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Elena Graf
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Lies of Omission (Passing Rites Book 3) Kindle Edition

by Elena Graf (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 out of 5 stars 106 ratings
In 1938, Margarethe von Stahle is desperately trying to practice ethical medicine despite the Nazi policy of "racial hygiene" that is forcing doctors to collaborate in the extermination of the handicapped and mentally ill. She has always avoided politics, but now she must decide whether to remain on the sidelines or to act on her convictions. At the same time, she is struggling to hold her family together, despite intrigue, secrecy, and an unforgivable indiscretion. The people she holds most dear are conspiring against her for their own ends. Neither of Margarethe's children are playing to script, frustrating her hopes for the future of the House of Langenberg-Edelheim. Perhaps the only solution is to face the truth...or tell more lies of omission.
This timely novel is the third volume of the Passing Rites series, which follows the aristocratic Stahle family through the 20th century. Set in the last years before World War II, Lies of Omission addresses the challenge of resistance to the Third Reich. Despite great danger, some doctors honored their Hippocratic Oath. Ordinary citizens, working in small groups, came to the aid of the disenfranchised. A few brave souls managed to keep their moral compass, while all around them, a nation descended into collective lunacy.

"The writer captured the tone of the between-the-world-wars-era aristocratic Germany perfectly. The characters were complex and nuanced, and their story arcs compellingly told. I was engrossed from the very start. Wonderfully rich storytelling had me wanting for more, and I could hardly wait to start the next book in the series." - Rainbow Awards
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  1. Book 3 of 4
    Passing Rites
  2. Print length
    374 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    September 17, 2018
  6. File size
    1.4 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07HFTL948
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Purple Hand Press
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 17, 2018
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.4 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 374 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0983696049
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Book 3 of 4 ‏ : ‎ Passing Rites
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 106 ratings

About the author

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Elena Graf

Elena Graf

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Award-winning novelist Elena Graf has been scribbling stories since high school. Her first novel, Occasions of Sin, was published in 2012. Graf considers herself primarily a historical novelist, but her contemporary Hobbs series, set in a small town in Maine, has introduced her work to many new readers. The four historical novels in the Passing Rites series, are set in Europe in the early 20th century and show how a noble family dealt with the momentous changes of the period. Lies of Omission, the third volume in the Passing Rites Series, won a Golden Crown Literary Society award for best historical fiction and a Rainbow Award. The fourth volume, Acts of Contrition also won a Goldie and a Rainbow Award.

The author pursued a Ph.D. in philosophy but ended up in the “accidental profession” of publishing, where she worked for almost four decades. She lives with her wife in coastal Maine.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
106 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a vivid saga that immerses readers in historical events. They praise its readability and authenticity, with one customer noting how it reflects human behavior. The character development receives positive feedback, with one review highlighting the amazing portrayal of characters trying to survive Nazi atrocities.

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12 customers mention "Storytelling"12 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the storytelling in the book, describing it as a vivid and sweeping saga of a time in history, with one customer noting how readers are fully immersed in the historical narrative.

"...They are beautifully written and the reader is fully immersed in a piece of history...." Read more

"...middle of the series written by the author however it is also a standalone story that does have connections between the previous and the future book..." Read more

"This series has been a joyful experience. I am currently on book 4, which sadly, brings this epic journey to an end - but back to book 3...." Read more

"...I love that a life story is flushed out so I can glimpse many views of a cathartic moment in history...." Read more

8 customers mention "Readability"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, with one customer noting they were enthralled within the first two pages.

"...I highly recommend this series, as I loved both books a great deal...." Read more

"...A superb series thus far, and thoroughly enjoyed. Very highly recommended." Read more

"...The drama jumps off the page and totally engages the reader. So very good." Read more

"...I was enthralled within the first two pages and was willingly captured by this amazing story to the last word on the last page...." Read more

4 customers mention "Authenticity"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the authenticity of the book, with one noting how it reflects real human behavior and another highlighting its powerful portrayal of truth as an aphrodisiac.

"...that aren’t always comfortable to read about, but they are very real to human behavior...." Read more

"...The characters are complex and so real at a time I can remember from history books...." Read more

"...You would be denying yourself an outstanding and unique experience." Read more

"Truth as a Powerful Aphrodisiac..." Read more

4 customers mention "Character development"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with one noting how amazing it is to see characters trying to survive Nazi atrocities.

"...The characters are complex and so real at a time I can remember from history books...." Read more

"...The historical aspect of this novel and the characters trying to survive the Nazi atrocities are amazing...." Read more

"...Elena is a wonderful story teller, who brings her characters to life and revisits one of the most horrific and enlightening times in the history of..." Read more

"...Although Lies of Omission is part of a trilogy, this book has the character development, depth, and narrative intrigue to be read and enjoyed as a..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • vacatedboat
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lies of Omission
    Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    ‘Lies of Omission’ is the follow-up to Elena Graf’s ‘Occasions of Sin.’ In the first book, the reader is introduced to Margarethe, an aristocratic surgeon and atheist…and Katherine, a nun with a past shrouded in mystery. The first book in this series is of their coming together.

