and Lieselotte. Hannah's journey is perfectly paced and page turning. I enjoyed the way the chapters flipped back and forth between mother and daughter - it kept the tension building and made it difficult to put down. The prose was lyrical and at times haunting. This is truly one of those fictional books that will deeply affect you in a profound way. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Christian fiction.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Secrets She Kept is the first book by Cathy Gohlke I've read. It caught my attention because it blends history, suspense, romance, and more - several of my favorite genres. I especially love World War II era fiction, so it made the book even more interesting. Hannah is on a mission to discover the secrets of her mother's mysterious past, a quest which takes her to another country and relatives she didn't know existed. Secrets She Kept seamlessly blends the past and present and unfurls a satisfying ending. The book description reads:

"All her life, Hannah Sterling longed for a close relationship with her estranged mother. Following Lieselotte’s death, Hannah determines to unlock the secrets of her mother’s mysterious past and is shocked to discover a grandfather living in Germany.

Thirty years earlier, Lieselotte’s father is quickly ascending the ranks of the Nazi party, and a proper marriage for his daughter could help advance his career. Lieselotte is in love―but her beloved Lukas is far from an ideal match, as he secretly works against the Reich. Yet Lieselotte never imagined how far her father would go to ensure her cooperation.

Both Hannah’s and Lieselotte’s stories unfold as Hannah travels to Germany to meet her grandfather, who is hiding wartimes secrets of his own. Longing for connection, yet shaken by all she uncovers, Hannah must decide if she can atone for her family’s tragic past and how their legacy will shape her future."

Secrets She Kept definitely didn't disappoint. First of all, the cover is gorgeous. A good cover is so important to setting the feel of a book before you even open it - and this one is eye catching and perfect. The story itself was compelling and emotional. I couldn't stop reading, wanting to know what would happen to both Hannah and Lieselotte. Hannah's journey is perfectly paced and page turning. I enjoyed the way the chapters flipped back and forth between mother and daughter - it kept the tension building and made it difficult to put down. The prose was lyrical and at times haunting. This is truly one of those fictional books that will deeply affect you in a profound way. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Christian fiction.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow. Without a doubt, Cathy Gohlke’s Secrets She Kept is a remarkable and powerful book. Even days after finishing it, aspects of her story lingered in my mind and kept me thinking, wondering. With two distinct yet connected storylines, Gohlke’s novel shares a poignant World-War-II story about the challenge of uncovering secrets and the importance offering forgiveness. One storyline follows teenaged Lieselotte Sommer as she grows up under Nazi rule in Germany and decides to hold to her convictions with dangerous bravery. And decades after the end of World War II, the second storyline follows Lieselotte’s daughter, Hannah Sterling, as she travels to Germany to better understand her now-deceased mother. Together and alternating, these two storylines tell a heartbreaking yet captivating and redemptive story. I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it. Readers of historical fiction must read Secrets She Kept.

Thanks to Tyndale BlogNetwork, I received a copy of Secrets She Kept and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

Cathy Gohlke is a writer who impresses me with passion for the pen and a storytelling gift that sets her apart from the best of the best.

If you love history you will certainly love Gohlke's story-telling as she takes us back in time and invites us to the present as she brings two stories together. Oh, the beauty this novel beholds is extraordinary.

This is a novel I journeyed through taking my time as I soaked up every morsel of this beautiful tale. I get so excited when I know Cathy has a new novel releasing. This is one to snatch up for a perfect end to your summer reading.

Secrets touch our lives and leave a void in us when we are searching for who we are. Sometimes the answers to why we do the things we do can be found in the history of our family, in the traits of others, in the stories that made them who they are. We study history, we track our family heritage, but how wonderful for us when those stories of truth are passed down to us.

Sometimes people are just not who we think they are. They have only shared a portion of their own story. Not to keep us in the dark, to hide a dark secret, but to protect us from a deep hurt that could cause us to carry a wound forever unless we are able to understand the depth of the truth.

