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Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
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The Girl from the Mountains: Absolutely heartbreaking and gripping World War 2 historical fiction Kindle Edition

by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,091 ratings
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“Absolutely heartbreaking… Gripped me from the first page and I read it in one sitting!… Will stay with me for a long time.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1942, Czechoslovakia: Gently, she lowered the sleeping infant, swaddled in blankets, down into the tiny, dark space and carefully replaced the wooden floorboards. As she stepped back, she heard the slamming of doors, voices shouting in German and the sound of dogs beginning to bark…

When the Gestapo arrive to arrest Magda’s kind, Jewish employers—clever Dr Tauber and his talented wife—she has only moments to save their tiny new-born son Samuel by placing him in a makeshift hiding place beneath the floor in her room.

With the Taubers gone, their alpine villa is taken over by a brutal Nazi commander, who is determined to hunt down Resistance fighters in the mountains. Trapped in the house, Magda manages to get Samuel into hiding with her friends in the Resistance. Magda supports the cause, passing coded messages about the commander and smuggling much-needed supplies to their secret network.

Magda is playing a dangerous game and it isn’t only her life on the line. And she will need to risk more than she ever thought possible to keep Samuel safe...

A heart-breaking wartime epic of love, bravery, survival and one young woman’s exceptional courage, set against the backdrop of wild and beautiful forests and mountains. Perfect for fans of My Name is Eva, The Alice Network and The German Midwife, this novel will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.

Previously published as Magda’s Mark, this edition has substantial editorial changes.

Praise for The Girl from the Mountains:


“Fantastic!!! There wasn’t a moment when I wasn’t gripped!... My heart really ached… Incredibly gripping!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Kept me up all night and I finished this book with tears in my eyes after I read the ending!... Powerful, gripping… Unputdownable… Five stars!” Tropical Girl Reads Books, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“A gripping story that will stay with you long after you have put it down… I highly recommend.” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I could barely put down the book. I smiled, cried… I recommend it to all history lovers!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“What a story!... I loved the ending!” NetGalley reviewer

“Grab a few tissues… Such a powerful story you must read.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I loved Magda… A unique and gripping novel. It was hard to put it down.” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Gripping read… Magda is a compelling heroine … The authenticity of time and place was captured so well.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Wonderful intense read… So vivid you will feel you are there. I could not put this story down. I loved the book.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Riveting, intense… From the very beginning you feel like you're amidst the chaos, the heartbreak, the despair but also the incredible bravery and spirit of the people in WWII.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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  1. Print length
    318 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    February 3, 2021
  5. File size
    1864 KB
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  7. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Historical Novel Society review:
REVIEW BY FIONA ALISON
In 1938, when the family farm is confiscated by the Reich, young Magda Novák is directed to a mountain villa, where she is welcomed by a wealthy Jewish family as governess and helpmeet. Dr Tauber has 'special exemptions' to keep his family safe. Nevertheless, they are arrested and imprisoned in 1942, but not before Dr Tauber entrusts their newborn son to Magda. The Taubers' arrest fuels Magda's struggle for the rest of the novel. Smuggled out of the villa before it is commandeered by the Obergruppenführer, baby Samuel is lost to Magda, but she remains as staff, passing information to the resistance, some of whom are friends from the villa. Her inability to properly disguise her disfiguring facial birthmark compromises her efforts and soon enough puts her top of the Obergruppenführer's wanted list with a bounty on her head. Magda is often at odds with the resistance group, but her distrustful nature and her vulnerability are part of the charm of her character.

The partisans can do little to withstand the Nazi invasion, so they run and hide and try to stay alive. Fleeing across the mountains to Slovakia, Magda learns to fight and shoot, relying on only one man she trusts. She nurses the wounded and risks herself on dangerous missions. Even if the world one day rights itself, Magda knows that her fellow partisans are too diverse - Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Gentiles and Jews - leading to perpetual infighting, with everyone with their own agenda for the war's end. Through it all Magda's task is two-fold: stay alive and save one Jewish boy.

The main interest here is the unusual time and place, which we don't hear much about. The story is engrossing, well-researched, crackling with tension and full of descriptive detail. This will appeal to readers interested in WWII stories beyond the scope of the norm.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08P4VG17J
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bookouture (February 3, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 3, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1864 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 318 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,091 ratings

About the author

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Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

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Award-winning historical fiction!

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger is a Ukrainian-American who transplanted to Austria. She is the granddaughter of Ukrainian partisans and grandparents who survived a Nazi concentration camp.

Born in 1969, she grew up in the culture-rich neighborhood of "Nordeast" Minneapolis, part of the Ukrainian diaspora, and started her writing career with short stories, travel narratives, and poetry. She worked as a journalist and managing magazine editor, before jumping the desk and pursuing her own writing and traveling.

Her books tackle David-vs.-Goliath themes with strong women battling for the Underdogs against a system, be it political, geographical, or industrial. Sometimes all three. "I enjoy discovering the good, the bad, and the ugly in my characters when they come into conflict," she says. "And all of my stories have been inspired by injustices I've discovered along my travels."

