by Ken Follett
First published 2012
Carla von Ulrich watches Nazi storm troopers march through Berlin streets as her mixed German-English heritage puts her family in danger. The regime's grip tightens around ordinary citizens while five interconnected families across America, Germany, Russia, England, and Wales face the coming storm. American brothers Woody and Chuck Dewar each harbor secrets as they head toward separate destinies, one in Washington politics, the other in Pacific combat. English student Lloyd Williams fights in Spain's civil war and learns that Communist forces threaten democracy as much as Fascist ones. Meanwhile, American socialite Daisy Peshkov chases parties and status until war reshapes her world twice over. Her cousin Volodya builds a career in Soviet intelligence that will influence conflicts beyond the current war. As Hitler's Third Reich expands and atomic bombs detonate over Japan, these characters discover how personal choices intersect with historical forces. Their individual struggles with courage, betrayal, and survival illuminate the broader human cost of the century's greatest conflict.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Berlin, America, Germany, Russia, England, Wales, Spain
Period: World War II
940 pages · Hardcover · Berkley
Content warnings: violence, war