Blog Tour: The Wartime Affair by Victoria Cornwall

 

Elsa Kalbach is a young woman who has grown up in the 1930s in Germany. She remembers what life was like in the barren years that followed the end of WWI. As a teacher, she follows the rules, even the ones that related to allegiance to the Fuhrer. However, slowly, she begins to realise that maybe it is wrong to just follow him blindly and this is reinforced when she witnesses the events of Kristallnicht in her home town of Gollnow in the Pomerania region.

Sam is a British soldier who is injured during the Dunkirk evacuation, and he is captured and becomes a POW. 

Fast forward several years, and the war appears to be coming to an end. For Elsa, her home is right in the path of the Russian invasion into Germany and everyone is terrified about what they will do as they pass through, especially to women. Her family decides to leave, but her elderly grandfather doesn't want to go. Elsa stays behind until the last possible moment to leave but unfortunately he doesn't last long, and she is left to travel along with a young girl named Klara in her care. 

At the same time Sam is being marched across the country from one camp to another. He feels guilty for having been a POW for so long and for having survived when so many of his fellow prisoners have not, including some of his friends.

Fate brings Sam and Elsa together. Initially they do not trust each other at all. After all, they are on opposite sides of the war and they see the actions of both sides very differently. However, it makes sense for them to travel together and so they begin to walk. Sam is hoping that he is walking towards home, and Elsa is walking towards the city of Bremen, where she hopes to be reunited with her mother and sister. 

Of course, after that initial distrust, their feelings for each other begins to change and to grow. But what hope can there be for a German woman and a British man in this world torn apart by war. Elsa, Sam and Klara have to endure a lot during their journey, most of which is on foot. But reaching their destinations may not be the end of their trials. 

There are a couple of big jumps in time in this story, which was a bit disconcerting. While I did like the book overall, I did find the story and dialogue a bit stilted at times. I guess the real gauge is was I emotionally moved, and the answer is yes, particularly as we moved forward into the 1950s. 

When I read the author note it mentions that one of the questions Victoria Cornwall was trying to answer was how did the ordinary people of Germany remain bystanders as a dictator came to power, and his control continued to grow until he become one of the biggest villains in history. And it is a question that is relevant even today. How do leaders get people to follow them blindly? For me, one of the most powerful moments in the book is when Elsa is farewelling a woman who says "Heil Hitler" and Elsa realises that she can't do that anymore. 

It is always nice to discover a new author, and I have already bought one of her other books! I would classify this book as a solid read. It is worth checking out, if only for the relatively unusual situation of a German female main character. 

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Blog and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host here.  Thanks to the publisher and Zooloo's Book Tours for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the blog tour below.

Rating 4/5

About the Book

A love that dares to hope when everything seems lost.

Germany, 1945. Elsa Kalbach was once the perfect daughter — loyal, obedient and proud to serve her country. But years of lies and fear have opened her eyes to the terrible cost of blind obedience.

As the Russian Army advances, Elsa flees her ruined hometown with an abandoned Jewish child in her care — and no one left to trust.

When she discovers a wounded British soldier hiding in a barn, she knows she should turn him in. His uniform makes him her enemy.

Instead, Sam becomes the only one she can trust as they seek safety away from the frontlines.

As Elsa and Sam travel across a land torn apart by war, a fragile bond begins to grow — one that defies everything Elsa was taught to believe.

And when the guns finally begin to fall silent, Elsa and Sam must decide whether their love can survive the wreckage of all they’ve lost.

This sweeping story of hope, humanity and the forbidden love that defied a world at war is perfect for fans of Soraya M. Lane, Kate Quinn, Rachel Hore and Kristin Hannah.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/245501352-the-wartime-affair

Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/wartimeaffair-zbt

About the Author:

Following a career in nursing, a change in profession finally provided Victoria Cornwall the time to write. Her books have subsequently reached the finals of the NEW TALENT AWARD at the Festival of Romantic Fiction, the RNA's JOAN HESSAYON AWARD, the 2021 RNA's Goldsboro Books HISTORICAL ROMANTIC NOVEL AWARD and have twice been nominated for the RONE Best Indie or Small Published Book Award by InD'tale magazine.

Victoria grew up on a farm in Cornwall and can trace her Cornish roots as far back as the 18th century. It is this background and heritage which is the inspiration for her Cornish based novels. She is married, has two grown up children and likes to read and write historical romance with a strong background story, but at its heart is the unmistakable emotion, even pain, of loving someone

Social Media Links

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/victoria_cornwallx/

Threads - https://www.threads.com/@victoria_cornwallx

Website - https://www.victoriacornwall.com/

This Week

Melbourne Writers Festival

Over the weekend I attended Melbourne Writers Festival. I always try to make sure that I attend something at the festival, and this time I was able to attend three events.

On Saturday, we attended an In Conversation with Anita Heiss which was facilitated by Shelley Ware. This was a wide ranging conversation from being a method writer to the inclusion of indigenous people in Australian stories to the plight of children in the current situation. Heiss' latest book, which was originally an Audible original, is called Red Dust Running and features an Indigenous cowboy so both of the presenters were dressed up in jeans, boots and cowboy hats. I have met Anita Heiss before and she is always engaging too listen too, very funny, and yet covering important topics!

