Hotel on Shadow Lake

Munich, the Third Reich is on the rise and Hitler is bringing Germany closer to war. Martha Wiesberg is a young teenager living with her mother and twin brother, Wolfgang. As Wolfgang embraces Hitler and his indoctrination, Martha is horrified but too frightened to voice her true feelings. When she leaves home to work for a young family her encounters with her brothers friends and the vents that unfold will form the basis of a secret that will stay hidden.

Fast forward to 2017 and her Grandaughter Maya lives a quiet existence running her bookshop. Always close to her Grandmother, they shared a love of books and fairy tales when in 1990 her body was found in the debris of an old landslide on the Montgomery Preserve, a popular weekend destination for the citizens of New York, Maya knows that she must fly to America and find out exactly what happened.

What Maya doesn’t expect is an unraveling of secrets, not only those of her Grandmother, but also the powerful Montgomery family who own the hotel on the Montgomery Preserve.

This novel will take you on a journey from pre first world war America to a Germany in the thralls of the Nazi’s. It was, at times, quite difficult to follow, particularly in the first part but becomes clearer as the story unfolds and the novel progresses.

The intricacies of the Montgomery family are complex but make compelling reading and it took me some time before i finally began to work out the connection between Martha and the Montgomery family.

What I enjoyed most was the author’s descriptions of the rise of the Third Reich and what it meant for the citizens of Munich. Wolfgang’s radicalisation and total belief in Hitlers ideology was terrifying to read. The role and status of women was eye opening and not something I really that much about. Tully was especially skilled at portraying the terror and fear many felt particularly those who disagreed with Hitler and his vision for Germany.

Tully has created some lovely characters. I liked Martha’s bravery and her ability to see the real truth of the Third Reich, as well as her capacity for love and forgiveness.

Maya is in some respects very similar to Martha, but Maya is lost, with no real obvious direction in her life. The process of uncovering her Grandmother’s secrets is cathartic for Maya, it shows her what true love can feel like, and how she can decide what direction and what she wants to do with her life.

The secrets unfold thick and fast, taking the reader on a veritable rollercoaster ride, I certainly found myself turning the pages faster as Tully unveiled yet another revelation. It definitely added more tension and drama to the novel.

The imagery and description of Nazi Germany are very well done and I could certainly feel the fear, and mania that swept through the city. At the other end of the spectrum were the wonderful descriptions of the forests both in America and Germany, giving a little respite from the tensions in other parts of the story.

Tully has written a beautiful story of love and war, of family and forgiveness that will have broad appeal and be enjoyed by many.

Thank you to Imogen Harris of Legend Press for organising and inviting mybookishblogspot to be part of the blog tour.

4☆ A Beautifully Poignant read. That is steeped in History!

Hotel on Shadow Lake is a story set in Munich. It's a Poignant read filled with secrets, heartbreak, war time history and mystery.

The first part tells the story of Martha and growing up as a young women in the time when Hitler ruled Germany in the 1930s
Martha has a twin brother Wolfgang and we get to experience how he becomes a man and treats Martha appallingly.
He dies. But Martha receives a letter from him 46years later.

I adored all the facts and history surrounding Martha's story.
The burning of the books is something I remember reading about. Which cut Martha like a knife as her passion was literature and reading.

The second part to the story was told in present day by Martha's Granddaughter Maya.
You see Martha goes missing and suddenly the remains of a body is found.
It appears to be Martha.
Maya sets out on a journey to discover just exactly what happened to Martha.

I love reading about war time as there is so much rich history to uncover.
For me by far the best part of the story was reliving Martha's life in Germany.
The passion that Daniela puts into Martha's story oozes off the page.
She creates the perfect atmospheric scenes. The fear women faced under Hitler's reign.
Not being able to have an opinion, conforming to his way of thinking, the women were to become housewives whilst the men were able to gain an education. All the brainwashing and sexism and fear.

At times the story became a little disjointed and the passion became lost.
The first part of the story is the strongest. It takes a while to get going so stick with it as it does get better the more you read.

I enjoyed reading Hotel on Shadow Lake, its steeped in rich history, adventure, passion, secrets, Tragedy and mystery.
It's a slower paced book that gets better the more you delve in.
Overall a good first Debut Novel that is based on Daniela Family History.
Would recommend this book if you are looking for a historical read with a mystery twist.

