The Black Eagle Inn (The Three Nations Trilogy) Book 3 by Christoph Fischer

In this last book of the trilogy, we are given a micro view of what it means to live in a nation decimated by a war waged and lost against the rest of the world. The Hinterberger's are a proud family living in Heimkirchen, Germany, farming land that has been in the family for a while and running the local inn, The Black Eagle. All the problems that can beset a country in turmoil are seen in this family.

Desperate to own the family properties, Anna drives her brother off. When her father dies, Anna inherits everything and becomes the family matriarch. With her husband off at war, Anna runs everything to suit herself. Unable to have children of her own, she takes in young family members and raises them. She has taken in the propaganda and is a strict xenophobic. She refuses to hire anyone not from her own part of Germany. Religious differences cause strife within the extended family. Relative is pitted against relative in the belief that one or the other will inherit this or that portion of the Hinterberger properties.

Underhanded dealings provide luxury items for the restaurant at a time when they could not otherwise be afforded, and the family prospers. Much like the country at large, the various members of the family are doing what they must to survive and ensure they receive what they believe they are due for their efforts. Underhanded dealings, trickery, poison, creating false documents are all part and parcel of trying to rebuild and survive in the aftermath of a war that leaves many Germans ashamed.

The struggles of trying to survive in a country attempting to rebuild itself and regain respectability as the horrors of its leaders is made public is both heartrending and poignant. Families are torn apart and brought back together. Once again, Fischer has brought to life a world that most of us today weren't alive to witness, and done so eloquently. His characters come to life in a way that draws you into the story. You have to feel for them; he leaves you no choice. Whether those feelings are sadness, disgust, compassion, you must feel.

From a quiet farm to a family and country rising from the ashes back into respectability, Fischer handles everything with a deftness I've come to expect from his writing. Having read all of the books in the Three Nations Trilogy, it is obvious Fischer is passionate and extremely knowledgeable about the subjects of which he writes. His characters are well developed as they are in the other books.

Although the narrative moves slow and is detailed, I believe this is necessary for the reader to fully understand what the family, and in a broader view, Germany itself, is going through. Luck of the Weissensteiners, Sebastian, and The Black Eagle Inn show us a better view of Germany during this time period than any history book I ever read in school. No history can be complete that ignores the citizens of the country being studied. Fischer has done an excellent job filling in important blanks in my own education, for which I give him thanks. This book, and in fact the entire trilogy are thought-provoking, requiring you to question what you thought you knew and understood. You have to feel something. Can any book be ignored that does that?

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is available from Amazon.