On Sunday, I attended two sessions. The first was too hear Japanese author Asako Yuzuki who was interviewed by cookbook author and TV host Alice Zaslavsky. The conversation covered topics from food, the roles and expectations of women in modern Japanese society, and so much more. Like last year when we saw Toshikazu Kawaguchi in conversation, this was a translater assisted session, and she did an amazing job. There was a lady behind us who spoke Japanese relatively well and at the end of the session she was gushing about how well the translator did!

The final session was Australian author Jane Harper In Conversation with Irish author Marian Keyes. Keyes got a rapturous welcome from the moment that she walked on stage and she kept the audience engaged from the outset. I am pretty sure Harper could have asked just one question and just let Marian Keyes talk for the whole hour. One of the highlights of the conversation included the news that there is a TV series being made of the Walsh sisters books which has been sold to an Australian streaming service. It is going to be shown in Ireland later this year so hopefully we won't have to wait too long for it here! The audience laughed and clapped all the way through the hour and there was a real buzz in the room. I am so glad to have had the chance to hear her talk live. Now I wish I had time to go back and re-read all the Walsh sisters books!

I have some other photos from the two days on my Bookstagram account - Intrepidreaderandbaker.

While the festival doesn't feel the same as it did a few years ago when it was over two weekends, it was heavily promoted as a city event and there was a real buzz in the host locations, it is an event that really fills my cup. And the bonus is we get to visit some iconic Melbourne locations as well. One if the Capitol Theatre which usually isn't open to the public. This place is gorgeous! And the ceiling - amazing art deco style!

I'm reading

I mentioned last week that I was reading The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson as it is the current selection for Cook the Books. I finished that book this week, and I know what I am going to cook for the cooking part of the equation. Now I just need to find the time to make it, hopefully this week. 

I also finished The House At River's Edge by Rachel Burton, which I reviewed here.

The other book that I had to read last week as I had committed to a review date was Booked for Summer by Kathryn Freeman. I reviewed that book here. 

Even though I have two books to review this week that I haven't started yet, I started reading An Italian Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack. I really like this author's books and so far this is a good one too. 

I also started The Madamoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester. I went and heard her speak a couple of weeks ago and the story that she told about the main character in this book was fascinating. This is one of the two book club books that we will be talking about at the Rachael Johns Readers Retreat this coming weekend. I think that there is every chance that I might be reading the other book on the plane on the way over to Perth!

I'm watching


We are very lucky here as there are often film festivals which bring movies to the big screen that I would otherwise never hear about. The German Film Festival is currently on, and one of the two movies that I really wanted to see was the book to screen adaptation of the Door to Door Bookstore. I read the book last year and liked it. I was a bit surprised to see that it had been made into a very family friendly movie and I thought it a sweet movie. There was almost a cartoonish feel to it from some of the costumes to the sets and more. It also shared the magic of books and story, about the importance of found family and the impact of grief. 

On Saturday night my husband and I went to see Thunderbolts, the latest Marvel movie, and it was really good! Definitely felt like a return to form. 

We also watched a new Netflix documentary called Pangolin: Kulu's Journey. Before watching this show I had no idea what a pangolin even looked like. It is made by the same people who made My Octopus Teacher and once again it is a really nicely made documentary. 

Here's the trailer:

Life

Not much more to add here really

Posts from the last week



Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Attending the Rachael Johns Readers Retreat

Blog Tour: One More Day of Us by Shari Low

Blog Tour: The House at River's Edge by Rachel Burton

Blog Tour: Booked for Summer by Kathryn Freeman

Weekend Cooking: The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - April stats






I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Weekend Cooking: Advent by Anja Dunk

 

A while ago now I bought a book called Advent by Anja Dunk which was an early selection of the Jamie Oliver Cookbook Club . Actually, the full title  is Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas. So far, I am really loving this book which is separated into 24 different chapters (one for each day of Advent) with all different types of bakes for each chapter. 

The author talks about a Bunter Teller which translates as "colourful plate" and in this context means a colourful plate of Advent biscuits. She talks about how every German household would have a stock of baked goods at this time of year for when visitors arrive, and you then put out a selection of biscuits, and perhaps give some as a gift.

Part of the reason why the book is broken into these 24 different chapters is that there would be a specific order in which you bake the colourful array of biscuits. 

The order in which they are baked acts as a calendar; a countdown measured in biscuits. The butter-less biscuits, many of them old-fashioned varieties such as Lebkuchen, which keep the longest, are baked first, followed by nut biscuits, then macaroons and meringues. We bake butter-rich ones such as Vanillekipferl after all of the aforementioned, and finally the last things we make are all the sweets and truffles. The biscuit are usually stored in a towering stack of tins kept at the ready to plate a selection up whenever neighbours and friends pop round.

It's my kind of advent calendar, although not if I have to do ALL the cooking!!

