The setting is somewhat claustrophobic with the two of them trapped by snow in a remote cabin and the Gestapo ever vigilant in the nearby town. Suffice to say, they manage to overcome their trust issues and work together. The pilot has a story of his own, which I won’t spoil here. She has lost all her immediate family members and her boyfriend was executed by the Nazis, so she is alone and wondering what to do next when she rescues the injured pilot. Franka is a strong resourceful woman whose nursing experience proves useful in helping her houseguest recover. Now the two have to learn to trust each other while he is recovering from 2 broken legs. She saves his life and brings him back to the snowed-in cabin, but while he is unconscious, she hears him say some words in English. She is out walking in the dense forest surrounding her family’s holiday cabin when she finds a badly injured Luftwaffe pilot. Set in southern Germany during WW2, this is the story of Franka, recently returned to her home town of Freiburg after serving a prison sentence for anti-Nazi activities. I enjoyed it tremendously.” ―Olivia Hawker, author of The Ragged Edge of Night “Tense, taut, and tightly focused, White Rose, Black Forest is a haunting novel about courage and compassion that will keep you gripped from the very first page.” ―Colin Falconer, bestselling author of The Unkillable Kitty O’Kane About the Author Shipman, bestselling author of It Is Well and A Bitter Rain “A gripping story of heroism and redemption, White Rose, Black Forest glows with delicate yet vivid writing. The settings are detailed and the characters leap off the page. Runyan, bestselling author of Daughters of the Night Sky “Dempsey’s World War II thriller is a haunting page-turner. Emotional, taut, and deftly drawn, White Rose, Black Forest is a stunning tale of bravery, compassion, and love.” ―Aimie K. It is the tale of one young man, one young woman, and the courage to change the tide of a war.

The novel does not span a massive cast of characters, various continents, and the entire duration of the conflict. Solomon, author of A Pledge of Silence “There is much to praise in Eoin Dempsey’s White Rose, Black Forest, but for me it stands out from the glut of war fiction because of its poetic simplicity. Hunted by the Gestapo, can they trust each other enough to join forces on a mission that could change the face of the war and their own lives forever?Ī Goodreads Choice Award Semifinalist, Historical Fiction “ White Rose, Black Forest is partly a lyrical poem, an uncomfortable history lesson, and a page-turning thriller that will keep the reader engaged from the beginning to the end.” ―Flora J.

Their tenuous bond becomes as inseparable as it is dangerous. But when it turns out that he is not who he seems, Franka begins a race against time to unravel the mystery of the airman’s true identity. Unwilling to let him die, Franka takes him to her family’s isolated cabin despite her hatred for the regime he represents. That is, until she discovers an unconscious airman lying in the snow wearing a Luftwaffe uniform, his parachute flapping in the wind. Fervor and brutality have swept through her homeland, taking away both her father and her brother and leaving her with no reason to live. Now, as deep drifts of snow blanket the Black Forest, German dissenter Franka Gerber is alone and hopeless. In the years before the rise of Hitler, the Gerber family’s summer cottage was filled with laughter. In the shadows of World War II, trust becomes the greatest risk of all for two strangers.ĭecember 1943.

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