Rating: 
Summary: Inaccurate Garbage
Review: I admit I'm still in the process of reading this book, but I am already disgusted by what I have seen so far. The author claims to base his book on fact, but I have yet to see any of that. He offers quotes, but gives no sources, and quotes that CAN be verified are often out of context. His boring and cliched biographical descriptions of the Nazi hierarchy seem awfully trite, and the character relationships make no sense. On one page Geli loathes Hitler, the next, she adores him. One paragraph portrays Hitler as a sniveling weakling, the next as an overbearing tyrant.In short, this book is NOT based on fact, but rather on rumor, supposition, and gossip. I give it two stars for the sole fact that it makes for an off the wall story. Hansen clearly does not understand the mind of Adolf Hitler, and bases his portrayal of the man on the ugliest and least-validated rumors he could scrounge up. If you're looking for a perverted, twisted, almost pornographic story, you may enjoy this book. If, however, you are trying to better understand Adolf Hitler the man, then by no means use this book as a source. You would be much better off buying one of the excellent biographies of him, which, although also biased, at least use FACTUAL information to back up their suppositions. This book is utterly worthless.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Blend of Supposition and Historical Fact
Review: This is the first book I have read by Hansen, and now find myself compelled to read more. His writing flows well and is smart, but does not overwhelm the reader with too many dates or too many italicized foreign terms. The pace is quick, and one finds themselves interested in these characters. This concoction of history and fiction is well worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't finish this - it was too ugly
Review: I picked up this book hesitantly and am sorry that I did. It is not that I need to have tidy stories or a couple of identifiable protagonists, or at least a 'voice' that makes some sense.. but this was not a story about Hitler's niece (his half-sister's child), Angelika ("Geli") Raubel as much as it was yet another look at how Hitler was able to seduce an entire country and them some. I felt as if Hansen was using Geli (like Hitler, in a different way, did) - not to help us better understand this tragic, abused, oppressed spirit - but to give us yet another view of what a horribly evil power this man had. I admit that I only finished half the book - and after I gave it up as a whole, I read the last few pages because I couldn't imagine where else it might have ended. You know early on that this brilliant, feisty, happy spirit of a girl is going to be systematically controlled, oppressed, and that her flame will be doused in the most hideous manner - so why on earth would you willingly read 150 pages more to get to the inevitable. Ugh
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant Surprise
Review: As a fan of Ron Hansen's previous works, I picked up Hitler's Niece with low expectations. I didn't expect to enjoy the story. In fact, even if I enjoyed the story I expected to feel guilty for doing so as it involves hate on a global scale. In any case, I was mesmerized from page one. Far from "humanizing" Hitler, as some reviewers suggested, the novel shows that Hilter's was as brutal and maniacal in his personal affairs as he was in affairs of state. What makes the book so readable is Hansen's relentless attention to fact and detail that highligh Geli's vibrancy as well as Hitler's horrible vanity. I couldn't resist the writing any more than I could Desperadoes and The Assassination of Jesse James--other Hansen novels I didn't expect to like much as I am not into cowboy fiction. But Ron Hansen can take any topic and find the stirring and startling human truth, usually in the apparently unremarkable details of a remarkable person's life and times. I'll read anything he writes.
Rating:
Summary: He was a real wacko!
Review: I can't say as I enjoyed this book. The first half was so boring, it mainly dealt with all the different people Hitler was associated with in the early 1920's. Lots of political jargon, it was really hard to stay with the story. The only thing that kept me going was that I had read some of the customer reviews and most thought it was quite good. About halfway through the story started to be a bit more interesting. Hitlers niece, Geli Raubal, was a young woman who found herself attracted to her Uncle Adolph. He also, was fond of her and apparently at that time it wasn't totally unheard of for a niece to marry her uncle. Hitler never went that far, though, he just controlled her life and didn't let her get too close to any other men. Geli was a bit jealous of another woman Hitler spent time with, and eventually he admitted he was in love with her, but he was very odd and the things he did with her were more like molestation. Geli wants to get away from him, and Hitler knows that to continue seeing Geli will affect his political chances, so he ends up killing her and everyone pretends that it was a suicide. I know the author has fictionalized this, but I am curious as to how much is actual fact. I found the most interesting part of the whole book to be at the end where the author tells about how everyone's lives ended up...Geli's family and Hitler's friends. Most ended up killing themselves, it sounded like. All in all, I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for an entertaining, fast paced book. It would appeal to history buffs, though.