    ‘Lies of Omission’ is written in first person from alternating perspectives, as was the first book. However, this go around, a third POV is added. Konrad, Margarethe’s cousin and Katherine’s husband (who is also introduced in the first book), is given his own voice.

    ‘Lies of Omission’ drops the reader in 1938 Berlin during a time when the Nazi policies of racial hygiene greatly influence the professional lives of our main protagonists. As both Margarethe and Katherine are doctors, they are both impacted by the rules that require them to report genetic defects and must make hard decisions on what side of the political landscape they will fall.

    For romance lovers, this is, in fact, a love story within a very rich setting. Margarethe and Katherine are raising their daughter in Grunewald, but as happens in relationships, they have become a bit detached from one another over the years. Katherine is just starting her career and is often too busy to spend time with her daughter, never mind her partner. She also wants another child, which Margarethe is a bit reluctant to accept. Whereas book one was the story of their beginning, this is the story of their reconnection after the years have caused a sort of stagnation.

    As noted in my review of the first book, the mains make a lot of decisions through this series that aren’t always comfortable to read about, but they are very real to human behavior. We watch the characters fall and we watch them pick themselves back up and grow.

    I highly recommend this series, as I loved both books a great deal. They are beautifully written and the reader is fully immersed in a piece of history. It is not always a very pleasant history, but it is a very real one. My preference is for a book to give me something to think about, which is why I enjoy historical romance so much, and Graf has succeeded.

    All the stars, plus some (if only that were possible).

    Side note:

    I recommend that 'Occasions of Sin' is read first.

    For clarification, as there has been some confusion about why ‘Occasions of Sin’ is labeled book two and ‘Lies of Omission’ is labeled book three, the author wrote on GoodReads recently that: “Book 1 is actually a "prequel" and is still being written.”
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Ro
    5.0 out of 5 stars A story well worth reading.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Elana Graf it's a fabulous storyteller. The story background is life in Germany between the two world wars as Hitler is coming into power. The story revolves around three main characters, Margarethe who is a physician and has the air of enormous wealth, her cousin Konrad who does all sorts of work from Margarethe, and Catherine also a physician and the mother of Fiona a child she shares with Konard. Konrad and Katherine while they love each other are not really husband and wife because Katherine belongs to Margarethe.The storyline between Katherine and Margarethe is beautifully told as is the love they both share for Fiona.

    I appreciate that the chapters in this book are told from each of the main characters point of view which gives great insight into their thinking. The timeframe of the story is one of constant change and how the main characters deal with the change in their environment while interesting, is also filled with lies of omission.
    The skill and artistry that the author put into the story as she wrote it is phenomenal. There's detail about living in the time between the two wars, and, despite all of the changes, the love between the characters in the story remained consistent and strong.
    This book is in the middle of the series written by the author however it is also a standalone story that does have connections between the previous and the future book. I highly recommend this book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Cheryl
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lies of Omission - An excellent follow-on account..
    Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This series has been a joyful experience. I am currently on book 4, which sadly, brings this epic journey to an end - but back to book 3. How appropriate the events were that took place in this book, just before the start of WW2 and the vicious fighting which followed, to that which (again) confronts us all at this time. As back then, tensions between countries are on the rise and a definite stench of war is starting to emanate from across the globe. It seems as though we will never learn. The hurt and loss caused, as a direct result of a cruel war that raged on whilst homes and families were torn apart and destroyed, appears to have been been lost/forgotten in man's memory - as in "here we go again." This book contains the raw facts of the brutality as meted out to the characters which we had grown to love and admire in the series. They too, were also compelled, on inner reflection, to revisit aspects of their own hitherto ignored prejudices. Yet above all that, they held on, with unshakable faith that life, as they once knew it, would return to normal again, oneday. A superb series thus far, and thoroughly enjoyed. Very highly recommended.
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  • Ps58
    5.0 out of 5 stars What we don't say can hurt more than all the truth we can hear.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    The continued journey of Margarethe and Katherine take us into something beyond simple understanding. It is 1938, the Nazis regime is taking power and life is changing fast. Katherine s daughter Fiona has brought a love into the house but Dr hours keep our heroines busy. To protect themselves and each other they will make choices that could destroy so much. I can't begin to express the emotions that ran through me reading this story. Chills as history unfolds in the lives of characters I love. Anger for not making good choices and simply not telling something to someone they say they love. The characters are complex and so real at a time I can remember from history books. I love that a life story is flushed out so I can glimpse many views of a cathartic moment in history. I felt such fear and horror many times but a deep love of these characters.. Thank Elena Graf for the brilliant portrait.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Patricia Spencer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Bold & Original Story—No Cookie Cutter Used!
    Reviewed in Canada on October 30, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I am posting this same review for three titles in the Passing Rites Series because by rights, this is one epic saga that takes place over the span of three volumes (plus the prequel, The Imperative of Desire, that I haven’t read yet).

