V. S. Alexander

Amid the turbulence of World War II, a young German woman finds a precarious haven closer to the source of danger than she ever imagined--one that will propel her through the extremes of privilege and terror under Hitler's dictatorship . . . In early 1943, Magda Ritter's parents send her to relatives in Bavaria, hoping to keep her safe from the Allied bombs strafing Berlin. Young German women are expected to do their duty--working for the Reich or marrying to produce strong, healthy children. After an interview with the civil service, Magda is assigned to the Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat. Only after weeks of training does she learn her assignment: she will be one of several young women tasting the F�hrer's food, offering herself in sacrifice to keep him from being poisoned. Perched high in the Bavarian Alps, the Berghof seems worlds away from the realities of battle. Though terrified at first, Magda gradually becomes used to her dangerous occupation--though she knows better than to voice her misgivings about the war. But her love for a conspirator within the SS, and her growing awareness of the Reich's atrocities, draw Magda into a plot that will test her wits and loyalty in a quest for safety, freedom, and ultimately, vengeance. Vividly written and ambitious in scope, The Taster examines the harrowing moral dilemmas of war in an emotional story filled with acts of extraordinary courage. Praise for V.S. Alexander's The Magdalen Girls "Fans of Barbara Davis and Ashley Hay will enjoy this tenderhearted story of sinner, saints, and redemption." --Booklist "Alexander has clearly done his homework. Chilling in its realism, his work depicts the improprieties long abandoned by the Catholic Church and only recently acknowledged. Fans of the book and film Philomena will want to read this." --Library Journal

The Taster

War Girls

Drawing on the true story of the White Rose--the resistance movement of young Germans against the Nazi regime--The Traitor tells of one woman who offers her life in the ultimate battle against tyranny, during one of history's darkest hours. In the summer of 1942, as war rages across Europe, a series of anonymous leaflets appears around the University of Munich, speaking out against escalating Nazi atrocities. The leaflets are hidden in public places, or mailed to addresses selected at random from the phone book. Natalya Petrovich, a student, knows who is behind the leaflets--a secret group called the White Rose, led by siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friends. As a volunteer nurse on the Russian front, Natalya witnessed the horrors of war first-hand. She willingly enters the White Rose's circle, where every hushed conversation, every small act of dissent could mean imprisonment or death at the hands of an infuriated Gestapo. Natalya risks everything alongside her friends, hoping the power of words will encourage others to resist. But even among those she trusts most, there is no guarantee of safety--and when danger strikes, she must take an extraordinary gamble in her own personal struggle to survive. Praise for V.S. Alexander's The Irishman's Daughter "Accompanied by an expertly rendered plot, bold and empathetic characters, and prose that jumps off the page, this tale will particularly satisfy fans of historicals and those looking for stories about the redeeming grace of faith and hard work." --Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

The Traitor

Dublin, 1962. Within the gated grounds of the convent of The Sisters of the Holy Redemption lies one of the city s Magdalen Laundries. Once places of refuge, the laundries have evolved into grim workhouses. Some inmates are fallen women unwed mothers, prostitutes, or petty criminals. Most are ordinary girls whose only sin lies in being too pretty, too independent, or tempting the wrong man. Among them is sixteen-year-old Teagan Tiernan, sent by her family when her beauty provokes a lustful revelation from a young priest. Teagan soon befriends Nora Craven, a new arrival who thought nothing could be worse than living in a squalid tenement flat. Stripped of their freedom and dignity, the girls are given new names and denied contact with the outside world. The Mother Superior, Sister Anne, who has secrets of her own, inflicts cruel, dehumanizing punishments but always in the name of love. Finally, Nora and Teagan find an ally in the reclusive Lea, who helps them endure and plot an escape. But as they will discover, the outside world has dangers too, especially for young women with soiled reputations. Told with candor, compassion, and vivid historical detail, The Magdalen Girls is a masterfully written novel of life within the era s notorious institutions and an inspiring story of friendship, hope, and unyielding courage."