A wonderful read. Told in a dual time period narrative, this is a family saga filled with secrets, mystery, tragedy and love. This is an impressive debut novel. Highly recommended!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for this advance copy. Debut novel from this author, based on her on her own family history, full of mystery and intrigue. The cover drew me in as usual, what is it with beautiful atmospheric covers? Maya’s grandmother disappears and the story revolves around a journey back in time to the “Third Reich” and the struggles of those who stand against the regime. A 4* read, would’ve been higher but struggled with the fairytale scenes.

I read the synopsis for this book and before I even got to the end of the synopsis, I had decided that this was one book that I simply had to read. I really enjoyed reading ‘Hotel On Shadow Lake’ but more about that in a bit.

I really felt for the character of Martha, Maya’s beloved Grandmother. She grew up in the 1930s in a Germany that had been taken over by the Nazis and she had to attend groups that she had no interest in. Martha was not a fan of the Nazis but she couldn’t really express her opposition out loud because the penalties would have been lethal. Martha is horrified at what is taking place in the land of her birth. What she finds even more horrifying is the fact that her own brother has become one of the state sponsored thugs, beating up anybody and anything in their way. I also felt for Martha’s mother who was in the middle between a daughter strongly opposed to the regime and a son, who was all for the regime. No wonder the poor lady suffered. When we meet Martha again in the 1990s she has made a new life for herself. However, her new life is shattered when she receives a letter that had been held up in the mail for over 40 years. A few years later in the present day Maya decides to investigate her grandmother’s life, disappearance and death. Who was the letter from and why does it have such an effect on her? Why was Martha’s body found in a place that she didn’t have any apparent connection with? Will Maya ever be able to unravel the mystery? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.

This book appealed to me on so many levels. I am a history geek as well as a book geek and I love learning about all things German. I studied history to A-Level and went on to do a university degree in German. A large part of my A-Level course was learning all about the Nazis as was part of my degree and I had to read some horrific accounts of opposition to the Nazis and I watched some of the horrific Nazi Propaganda films. So I definitely had a sense of how brutal the regime was but following Martha’s story in ‘ Hotel On Shadow Lake’ makes it somehow seem more real and personal. Instead of just learning facts and figures, you learn actual detail. Of course I loved all the German words and I enjoyed reading them out loud as it meant I could use my very rusty German pronunciation, which has lain dormant for well over a decade. Another major draw for me with this book, was the fact that the story is based on the own author’s family history, which she has written about with such great care and sensitivity. Yet another of my passions is family history and I am always interested in what other people manage to turn up in their tree. I haven’t discovered anything as poignant as this story in my own family history- yet.

To say that reading ‘Hotel On Shadow Lake’ became a serious addiction is an understatement. The author’s writing style is such that you can’t fail to be drawn in by the end of the first page and because you need to know what happened, why and to whom, you just keep reading and reading. Once I picked up the book, I found that I just could not put it down and my Kindle came everywhere with me. The pages were turning that quickly that they were almost turning themselves and before I knew what was happening I had finished the book, which I was so disappointed about. The author writes about such tragic events with such care, sensitivity and attention to detail that even I (who is not usually affected by things I read) felt a lump in my throat. The character that will stay fresh in my mind for a long time to come, is that of Martha. There were numerous times when I so wanted to jump into the pages of the book to help her or provide a comforting word. The descriptions of places in Germany were so vivid that it made me want to visit Germany as soon as I can.

In short, I really did enjoy reading ‘Hotel On Shadow Lake’ and I would have no hesitation in recommending this author and her book to anybody and everybody. It is certainly a lesson in how Nazism could divide a family. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.

This is an amazing, emotional love story that takes place during Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The story moves back and forth between the present day and the 1930s. It's the author's debut and she did a wonderful job. It's a beautiful story suitable for young and old adults. I highly enjoyed it and I recommend it!
I received this book from Netgalley. Thank you so much, Netgalley!
All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This was a great book. I really enjoyed the characters; Martha, Hans and Wolfgang I was enraptured by their story. Myah‘s character was very well written, I followed along with her was she trying to solve the mystery of the grandmothers death. I love the stories in the past, I loved the different takes on them and I really enjoyed the story. It was a haunting tale from the time of war and a beautiful story of love, compassion, betrayal and family.

I will definitely be looking for more books for this author.