Review: The Secrets of the Notebook By: Eve Haas

The Secrets of the Notebook: A Woman's Quest to Uncover Her Royal Family Secret by Eve Haas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Written in a style that reminds me of being with an enthusiastic best friend, getting lost within the adventure, over the storytelling. It all begins with a little notebook, with the fear of the anti-Semitic beliefs growing and her father holding a deep rooted family secret that could end with her, a sixteen year old Eve is seated and told that she is in fact a princess and her great great grandfather who was Prussian Prince August. The secret went on to say that it was his union with his last wife Emilie Gottschalk, the daughter of a Jewish tailor that they were descended from, against his family's wishes and that they will speak no more of this.
Eve understood this was a time of necessary secrets, but this information - to tell a girl that she is descended from royals and a love story could only be on the back burner for so long. Life goes on, from Hitler to trying to get family out safely and regrettably not being able to get her paternal grandmother Anna out of Prague. As the years pass, it wasn't until her father's untimely death that the notebook is located again and the fire inside is once more do ignited do to something... but now was only the time to gather information from her uncle and only limited, this is when she sees a portrait.
For every step Ms. Haas took, she took me with her, every experience not matter how little I was with her and enjoying it. There were moments of deep sadness that reached deep within me I thought I would not be able to shake off were it not for the gentle inspirational words written by Ms. Haas almost like a whisper to help guide you out of the depth that she once found herself staring at.
When she finally goes looking, this becomes her obsession, to find out about Emilie, then to find the missing papers about her great grandmother Charlotte, and in the end to seek out the woman she loved, felt connected to, and missed most of all her grandmother Anna. Ms. Haas's drive takes her into cold war East Berlin, beyond the wall and checkpoint into archives being opened to none other but her, yet denied to the rest of the world. It is this drive that keeps you reading and going with her, heart pounding searching for the answers... and when they come, relief, heartbreak, resolution, grief, and thanks to Ms. Haas hope all comes into play.
There is mystery, intrigue, secrets, loss, hope - you name it, it is in here and it is a true story. I think everyone would find something to love about this book.

View all my reviews