Rating: 
Summary: EDUCATIONAL
Review: I must admit that I have a deep interest in this period of Germany's history. Hitler was potrayed in a different light than I expected. Hansen introduces us to a child like Adolf Hitler overcome by the desire of his niece Agelika(Geli) His potrayel of events reflected the period well whilst incorporating fictional events that I must admit did stick out as being very fictional indeed. Overall however, the book provides us on an insight on not only Adolf Hitler, but the feeling in Germany at the time when Hitler was seducing the nation with his oratory genius. All key Nazi figures play a prominent roll in the novel. For all you history buffs, go out and get this book - it is a very educational and very entertaining book indeed.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read Novel
Review: Hansen's bold and enchanting and novel weaves a facinating fictionalized account of the bizarre relationship between Adolf Hitler and his young niece Geli. This novel was both beautiful and disturbing as readers are brought into a less than perfect world of greed and temptation. Hansen has masterfully created a moody, power-hungry Hitler who is also totally believable. While the core plot of Hitler's "love" for his young niece was riviting and haunting; what was truely artful was the poverty-stricken backdrop in which Hansen set his story against. Hansen has created a world in which people are so desperate that they are willing to compromise any moral to improve their situations even slightly. You must read this beautiful novel.
Rating: 
Summary: why write historical novels?
Review: Having read an interesting article on Ron Hansen in the Wall Street Journal as a "Catholic writer," I decided to read his work. "Mariette In Ecstasy" is interesting if you are interested in nuns, which I am not particularly. But this Hitler story raises a general question: is there any point in historical novels? I have read a great deal about Hitler and the enigmas in interpreting him, especially the most impressive book by Ron Rosenbaum, "Explaining Hitler." Rosenbaum reminds one that much of historical writing is really fiction to one degree or another, and this then raises the question whether fully novelistic treatment of historical figures and events is warranted. After reading this novel I am ready to say that I got everything I needed from Rosenbaum's treatment and Hansen's novel does not add anything, nothing interpretative, nothing esthetic, nothing at all. It keeps one's interest, or rather the subject of Hitler keeps one's interest, but Hansen really has nothing much to offer. I am sorry to say this and I will continue to read his stuff, but I think he has gotten off the track here.
Rating:
Summary: extremely disappointing
Review: The book claims to be a "carefully researched historical novel," but it is full of historical inaccuracies. Several details truly intrigued me and proved to me how poorly the author understood the society and culture of WWII Europe. Here are some examples: Hitler's favorite food was peanut butter sandwiches (I doubt peanut butter was available at that time in Germany -- it is a rarity even today); Geli shaved her legs (this was not a custom at all); people ate food out of paper plates (paper plates were not around in Germany at that time -- I doubt they were even invented yet). Although the aforementioned comments may seem trivial, I believe they are illustrative of the rest of the book. I am extremely disappointed that the author has done such a poor job at researching the material. This book is a disgrace to Hitler.
Rating:
Summary: Hitler's Niece
Review: Reference the book, I found it fascinating. An interesting, if fictional, account of the "goings on" in Hitler's family circle. Reference the audio, I was so looking forward to hearing this after reading the book but was gravely disappointing. I felt Janet McTeer's reading was "harsh and difficult to listen too" undoubtedly the result of a desire to create the "Hitler hysteria" of voice (like fingernails on a blackboard) which we have seen in newsreels, etc. I couldn't get through it.
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