The story starts in 1936 and has two main narrators and two different timeframes. The first narrator of her story is a 14-year-old German girl called Liesel Scholz who lives with her father, mother and younger brother in their lovely new home in Berlin. Her story tells of the pre-war lives of her family and of her growing up into a lady during the war. She becomes growingly aware of the atrocities committed during the war and particularly to the persecution of Jews living in the city. She is in between a rock and a hard place: her father is working closely with prominent Nazis because they need his knowledge about chemistry. He is even invited to their homes and parties. But their housekeeper and her daughter Rosa, who is about Liesel’s age, are Jews and are desperate to escape their fate. Liesel is sympathetic and hates the way the Jews are hounded out of their homes and treated with contempt and gross brutality. She is determined to help, but she must be very careful about not being found to be helping her Jewish friends, especially by her father and the people he works for.
The second narrator is an American Captain called Sam Houghton who is sent to post war Frankfurt ten years later in 1946 to help find and hunt out important members of the Government’s Nazi movement. He is treated like royalty with a sumptuous requisitioned home complete with staff to look after him. The German secretary he has been allotted is called Anna Vogul, who had a very good command of English. She acts as his translator as well and they become close as they work together going through mounds of boxes filled with information about prominent Germans. She is attractive and very modest but does not open up to tell Sam about her private life, only that her family are all dead, victims of the bombings and tyranny of the war. Sam falls in love with her but she does not want to be in a relationship. The war has bruised her and she prefers to be single.
Then both stories merge and this was my favourite part of the novel. I loved reading this meticulously researched and involving story. The storytelling is beautiful, strong and absorbing and the storyboard exceedingly well managed and the rich descriptions made it easy to visualise the settings and actions both kind and atrocious. I loved the character and story of Liesel’s journey through the war but sometimes it was hard to bear; both shocking and savage. I liked Sam and Anna, but Anna’s story was heart breaking and hard to deal with. I confess to shedding tears a few times. With themes including love and loss, betrayal and courage this is a powerhouse of emotions, activity and full of heart.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. This novel is an absorbing read, intelligently written, pacey and a real page turner. It gripped me from the very beginning until the heart-warming end. I love novels with unreliable narrators so this was right up my street. I’ve thought long and hard about my review and that’s why it is a very well deserved 4.5* from me.

Wow - a book I won't forget reading. I've read many similar in the past including ones such as this told from the point of view of German citizens coping with living through the Nazi regime. However the way this was built up including the (lesser) part of the story told from the point of view of post war Berlin, was so realistic and tense throughout. There were times when I couldn't put it down and others when I just had to stop reading as I had to process what I had just read. Yes we factually know of some of the horrors of WW2 but this just brings the fear and deprivation into focus once more. Especially so as I finish reading just after Holocaust Memorial Day.
I would not recommend this novel (based on a lot of research and truth) to a younger teenage reader but given to the appropriate oldr student it is surely a story which will influence thoughts towards humanity for many years to come.
I will be looking up further books by Kate Hewitt and highly recommend this one.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a historical fiction set in WWII about ordinary Germans and they Reich. This was a very thought provoking read about the struggle to stand up to a powerful evil. I thought the romance between Sam and Leslie was a bit contrived and almost rushed at the end. A good read overall.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of "The Girl From Berlin" in exchange for my honest review.

Ms. Hewitt has written a story that tugs at the heart-strings. The opening of the story is 9 years after the Berlin Olympics. When soldiers start banging on the door of a woman, she tries to buy time for others so that they can escape.

The story is told in two voices Liesel Scholz who is 14 at the beginning of the book. Chapter 1 starts in August 1936 in Berlin. The second voice is that of Captain Sam Houghton a 32 year old analyst from the United States. He is in Frankfurt in November 1945 to carry out checks on questionnaires in the hunt for chemists that might be of use to the West.

The theme of the book is what is someone willing to sacrifice for their own ambitions? Otto Scholz is a chemist with IG Farben. He developed Buna rubber but seems to think he is more important than he really is. His wife Ilse seems to be out of touch with what is happening around her. They employ a Jewish cook Gerda in their home and she often brings her 10 year old daughter Rosa with her.

