Excerpt from Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"I don't understand," she responded, her voice catching. How many times had she practiced sounding calm in the face of danger? Apparently, not enough. Gundi focused on the sound of the clock, inhaling deeply, trying to let her heart slow to the cadence of its steady ticking.

But Dr. Ebner's throaty laughter broke her concentration. "University girls," he scoffed with a shrug toward Dr. Vogel. "They know how to lie back and spread their legs like whores, but when a doctor needs to examine them, they suddenly don't understand."

Gundi's eyes darted toward Dr. Vogel, sure that he would object to such a crass characterization of her. But he only laughed awkwardly and looked down at the speckled oilcloth flooring. Dr. Vogel had known Gundi since she was a child, always encouraging her curious nature and answering her endless questions about why there were buds on her tongue and wax in her ears. Now this trusted family doctor slinked to the back of his own office, suddenly fascinated with a shelf lined with glass jars of cotton balls and swabs. Gundi clenched her teeth. How vile she found his weakness.

Could she just run? If she refused to be examined, would Dr. Ebner look more closely into her private life? How long would it take for him to discover that her boyfriend was Jewish? When would he find out about the anti-­Nazi flyers Gundi and her friends had distributed or the resistance meetings they'd attended? Gundi couldn't afford to be impulsive, so she began unlacing the black shoes she'd bought when she first started university. The girl she had been then seemed like a different person than Gundi now, though not even two years had passed since Mutti had taken her shopping for smart outfits to wear to class. The two had been giddy with hope that day. Gundi had needed a fall jacket, but she certainly didn't need one with red lapels shaped like two halves of a heart. It wasn't the most sensible choice, but Elsbeth had said, "Everyone at university will know you as the girl with the beautiful heart."

Gundi's mother had not gone to university and had worked as a file clerk at the Reich Chancellery over the last decade, so the start of Gundi's university career was something they had both anticipated with equal excitement.

Now, as Dr. Ebner stood waiting, Gundi unbuttoned her linen skirt, and it fell to the floor. She knelt down to pick it up, embarrassed by her shaky hands, and folded it on the stool where her mother had been seated. The skirt was a favorite of hers: buttercup with peach pleats peeking out. As she unfastened her white short-­sleeved blouse, Dr. Ebner watched her, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed. When she was down to her undergarments, Gundi mustered the courage to ask for a gown to cover up.

"That will not be necessary," Dr. Ebner said. "Come now. Off with the rest of it."

"I don't think—­" Gundi began.

"No, you don't." Dr. Ebner chuckled. "Which is exactly how you got yourself into this situation."

Gundi felt the urge to stride across the room in her underwear and kick Dr. Ebner in the groin. Instead, she fell mute, the shame of her predicament beginning to sink in. She always thought of herself as smart, but clearly she hadn't been smart enough to avoid being an unmarried, pregnant woman locked in an office with a Nazi measuring her head. Exhaling deeply, Gundi resigned herself to endure the humiliation of the exam and leave as soon as possible.

Moments later, she stood naked before Dr. Ebner while he regarded her as if she were a sculpture in a museum, slowly examining her from many angles, scanning up and down. When he stopped in front of her, he met her eyes. She noted they were the same height, and he seemed to understand that too, straightening his spine and removing a comb from the top of Gundi's head in order to unwrap her braids. Dr. Ebner then used his fingers to loosen the plaits and sweep Gundi's hair behind her shoulders. "You, my dear, are perfection," he said. "I have been waiting for a girl with your features since we started the program four years ago."

Excerpted from Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn. Copyright © 2022 by Jennifer Coburn. Excerpted by permission of Sourcebooks. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.