The Good at Heart

February 1, 2017
Oskar and Edith Eberhardt's shared dream of a vacation home in the country sustains them through the early years of their marriage, during the Great War, and while raising their family in postwar Berlin. But not long after they break ground in rural Blumental, on the German-Swiss border, another war begins. Soon the vacation house becomes a refuge for Edith, her daughter, and her three granddaughters, while Oskar remains in Berlin as a member of Hitler's cabinet. But even quiet Blumental cannot escape the war. Under the nose of the power-hungry teenage Nazi captain whose regiment has occupied the town, members of an underground railroad smuggle Jewish refugees across the Swiss border, and a daring plot to assassinate Hitler is set in motion. Inspired by discoveries about her own great-grandfather, Werner's first novel powerfully portrays the inner struggles of ordinary people moved to do extraordinary things in the name of family, God, and country.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)