THE AMERICAN WIFE

MY THOUGHTS:

Vienna, 1937 Kitty leaves her life in America and searches for a diplomatic job in Austria.  She becomes engaged to Edgar, an Austrian diplomat.  Europe isn’t exactly what she expected and that makes her homesick for her life in America.  Kitty meets and becomes friends with Judith, who is also the woman designing Kitty’s wedding dress.  Judith introduces Kitty to what Vienna really is about.  The culture and the best things about Vienna and the people that live there.  Soon after Edgar and Kitty get married, the world around them changes drastically and it doesn’t take long for life to take a toll on their marriage.  They begin to grow apart, and then the Nazis’ come for Judith because she is Jewish.  As a diplomat’s wife, Kitty knows of only one way to save her friend, but it would mean betraying her husband, Edgar.  Kitty is at an impossible crossroad, does she save Judith or does she betray her husband?

This heartbreaking story of new beginnings, love, friendship and loss was enthralling.  I felt a connection to the characters in the story and as I dove into the pages, my heart was beating faster and faster.  The people that lived during this era were very courageous in what they had to do in order to survive such a terrible time.  This story was both inspiring and gripping as I flipped page after page.  Make sure you keep the Kleenex box nearby because you will surely need it.  It was hooked from the very first chapter.  This fantastic read is one that I highly recommend. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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DESCRIPTION:

THE AMERICAN WIFE

Author:  Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger 
Publisher: Bookouture 
Publication Date: April 14, 2023 
Pages: 340 
Buy on Amazon 

With her heart in her mouth, Kitty let herself into her husband’s private study. She knew where he kept the papers that might save her dearest friend from the Nazis. She just had to steal them…

Vienna, 1937. When beautiful American Kitty becomes engaged to Austrian diplomat Edgar, she finds herself thrown into a very different world in Europe, and soon longs for home. But when the woman designing her wedding dress, Judith, takes Kitty under her wing, she sees the city of Vienna in a new light – a city of culture and music that she can explore with her new friend.

But when the Nazis come, the fact that Judith is Jewish means she is no longer safe. Kitty knows that as a diplomat’s wife she can steal the papers that will allow her closest friend to escape to safety, but will it mean betraying the love of her life?

Except that Edgar has grown distant and secretive since she joined him in Europe and, when war breaks out, Kitty wonders which side her husband is really on. And, as she prepares to betray him, Kitty begins to fear that she doesn’t really know the man she married at all.

Facing an impossible choice between her dearest friend and the man she loves, Kitty knows she must be brave, and do the right thing, no matter the personal cost…

ABOUT CHRYSTYNA LUCYK-BERGER

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger was born in Minnesota in 1969. A first-generation American of Ukrainian immigrants, she grew up in the culture-rich neighborhood of “Nordeast” Minneapolis. Inspired by her second-grade teacher, her writing career began with short stories, then morphed into travel narratives, and eventually novels. She has worked as a journalist and as a managing editor for a magazine publisher before jumping the editor’s desk and pursuing her dreams of writing and traveling. In 2000, she moved to western Austria and established her own communications training company. She has won several awards for her short stories and novels and now primarily writes historical fiction.

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