By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Years ago, an author told me that she enjoyed seeing her novel “in dialogue” with a second book. I’d never phrased it that way before, but, when two books inform each other, it is usually far more interesting to read and review them together. This was true of two recent novels I read that take place during World War II: “The Sunflower House” by Adriana Allegri (St. Martin’s Press) and “The Girls of the Glimmer Factory” by Jennifer Coburn (Sourcebooks) offer the perspectives of characters who face similar dilemmas, but behave in different ways, ways that reveal their true nature.
Allina Straus, the main focus of “The Sunflower House,” lives with her aunt and uncle in a small village in Germany. Her parents died when she was too young to really remember them, but she has always felt loved and safe. However, events connected to the National Socialism Movement in 1939 greatly change her life: Allina finds out her mother was Jewish, meaning that her life is in danger, and Nazi soldiers raid her village because of its ties to those resisting Hitler. It’s then that she’s forced to move to a Lebensborn house, which is a state-run house for married and single pregnant women who are charged with producing children for the Germany. Allina has no choice but to work as a nurse with the children, many of whom will be adopted by families that support the Nazi regime. Interaction between German soldiers and the nurses is encouraged so that the nurses will also produce children.
It is there that Allina meets Karl, a high ranking Nazi official, who is interested in children who seem to have gone missing from the Lebensborn house. Something questionable may be happening to them. At the risk of her life, Allina agrees to work with Karl who develops feelings for her. However, Allina is so traumatized by the events that occurred in her village that she is unable to respond. Plus, Karl has his own secrets, ones that could put both their lives in danger. 
“The Sunflower House” is a wonderful novel. It grabs readers from the first page with its beautiful writing and its well-rounded and interesting characters, This was a hard book to put down, one filled with surprises and meaningful moments. Its focus on a different aspect of Nazi Germany shows how Nazi propaganda infiltrated even the most mundane aspects of German life.
While the majority of “The Sunflower House” focuses on one character, “The Girls of the Glimmer Factory” offers the points of view of two characters: the Jewish Hannah and the German Hilde. Although once friends, they lost touch when Hannah and her family (parents, grandparents and brother), moved to Prague to escape Nazi Germany. While some members of Hannah’s family were then able to escape to Palestine, Hannah and her grandfather were left behind and taken to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp that was used as propaganda to show the Red Cross that the German Jews were being well treated. Of course, that was not the reality for those imprisoned at the camp. Some of the prisoners join the resistance, but Hannah worries their actions will only create more problems. She soon finds herself debating, though, whether doing something – anything – to oppose the regime (even at the risk of one’s life) is better than passively hoping the worst won’t occur.
Hilde truly believes in the Nazi cause because it’s given meaning and purpose to her life. It makes her feel special, even when others dismiss her and her actions. That leaves her willing to use any means she can to succeed, even when that action originally disgusted her. That’s why she wants to help with the filming taking place at Theresienstadt, a film that will show to the world just how wonderfully the Nazis are treating the Jews. It’s there Hilde sees Hannah again for the first time in years. Hilde believes her former friend will help her succeed, even as she treats Hannah poorly in front of those with whom she works.
“The Glimmer Factory” is well done, although more difficult to read than “The Sunflower House” because Hilde is such an unpleasant and difficult person. This is the second novel by Coburn to feature Hilde and those who have read about earlier parts of her life (which are briefly mentioned in this novel) might have more sympathy for her. Hannah and her grandfather are so unrealistic about what is happening that those sections may dismay readers, although they are likely an accurate portrayal of what many people believed at the time.
What makes reading these two novels together interesting is the differences between their characters. For example, while Hannah remained passive for most of the book, Allina was willing to risk her life to help the children born at the Lebensborn house. While she knows that if her connection to Judaism is found out, her life would be in extreme danger, that does not stop her doing what she thinks is right. While Hilde and Karl were both once believers in the Nazi cause, Karl has realized how wrong he was to support the regime. His current actions are a way of repenting for that sin, even though he knows he is risking his life. Hilde, on the other hand, can’t see beyond her own dreams and needs. Even when she finally tries to do something good, the reason behind her action is still basically selfish. 
“The Sunflower House” and “The Girls of the Glimmer Factory” would offer book club members a great deal to discuss, although the former does not have much Jewish content. Both are based on real life events, although their main characters are fictional. Readers interested in novels about World War II should find both works of interest.