I loved this book. This was beautifully written and was absolutely heartbreaking but wonderful. This book is a beautiful story about freedom for all.

This was a very interesting read and I learned a lot about the suffering that the Baltic countries went through during WW2 through Gallagher's family's story of survival. It was very informative and a different view of the events of WW2. Thankyou for Sharing your Family's story!

Thank you Atterberry Press | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks for allowing me to read and review Candles for the Defiant Discovering my Family's Estonian Past by Kaia Gallagher on NetGalley.

Narrator: Kiiri Sandy

Published: 04/08/24

Stars: 4

This is a well done mix of personal family history as well as the current political climate. The Author's family, Estonians, lived when Soviets invaded during World War II. The book shows the separation of family, choices some members made and paid dearly for, as well as their need to survive.

There are family chapters with dialogue and in between Estonian facts are given.

For those interested in World War II, I would recommend this. While reading there is a growth that comes not just for those who lived through the Holocaust, but for myself as well.

Definitely for mature readers.

This is an interesting telling of a family’s semi-hidden history. It is bold in its defenses and the fact that the author went to great lengths to learn everything she could about her family’s history is remarkable. This brings to light what life was like before, during and after WWII for those who could not escape it, those who were stuck under the Soviet and Nazi eye. I highly recommend this to others so that they can learn what happened to people who were stuck under oppressive rule and what it takes to survive it.

The more I study my own genealogy the more I find secrets that were intended to be kept. Such seems to be the story with many who dig into their past.

Gallagher did just that, questioning a family photo and pressing for answers. However, we are never sure what will be revealed and often times, the reason for burying family stories lies in a great deal of pain and heartache.

Such is the case here as we learn of Kaia’s mother’s escape from the terrors of WWII as Estonians were pushed out of their lives. Sadly, not everyone in her family were able to find freedom but I’m always grateful to hear these stories and be reminded of events that I hope to never see repeated

Thank you to NetGally for letting me get a sneak peak into this book.

A family memoir, learning the struggles that family goes through just to make it to the United States. Learning the struggles of her parents. Sometimes we forget to be thankful for what we have.

Many times parents do not talk about the struggles they faced before immigrating to the United State

Unfortunately I will not have the time to finish this audiobook I added this when I first made my account was excited and requested too many books, I’ve tried my best to read them all and give honest reviews/feedback sadly I can’t do so with this one but I’ll give it the standard 3 stars since I can’t make any real judgement good or bad on this one. Please don’t take this as a sign that this is good or bad this was purely a time management issue on my part.

Kaia Gallagher wrote an incredible novel retelling her family’s Estonian past with a heavy emphasis when the Soviet's invaded Estonian during World War II. These stories and the sacrifices her family made (along with other Estonian’s) would be completely lost without her bringing to life different historical pieces such as journal entries, war documents and interviews from family members. The stories being shared are often kept untold due to just how painful most memories are. And this family was brave enough to face them, and Kaia was brave enough to write them in such a beautiful and informative manor. You will have a greater understand of the corruption, loss, and even triumphs the people of Estonia faced.

A poignant and moving memoir of a family who experienced war, loss, and adversity in Estonia.

I think it is a hugely impactful story to share - we are taught about the war and holocaust in education/school, but never about the unrest and turmoil in countries such as Estonia - how can it be that so many people were exterminated/deported and it is not widely known?

Thank you for sharing your family's history!

This was a very informative book. It was fascinating to hear a Holocaust take from a lesser known population. I'm thankful for Gallagher to share her family's history of survival, loss and determination. I greatly enjoyed the follow up of key Holocaust criminals as time went on and Estonia received their independence. Overall, a great read.

I really enjoyed this book and learning about the history of the author’s family and Estonia during WWII. This was a very compelling and heartfelt memoir. The narrator for the audiobook version did a nice job sharing the author’s story. If you enjoy historical memoirs, this book is for you! Thank you to NetGalley, Atterberry Press, and Kaia Gallagher for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a truly eye opening book for me.
Sadly I am one of the people who did not know where to locate Estonia on a map.
After this book I feel like there is soo much I never learned.

The story is heartbreakingly vivid to me.
It’s a story of a family and a country and all the hardships and challenges they endured and how it went on for so long…occupation after occupation after occupation.
I mean this county didn’t become independent until 1991! That blows my mind because it’s not that long ago.

To the author and her family, thank you for sharing your part of history with us.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. The narrator, Kiiri Sandy, did a fantastic job.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the ARC copy of the audiobook.

As someone forever fascinated by history, this book was very interesting for me. I will admit that I don’t often think of Estonia’s role in world history in the 20th century, but this book lays out the facts and weaves the author’s family story around them. It was a great read and I learned a lot. I do agree with other reviewers that it could make a solid movie.

A short but engaging book about a country you don't hear about much, Estonia, during a traumatic period in their history. A sad story about resilience and the power of memory.

Excellent book giving an insight into the family of Kaia Gallagher in Estonia during and after World War II. He ain’t loved and planned to marry Bruno Kulgma Kull who joined the Communist party to spy for Estonian leaders. Russia invaded Estonia and stole her independence then the Ge4mans came. Thousands were removed or killed and many never returned to their homeland.

