Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Going to be blunt and a little harsh here- this was a story that needed to told, but it was very… dry. Everything felt like it was only half done, but the first half was enough to make me finish the book. I wish the characters, their dialogue, the imagery, and a lot of other things had just gone deeper.

On the other hand, I did enjoy Rosa’s character and watching her grow up. It just all felt like it was missing something.

Exactly the right amount of history in this historical fiction. I learned more about the Roma people and their holocaust experience but also about the making of propaganda films, Marlena Dietrich and her tours to encourage the troops. Daughters of the Fatherland has a compelling character in Rosa who carries you through a rough patch of history while maintaining a hopeful perspective. Highly recommend.

2.75*

I wish I had known before starting this book that the main "inspired by true events" aspect of this story was the main character. This explains the strong degree of "she's not a chosen one, but things just constantly fall into place around her", "this narcissist should be her idol, but she's actually thought something through (for once) and hates her" also "somehow she has -5 impulse control but she's a clever planner?" discrepancies I kept finding with the character and the book. At the end, where the author explains what is fact and what is fiction, it made me realize why she'd bothered me so much through the reading of it. All that being said, Rosa is a toxic force for chaos that I didn't enjoy, even knowing she was entirely fictional in her choices.

This is a very dark book about a young girl's stubborn refusal to let anything change her mind leading her through war-torn Germany. You get to hear and 'see' about a lot of awful war-related things, though miraculously almost none of them happen to the FMC. You get to watch her make a lot of really smart and really dumb decisions, but in the end, you do get to see her mature.

TLDR: Period accurate, if not historically accurate, child-in-war story without much to recommend it. If you like WW2 dramas, recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and Interactive Publications Pty Ltd for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Rosa always loved to read. It was a hobby her mother loathed, but her father loved. Living in a traveling Gypsy caravan meant needing to travel light – Rosa’s books were sparse but treasured because of the limitations, but reading keeps her out of trouble. Her father and the leaders know they are being watched and other Gypsy groups have been arrested by German officials. Any trouble the children raised with the Hitler Youth would only mean their group would be imprisoned, too. Will the caravan make it to safety across the border, or will they end up in the concentration camps, too?

Jericho J. Johnson’s Daughters of the Fatherland juxtaposes the Romani Holocaust against the Hitler-backed film industry, focusing on the plight of the children on both sides of the war. Johnson delivers an almost hard to believe tale showcasing how one German orphan girl, taken in by a Gypsy caravan ends up in a concentration camp before becoming the closest assistant and confidant to one of German’s leading film stars. With lots of name dropping and drama, this tale is not for the faint of heart.

I give Daughters of the Fatherland 3 out of 5 stars. To be clear, this is an era I have read about extensively, both in fiction and nonfiction. The amount of literature written from the perspective of the German citizens is low, and from the Romani viewpoint even lower. I was interested in this book mostly because of this perspective. However, there were moments of cruelty and abuse in this book that were difficult to read – almost to the point of me setting this book aside and not finishing. The violence against the children was just too much. As mentioned above, this book also felt like too many varied plots shoehorned together to make a narrative that isn’t natural. The starving mother whose daughter is adopted by the Gypsies, the family being abandoned by their caravan, their capture and imprisonment in the camps, the guards didn’t kill Rosa for her disobedience, Rosa’s “hiring” to work on the film set, Rosa becoming an important part of the director’s life, the director having a past with an actress who has a big name in American film, Rosa and the children employing a tactic to blow up a tank that felt ripped out of the Wonder Woman movie, etc. It’s just too much to believe and felt too manufactured.

Given the themes of child abuse and general violence, this book should be directed to more mature audiences over 16. I would recommend this book to readers looking to learn more about the role cinema played in both propaganda and concentration camps, or about the Hitler Youth’s role in the war – I would use it as a jumping off point for further reading or research. However, I cannot recommend this as a general read given the passages I found too disturbing and the near unbelievability of the plot.

I was initially drawn to this book because of the unique viewpoint and also the cover art. The description gave the impression this was going to be a tame historical fiction read, but what the author delivered was a disturbing thriller with some childhood romance thrown in for good measure. I chose the audiobook version and really loved the narrator. I would definitely choose more audiobooks featuring Alyona Popova!

Daughters of the Fatherland released December 1st, 2024 and is available from your favorite retailer, including Bookshop.org!

