Tattooed Angels

Tattooed Angels by Steven A. Wilkens is a different kind of book than I’m accustomed to reading. I wouldn’t classify it as a “romance” but it is DEFINITELY a love story.

Tattooed Angels tells the story of Josef and Katrina Stein. When the Nazis invade Poland Josef, Katrina and their daughter Elsa are separated and taken to concentration camps. When the war is over Josef and Katrina are finally reunited only to discover that their daughter did not survive. They emigrate to the United States with hopes of making a better life, healing the soul deep wounds from the war and filling the void left by Elsa’s death.

They are lucky in that Josef finds a good job with a man who believes in rewarding his employees justly and thanks to him they find themselves the owners of a shack that had once been a beautiful home. Josef is a master carpenter and knows that he can turn the shambles into a thing of beauty once more. Unfortunately the house is the least of their worries. Neither has been completely honest with the other regarding some things that happened before and during the war. They must now face and deal with their own guilt before it undermines the love they share.

Tattooed Angels is the kind of book that will rip your heart out, stomp on it a few times and then put it back in your body leaving you feeling better than ever. There are a variety of characters from the very poor to the very rich and they all contribute something vital to this story. It is impossible to read this book and not feel the emotions right along with the characters. I laughed, I cried and at times I had chill bumps from the emotions that this book invokes.

This story takes place in the aftermath of one of, if not the, darkest periods in world history, the Holocaust. This is a time that none of us like to hear about or think about and I admit that I put the book down on more than one occasion with no intention of finishing it. Josef and Katrina’s story begged to be heard and I could not ignore it. I sincerely hope that you will not be able to ignore it either because this is a book that will live in my mind forever.

Reviewed by: Missy