When Does "The School for German Brides" (2022) Take Place?
"The School for German Brides: A Novel of World War II" is a historical fiction novel written by Aimie K. Runyan and released April 26th, 2022.
It takes place in the years:
We know this because the characters are forced to attend a Reich Bride School, one of a set of brainwashing institutions for young women in Nazi Germany established in 1937 AD then forcibly dissolved in May of 1944 AD. So it must take place after 1937 AD but before Summer 1944 AD.
1938 AD - 1939 AD
We know this because the characters are forced to attend a Reich Bride School, one of a set of brainwashing institutions for young women in Nazi Germany established in 1937 AD then forcibly dissolved in May of 1944 AD. So it must take place after 1937 AD but before Summer 1944 AD.
More specifically, early in the story, Hanna tells us, "There was much excitement over the agreement Hitler had signed with Britain and France that gave Germany control over the Sudetenlad." This refers to the real-world Munich Agreement, which was reached on September 30th, 1938 AD. This means it must currently be October of 1938 AD.
Furthermore, each chapter opens with a month and year: "CHAPTER ONE" starts with "August 1938" and "CHAPTER FORTY-THREE" with "December 1939".
Additionally, the book has an epilogue that takes place in 1960 AD. One character narrates to us that she has "been on the point of searching for the pair of them a dozen times in the fifteen years since the war ended." and World War II ended in 1945 AD.
1945 + 15 = 1960.
This new setting is also identified at its start by a time and place setting subheading under a section heading that together read, "EPILOGUE Washington, D.C., 1960".
