In post-war Germany, Clara Falkenberg is running from the Allies. During the war, she was known as the ‘Iron Fraulein’ and ran one of the biggest iron factories in Essen, but she knows that the Allies wouldn’t understand her motives. Living under a false name, Clara returns to her home to try and find her best friend Elisa and her son. With help from a new acquaintance called Jakob, Clara begins to unravel the complexity of the war and her family. Who were the Falkenbergs really? Where is Elisa? But most importantly, where is the real Clara?
Finding Clara by Anika Scott is a really unique perspective of post-war Germany. I’ve always been interested in historical fiction surrounding World War Two, but Finding Clara stood out to me as it’s all about the aftermath of the war. Clara is being hunted by the Allies for her participation in war crimes, but she maintains her innocence. This sort of behaviour after the war was definitely not uncommon, which is why I initially thought that this is quite a controversial topic, and I wondered how Anika Scott would deal with this theme throughout.
What I enjoyed the most was Clara’s growth as a character. At first, I wasn’t entirely convinced by her innocence, but the more we read, the more we realise that her family had been lying to her. The Falkenbergs were a lot more involved in Nazi politics than they cared to show, which completely tainted Clara’s almost idealised memories of her father. The most important part was Clara owning up to what she had done. Despite her best efforts, she had been involved in Germany’s war efforts, and the scene where she realises this is very well written and is quite a heavy read.
I really liked Jakob as a character; crippled due to the war, he relies on the black market to provide for his family, and that’s how he ends up meeting Clara. Despite the two characters developing feelings for one another, it was refreshing that both of them didn’t drop everything for each other. Jakob’s priority was always his family, even if that meant betraying Clara.
There are even a few twists and turns that I didn’t expect, which made this quite an unpredictable but really enjoyable read.
I think this is one of my favourite historical fiction books I’ve read so far. It’s got a bit of everything in it, from suspense, tension, and even a bit of romance. The ending may have been a tad bit cliché, but that’s probably the ex-history student coming out of me. I thoroughly enjoyed Finding Clara.
Favourite quotes:
“Some machines are sensitive like people, and some people don’t feel much at all, like machines.”
“How does one reason with an American? They’re not equipped. They’re like puppies with machine guns.”