A good historical fiction.
A mystery drama,intrigue during and after WWII .
A good insight into the stories and life of those that lived during that time.
Did learn somethings that I didn't know.
Voluntarily reviewed

I could not put this book down! I loved it.

I really enjoyed the WWII storyline, especially Ada's diary entries.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s press for an advance reader copy in exchange for my review.

I have just finished reading the book while on a vacation and I must say it was truly a page turner. I was reading it during all my down times! I enjoy reading, but for the past few years have not had the time. His book was one that made me sad that I have been missing it!

The story is really 2 stories entwined together that then will all make sense at the end. While it is fictional, it sure makes you feel like it is a true story in the times of Nazi occupation and world war 2 as a Jew. The other story line is certainly present, but really did t seem like the “meat” in the book. It does allow the story to drive, which I found to be refreshing.

I really enjoyed this book. Catherine and Liam are a great couple, but their story wasn't the one that interested me. I loved getting to know Ada, the Jewish violin prodigy, who came of age in Germany just as the Nazis took control of the country. Reading Ada's diary and learning all that she experienced, saw, and did wrenched my heart and kept me reading long into the night. Even though this was fiction and it's not the best book in the world, it was a very good read. It was engaging, the characters were real and easy to relate with, and the settings were beautifully described. I was pleased to learn Mr. Balson has a Catherine and Liam series, and I'll definitely be reading his other books.

I have read all of Balson's books and enjoyed this one. Unfortunately, the references to Pre and Post Nazi Germany have an eery feeling in the age of Trump and what we could be seeing down the road.

Balson skillfully combines the beautiful and touching stories of 2 women, Ada during WWII and Gabi in modern Italy. Their stories are woven together by a manuscript/journal, which we are allowed to read and ultimately understand the connection between present-day Italy and WW II Germany.

The catalyst is the attempt to dispossess the elderly Gabi from her much loved vineyards in Tuscany. An American couple is dispatched by relatives in Chicago to try to help Gabi keep her land. Gabi insists that they read Ada's journal to help them understand what happened.

We read about the young musician, raised in cultured Weimar Germany who is a violin prodigy and how the tentacles of Nazi hatred dislocate her to Italy and destroy her family. Her connection to Gabi is lovingly explained and the reader can find great satisfaction is the way the 2 stories are connected.

For music lovers, there is a great depth of information about music and the intellectual/cultural atmosphere of those years. The author is able to transmit the hesitancy of loyal Germans to flee their country, believing that Hitler's threat was a temporary one. For those of us who also want to read a love story within a fascinating novel, we are allowed to share the 3 greatest loves of Ada's life...all leading to an extremely satisfying endling, with perfect closure.

I happened to be in Berlin while I was reading this novel, so Balson's writing had an extra meaning for me. My own family members were musicians dispossessed from Hungary, but having the good fortune to find positions in America.

This is really ***** (5 Stars) +++ (with at least 3 pluses!). This is one of the best books I have ever read. I have a handful of favorite authors and now can add Ronald H. Balson to that list to make it a handful plus one. This is the third of Mr. Balson’s books that I’ve read and I think the third of this series. Catherine is an attorney and her husband Liam is a private investigator. A friend of theirs, Tony has an elderly aunt In Italy. This elderly aunt has been living on her small vineyard since her grandmother died. Now someone is trying to take it away from her. Tony hires Catherine and Liam to take a trip to Italy to help his elderly aunt. What a great story! What great characters. I have been reading almost exclusively for the past several days and now need to fold laundry, clean house and get back to 2018. But I’m sad to leave my friends I’ve made from this book. I have already been recommending this book and this author to anyone who will listen. I’m going to find another of Mr. Balsons’ books to read next. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Opening with a drive through the beautiful Italian countryside, this book grabbed from the start and had me turning page after page.

Gabi is an old lady, about to be evicted from her Italian vineyard to make room for Vinco, Big Vine.
The land and its villa have been her property for decades and she's not giving up without a fight. Having had no luck with the Italian lawyers, her nephew in the United States hires his friends Catherine and Liam to sort things out. They move to Italy to investigate the case.
Gabi meanwhile is fiercely defending her award winning plot of Ada's grapes. But who is Ada and why is this tiny plot so important to Gabi?

The book alternates between Gabi in 2017 and Ada in the late 1930's. Through Ada's memoir we learn about her life as a young violin player. It tells of everyday events and gives great insight into the workings of the operahouse, the orchestra and Ada finding her place as a Jewish woman in a man's world now also dominated by nazis. From Berlin to Bologna you can smell the fear, hear the music, engage in lively conversation, enjoy both Jewish and Italian traditions. All scenes so vividly described. All characters indepth.
In 2017 we race against the clock to find evidence of Gabi being the true owner of the land.
Both stories entwine seamlessly, the 2017 parts giving the reader a welcome break to deal with the nazi horrors.
The moment the connection between Gabi and Ada reveals itself takes my breath away. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

While writing this review I'm standing in Gabi's vineyard, mesmerized, enjoying the Tuscan sunset, wonderful violin music playing in my head. The Girl From Berlin is a treasure that will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended.

