In 1946, Emmy Clarke arrives in a postwar Germany to search through the massive collection of books stolen by the Nazis. In her first day, she discovers a slim volume of poetry and a handwritten dedication on the title page, “To Annelise, my brave Edelweiss Pirate." After reading that, Emmy knows she’ll do whatever she can to find out what happened to the book’s owners and—hopefully—return it to them. 

Emmy’s search for the book’s owner leads Emmy to two sisters, a betrayal, and a fierce protest in Berlin against Nazi acts during the height of the war. As Emmy faces the ghosts of her past, she wonders if she’s just chasing after more ghosts with this project. Instead, she finds love and forgiveness—during the war and after. 

Brianna Labuskes’ latest historical novel takes an interesting approach to the themes of romantic love, sisterly love, the terrible things that happen during war, and ultimately forgiveness. 

Despite Emmy being the driving force behind the whole story, I found myself the least interested in her chapters. She came across terribly bland and frankly I never forgave her for whining that the U.S. Army didn’t issue trousers to women because by 1946, they had several styles of trousers that could be—and were—issued to women. However, because of her circumstances, she would be wearing a version of her dress uniform which included a skirt. This is yet another example of pushing 21st century assumptions and opinions on characters set in the past and frankly I’m exhausted by it. 

The sisters Anneliese and Christina Fischer, whom we learn about in flashbacks, were considerably more compelling. They both had their virtues (thought it took a bit for us to discover Christina’s) and both had their faults, which significantly affected their lives. Their chapters were the most interesting, and Christina’s were truly the best since the reader got to witness her trying so hard to be good and brave during the war, and fighting her natural instincts to turn tail and run. 

There was a great deal of fascinating history tidbits scattered through the book. I verified some—I work in the history field and cover WWII as a part of my job and am often suspicious of how authors and directors adjust history to suit their stories—and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actual sayings or events. It added an air of authenticity to the historical fiction and I appreciated all the research Labuskes put in. 

“The Lost Book of Bonn” was a bittersweet story set in Germany before, during, and after World War II. It shared the perspectives of three women who had very different experiences in the country during different time periods. Each woman overcame adversity and dealt with personal flaws, and their lives eventually managed to intersect. It doesn’t have a happy ending, for no story about World War II Germany could be truly happy, but it is a satisfying ending. 

I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.