The Puzzle Women is a dual-time story, set in 1989 at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and ten years later, in 1999. As the story opens, Mama takes her children, Rune and Lotte, and flees her abusive marriage. Ten years later, Mama is gone, the children are back in Papa’s grasp, and their memories are faded. Lotte, the younger of the two, barely remembers anything of Mama, their escape, and what follows. But one day a mysterious notebook arrives. Lotte struggles to read, but she sees enough to know the notebook came from Mama.

“‘Mama!’ That sharp pointy word came at her from the page with soft hands and the voice of songs. It was an all-over feeling. It was a new feeling. It was a feeling of holding on so tight, so as not to be left. Of being still, which was far harder than being quiet. Of quiet being the sound that roars on the inside. Of sucking her thumb and listening to words transformed into the cakes of dreams.“

Papa finds the notebook and destroys it. So when Lotte learns of the “Puzzle Women,” reconstructing files the Stasi had shredded and left behind when the Berlin Wall fell, she determines to be independent and to seek their help. Telling no one where she is going, she sets out on her own with her goal firmly in mind.

Rune, upon learning Lotte is gone, is frantic to find her. He is overwhelmed with guilt for what he thinks he’s done, burdened with fear for what he thinks will happen when his past choices are made known. He fears that nothing but hurt will come from any revelations the Puzzle Women may make from scattered pieces of the past.

“The official line was that the Stasi had ‘disappeared her’ but he’d been there, and it wouldn’t have happened without him. Rune had made her death inevitable, even if he hadn’t killed her himself. How was he ever to explain that to Lotte? He didn’t want to see Lotte’s face when she ran out of the notebook entries. When the reality of death and the beginning of grief began for her. And the questions that began with ‘how?’ started. If Lotte knew what he had done too, would she be able to understand ? He wasn’t asking for forgiveness – he could never forgive himself. But for Lotte to look at him differently, it would destroy him.“

Lotte just wants to remember, wants to know what the notebook says and who Mama was, wants a place where she fits. I adored seeing Lotte’s character develop through the course of the book. Papa made her think she was nothing. But others saw her value, and she began to shine in the warmth of their love and approval.

“‘Why do you like bees so much?’Clio asked. Lotte looked at Sabine, who winked. Sabine knew why. She looked at Pepin, who laughed. She knew why too. It made Lotte happy that her friends understood her. ‘Because,’Lotte explained, ‘they have tiny wings and big fat bodies. They shouldn’t be able to fly and yet they do.’‘So?’‘So, sometimes you can be more than what people think you can be.’‘Exactly,’said Sabine and Roo at the same time.“

The story pulls you along. Tension is constant, as there is always the fear of what Papa will do, where he will turn up, what strings he can pull to bring his family back under his thumb when they dare to think that perhaps they are finally beyond his reach. Ellory turns a wondrous phrase, and her skillful use of language to draw mental images makes the words come alive in the reader’s mind. “He reread the rejection letter; the words felt like bullet holes, fossilised wounds – a constellation of stars, and just as unreachable.” “Lotte felt good, really sunflower-yellow good, and she fell asleep listening to the warming glow of Sabine’s laugh.” “The point he had been trying to make slip-slid off his face and puddled in his belly.” The book is filled with instances like that, where the words you just read make you pause and visualize what the author has said.

This is not necessarily an easy read, especially not for anyone who has suffered abuse. But it is an enthralling read, brutal yet healing, full of harsh reality and sacrificial love. The language is beautiful, and the story is compelling. It is worth your time.

Disclaimer: I received an advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK. All opinions here are my own, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.

This is a part of recent history that I know so little about. I remember the Berlin Wall falling but this is the first time that I have read about the secret police and the shredding of their files. Lottie is the stand out character in this story. Her fight for independence is so movingly written. Parts of this story were hard to read. Lottie and Rune’s mama went through so much pain and torture trying to get away from her abusive husband. Her bravery is incredible. I had never heard of the puzzle women before. I was fascinated by their work and their caring nature. This is a harrowing read which held my attention the whole way through.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Have you had that experience where you begin reading a book, and it's not bad, but you're still withholding judgement—and then, about 10% of the way in, you realize you're reading something exceptional, and you know you'll be staying up until you've read every last word of it? I had that experience reading Anna Ellory's The Puzzle Women.

I don't want to say too much about this title because it was so wonderful to dive into it without preconceptions or expectations. Let me just say that it's about family, the ways they do/don't fail one another, and the lengths to which they will go to protect one another; it's also about hope and resilience. The Puzzle Women is set in two time periods: during the fall of the Berlin Wall and in the present day as the "Puzzle Women" work to reconstruct documents from the thousands of bags of shredded papers left behind by the Stasi when East and West Berlin were reunited.

The publisher's blurb for the book oversimplifies the narrative and doesn't do it justice. Ignore the blurb. Don't read a ton of reviews. Just pick this title up as soon as you can and read!

I received a free electronic ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGally for review purposes. The opinions are my own.

I was not sure if I should give this book 3.5 or 4⭐ but it's been a few days since I finished it and it's still fresh in my mind so I definitely enjoyed it a lot.

This is my first book from the author and it won't be my last. This was such an intriguing story. Mysterious and emotional.
I especially liked Lotte! Her chapters were so interesting to read. I think the way she acted and described things, made me even more interested in the story. It definitely made me feel closer to the story, closer to the characters.

It was a devastating but heartwarming story. Intense but interesting. It was a realistic story of love, faith, hope, and survival. I really really enjoyed it!

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.

I knew from my experience with Anna's other work, in particular her debut novel, The Rabbit Girls, that The Puzzle Women would be equal parts devastating and beautiful, and in this second offering Anna has refined those elements into a work that is insidiously gorgeous, heart-breaking and heart-warming at once: something that is truly bitter-sweet.

The reality of domestic abuse is laid bare: the threats, the double-edged mercies, the terrible violence. Papa is a shadow that falls across the characters and the narrative, skirting the edges of everything, always a step behind or, frighteningly, a step ahead, mirrored by the constant oppression and surveillance of the socialist DDR. It's pervasive and constant, but there is hope: kindness, compassion, the want to do right and to be done right by, and most of all, most importantly of all, love.

Lotte's chapters in particular are full of absolutely joyful descriptions of mundane things and actions, from baking a cake to playing with her favourite soft toy or trying, desperately, to remember the face of her mother. They are a delight, providing warmth and levity in a world that, for Rune, is so grey and unrelenting.

An inspiring and honest tale of survival, and the realities, cost, and consequence that survival can demand.

Wow I loved this... though I thoroughly enjoyed this authors first book! I have not moved for 3 hours as I really needed to find out what happened to lovely Lotte and the incredibly brave Ruan. The author wrote this book with such emotion and empathy I really felt their pain and the traumas they had suffered. A lovely unexpected happy ending! The icing on the cake! Well Done Anna

This was my first time reading a book by this author. Well it sure won't be my last. I really loved this book and read it in one sitting. The book was really well written with good characters.

3.5 stars

Lotte is an interesting character... taught to be independent,she uses it to her full advantage,as she tries to solve the mystery of a notebook sent in the post,possibly from her dead mother.
So,there's a mystery to solve,well two,if you count what did happen to her mother.
At times this book is brutal.
Mostly though,there's love.
A mother's love,sibling love,and the love and support of friends.

Set in fairly recent past,of which I know nothing of the history,it's made me want to read up some more.