The story continues between Berlin of the late 1930s and Frankfurt after the war from 1945 on. Liesel feels that there is something going on, something that is wrong and that her father is caught up in it through his ambition, his need to be seen by all the top people. She questions where people go and why do they never return. Liesel tries not to let ignorance and hatred penetrate her mind and then taint her soul.

Liesel truly starts to question things when in the interest of "serious hereditary and congenital illness" someone has reported her brother Friedy. One day people arrive to take him to a "hospital" where they will take good care of him, he doesn't need to bring anything with him, everything will be provided.

After this Ilse becomes a woman of purpose and of great strength along with her daughter.

An interesting thread is Sam's secretary Anna Vogel. Who is she? What are the secrets that she is keeping?

Things go from bad to worse and yet there is a silver lining but not before crying your eyes out. Ms. Hewitt has written a wonderful story of love triumphing over hate.

What would you have done as an average citizen in Nazi Germany? Would you have confronted evil or collaborated to protect your life?

That’s the question asked by THE GIRL IN BERLIN, which makes it such a gripping and heartbreaking hf read.

We first see the country through the eyes of young Leisel Scholz, who lives a sheltered life in 1936, with her chemist father, who has ties to high Nazi officials. She’s not aware at first of the distressing changes in the city until she meets Rosa, daughter of the Scholz’s Jewish housekeeper, who opens her eyes to the growing hatred and violence against Jews. Soon she feels she MUST help Rosa and her family, no matter the cost.

We’re re-introduced to Berlin in post-war 1946, a broken city when American Captain Sam Houghton arrives to try prominent Nazis and assist in the rebuilding. His assistant, Anna, has secrets unknown to him related to the Nazi Party — and to two young girls who became friends when the world shattered. I promise, this one will break and reshape your heart!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 25 Feb 2021
#TheGirlfromBerlin #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, Bookouture, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

This was a pageturner! The Girl from Berlin by Kate Hewitt is a historical novel about a girl living before, during and after WWII. The story starts with Liesel, a 14 year old living a privileged life as the daughter of a German chemist in 1936 Berlin. She and her father discuss Hitler and his beliefs. It continues to follow her family and the many life changing decisions they make throughout the next 10 years.

The dual timeline in the book also discusses an American soldier in post WWII trying to sift through rooms full of paperwork with his German secretary, trying to find war criminals.

I couldn't put this book down. I felt so bad for Liesel with her many agonizing decisions she had to make, plus the horrible things that war does to people.

I will look for other books by this author! Thankfully, she has written quite a few others!

A world war II drama with two storylines.

We see Germany and the rise of Hilter and the way through the eyes of a young german girl. It was interesting to see how she saw what was happening around her and the effect it had on her and her view of the world. It did drag a bit in the beginning because there wasn;t much happening storywise with a lot of musing, but the pace picked up in later chapters.

Then we see Berlin after the war through the eyes of a young US soldier. He witnessed the aftermath of the war on the ordinary German people ;iving in a ruined city, totally defeated.

This book tells a story that is not told a lot. It was a very interesting read.

This book was enjoyable but not exceptional. The middle was quite slow and it did not hold my interest but the beginning and ending were great.

THE GIRL FROM BERLIN
BY KATE HEWITT

Liesel is a young girl growing up in Berlin who at the beginning of the novel has a close relationship with her father named Otto. They attend the Olympics together at the beginning of this story. As Liesel starts to grow a little older she notices an old man get attacked by a couple of Nazi's as she is walking home one night and it really upsets her. She notices that her housekeeper and cook Gerda and her daughter Rosa are also Jewish like the poor man she saw get provoked and beaten for no reason and it really starts to bother her. She is German and she thinks that the way her younger brother's textbooks that show exaggerated pictures of the Jewish people are wrong and vulgar. Liesel tries to befriend Rosa but Rosa seems to not want to be friendly back. Ilse, Liesel's mother seems to stay more in her bedroom and doesn't want to go to the big parties that the SS Officer's in Hitler's high ranking circles that Otto is getting invited to more and more often,

Otto starts asking his daughter Liesel to accompany him to these high ranking official's homes and she doesn't want anything to do with them just like her mother but her father pressures her and she relents. Meanwhile her little brother Friedy is excited to join the Hitler youth group but since his difficult birth left him with a foot that drags he will never be able to compete in the sprints and can't finish a day and a half hike so he gets disillusioned with the youth group. Their father is a chemist that runs a factory inventing synthetic rubber so he rises in the Nazi party because the rubber is useful to manufacturing boats, airplanes and other useful things that are useful to the war. The older that Liesel gets she can't understand why her loving father wants to surround himself with the likes of Himmler, Goebbels and Hitler.