The RESCHEN VALLEY series is based on the South Tyrolean-Italian conflict during the interwar period and was inspired by her travels to the Reschen Lake reservoir.

Her collection of short stories, which "reads like a novel", SOUVENIRS FROM KYIV won the silver medal in the IPPY Book Awards 2020 and features six stories inspired by true accounts from WW2 Ukraine. THE WOMAN AT THE GATES she calls her magnum opus and is based on her family in WW2 Ukraine.

THE GIRL FROM THE MOUNTAINS was inspired by an anecdote about a Nazi family from Austria.

Her DIPLOMAT'S WIFE trilogy (2023) follows Kitty Larsson, a U.S. senator's daughter who marries an Austrian diplomat before the Anschluss, only to discover that his family is not what she thought they were. Part spy-thriller, part political-thriller, the series promises a wild romp as Kitty navigates the events of WW2 with her moral compass in hand.

For more on Chrystyna, dive in at inktreks(dot)com.

AWARDS:

IPPY Book Award 2020 silver medal winner for SOUVENIRS FROM KYIV.

Long-listed in the Flash500 Novel Competition 2017 for No Man's Land/The Breach.

Winner of the Flash500 Short Story Competition with an extract from Bolzano.

Winner of the Coffee Pot Book Club Book Award Box and Box Set of the Year 2019 for the Reschen Valley Box Set.

A Discovered Diamond, shortlisted for Book of the Month July 2019, Reschen Valley Box Set

Reader's Favorite 5-star reviews for Bolzano, The Smuggler of Reschen Pass, and Magda's Mark (featured in The Road to Liberation Collection).

HNS International Short Story 2nd Place Winner 2014 for Souvenirs from Kyiv (short story in the Souvenirs from Kyiv collection)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
2,091 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

IndianaHappyTraveler
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting!
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2023
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I found this book difficult to put down, as the author so successfully draws the reader into, and invested in, the story.
Many WWII stories are told, but few are of the ordinary Czech, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian families struggle when the Nazis invaded. I knew of the atrocities against Jewish people, but did not realize that the demonic hatred and policies were extended to ANY non-German people (my shame). This book opened my eyes to the deliberate suffering and death inflicted on the conquered peoples.
Against this violent background, we read of a young girl/young woman whose family is displaced by the Germans, and who are forced to send her out to find work to support herself. She finds refuge in a physician’s household as a governess of sorts for their young daughter, a wonderful situation for her. However, her security and happiness are put at risk, as the family is Jewish. We follow our heroine and this family as they struggle through these difficult years, during which our heroine grows up.
This book will be appreciated by readers wanting an in-depth view of life in Nazi occupied countries as experienced by both Jewish and non-Jewish civilians during these terrible years. One cannot doubt that similar atrocities are likely continuing in wars down to our day.
2 people found this helpful
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B. J. Taylor
4.0 out of 5 stars Terror in Czechoslovakia
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2021
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Recently there have been some great WWII time period books set in some of the countries we have heard little about, such as Italy, Greece, etc. This book is set in the Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia.

The theme the author wanted to attack was “How far can one go before they lose their soul?” After several tragic losses of people she loves, Magda was finally driven to join the resistance. Reading about the cruelties the people faced each day, I wondered how people managed to keep going. It is an amazing story of people’s capacity to survive the worst of times.

The author meticulously researched for this book. The maps in the front of the book were very helpful. Under the author’s masterful writing, the characters came to life. Magda’s evolution was the core of the story. She was a strong, brave, adaptable, and realistic character. She was determined to survive. Much of the story focused on the partisans in the local area. With lots of tension in the story, I was kept on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book.

“We are shaped by our circumstances and marked by our choices.”
One person found this helpful
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Marina Osipova
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story of daring to resist
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021
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Grounded in scrupulous research, this extraordinary war story transports the reader into Czechoslovakia in the first years of German occupation and throughout WWII.
To avoid spoilers, I’ll refrain from recounting the events unfolding in the story. However, I can’t help but mention that in the core of it is a young Czech woman, Magda, who commits a surprising act of revenge. Who would expect such courage and later self-sacrifice in the fight against the German oppressors from a naïve girl the reader meets in the first pages of this captivating story?
I’m in awe of the author’s writing style. Each phrase and nuance add to the depth of the plot and characters. Conflict and tension await the reader on every page.
This is an exceptional read you won’t be able to erase from your mind. Anyone who enjoys WWII historical fiction will love this book. Highly recommended.
6 people found this helpful
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SuZReader
5.0 out of 5 stars This book looks at the role of women in the WW2 Czechoslovakian resistance
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2021
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This is a World War II story about a young girl, Magda, who lives on a farm with her parents and brothers. Born with a large birth mark on her cheek, she’s been teased mercilessly her entire life, eroding her self confidence. During World War II, a German family takes over the farm. The sons are forced into the German Army, and Magda is suddenly homeless. Eventually she is hired as a nanny by a Jewish family, the Taubers, who continue to live in the area under special dispensation. When the Gestapo arrests them, Magda hides their new baby until the local resistance rescues him. Magda continues to work with the villa under the thumb of a German family and passing information to the resistance. After she makes a critical error, she escapes but has a price on her head.

