Reading My Dearest Dietrich by Amanda Barratt took me much longer than any other average length novel. Before I explain why, join in our earlier chat!
about the book
A staggering love illuminating the dark corners of a Nazi prison…
Renowned German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is famous for his resistance to the Nazi regime and for his allegiance to God over government. But what few realize is that the last years of his life also held a love story that rivals any romance novel.
Maria von Wedemeyer knows the realities of war. Her beloved father and brother have both been killed on the battlefield. The last thing this spirited young woman needs is to fall for a man under constant surveillance by the Gestapo. How can she give another piece of her heart to a man so likely to share the same final fate? Yet when Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an old family friend, comes to comfort the von Wedemeyers after their losses, she discovers that love isn’t always logical.
Dietrich himself has determined to keep his distance from romantic attachments. There is too much work to be done for God, and his involvement in the conspiracy is far too important. But when he encounters a woman whose intelligence and conviction match his own, he’s unprepared for how easy it is to give away his heart.
With their deep love comes risk–and neither Dietrich nor Maria is prepared for just how great that risk soon becomes.
Based on detailed historical research, this true love story is at once beautiful and heartrending. My Dearest Dietrich sheds new light on a world-famous theologian . . . and the woman who changed his life.
goodreads | amazon | bookdepository | christianbook | bookbub
my thoughts
My Dearest Dietrich is one of the most intimate and individual historical reading experiences of my life. The absolute stark reality of these two lives (and the lives of their countrymen and women) strikes a poignant chord within my reader heart.
From the weight of an unseen gaze, the heat of a Gestapo agent’s breath, the deep pang of desperate hope, and the courage required to fully surrender to the Father’s will, this book pulls deeper than heartstrings and plucks at the very fibers of humanity. The authenticity of life during the war is woven into every page and drapes each moment with significance.
Although there is fiction sprinkled among the pages of this story, the author had to remind me of that fact in the note at the end of the book. These are pages to be savored and read with care. Amanda Barratt reverently honors the lives lived and sacrifices made by these people in the story we refer to as our collective history. I highly recommend this book!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
about the author
ECPA best-selling author Amanda Barratt fell in love with writing in grade school when she wrote her first story—a spinoff of Jane Eyre. Now, Amanda writes romantic, historical fiction, penning stories of beauty and brokenness set against the backdrop of bygone eras not so very different from our own. Her novel My Dearest Dietrich: A Novel of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Lost Love, released from Kregel Publications in June 2019.
She’s also the author of My Heart Belongs in Niagara Falls, New York: Adele’s Journey, as well as seven novellas with Barbour Publishing. Two of her novellas have been finalists in the FHL Reader’s Choice Awards.
Amanda lives in the woods of Michigan with her fabulous family, where she can be found reading way too many books, plotting her next novel, and jotting down imaginary travel itineraries for her dream vacation to Europe.
also available
“Only from a peaceful, free, healed heart can anything good and right take place.”
A beautiful sentence. She wanted to own it for herself, to be peaceful, free, and healed when everything around her was at war, constrained, and broken.
Don’t you love that quote?! Did you hop over to check out our q&a?
Are you adding My Dearest Dietrich by Amanda Barratt to your tbr?
Faithfully Bookish 
Lovely review! ❤
LikeLike
Thank you, Becca!
LikeLike
Beautiful review, Beth! This is a fantastic book!
LikeLike
I completely agree, Winnie! Thank you!
LikeLike