2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

"The Countess and the Nazis" has a close up view of the life of an American heiress who married into European royalty right before the World Wars. Unfortunately, that life did not work out well for Muriel White (Seherr-Thoss). I appreciate the author shedding light on someone who has been forgotten over time. Muriel was definitely not perfect, but she did choose to fight back against the Nazis and she did save some lives during World War II.
The order of the book was very confusing. The chapters of the book were trying to be both topical and chronological and it didn't quite succeed in either. The book would focus on a death and then flip over to a new topic and bring up the person who died during the time they were alive in regard to that topic. I had a really hard time trying to figure out when events where happening and which events were happening at the same time.
Also, a large amount of time was spent on Geraldine, the Queen of Albania. While she is really interesting and I would love a separate book written about her, this part of the book really took away from Muriel's story and left me a little more confused.
All together, I am glad that Muriel is getting a long overdue spotlight on her life. I just wish that the spotlight was more clear and steady.

*Thank you The Globe Pequot Publishing Group, Inc. And NetGalley for this free ARC!

I was asked to review by NetGalley

I am very interested in this period of history and have read a lot around this.

Muriel helped the resistance, with money and her connections in society. Well reserched and written - i enjoyed the authors style of writing and the fact the author brought into the story other people and their stories.

Muriel was a real person and this makes the story even richer.

Recommended read

The true story of an American woman who married into Prussian aristocracy in the early twentieth century & became a lifeline for those fleeing the Nazis. Muriel White Seherr-Thoss used her connections to send her sons away to prevent them being conscripted into the German army, & also to help Jewish families escape, all this whilst being prevented from leaving herself. When the Gestapo finally came for her, Muriel made the ultimate sacrifice to protect others.

An interesting & informative book, it was a little difficult at first to keep straight who was who as there were just so many people mentioned. Although this is supposed to be about Muriel in the main, it actually encompasses the wider families & at times Muriel seemed to be almost a peripheral figure. It really worked though as a study of the aristocratic & political world before the Second World War & the author has obviously carried out a lot of painstaking research. 3.5 stars (rounded down)

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Globe Pequot Publishing Group Inc/Lyons Press, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Having read a lot of books about the Holocaust, I found myself intrigued by the premise of this book and was looking forward to reading Muriel's story. I enjoyed learning about Muriel's life and how she helped the resistance using her wealth and her connections with the elites at the time. This book was well researched and informative, with various formats of information/interviews etc. I did struggle at times when the story starts going off into different directions with other people's stories/lives and it was hard to remember who was who and what had happened to who etc, I felt this pulled a lot of my focus away from the Muriel's story. That being said I would definitely recommend reading this book

Amenably written, although sometimes too prone to dumping information that overwhelm the reader, and the titular Countess isn't quite as interesting by herself as expected. It's a biography more valuable for the insights into the time and circumstances of a privileged upper-class family that weren't willing to go along with Nazism than for Countess Muriel herself.

A true story that grabbed my attention right away. A biography that gave me a different look at the Nazis. Fascinating.

An excellent, well-researched book about the life of Countess Muriel White Seherr-Thoss. Though her death during WWII is very sad, it is a very uplifting story of a woman who selflessly helped not just her own family, but so many others. I not only enjoyed reading about her parents and siblings, but her legacy through her children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren. A definite recommended read,

I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book, I enjoyed a more intimate look at families and war, not to mention the important actions of women like Muriel. I also enjoyed the use of diverse forms of sources, such as interviews with descendants and letters.

I did however find the pacing very inconsistent, and I thought that the writing veers away from need to know and into not necessary to know. That led me to feeling like a large book became about other people in muriels surroundings and less about her story. Besides that I thought there was a lot of focus on other not as important facts.

I did however enjoy the book and I finished it.

Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me access to this book.

(This review will also appear on storygraph)

The Countess and the Nazis by Richard Jay Hutto was a very thoughtful, well researched and impactful story. Admittedly at times I did get overwhelmed by all of the different family members and keeping track of who was who, but ultimately, I appreciated learning about all of them as I found each one fascinating in their own right. It was also a testament to how much time and research was put into this book by the author. It is important to note that I was reading this book electronically. There was a family tree at the very beginning of the book. Should I have been reading a print version, I would have referred back to it more frequently as It is a great resource for the reader and helps provide easy clarification.

I selected this book because of the title and was very eager to learn about the story of Muriel. What I found was so much more. I liked that the author did not try to paint the picture of a “perfect” Muriel, but instead portrayed her as flawed and relatable. We see her grow throughout the book as she develops her convictions. This is a story not just about her life and death, but about character, strength perseverance, family and how the actions of one person can affect the lives of so many.

Now that I have been satisfied with reading her story, I would very much like to go back and reread the book, taking the time to focus on some of the other characters and historical events that took place. As this was a story I was not familiar with, I was intrigued by all of the ties between the elite families, politicians, etc of the times as well as all of the different places in which the book takes place or references.

This book is well written, educational, insightful and worth both the read and a reread!