In a dual timeline in 1945 and 1946 Captain Houghton is serving after the war in Frankfort and his job is to find scientists that took part during the war that would be useful to America who is now looking at a new enemy, the Soviet Union. Since Captain Houghton is from America he needs to hire a secretary that speaks German to help him translate the mountains of paperwork that he has to sift through so he hires a demure Anna Vogel.

I found myself not being able to turn the pages fast enough in the beginning. The story is mostly told by Liesel's point of view for the majority of the time. I loved this story and how the two converging timelines collide together. I loved Liesel's life long sensitivity to the Jewish people and her sensitive nature was to helping them all she could. Who is Anna and why is she telling her boss so many things that he remembers her telling him something completely different. I enjoyed this multifaceted tale but as with all Holocaust stories this was very hard to read at times. I highly recommend this to lovers of World War II stories and Liesel and her mother and her younger brother are highly compassionate German people who tried to help those less fortunate throughout the entire story.

Publication Date: February 25, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Kate Hewitt and Bookouture for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheGirlFromBerlin #KateHewitt #Bookouture #NetGalley

This dual timeline book is a great read for all fans of historical fiction. Liesel a teenager growing up in Berlin in 1936. Her father is a chemist and she has a very protective life. However dark clouds are on the horizon with the start of world war 2. Her father starts socialising with Goring and Goebels and Liesel starts to question her loyalties, especially when she witnesses atrocities and attacks on Jewish people in her community. In 1945 in Frankfurt we meet Sam an American chemist who is sent to help bring Nazi sympathisers to court. His secretary is Anna who has secrets.
A heart wrenching book
Received this book from #Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review

I enjoyed this story. I liked how it had a dual timeline of before and after the war. Toward the end I did struggle a little bit when the book was in the after war timeline and I’m not really sure why. I do think people who like stories from this period will love it. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. #TheGirlFromBerlin

I enjoyed reading this book as it told the story of a young girl before the second world and afterwards. It was heartbreaking and sad at times. There was a lot of description about the Germans and how they responded to the Jewish community. I could not stop reading to see what happens and I was not disappointed. Thank you.

Liesel Scholz lived under constant anxiety. She was prickly as a young girl, balking at joining the girls' branch of the Hitler Youth, to having to accompany her father, a chemist of note, to Nazi party gatherings where the upper echelon leaders were present, to the realization of what was happening to Jews and other undesirables in Berlin. She was, like most ordinary Germans, living her daily life refusing to accept the reality of the hatred and oppression of the Nazi regime. When she did make a stand against the atrocities , it was insignificant agains the scope of the German war.

Liesel's life and survival are acutely depicted by Kate Hewitt. This is a novel that takes us into the life of a young German girl who grows into a woman painstainkingly aware of the unfairness, pain and despair of what it meant to live through the war under the Nazis, particularly for the Jews.

Not usually a fan of dual timeline but loved this story for a variety of reasons. One, it showed just how easily we can get caught up in something - the father's role in Nazi Germany was an excellent example of this. Two it showed how complex family relationships can be. It also highlighted the other targets of the Nazis - not just the Jews. The characters were real and the story held my interest in all of the timelines - this is unusual as usually I only like the ww2 timeline in dual timeline stories. Kate has a way of grabbing you and dragging you into the story. Am certain this one will be a hit with readers