I listened to this book because I like hearing/reading about WW2. It's a good book, and easy to listen to. I enjoyed this book. I don't like to give spoilers in my review, but I have wondered about Rosa's heritage. I don't recall if it said. If you like WW2 things, this is a easy read-easy listen book.

I read this book in audio format and was thoroughly impressed by the performance and production quality.

I picked this book out because I have for a while been curious about the less discussed victims of the holocaust, such as the Romani, and wondered about that experience. Drawing on real life events, the narrative has lead me to research things like the production of Tiefland, which was interesting and not something I would have known about otherwise.

From a narrative sense I found this story somewhat ridiculous; the number of wildly improbable events - particularly in coming across people the protagonist had met previously or people with close connections to one another randomly during her travels across war torn Germany - which were necessary to move the plot forward really took me out of the story at times. I would not object to individual occurrences of this but when it happens over and over again I struggle to take the story seriously.

The way the story treated the American soldiers in contrast to the Russians also felt somewhat propagandistic to me; particular attention was focused on the barbarity of the Russians in their treatment of German women, contrasted with the American liberators. I don’t personally know about raw numbers but not long ago I watched a DW documentary which interviewed both women who had been attacked by Americans and women who had been attacked by Russians. This isn’t to cast aspersions on the American GI’s at large, but bending the truth to draw a clear evil vs saintly distinction between the groups makes me a little uncomfortable. It seems disrespectful to the victims of the crimes it ignores. I guess I just didn’t expect a book so clearly informed by detailed historical research to be so uninterested in critically examining its assumptions about some of the history.

Title: Daughters of the Fatherland
Author: Jericho J Johnson
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Alyona Popova
Publisher: Interactive Publications Pty Ltd. (Independent Book Publishers Association IBPA), Members' Audiobooks
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audiobook Pub Date was: December 1, 2024
My Rating: 3.3 Stars
Pages: 292

This is a historical fiction story regarding the fate of the Romani - Gypsy families during World War II and the Holocaust – informs us of the bond people had with one another as well as the fate of the children.

I am not a big fan of WWII however there are Historical Fiction stories surrounding that time period I do enjoy.
Audiobook narrator Alyona Popova was great at performing the characters-additionally has a beautiful singing voice!

Thank you NetGalley and Interactive Publications Pty Ltd. (Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks for this audiobook.
Audiobook Publishing Date was December 1, 2024.

One of my favorite parts of historical fiction is learning new aspects of history as told through a narrative. I loved this novel because it was an intriguing narrative on a lesser known and explored aspect of WW2, the Romani holocaust.

To say this book is timely may be the understatement of the century.

With the ongoing rise of fascism around the world, and the upcoming documentary on the woman responsible for 1940s Germany’s most effective propaganda films, this book gives us a look back in a relatable narrative way to the life that exists under authoritarian rule. Persecution to those perceived to be different, even if they are all too familiar.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and inasmuch, the narration was stellar, well paced, and well edited. I did not have to, but could easily run this at 2x if desired.

As for educational content, if using this novel in schooling, it’s always nice to be able to look up the reality of the characters fictionalized in a book, and this particular book names and notes who the characters were, and what actually became of them, where applicable.

On a personal note, the use of the word “gypsy” was a bit jarring, so keep that in mind when listening. I have always known it as a slur, but I understand that there are those who do not. Historical context being what it is, and cultural differences involved around the world, I can understand its use, but it does detract a bit from the story. I suppose it is a chance, when introducing the book to younger readers, to advocate for the idea of referring to people as they would like to be referred, a common theme throughout the book.

Thank you to Interactive Publications Pty Ltd. for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Daughters of The Fatherland by Jericho J Johnson through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, a "listen now" available on NetGalley, did not disappoint. This historical fiction was average for me but because the narration was great and it contained several lesser known aspects of the Holocaust, I feel it is worthy of 4 stars.

#DaughtersoftheFatherland #NetGalley

This was a good book very interesting and in it straddles the line between fiction and fact and i love that. Also have always loved learning about that time period

I listened to the audio version of Daughters of The Fatherland.

Fiction based around very real events that occurred in World War 2, this book centres around the plight of a young Romani girl and her battle to reunite with her family after being separated in a 'Gypsy' concentration camp.

Initially the book did feel like it was for children/teenagers, it seemed like a very slow start and didn't hold my attention much. The main character, Rosa, was also quite unlikeable at the start. Understandably she was young so immaturity was to be expected, but she continued to act rashly despite her actions leading to quite severe consequences which seems unrealistic.

