The Berlin Letters

By Katherine Reay

There are so many works of historical fiction that deal with World War II. Writers have explored the different countries engaged in the war and affected by the war. They have researched and examined the lives of the individuals caught up in the horrors of war from those at the top to the common citizen and from the despots and their minions to the heroes for freedom. The Berlin Letters creates a story that showcases the strange time in Germany after World War II when the West and the Soviet Union cavalierly divided the country into two power blocks and the city of Berlin into two entities. Suddenly, people who were associated with East Berlin could not cross the street into West Berlin to shop or visit with family without fear of arrest and torture. 

As word spread that East Berlin was soon to be shut down, there was a mass exodus. Those remaining were subject to surveillance by the Stasi, a group that seemed to be everywhere and were admired by the KGB. They perfected “decomposition,” continuous torture and pressure from all directions that resulted in arrestees admitting to crimes they didn’t even commit. 

Perhaps the worst part of living in East Berlin at that time was the presence of snitches. They could be anyone, from your friend to your neighbor or work colleague. Some monitored other citizens for money, but most to protect themselves and their families.

The Berlin Letters is a complicated web of ordinary citizens, spies, revolutionary young people who protested through their punk music and clothes, propaganda writers, and the underground. It begins with Monica passing her daughter Luisa across barbed wire to her parents, who later move to the United States. Monica’s husband Haris is a successful propaganda writer for the state newspaper and believes what he writes—at first. We meet Luisa again as an adult. She works in deciphering codes left over from World War II, a skill her grandfather taught her. Never one to pass up a puzzle, she discovers that her father and her grandfather communicated over the years even though she had been told that her parents had been killed in an automobile accident. The letters include secrets so she is obligated to involve her CIA bosses. Luisa gives up all of her and her grandmother’s savings and risks her own life to travel to East Berlin to rescue someone who is about to be transferred to one of the worst prisons in East Germany. Whom can Luisa trust? Is her CIA training from years ago enough to see her through? Will her impulsive actions cause her to lose her job and clearance?

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Historical Fiction

Notes: Clean historical fiction with a touch of romance

Publication:  March 5,2024—Harper Muse

Memorable Lines:

Walther’s “I fought tooth and nail to stay, until the day I needed to leave” has become my rallying cry. I don’t want to leave. So I fight.

I’m surprised there are none of the neon signs or billboards so prevalent in West Berlin. Then I realize it’s a planned economy. There is no need for advertising.

Now I see when you grow up with little more than the necessities, you take care of them, and you don’t put your happiness into more.