This is Hannah in the present, searching for the truth that has been hidden in lies, she hops a plane to Germany in search of who her mother truly was she finds more than she could have ever imagined. She finds a legacy of love and honor, one that brings her to have a greater love for the mother she never really knew.

The story travels back from Hannah to her mother, Lieselotte, years earlier when Hitler was advancing in his own lies being told and bought. This is one of those stories that touches the heart, makes us ponder, and changes who we are.

This story even though it travels from past to present flows easily. I found myself mesmerized by Lieselotte's story and couldn't wait to get back to her. I loved the passion of Hannah and her fearlessness in finding the truth. I too love the faith that flows through these black and white words. Gohlke knows how to bring a story to life.

Her attention to detail is magnificent and gives the reader a front row seat as if they too were there with Lieselotte and Hannah. These are characters that leave their own legacy. I love when a writer does their job so very well that it's hard to walk away from that last page without still pondering.

This novel was a gift from Tyndale for sharing my review with you.

Cathy Gohlke wrote an exceptional tension-filled novel with mystery, intrigue, courage and so very much more. Cathy’s other novel I have read is Saving Amelie, which is another riveting tale set in the WWII historical timeframe. In her newest endeavor, the author crafts a heart-ripping redemptive story as one woman in America longs to learn her true ancestry after her mother’s passing.
Hannah is invited to Berlin to visit a grandfather she has never met or known about and learning about his past just about breaks her heart. Yet, in the end, we learn a bigger story that has happened and who is the true Savior of mankind. I so enjoyed hearing about Cathy’s travels and her experiences when she was researching this tale, including in her trips with various family members.
Some stories reach out and keep your attention because of characters and the action described in the pages. With Secrets She Kept, the attention of the reader doesn’t falter as the author uses flashbacks and returning to the current time to convey the tale from a couple different characters’ point of view. The best use of this method helped me enjoy understanding how each point of view could add a different dimension to the story being shared.
We must never forget WWII or any other wars or tragedy because they are part of our nation’s history and we can glean many lessons from what was experienced. What Cathy shares is fiction and well-crafted, but also easy to imagine events happening for real as set up in the book. I hope you will read, enjoy and savor the flavor of the novel long after you finish it and then perhaps share it with another person. Here is a book for every personal library for people to read for years to come!

Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke is a Christian historical novel set in 1972. Hannah Sterling’s mother, Lieselotte passed away recently. They were never close, but Hannah is having trouble getting over her death. Hannah is taking it out on her students and the principal is making her take a leave of absence. Hannah believes that if she looks into her mother’s past, maybe she can understand why she was so distant and cold. Hannah finds some letters that lead her to a grandfather in Germany. Will Hannah get the answers she desires in Germany?

Lieselotte Sommer is a young girl in 1938 when things start to become difficult in Germany. Her father is working to quickly climb the ranks in the Nazi party. He wants to make sure his daughter makes a good match and then produces children (Hitler encouraged Aryans to marry and reproduce). Lieselotte has other plans. She works behind her father’s back to help the Jews in hiding along with the Kirchmann family. Lieselotte has cared for Lukus Kirchmann for quite some time. Will there relationship develop into something deeper? Will her father allow it?

Secrets She Kept tells the stories of Hannah and Lieselotte. We get to find out what happened to Lieselotte that made her cold towards her daughter (and other people). Will Hannah be happy with what she discovers and can she then move on with her life? Secrets She Kept was an engaging novel. It was a little slow in places, but overall a good book. I give Secrets She Kept 4 out of 5 stars. The Christian theme is light (not in your face). Secrets She Kept teaches how destructive secrets can be in a family. Once you get into the novel, you will not want to put it down until you are done.

I received a complimentary copy of Secrets She Kept from NetGalley and The Book Club Network Inc. in exchange for an honest review.