    These novels take place in Germany between WWI and post-WWII reconstruction. They follow the complicated life and loves of Margarethe von Stahle, a brilliant German surgeon from a wealthy and aristocratic Prussian family, whose lineage and rigorous upbringing is by turns her salvation and her undoing.

    This series is so layered, it’s hard to know where to start reviewing it. For me, the salient point is that Elena Graf has crafted a story that features a difficult noblewoman surviving in an historical period where her world is being pulled out from beneath her. Margarethe demonstrates that it is not the titles and the land that make her worthy, but her very way of meeting the forces that would undo her.

    This is a character who can act entitled, high-handed, and self-centred, while also being generous, courageous, and selfless. Ironically, she is a woman who excels at everything she sets her hand to—except her intimate relationships, which tend to be troubled—often because of the very traits that make her heroic. She demonstrates the trap of having great influence and power: Those who want to love her can never love her on equal footing. (As Margarethe’s daughter puts it: “I desperately wanted something of my own, something you didn’t control, something that didn’t belong to you.”)

    I confess that I hesitated to read this series because I was offput by the idea of reading about Nazi Germany, but I finally dove in because I had read other novels by this author and enjoyed them. As it turned out, this book dwelt mostly in the spaces between the battles. There were no blow-by-blow reports of the war, but rather a dwelling in the spaces leading up to them, between them, and after them.

    If you’re tired of reading same-old, same-old LesFic, here is an excellent alternative.
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  • Ka
    5.0 out of 5 stars History come alive
    Reviewed in Germany on August 9, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Each book of Elena Graf's historical Passing Rites series deals with a different stage of aristocratic surgeon Margarethe von Stahle's life, and is set in a different era of German history: the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, NS and post World War II Germany; each book perfectly capturing the different atmospheres of life under these respective forms of government.

    This installment, Lies of Omission, is set in Nazi Germany from 1938 up until the eve of World War II on 1 September 1939.

    The author successfully puts herself, and her readers, in the shoes of her true to life characters, offering what feels like an insider's take on this thoroughly researched, most horrific chapter of German history.

    This book is a historical, and not a romance novel, though it does contain very touching moments of romance, as well as a complex network of personal and all kinds of other relationships among its characters.

    Its considerable suspense is derived almost exclusively from historical facts, resulting in quite a few deeply emotional moments - without ever crossing the line into the overly sentimental.

    For me as a German of the "Kriegsenkel" generation (i.e. grandchildren of war), reading this book felt like history come alive, which was quite different an experience from what I was taught in history lessons at school (though the facts are the same), or what I learned from my parents, who were but little children at the time, or our grandparents, who preferred not to talk about this period of their lives at all.

    It is certainly not an easy book to read, but very well written and highly recommendable.
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  • Philologus
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant insights into a difficult, pivotal time
    Reviewed in Germany on April 14, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    What a book! brilliant and at the same time a very tough read: For one the Nazis are more and more taking over Germany and medicine with their pseudoscience of race and hygiene. Graf catches brilliantly the tough decisions to be made even by those privileged and many have to pay a high or even ultimate price. Margarete is … sigh, Margerete. Sometimes one wants to bang her over her head but basically she is a heroic butch who tries her best although she sometimes slips.
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  • Marilyn Langlois
    5.0 out of 5 stars So so good!
    Reviewed in Canada on March 6, 2019
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    Every book of this series gets better and better. Such a strong and beautiful story. The characters are flawed and real and we fall in love with each and every one of them.
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  • RebeccaF
    5.0 out of 5 stars Spannende Fortsetzung der Geschichte um die Adlige und die Nonne
    Reviewed in Germany on April 23, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Die Fortsetzung spielt 6 Jahre nach dem ersten Buch, also in den Jahren 1938/39. Die Nazi Herrschaft ist nun deutlich bemerkbar und die Autorin beschreibt sehr anschaulich, wie sich die kruden Rassentheorien immer weiter in den Alltag der Hauptcharaktere hineinfressen. Im ersten Teil des Buches geht es aber vorrangig um die Beziehung von Margarethe und Katherine, in der eine deutliche Entfremdung eingetreten ist. Diese erste Teil enthält einige sehr erotische Szenen.
    Die Erzählperspektive wurde um eine Person erweitert. Neben Margarethe und Katherine wird nun auch ein Teil der Geschichte aus der Sicht von Konrad, dem Cousin Margarethes erzählt. Die einzelnen Erzählabschnitte sind im Gegensatz zum ersten Teil deutlich gekennzeichnet, so dass es leichter fällt sich an die unterschiedlichen Perspektiven zu gewöhnen.
    Alle Hauptcharaktere lügen durch 'Weglassen' bzw. Verschweigen (daher der Titel). Keine der Hauptpersonen ist deshalb durchweg sympathisch, sondern alle haben ihre Fehler und Macken, was wiederum sehr zur Glaubwürdigkeit beiträgt.
    Wer den ersten Teil gelesen hat für den ist auch dieses Buch ein Muss.
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