It did however pick up after a while and became more interesting with the introduction of filming Tiefland, and Rosa becoming more mature and determined to find her family again.

Towards the end it was actually a very interesting listen, and I especially liked that the author included information about the real people/events.

I listened to the Audio version of this book. The Narrator did an excellent job, and I listened nonstop till the end.
This book dealt with Romani families during World II. Rosa was a headstrong 11-year-old who kept getting herself and family in trouble. Ending in the arrest of everybody. At the separation, the father made one last request to Rosa to take care of her mother. Been in a concentration with her mother, Rosa cannot stop her rebellious self, causing a disaster for her mother when the German youth is taking revenge on the mother instead of Rosa. This certainly does not enhance the mother daughter relationship.
Her life changes when a film crew buys the Romani children to be part of a propaganda film.
Rosa is an adaptive learner and manages to survive but not without leaving permanent marks on her life.
This gripping true-to-to life historical novel will have you in tears.

Daughters of The Fatherland by Jericho J Johnson was an historical fiction book that took a close examination of the fate of the Romani or Gypsy families during World War II and the Holocaust. It captured the strong ties these people had with one another and how they traveled and lived together. Daughters of The Fatherland paid close attention to the fate of the children during this horrific period in history. I listened to the audiobook that was well narrated by Alyona Popova.

During the dire economic crisis in Germany that followed World War I and just prior to the start of World War II, a Gypsy caravan was traveling through Berlin seeking a safer place to settle when an older couple noticed something along the road they were traveling on. After stopping to retrieve it, they discovered a tiny baby girl that wrapped in a thick blanket that a mother had abandoned. The gypsy couple decided to keep the girl and raise her as their own. They named the baby Rosa. She grew up to be a very inquisitive child who loved to read. Her grandmother had gifted her a book of fairytale stories. Her favorite was Little Red Riding Hood. Rosa often chose to read instead of doing her chores. She was constantly getting into trouble for her outbursts and lashing out at others. When Rosa was about ten years old, the Gypsies in the caravan voted to separate themselves from Rosa and her family because of Rosa’s defiant behavior. It was because of this that Rosa and her parents were arrested by the Nazis. Rosa and her mother were sent to the Women’s Gypsy Concentration Camp in Austria and her father was sent to the Men’s Gypsy Camp in Berlin.

Life at the Women’s Gypsy Concentration Camp was hard. It was lucky that Rosa’s mother was skilled at tailoring. Unfortunately, Rosa’s behavior had not changed and it continued to get her in trouble more often than not. Rosa was determined to find a way to escape from the camp. Then one day Leni Riefenstahl, the photographer and movie producer, visited the camp. Leni was working on directing and starring in a film called Gypsy Queen, Tiefland. She needed gypsy children for the movie. What better place to find the children she required than at the Women’s Gypsy Concentration Camp. Without any regard of separating the children she chose from their mothers, Leni Riefenstahl took about thirty gypsy children in all. Rosa was one of them. She did not want to be separated from her mother. Rosa had promised her father that she would take care of her mother. She was breaking her promise to her father. Leni ended up keeping the gypsy children for about six months before she sent them back to the camp. When the gypsy children returned, it wasn’t long before the camp was dissolved and all the remaining gypsy prisoners were sent to Auschwitz where they were killed. Leni knew that this would happen but she sent those innocent children back regardless. Rosa remained with Leni as her assistant until she was able to escape. She was determined to get to Berlin to find her father. Would Rosa be able to reach Berlin? How would she get there? What dangers would she encounter along the way?

Daughters of the Fatherland by Jericho J Johnson was inspired by real events and some real people. So many children were robbed of their parent’s care and had to learn to fend for themselves during the war. What the Nazis did to the Romani people was horrific and tragic. This is a side of the Holocaust that needs to be recognized as another atrocity committed by the Nazis. I found Daughters of The Fatherland interesting and informative. I recommend this book to those of you who gravitate towards historical fiction about World War II.

Thank you to Interactive Publications Pty Ltd. for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Daughters of The Fatherland by Jericho J Johnson through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rosa was rescued by a passing Gypsy caravan during Germany’s Great Depression. She and her family will end up in concentration camps. This is her story of survival, strength, hardship and hope. We will be introduced to Leni Riefenstahl and the film she directed.

Well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). This novel is centred on the children affected by WWII, how they were treated and conditioned. We learn more about the Romani Holocaust, Porajmas.

I DNF'd at 10%. It read more like a children's book and I didn't see it marked as that. Not my style at all.