The School For German Brides

Aimie K. Runyan is the author of the historical fiction novel called The School For German Brides. The story begins in 1939 when a young German woman named Hannah is sent to live in Berlin with her aunt and uncle after her mother died. Her aunt and uncle are eager to get Hannah engaged to a successful Nazi military man to enhance their own social standing. Hannah's mother was a midwife and a healer using herbal remedies. Hannah would like to follow in her mother's footsteps. Her aunt and uncle forbid this. Her Nazi suitor sends her to the school for German brides. There she learns how to indoctrinate Nazi principles into her children. Each chapter is narrated alternately by Hannah and Tilde. Tilde is a young Jewish German seamstress. Tilde is pregnant and her husband is missing. Tilde ends up on the grounds of the German School For Brides as she gives birth in an abandoned caretaker's cottage. Hannah was a customer of Tilde's business. This fascinating novel showed what it was like to be a woman in Germany during the war.