As an idea, here are some of the different chapters. The second chapter is for several different versions of lebkuchen including how to make your own spice mix, lebkuchen hearts (filled and unfilled),  old-fashioned honey lebkuchen and more.I have made a soft gingerbread biscuit several times previously which is inspired by lebkuchen. I tend to take them to work to share with my colleagues and they are always a hit! I shared this recipe a few years ago! They are honey and orange-y morsels of goodness! However, in this chapter, you will find the real deal.

Chapter 8 is all about Stollen, from full cakes to Stollen bites. Chapter 10 is full of spiced biscuits, from Spekulatius to the famous Pfeffernusse. Did you know that pferffernusse can actually be either white or brown. The difference is the kind of pepper that you use. I swear I have only ever seen the white version. Chapter 16 is all about meringues, including very sweet meringue mice and chapter 22 is all about marzipan sweets. There was an earlier chapter about marzipan biscuits too.

Throughout the book, the chapter divides are Christmassy lithographs which the author created herself, and all the photos are her own as this book was created during lockdowns. As I flick through the book there are so many things which look utterly delicious. There are cakes, biscuits, desserts and more. It's a lovely book! And the cover is gorgeous too. It has a fabric cover with gilded word and decorations, and a lovely yellow ribbon for a book mark. I do love it when a cookbook one of those!

What I will say, is that, maybe unsurprisingly, there are a lot of nut heavy recipes in this book, so if you have any allergies in your house maybe this might be an issue. The big guy, who used to be referred to as the little chef many years ago on this blog, has a tree nut allergy, but most of the time he won't eat what I bake anyway, so I can get away with it a bit! Just have to make sure he knows not to eat any of them.

I chose to make two recipes out of the chapter that is titled Makronen (macaroons). The first was Schokokusschen, which are chocolate kisses. In effect they are not dissimilar to chocolate meringue kisses although you do add in some flour. The other recipe I have made is Kokosmakronen- coconut macaroons, which are super simple to make! These should both keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container! 

Schcolkusschen (Anja Dunk)
Chocolate Kisses

2 egg whites

90g soft light brown sugar

Pinch of fine sea salt

1/2 vanilla extract

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced/350F and line a large baking parchment.

Put the egg whites into the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a mixing bowl and electric hand-held whisk) and whisk for a couple of minutes on high speed until stiff peaks form. Turn the speed down and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking all the while, until it is all incorporated and you have a glossy meringue. Now add the salt and vanilla extract and whisk for a further couple of seconds before adding the remaining ingredients. Whisk for a final 30 seconds so the flour and spices are incorporated.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/ 3/8 inch star shaped nozzle. Alternatively, use a plastic freezer bag, which you have snipped the corner off to leave the same size opening.

Pipe little peaks of 1.5cm /1/2 inch diameter onto the sheet; they don't spread all that much so you only need a little space between each one.

Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until firm to the touch but not browned. Cocoa powder does have a tendency to burn easily, so make sure you check them after 15 minutes. The longer you leave them in the oven the crisper they will be.

Allow to cool completely on the sheet before storing in an airtight container, where they will keep well for up to a month.

Weekly meals

Saturday - egg and chips
Sunday - Honey Pepper chicken
Monday - Sausage mash beans and gravy
Tuesday - Out for dinner
Wednesday - Nothing
Thursday -Baked Tuscan Chicken (new)
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Round the World with Atlas Masterclass

A couple of months ago I shared our experience of Atlas Masterclasses. We have continued to do masterclasses everyy second week and the plan is to continue to do that for a while yet.

I am not going to go through the details of how the masterclass works because I already did that here.   I would say though that one of the things that I enjoy is that although the recipes are not necessarily normal, they are very accessible. Every week, we ask my son to cook at least one meal a week, even in the weeks that we are doing these boxes, and he seems to enjoy being the cook on these nights.

This week,  I am sharing the last three countries that we visited.

Indonesia

Satay Chicken Skewers with Rice and Pineapple Sambal

Beef Rendang, Roti and Cucumber Salad  - enjoyed this one a lot!

Mei Goreng, Tofu, Crispy Egg - not our favourite I am afraid

 Singapore

Grilled pork chops, black bean sauce and singapore noodles -This was our favourite from Singapore week

Hainanese chicken rice, chinese broccoli, ginger and spring onion sauce

Forgot to take a picture of Cauliflower, potato biryani, almond, mint, tomato

Germany

Chicken schnitzel, mustard mash, zucchini, asparagus and dill salad

Cheese kransky, warm cabbage and apple salad with pretzel and curry wurst sauce - I really enjoyed the warm cabbage and apple salad and the pretzel

Smoked pork hock, rosti and apple slaw

Next week we are doing France, and I can't wait!

This week

Saturday: Rib eye steak, baked potato and green salad

Sunday: Lasagne

Monday: Singapore noodles with chicken

Tuesday: Pork chops, mash potato, sweetcorn and green beans

Wednesday: Chicken Tikka Masala with Rice

Thursday: Chicken Schnitzel Burgers

Friday: Pizza (takeaway)

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.