Bestselling author Katherine Reay returns with an unforgettable tale of the Cold War and a CIA code breaker who risks everything to free her father from an East German prison.
From the time she was a young girl, Luisa Voekler has loved solving puzzles and cracking codes. Brilliant and logical, she’s expected to quickly climb the career ladder at the CIA. But while her coworkers have moved on to thrilling Cold War assignments—especially in the exhilarating era of the late 1980s—Luisa’s work remains stuck in the past decoding messages from World War II.
Journalist Haris Voekler grew up a proud East Berliner. But as his eyes open to the realities of postwar East Germany, he realizes that the Soviet promises of a better future are not coming to fruition. After the Berlin Wall goes up, Haris finds himself separated from his young daughter and all alone after his wife dies. There’s only one way to reach his family—by sending coded letters to his father-in-law who lives on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
When Luisa Voekler discovers a secret cache of letters written by the father she has long presumed dead, she learns the truth about her grandfather’s work, her father’s identity, and why she has never progressed in her career. With little more than a rudimentary plan and hope, she journeys to Berlin and risks everything to free her father and get him out of East Berlin alive.
As Luisa and Haris take turns telling their stories, events speed toward one of the twentieth century’s most dramatic moments—the fall of the Berlin Wall and that night’s promise of freedom, truth, and reconciliation for those who lived, for twenty-eight years, behind the bleak shadow of the Iron Curtain’s most iconic symbol.
My Review:
I’ve been mulling over what to say in a review for a few days now, trying to find the words to convey the impact this story had on me. Maybe because of the political times we live in world wide — so many people are living out their own Iron Curtain situations, or can see the threat looming on the horizon. And even in countries where democracy is supposedly safeguarded, the perils of exclusion, book bans, groups of people being treated as ‘other’ etc. is very real. So, to say ‘The Berlin Letters’ got me thinking would be an understatement. This is definitely the kind of read that will sit with me for a long time to come.
Reay has done an exceptional job of merging two timelines into a cohesive whole with the kind of block buster ending worthy of an Oscar. In fact, I could easily imagine this novel in cinematic splendour. The author’s descriptions of setting and character emotions brought everything into sharp focus and made me feel my way through to the spectacular ending.
The espionage/thriller aspects had me gasping out loud and I was so invested in Luisa’s family history mystery I couldn’t stop reading…well listening. (I highly recommend the audio book. The multi-narration delivered by Saskia Maarleveld, Ann Marie Gideon and P.J. Ochlan is stunning. Their portrayal of these characters really added to my emotional investment in the story.)
I read a lot of fiction and love most of what I read but, once in awhile a spectacular novel comes my way and I know it’s spectacular because I am changed for having read it. ‘The Berlin Letters’ is that kind of book. The author challenged some of my preconceived ideas and opened my heart to being more understanding and accepting and I am grateful for that.
My thanks to Harper Muse audiobooks and Net Galley for providing me with an audio edition of The Berlin Letters.
GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:
ebook copy available to anyone with a US Kindle account (.com)
Canadians will have a choice of receiving an Amazon.ca gift card towards the purchase of an ebook OR the option of an audible.ca edition.
If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Berlin Letters , leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday March 9 2024.
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