The Magdalen Girls

An engrossing novel inspired by the mysterious true story of Irmgard Keun, a female novelist who defied all the rules during Berlin's volcanic post-WWI years, as a young German writer exiled for her ideas flees her country and her Nazi-supporting husband, fighting for her art, her life, and her child. 1920s Germany: Though the world has changed in the wake of the Great War, it is still ruled by men. Even a woman as resourceful and intelligent as Niki Rittenhaus needs alliances in order to survive. Her marriage to Rickard Länger, a movie producer for Berlin's Passport Pictures, seems convenient for them both. When Rickard succumbs to increasing pressure from the Nazis to make propaganda movies, a horrified Niki turns away from her own film aspirations and instead, begins to write. Niki's first novel, The Berlin Woman, is published under a pseudonym to great success. But Niki knows she cannot stay anonymous for long. The Nazis are cementing their power over Germany--and over her husband. Though she succeeds in escaping Rickard, he directs Hitler's Brownshirts to do the unthinkable: kidnap their daughter. With her books blacklisted, her life in danger, and Europe descending into war, Niki travels to Amsterdam, joins the Dutch Resistance, and then returns to war-torn Berlin determined to claim freedom for herself and her child, and to write her own story at last.

The Novelist from Berlin

Em plena Segunda Guerra Mundial, uma jovem encontra refugio ao lado do homem mais perigoso do mundo. Em 1943, alarmados com os constantes raides aereos dos Aliados sobre Berlim, os pais de Magda Ritter enviam-na para Berchtesgaden, uma remota cidade nos Alpes Bavaros. Aqui ela e recrutada para o Berghof, o refugio de montanha de Hitler, onde e treinada para desempenhar uma unica func?o: provar a comida do Fuhrer, oferecendo se em sacrificio para o manter a salvo de envenenamento. O Berghof parece estar a um mundo de distancia da realidade das batalhas e, apesar de a principio estar aterrorizada, Magda habitua-se gradualmente a sua perigosa miss?o. Mas o seu amor por um conspirador das SS e a sua crescente tomada de consciencia das atrocidades do Reich empurram Magda para uma conspirac?o que ira testar a sua inteligencia e lealdade. Vividamente escrito, A Provadora desenrola-se no momento mais negro e turbulento da humanidade, oferecendo-nos uma trama plena de intriga e terror, mas tambem de extraordinaria coragem, sacrificio e amor.

A Provadora

¿Hitler se suicidó o fue asesinado por uno de sus más cercanos colaboradores? Basándose en la estremecedora historia de Margot Wölk, V. S. Alexander ha escrito un absorbente thriller que pone en duda lo que sabemos sobre la muerte del Führer. Cuando los bombardeos de los Aliados comienzan a caer sobre Berlín, los padres de Magda deciden enviarla con sus tíos a las montañas, donde le consiguen un trabajo en el Berghof, el lugar de descanso de Hitler. Tras una serie de rigurosos exámenes físicos y mentales, es asignada a la cocina. ¿Su labor? Formará parte del grupo de mujeres dedicadas a catar los alimentos del Führerpara asegurarse de que no estén envenenados. En medio de la belleza de los Alpes bávaros, poco a poco Magda se olvida de los horrores de la guerra y del peligro que arrastra su nuevo trabajo. Sin embargo esta aparente calma se esfumará cuando conozca al capitán de las SS Karl Weber, un conspirador que intenta convencerla de que el Führer debe morir y ella es la pieza más importante de un complot que pondrá a prueba su inteligencia y lealtad. La novela inspirada en la vida de Margot Wölk, catadora del Führer.

