The Sunflower House, a Review by Susan

This was a very difficult but important book to have read. Quite honestly, I was seduced by the cover and had I actually read the summary of the book, either on NetGalley or Goodreads, I might not have ever read it. I have taught Holocaust literature in 13 out of my 20 years of teaching and have numerous books about the Holocaust and Hitler and have had my fill. Or at least I thought I did.

The author, Adriana Allegri, took a very emotionally wrenching subject and rendered it very realistically, no doubt through exceedingly meticulous and comprehensive research. I have not read Holocaust literature from the perspective of Germans. She faced an uphill battle, needing to convey pure evil in some Nazi characters portrayed in the book, without turning them into cardboard figures, as well as Germans who were themselves in danger because they were not purely Aryan, who faced gut wrenching decisions as they had to portray themselves as Nazis while trying to save Jews, making morally ambiguous decisions.

I learned a great deal about the Eugenics movement in Nazi Germany as well and while it is something I had always heard about, it is hard to read too much about. I never knew any specifics about these homes where they hid what they perceived to be the less inferior infants and young children before they reached their deaths or about what anyone tried to do to change or alter these outcomes. I don’t know if I will be able to do this, because there are already so many unhappy things in the world right now, but this book has made me interested in researching the Eugenics movement.

The love and romance between Allina and Karl was moving and so realistically drawn as well as necessary for the book. It would have been impossible to read about such a grave and distressing topic if we could not see any joy or connect to the characters. In other words, the book would have been too unbearable and relentless to read without this.

This book should be on high school curricula everywhere. Obviously, the book, Night, is important and it is a memoir but this book could serve a similar purpose and perhaps be a bit more palatable.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this wonderful book, in exchange for my honest opinions.