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!