I decided recently that I needed to read historical fiction books again. For a few years now, my taste in books has primarily extended to either classic novels or young adult science fiction and fantasy (in many ways, opposite ends of the literary spectrum, I know). In an effort to expand my scope of reading, though, I decided to pick up Aimie K. Runyan’s book The School for German Brides. I’ve read her book Daughters of the Night Sky before, and I enjoyed her writing style in it, so this felt like the right choice for getting back into historical fiction.
The School for German Brides focuses on World War II era Germany from the perspective of three young women, Hanna, Tilde, and Klara, each of whom are navigating the horrific and dangerous social standards of 1930s Berlin. Hanna is sent to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle and pressured to marry a German officer, though her personal aspirations lie in her education. Like Hanna, Klara is pressured to find an officer to marry, and desperately craves the approval of her family. Lastly, Tilde is a Jewish woman who is the owner of a fabric and clothing store. She is eventually forced into hiding, near a “bride school” in the countryside where Hanna and Klara begin attending.
I found Hanna’s story particularly compelling, largely because I appreciated the complexity of her character. She is unsure about the Nazi regime, but has to appease her aunt and uncle by catching the eye of a SS officer, all the while subliminally sabotaging her relationships to escape the confines of a marriage. Most of Hanna’s story revolves around her navigating delicate social situations, and I think the book does a nice job of exploring the limitations of women in German society at the time, which is an angle that I haven’t seen a lot of within World War II fiction literature.
This book is a very delicate balance: make Hanna and Klara too sympathetic as compared to Tilde, and you run the risk of overlooking the sheer danger Tilde is facing and also the other girls’ inherent social privilege. I think that Runyan takes a risk by weaving these stories into one narrative, but does so successfully, and none of each of the girls’ stories would be as powerful separately as they are together.If anything, my main critique of this novel is that a titular element of the text is left out until near the end. The bride school that Hanna and Klara attend isn’t discussed in much detail, and I would have liked it if the text spent more time on what it was like to attend lessons at such a place.
The School for German Brides is one of those books that’s genuinely hard to put down. It is haunting and fast-paced, and because of its accessible language, you can quickly read a couple chapters of the book before realizing that you need to slow down and process what you’ve read. It walks the delicate line of adding description where needed and focusing on characters’ inner thought processes. Overall, if you’re a fan of historical novels, especially ones with a focus on women, I’d definitely recommend this book (as would I recommend Runyan’s Daughters of the Night Sky). It presents an angle on World War II Germany that I hadn’t thought about before, and tells a story worth telling.