I loved Karolina's Twins, also by Ronald H. Balson, and it is no surprise that I also loved The Girl From Berlin. This wonderful story, told from the present day and the days leading up to, through and after World War II, has Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart working to help the aunt of a friend, who is threatened with eviction from the land she has owned and loved for years, by an evil corporation who claims she doesn't really own it. Although not licensed to practice in Italy, Catherine and Liam dig into the court case that led to the eviction, and find a number of things that, to quote Liam "stink like a dead fish".

Alternating with Catherine and Liam's story is the story of Ada Baumgartner, child violin prodigy and young Jew in Berlin in the 1930's. We learn about Ada's career, her family and her love for a young man who may be a Nazi. But what is the connection between the young jewish woman in Berlin, and Gabi Vincenzo, the elderly Italian woman in Siena? And how is Catherine going to prove the frauds that have been perpetuated against Gabi?

The Girl From Berlin is a wonderful book which will keep you turning the pages long after you should have turned out the light; you won't be able to put it down!

The Girl from Berlin by Ronald Balson
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have read each of the author’s previous novels.
I am struggling a little bit with the rating. On one hand, I couldn’t put the book down, it was a perfect read for a sleepless night and a plain ride. There are two stories here, one of Ada Baumgartner, a child violin prodigy affected by the rise of Naziism in Germany from 1933 through WW II and the other of Gabrielle in present time Italy who is unjustly being near eviction from the home she has lived in most of her life. How these two stories connect is the subject of the book and of course it’s not revealed to the very end, hence you keep turning pages. Catherine and Liam (whom we met in previous novels) are once again called to help with avoiding the eviction, the now husband and wife team of an attorney and a private investigator. Gabrielle gives Catherine Ada Baumgartner’s memoir and asks her to read it to the end to figure out why she has the right to stay. Ada’s story at times are far fetched and unrealistic, such as the accidental meetings with her boyfriend throughout the war, some of the scenes in the concentration camps, negotiating with Nazi officers, her mother’s story, etc.
The current story in Italy also is strange at times, bribery, murder, and lots of secrets. Overall a page turner, no more than 3 stars for reasons I mentioned. Thanks NetGalley, St Martin’s press and Ronald Balsom for the advanced copy.

As a big fan of Ronald Balson’s books, I was delighted to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of his latest book, The Girl from Berlin. I thought the plot was very compelling, and it was interesting to read about life in Italy during Mussolini’s rule, in contrast to Hitler’s Germany. I enjoyed the characters who had been in his previous books. I flew through the book wanting to know what happened.

My only criticism of the book is that it seemed ridiculous to me that the characters took a crazy amount of time to read a manuscript which was key to their investigation. With time of the essence, either the information should have been told to them verbally or they should have finished it within a day. (I read the book including the manuscript in less than 24 hours.) This could have been solved by having them need to wait to get parts of the manuscript translated. I also thought the book ended rather abruptly.

I highly recommend the book for readers who enjoy both historical fiction and legal thrillers. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Yes, Ron's next book is being released this fall and I gladly welcomed Catherine and Liam back into my lives:) This time they travel to Siena, Italy to help their friend Tony's aunt avoid being evicted from her wine villa. As always, it was a strong mystery, with Catherine playing the lead role this time. The descriptions of Siena brought back good memories from my vacation there 6 years ago. The story switches between the present day in Siena and the late 1930s and early 1940s in Berlin, Germany and multiple locations in Italy. Prior to this book I hadn't read much about the impact of Hitler on the Jews in the major cities and the country side of Italy. I always learn something new when reading Ron's books and this time was no exception. I knew a bit about musicians during the war but I learned a lot more about music in general along with a bit more about wine and wineries. If you have been anticipating Ron's next book as much as I was, you won't be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart have been tasked with proving a woman is the rightful owner of her home in Tuscany, even as a greedy corporation states they are the rightful owners and intend to take possession. Their search for answers takes them back 100 years to the story of Ada Baumgarten, a young woman of privilege and culture at the end of the Great War, but it’s her talent as a musician that will save her as the forces of Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich rise over Germany. Fleeing to Italy becomes the only solution that will save Ada and her family . But what does she have to do with their current assignment and the deed to the Italian property now being questioned?

As time marches on and their are fewer and fewer survivors of World War II, their stories, real and fictional become all the more important. Balson takes readers on a journey through one the darkest times of human history

I have been a fan of Ronald Balson since I read his first book "Saving Sophie" and he just keeps on getting better. This book captured my attention from the very beginning, and with its combination of mystery and history was impossible to put down. Liam and Catherine are asked by their friend Tony to help his aunt Gabi in Tuscany who is being evicted from her longtime home and vineyard. Gabi has what she believes to be a valid deed to the property but she is being sued by a large corporation who is presenting what they believe to be the valid deed. When trying to research the history of the place they find the relevant documents missing, and the registry clerk dead. Gabi can't talk about the past but is vehement in trying to protect "Ada's vines". She sends Catherine a journal written by Ada Baumgarten, a Jewish violinist who fled to Italy during the Holocaust. Catherine and Liam must pull together all the different strings that make up this conundrum to help Gabi retain her home. Both the present day story and the historical one are thoroughly engrossing and I was riveted to the book from the first page to the very end.

This is one of the many stories that needs to be remembered, needs to be told, and definitely needs to be heard