Really enjoyed this well written and well narrated book (I listened to the audiobook). So informative about a country not always thought of as suffering during and after the war. Individual lives are brought to life and deserve to be remembered.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kaia Gallagher for the audiobook version of "Candles for the Defiant."

This book is a gut-wrenching memoir of the horrors that the people of Estonia faced before and during WWII by both the Soviet and Nazi regimes. Gallagher specifically goes into detail about what her family experienced during this period. She details how Bruno, her would-have-been aunt's fiancé infiltrated the communist party in an attempt to disrupt their motives and help fellow Estonians where he could. Instead of successfully denouncing the communist party once the Soviets were removed from Estonia by the Nazis, he died a martyr under the hands of the Nazis, who wanted the strictest punishment for those who were thought to support the communist party.
The story also details Asta, her would-have-been aunt. At the same time, she experiences the stress of having her fiancé infiltrate the communist party, dealing with people who believed he was a communist and not someone trying to assist Estonia, and eventually having her fiancé arrested without release in sight.
Ultimately, the story faces the challenges this bright, young couple had, in trying to make the world they lived in, a better place, only to fall to that self-same evil.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book was a truly amazing read. I didn’t know anything about Estonia’s history, especially not around the Second World War and this was a great place to start. I appreciated the way in with Kaia weaved her own personal family history with her aunt and Bruno with the factual evidence about the times for the rest of her country. Kiiri Sandy did a wonderful job narrating and her voice really put me at ease in a compassionate type of way which was great for the context of the book (as opposed to a harsher voice putting me on edge the whole way through). I also appreciated the masculine voice used for the speech when required like when a nazi or soviet leader was being quoted directly as it helped emphasise where the quotes began and ended without seeing the quotation marks.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me the opportunity to enjoy a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I do not think I have ever read about the citizens of Estonia during the war years, and it was eye opening. Through the book we learn of the heartache and triumphs that Kaia Gallagher's family endured while holding on to each other and the homeland they were born and raised in. I felt completely honored be able to learn of such a personal piece of a family's history.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history and especially a family's journey through their own history.

This was such a heartfelt book. I’m so glad that the author decided to investigate her families history and find the lost pieces. World War 2 has always been an interesting topic for me. Hearing this families stories and even the aftermath of the war was just so interesting. I can not imagine having to work for something you hate and despise in order to hopefully stay alive only to then be killed for it. The trials that took place back then to decide if someone was guilty of helping or being involved with the regime at the time will never make sense to me. This book made me look into even more of World War to and find out more facts about the other countries that were affected. This is a great read if you want to think and be introduced to new information, or at least new to me.

“Every Estonian family has a story to tell.” – loc 705.

“Candles for the Defiant” is a WWII Biography of author Kaia Gallagher’s family, told in a way that feels more extraordinary than nonfiction alone. Kaia’s family’s story is backed by extensive, painstaking research as Bruno, Asta, and her own mother’s plight during WWII unravels.

Estonia is a small country in Northern Europe, bordered by the Baltic Sea, Latvia, and Russia. Gallagher’s penning offers readers the opportunity to be educated, learn the history, and understand what the Estonian people went through during WWII, specifically as it pertained to Kaia’s own family.

From Bruno to her late aunt Asta, as well as her mother, grandmother, and the rest of her family, “Candles for the Defiant” lays out her family’s experiences during WWII. Despite being someone who considers themselves well read on WWII history, having grown up with the History Channel, and random history pop quizzes from their father, I was taken aback by the plight of the Estonian people. For instance, they believed the Germans would save them from Soviet occupation. Deportations, imprisonment, and rebellion was already playing out under Soviet rule, the presence of German soldiers offered the people what they hoped would be an escape from communism.

Gallagher peels back the layers of all her family went through as she unburies her Estonian past. From Asta’s fiancé Bruno’s infiltration of the communist party in an attempt to undermine their efforts and maintain Estonia’s independence, to his case to prove his Estonian patriotism and staunch denial of ever being a true communist, to Asta’s quick downward spiral and the gapping chasm her death left within the family. WWII often is remembered for its genocide of Jews, and rightfully so. However, “Candles for the Defiant” shows us a new perspective of the civilian struggle during WWII, those outside of the Jewish faith and other targets of the Nazi’s, the Soviets, and later German occupation of Estonia gives readers an otherwise largely undocumented perspective of WWII.

What author Kaia Gallagher has done is extremely impressive. Showing readers Estonia’s occupation by the Soviets is an incredible firsthand perspective. Much of the heroics that played out had to be kept hidden for fear of Soviet reaction at the time. But what she’s uncovered and laid bare for us across the page is a masterful feat.

Gallagher offers a humanized perspective, like that of fleeing from Soviet occupation via German ships. The luck her mother felt that a German soldier was helping them escape is unlike anything I’ve ever read. You feel so rooted in her family’s well-being and the terror they feel under Soviet rule. It’s an uncomfortable realization that these American allies were so terrorizing that German soldiers were considered a welcome, aided relief. “Candles for the Defiant” is a moving and powerful biography of an oft forgotten country of WWII, hats off to Gallagher and her remarkable work of nonfiction.