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger gives the reader the story of a remarkable young woman. Magda has a wonderful character arc moving from a simple village maiden who lacks self-confidence; as her role in the resistance increases, she realizes her own strength and becomes brave and accomplished at her various positions within the resistance. Lucyk-Berger also provides an in-depth look of the roles women played during the war and what they were able to accomplish. Similar books I’ve read show the French resistance at work, but this book looks at the Czechoslovakian resistance, something I’ve never read about before. The horrors of war, neither glossed over nor sensationalized, have enough depth to allow the reader to see them yet not be grossed out.
13 people found this helpful
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Beverlyd
4.0 out of 5 stars The Girl From The Mountains
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2023
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This is another interesting book taking place during WWII. The location is Czechoslovakia and gives us some insight as to how they were treated by the Germans. I found the story and characters believable and their experiences tragic. It's scary how Hitler manipulated his countrymen and got them to follow his evil plans. Everyone in the world should be aware how it happened and not let anything like that ever happen again.
One person found this helpful
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DMS
3.0 out of 5 stars A good book
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2021
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A completely different story than I had expected. Magda was a interesting character. Watching her change from a naive young woman to a fierce resistance member who was also caring and loving. Karol 's character could have used some additional detailing his memories, feelings, thoughts especially about Magda.

All in all a decent book. Interesting as I have very little knowledge about those countries or of their people. Was always routing for Magda!
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Barbara Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Book review
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024
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I am an avid reader!! Sometimes 4 a week! I read this book one afternoon!! Great story!
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Top reviews from other countries

Toscana
5.0 out of 5 stars “We are shaped by our circumstances, and marked by our choices.”
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 3, 2021
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Review for The Girl from the Mountains by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

This is a gritty, powerful, heart-breaking war novel set in what was once known as Bohemia, the German Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia. I was enthralled to discover a new area of history that I knew very little about, brought to life with believable characters and hooking me right in with the first menacing, ominous pages.
It’s a story about war that spares no punches – shows us the cruelty and prejudices of Nazi Germany against the courage and determination of the resistance, but not in swashbuckling, derring-do style. Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger paints us a war where “it’s dog eat dog.” It is passionate without being slushy, introducing us to a cast of characters that are flawed but strong, showing us how the human spirit and desire to do right can conquer. The heroine, Magda, has a distinctive birthmark on her face and she is told: “…birthmark is not an excuse for avoiding risks. It should not be the thing that prevents you from performing acts of courage.” I love that she proceeds with bravery but is fearful (and therefore so identifiable) at the same time. She is truly human even though her lover calls her a “warrior queen”.
I have read other books by this talented author but this is her best so far, in my opinion. The writing flows, the descriptions are original, the world these characters live in was so vivid to me. There are beautiful, clever lines like when the Nazis begin to roll in: “… witness the Germans chalking off the Sudetenland demarcation with their exhaust fumes”. I love the author’s voice: “A crow cawed and grazed the winter sky…”; the menacing lines where Magda is interrogated: “Koenig strode to her, reaching over and crushed the cigar out, leaving a dark bruise in the ashtray…”; “Danger left a funny metallic taste on Magda’s tongue. It stuck to the roof of her mouth, thick and syrupy. Sometimes it made her feel sick…”. Towards the end of the story, when the hunted become the hunters and Magda returns to her birthplace for the first time since the outbreak: “This was what it must have felt like to be dead and to return as a ghost, to be looking in on a life that had gone on without her.”. These are just a few lines that I highlighted and went back to savour again.
I’d like to add that the maps at the front of the book are very useful and helped explain the complex history.
My thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read an early copy of this amazing book in return for an unbiased review. I have since bought it too, as I need this book on my shelves. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 full fat stars.
8 people found this helpful
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Hezzie
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in Canada on December 6, 2021
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I enjoyed this book from cover to cover.
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Caz Matthews
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2022
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I enjoyed this story very much, the characters, the details kept me glued until the end. I so wanted Magda to have some happiness in her life at the end, and she did!
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Zofia
3.0 out of 5 stars History of generation before us.
Reviewed in Canada on September 11, 2021
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I personally know a lot about the underground work during the war, however, this writing was very confusing for me.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A difficult rewarding book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2021
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I nearly gave up on this book, having tried three times to get through the first 'introductory' part. The names, places, and the pronounciation of these in my head when reading, proved very difficult for me. How very glad I am that I persisted and had another try. The story was sobering, horrifying and will remain with me for a very long while.

Whilst one learns about the atrocities commited by the Nazi's against the Jewish people, it takes a fictional account like this one, to involve one fully. This is perhaps because one needs to engage not just with one's head, but also with one's heart to understand and empathise on a deeper level. The tale told by the author is truly horrifying.

Magda's terror is so well illustrated that I was very fearful for her throughout. Lucyk-Berger's description of what the years of hiding and abject fear do to her humanity as a person, are very believable and all the more shocking for it. I was relieved that redemption from this descent into ruthlessness was allowed for Magda in the final pages.

This book should be required reading lest we ever see the like of those horrors again.
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