The Berlin Girl
Earlier this summer I discovered The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham at our library, and was very pleasantly surprised by her prose, research and ability to draw the reader into the lives of the characters (both good and evil) and not wanting to leave their tales behind even after the book has ended. Therefore, I was beyond thrilled to receive and advanced copy of Robotham’s latest book, The Berlin Girl. I have no idea where to start with this book, what a powerful, beautiful, emotional and moving story that was so hard to put down, yet I read slowly and savored every word, as I journeyed through the rise of Hitler during pre-WWII.
Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war. When fledgling reporter Georgie Young is posted to Berlin, alongside fellow Londoner Max Spender, she knows they are entering the eye of the storm.
Arriving to a city swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis, Georgie feels helpless, witnessing innocent people being torn from their homes. As tensions rise, she realizes she and Max have to act – even if it means putting their lives on the line.
But when she digs deeper, Georgie begins to uncover the unspeakable truth about Hitler’s Germany – and the pair are pulled into a world darker than she could ever have imagined…
The Berlin Girl takes the reader on a journey through a period of time not often captured and detailed in historical fiction, and this is what drew me into the story.
As I read I found myself becoming more and more attached to each of the characters in Georgie’s life along with Georgie herself. Robotham gives the reader many characters who are appealing and easy to care about, to shed tears for, but also some truly selfish and loathsome characters who are cold and calculating and behave shockingly. I still cannot believe the ambivalence felt towards the actions of Hitler and his men by those in charge of the press and in turn shutting down articles about the real horrors already occurring in Berlin and throughout Germany, because the truth would not be palatable for their readers. Thankfully, this did not deter Georgie as she found a way to use her sarcasm and “read-between-the-lines” writing style to let the world know the truth. This is just one of the Georgie’s character will stay with me, plus she was the light in the story…strong, intelligent and ahead of her time, and I found myself truly admiring her strong spirit. Throughout the story, she was always ready to put herself out there, help others, and even put her own life on the line in order to do what was right.
For those who love action in their stories, this book has quite a few moments where I found myself holding my breath and gripping my IPad so tight that my knuckles turned white as I hoped and prayed everything would end well for each character I had grown so fond of.
This was an engaging story about a tumultuous time in which a strong woman was willing to stand up, record the facts and stay present to the horrors beginning to engulf Berlin and in turn ended up changing the world forever. If you are a fan of historical fiction, this book is definitely one to pick up!
Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