La Catadora de Hitler

"Ireland, 1845. To Briana Walsh, no place on earth is more beautiful than Carrowteige, County Mayo, with its sloping fields and rocky cliffs perched above the wild Atlantic. The small farms that surround the centuries-old Lear House are managed by her father, agent to the wealthy, reckless Sir Thomas Blakely. Tenant farmers sell the oats and rye they grow to pay rent to Sir Thomas, surviving on the potatoes that flourish in the remaining scraps of land. But when the potato crop falls prey to a devastating blight, families Briana has known all her life are left with no food, no resources, and no mercy from the English landowner, who seems indifferent to everything except profit. Rory Caulfield, the hard-working young farmer Briana hopes to marry, shares the locals' despair--and their anger. There's talk of violent reprisals against the callous gentry and their agents. Briana's studious older sister, Lucinda, dreams of a future far beyond Mayo. But even as hunger and disease settle over the country, killing and displacing millions, Briana knows she must find a way to guide her family through one of Ireland's darkest hours--toward hope, love, and a new beginning"--

The Irishman's Daughter

"Eu, Magda Ritter, conheci Hitler. Eu era uma das quinze mulheres que provavam sua comida, pois o Fürher era obcecado com a possibilidade de ser envenenado pelos Aliados ou por traidores dentro de seu círculo pessoal. Ninguém, exceto meu marido, sabe o que eu fiz. Nunca falei sobre isso. Eu não podia falar... Mas os segredos que guardei por tantos anos precisam ser revelados. Às vezes, a verdade me oprime e me apavora. É como uma queda sem fim em um poço fundo e escuro. Mas, ao escrever minha história, descobri muito sobre mim mesma e sobre a humanidade. E também sobre a crueldade dos homens que fazem leis para se adequarem aos seus próprios interesses. Eu conheci Hitler... E minha história precisa ser contada." Unindo a história e a ficção, Um banquete para Hitler mostra os extremos de privilégio e opressão sob a ditadura do Führer, expondo os dilemas morais da guerra em uma história emocionante, cheia de atos de extraordinária coragem em busca de segurança, liberdade e, finalmente, vingança.

A morte está servida

Um banquete para Hitler

A második világháború viharában egy fiatal német nő kétes menedéket talál, mely közelebb van a veszély forrásához, mint azt valaha gondolta volna. Amíg a hitleri diktatúra nyújtotta kiváltságokat élvezi, megismeri a rendszer kegyetlenségét is. 1943 elején záporoznak Berlinre a szövetségesek bombái, ezért Magda Rittert szülei a bajorországi rokonaikhoz küldik, remélve, hogy így biztonságban lesz. Magdát a Berghofba, Hitler hegyi pihenőhelyére osztják be, ahol azon fiatal nők egyike lesz, akik előzetesen megkóstolják Hitler ételét, és ha kell, feláldozzák magukat, hogy a Führert megóvják a mérgezéstől. A bajor Alpokban fekvő Berghof mintha egy másik világban lenne, távol a háború kegyetlen valóságától. Magda eleinte retteg, de később fokozatosan hozzászokik veszélyes foglalkozásához, bár tudja, hogy nem szabad hangot adnia a háborúval kapcsolatos ellenérzéseinek. De miután beleszeret egy ellenálló SS-tisztbe, és egyre többet tud meg a Birodalom rémtetteiről, Magda is belekeveredik egy összeesküvésbe. A biztonságért és szabadságért folytatott küzdelem során minden leleményességére szüksége lesz, hogy bosszút állhasson. Az előkóstoló a háború erkölcsi kérdéseit boncolgatja egy nagyszabású és erőteljes, rendkívül bátor tettekről mesélő történetben.

Az előkóstoló

Šestnáctiletou Teagan pošle rodina do azylového domu pro padlé ženy poté, co je obviněna, že se pokusila svést mladého kněze. Teagan je zbavena vlasů, důstojnosti a kontaktu s vnějším světem. Její představené se sice ohání láskou boží, ale ve skutečnosti podrobují své svěřenkyně krutým trestům a hlavně tvrdé dřině. Dívka plánuje útěk, netuší však, co ve světe čeká na dívky s poskvrněnou minulostí... Román vychází ze skutečných událostí.

V. S. Alexander

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