This novel’s first chapter completely wowed me. I was impressed by how immediately and concisely the author dropped me into conflict, provided a compelling problem that not only revealed a great deal about the character’s strengths and weaknesses, but also hinted at the story arch and provided a clearly defined goal. Bravo. As beginnings go, this one was rendered by a masterful hand.

After which, the story ramped up at a steady pace, revealing one by one mysteries that needed solving. The story soon split into two story lines: Hannah’s more contemporary one (which is not actually contemporary at all but set in the 1970s–an intriguing choice by the author) and the WWII-era one involving Hannah’s mother, Lieselotte. Somewhere in here, the story lost its tight emotional grip on me. I sensed a distance between myself and the characters, feeling I was watching the story unfold rather than living it from the inside out. I admit this is a purely subjective reaction. Most reviewers I’ve read have had a different experience. Of the two narratives, I did find Hannah’s the more compelling, perhaps I think it’s difficult to find fresh angles of the oft-explored European war scenario.

One thing I especially appreciated: though she didn’t dwell there, the author did not shy away from the horrors of WWII. Mostly these are woven, if not tastefully (how can they be?) than appropriately into the story, acknowledged as real and horrific, and then moved past. In doing so, Gohlke reflects, better than most of this genre, the depth of brokenness caused by trauma and war. As we are now living a few generations removed from this era, it’s easy to underestimate what these people endured.

While ultimately uplifting, Secrets She Kept opened my eyes once more to the unfathomable price of war and the devastating truth that some haunted souls are never able to leave its consequences behind this side of eternity.

Thanks to Tyndale House for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

After her mother's death, Hannah Sterling wishes that they could have been closer. All of her life, Hannah felt that Lieselotte did not love her and was incapable of love. When she overhears a conversation between her aunt and a family friend, Hannah is determined to find the answers that will unlock Lieselotte's past and possible provide closure for Hannah. One startling discovery is that Hannah has a grandfather living in Germany. To discover all she can about her mother, Hannah travels to Germany. There she discovers that thirty years before, Lieselotte's father was quickly ascending the ranks of the Nazi Party and that he wanted an advantageous marriage for his daughter - not Lukas, the boy Lieselotte has loved for years. Lieselotte had no idea how far exactly her father would go to ensure her cooperation, and his actions lead to a rift that Hannah has no hope of bridging. Hannah's grandfather is also hiding wartime secrets. His secrets force Hannah to reevaluate all she knows about her mother and to figure out how she can atone for her family's tragic past as well as use the information to shape her future.

Every since I read Promise Me This, I've discovered that Cathy's books are very gripping. They have a tendency to hold me captive and not let me go. This one was no exception.

Set both in WWII and the 1970's, I was captivated. I had an idea as to where Lieselotte's story was going and I wasn't surprised to discover that I was right. Hannah's story on the other hand, I had no idea in what direction her story would go. I loved the WWII portion better than the other. But overall, it was a good book.

Both Hannah and Lieselotte are deep characters. Yet what I really loved is how Hannah's attitude changed toward her mother as she learned exactly what happened. For a while, it seemed that every character in the book had a secret. And some of those secrets were huge. But the way things resolve after they came to light, made wading through the secrets worth it.

I received this book for free from Tyndale for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Laura Frantz, WWII, Brock & Bodie Thoene, Kristy Cambron

Rating - 4 stars

Cathy Gohlke is fast becoming one of my very favorite authors. “Secrets She Kept” is the second book of hers that I’ve read. I absolutely could not put the book down. Hannah Sterling comes back home after her mother’s death because she is having problems that are disrupting her teaching career and life. She has questions about her mother and her mother’s attitude towards her. Her only living relative is her father’s sister, Aunt Livinia. Because she is getting no answers from her aunt, she decides to go through her old home to see if there is anything that would shed light on her mother’s life that would have made her a cold, insensitive woman. She finds empty envelopes postmarked from Germany right after the war. Her attorney delves into the mystery and finds that Hannah has a grandfather, her mother’s father, living in Berlin. She contacts him and he sends for her. What she finds in him and in his house raises questions. What she sees in his friends raises more questions. Along with her German driver, who is trying to help Hannah and keep her safe, she involves herself in an investigation to find out the truth. Be careful what you wish for…as the saying goes. You’ll have to read this wonderful novel to find out the “who, what and where” of Hannah’s search.

