Unrelenting: Love and Resistance in Pre-War Germany

Author: Marion Kummerow
Genre: Historical Fiction
Type: e-book
Series: 1st in the World War II Trilogy
Source: Author
Publisher:  Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
First Published: June 14, 2016
First Line: "Dr Wilhem Quedlin didn't know it, but today, the course of his life was about to change."

Book Description from GoodReads: Berlin, Germany 1932. In a time of political unrest and strife, one man finds the courage to fight back...

Dr. Wilhem "Q" Quedlin, chemical engineer and inventor, lives for his science. A woman is not in his plans-nor is it to be accused of industrial espionage.

But things get worse from there.

Watching Hitler's rise to power spurns his desire to avoid yet another war that will completely destroy his beloved country. Q makes the conscious decision to fight against what he knows is wrong, even if working against the Nazis could mean certain death for him- and anyone he loves.

Hilde Dremmer has vowed to never love again. But after encountering Q, she wants to give love a second chance.

When Q discloses his resistance plan, it's up to Hilde to choose between her protected life without him or the constant threat of torture if she supports him in his fight against injustice.

She has witnessed enough of the Nazi government's violent acts to be appalled by the new political power, but will this be enough for an ordinary girl to do the extraordinary and stand beside the man she loves in a time of total desolation?

This World War II story is based on the true events of one couple's struggle for happiness while battling a war against their own leaders. 

My Rating: 3 stars

My Review: Unrelenting is the first novel in a trilogy by author Marion Kummerow which details how her grandparents met on the brink of World War II. Part love story, part history read, Kummerow reveals Hitler's ascension to power as seen through the eyes of her grandparents, Dr Wilem "Q" Quedlin and Hilde Dremmer.  

My favourite part of the book was getting the perspective of ordinary German citizens as Hitler's fanaticism takes hold over their country.  Often people will look back at major world issues and wonder 'How could people have let this happen?'. This book details exactly that and I was equally intrigued and appalled at how smoothly and expeditiously Hitler took hold of Germany and its future.  Germany's economy and people were suffering with millions of Germans out of work and many families quite literally starving.  This made it easy for Hitler to 'come to the rescue' with his sadistic and xenophobic ideas to make Germany strong again.

This historical aspect was eye-opening and my favourite part of the book.  Unfortunately, I found the characters and the relationship between Hilde and Q to be weak. I'm not a big fan of romances but I felt that the courtship was drawn out between these two characters who felt overly naive and needed more complexity to their characters and dialogue.  

I think that this is a wonderful tribute that Kummerow has written about her grandparents.  I loved being taken into pre-war Germany and having a better understanding about how Hitler could rise to such all-encompassing power using ruthless and unconscionable means to do so.  For fans of this book, the story continues in the second book in the series titled 'Unyielding: Love and Resistance in WWII Germany'.

Disclaimer:  My sincere thanks to Marion Kummerow for providing me with a complimentary e-book copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.