17/04/2023

To Dream of Shadows by Steve N Lee

I was contacted by the author and asked if I want to review his latest book. I loved the plot, so I said yes. I’m glad I did because To Dream of Shadows by Steve N Lee* was such a wonderful story, worth reading. Even more, it is inspired from a real story, which was very unusual. I liked his level of attention to details and that he made the book realistic. The story takes place in a small camp and not a well known one, but northern, less known, so the story was less sensational and more real. I loved that. Also, having a Nazi as the hero is very unusual, so for that reason alone the book is worth reading.

The plot is simple, in 1943, Jewish Inge is imprisoned before being moved to a labour camp. Rudi took over the command of the camp just before Inge arrived. He was a Nazi, but was not comfortable with what was happening in the camp. His love for his dog Bruno shines through. He helped prisoners because he felt it was the moral thing to do. Inge and Rudi are drawn to each other and they fell in love. It can be a death sentence for both of them.

I liked how the life in the camp was presented with most characters being neither good nor bad, but a complex mix of both. Inge is a Jew who suffers greatly, but she makes some calculated choices to improve her situation. Rudi is a Nazi, but he takes risks because he thinks that is something he should do. Most of the other characters in the book are the same, not 100% good or bad, but various shades of gray. Some characters are cruel, others selfish, others are humane and caring, but not to the point when it could be dangerous for them, and these are both Nazis and Jews.

The life in camps is presented great, showing the amount of research that went into writing this book. I liked the ending too. I can’t say more without going into details. I should say that only a couple of things were a bit of a stretch in the book, but small things that made no impact on the storyline nor the enjoyment of the book, so it is a solid 5 stars book for me.