I received a print copy of this book from the Tyndale Blog Network in return for my honest review. You can find this review on my blog at http://wp.me/p2pjIt-ih. Other reviews can be found at http://imhookedonbooks.wordpress.com.

Cathy Gohlke newest book, Secrets She Kept, gripped my heart and made me ache for Lieselotte’s obstruction to a happy, normal life. Gohlke has written another World War II novel, Saving Amelie, and I truly enjoyed that book too. But her newest release, Secrets She Kept, ranked higher. I truly loved this book from the unique perspective on World War II to the trail of secrets that Hannah had to follow to discover more about her mother.

I really enjoyed the research and the story world that Gohlke created. Majority of World War II novels feature a character that had to survive the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazi’s, but Gohlke does include this, but the story doesn’t hinge on that incident. The majority of the dilemma centered on Hannah’s grandfather who ascended the ranks of the Nazi party and her brother, Rudy, who was proud to be a Nazi Youth. I really enjoyed seeing this different perspective on World War II. I knew how awful they were but to see the horror from Lieselotte’s perspective was haunting and memorable. I got swept away in the conflict occurring in and around Lieselotte and Hannah’s lives.

The plot features two different points of views. The first one occurs during the late 1930’s and through the years of World War II. This timeline is the story of Lieselotte and the struggles she had with her father and brother, who wanted her to be a proud Aryan woman who would bring honor to her father. On the other hand, I empathized with Hannah, Lieselotte’s daughter who struggled with her identity and just wanted to have some connection with a family. Both women were strong and heroic, not afraid of anything or anyone. Both timelines alternated nicely. I was never confused when the chapters changed point of views.

Secrets she Kept shows how hard forgiveness can be and how secrets can fester and ruin a person. Lieselotte had a really hard time with accepting God and his offer of forgiveness, especially after the entire dreadfulness she had seen in her life. Similarly, Hannah had a hard time forgiving her grandfather after learning all he had done during World War II. The secret’s Hannah’s grandfather kept all these years had damaged his life, something Hannah had to learn not to hold onto, or it would ruin her too.

The only problem I had with the story was anchoring the reader in the setting. When Gohlke described Lieselotte’s childhood home when Lieselotte was younger and when Hannah came to visit, it wasn’t really detailed. I knew there was a library, a kitchen, and a bedroom, but my imagination was allowed to roam free. In comparison, the images at the concentration camp were detailed and sickening to image. I felt sick to my stomach as I read those gruesome scenes.

In short, Cathy Gohlke’s Secrets She Kept is an emotionally gripping story that shows the affects of the Nazi’s on their families and stayed with me long after I finished reading the book. Fans of other World War II stories should pick this book up and get lost in the pages. The dual narrative tugged at my heart while I anxiously traveled this journey to learn the truth with Lieselotte and Hannah.

I received a complimentary copy of Secrets She Kept from Tyndale Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own.

I loved Cathy Gohlke's latest historical fiction novel, "Secrets She Kept." I was hooked immediately in the very first chapter as Hannah is forced to take a leave of absence as she has not been herself lately and she has not allowed herself to grieve. Little pieces of information are shared that really grabbed my attention and left me wanting to know more about Hannah's childhood and her parents. Then the book shifts to Hannah's mother and her story begins to unfold.
I love how Hannah and Lieselotte's stories are shared and woven together in this book. I loved how the focus shifted back and forth between the two as Hannah digs deeper into her past. The historical details add so much to the story and I found myself transported to both time periods represented in this book.
I highly recommend this book for those whom love historical romance and suspense.

*Thanks to the Tyndale Blog Network for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.*