A compelling, enthralling and heart wrenching WWII story that I couldn’t put down. The story is told through a dual time line - beginning in Berlin, 1936 and Frankfurt, 1945 following the war.
Liesel Scholz is a young German girl confused about what is happening in her birth country. Her father Otto is being groomed by the Nazis due to his chemistry background. Otto is enjoying the celebrity status and is keen for his family to shine in the eyes of the Nazi hierarchy. Liesel’s mother Ilse is not interested in her husbands grand plans but her younger brother Friedy is keen to do his bit for Germany. As time goes on and the war begins in earnest Otto’s involvement with the Nazis becomes more entrenched much to the despair of all his family.
Captain Sam Houghton former Chemistry teacher is seconded to post war Germany to identify Nazi scientists who could be useful to America. He is provided with a secretary Anna Vogel who is not all she tells Sam she is. Their relationship is at first restrained but Sam eventually breaks through Anna’s steel like facade and learns the truth about her past.
The story as told through Leisel’s life is at times frustrating as she knows that there are horrors around her but as she is cosseted from the horrors she finds it difficult to do anything about it. At times I wanted to reach into the book and shake her.
The story is an emotional roller coaster of courage, love and betrayal.

Thankyou Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

THE GIRL FROM BERLIN by KATE HEWITT is a WW11 novel that will really stay with you. It is a well written, well researched story which takes place in Germany in two time frames. First of all during the war we come across Liesel Scholz, and after the war in 1946, we come across Captain Sam Houghton of the CIC and his secretary/interpreter Anna Vogel.
It is a story about incredible courage, betrayal and hard decisions, where Liesel is forced to lead a double life and be in a constant state of alertness, in order to keep her family safe and to cover up her clandestine activities. Her loyalties are mixed as she sees her beloved father's ambition overtaking him.
I love the author's honest portrayal of the characters' emotions as she shows Liesel and Ilse in an almost paralysed state, not knowing what to do, and not being sure that they want to do anything! They live in a constant state of fear. What can anyone do about the Jews who are being hunted like animals - can one sit back and not do anything?
The gaiety, opulence and ruthlessness of the Nazi régime is snuffed out with the destruction of Germany, and then the Russians come in with their own form of ruthlessness.
Sam has conflicting emotions when he sees ordinary Germans starving and being taken advantage of by the occupying force of which he is a part. He is fascinated by Anna, and longs to know more about her. He is an analyst, has a BA in chemistry and is made part of Operation Paperclip to interview Nazi chemists to see if they have any knowledge that could be used in the U.S. This is the time of the Nuremberg Trials, a time of shame for the German nation, just as the Olympic Games in 1936 was a time of celebration.
This is a novel that I found inspirational and one I cannot recommend highly enough.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bookouture. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

"The Girl from Berlin" by Kate Hewitt
Release Date: 2.25.2021

Liesel Scholz loves her new home in Berlin. She doesn't even notice the changes in the city, as her father works for the new government. She meets Rosa, the daughter of their Jewish housekeeper, and Liesel realizes something isn't right. The rules aren't fair. Rosa begs Liesel to help hide Rosa and her family.

Sam Houghton, an American captain, arrives in Germany to interrogate Nazis. He hires a woman named Anna as his interpreter. Anna has ties of the Nazi party, and she's afraid Sam will discover it as they grow closer.

Ms. Hewitt did her research. At first, I was eh, not able to connect with Liesel, but by the end, I was hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in response for an honest review.


#netgalley #netgalleyreviews #netgalleyreads #historicalfiction #historicalfiction2021 #2021bookreleases #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #booknerd #worldwariifiction #thegirlfromberlin #katehewitt

‘The Girl From Berlin,’ by Kate Hewitt, is a compelling and haunting story about courage, love and betrayal. This dual timeline historical fiction begins in Berlin in 1936 and Frankfurt in 1946.

Writing a novel set in WW2 is challenging for authors as so much has already been written during this time in history. In my opinion, in order to stand out from the countless others, authors must appeal to readers’ empathy and emotion and/or create a character-driven plot.

Initially, I couldn’t see how the author was able to achieve either. I struggled for 2/3 of this novel to connect with the protagonist, Liesel Scholz. I kept waiting for her to quit waffling and find her inner strength to stand up for what she knew was right.

Fortunately, the author held the plot cards close and all was revealed in the end making this an emotionally charged and fantastic read. This must have been such a difficult time in history to see those you love making terrible decisions yet knowing that the ultimate choice to survive superseded any rational choice. Looking back, I now understand the lethargy Liesel’s mother exhibited and the nonchalant attitude of Liesel’s father. How ignorant my initial response! Please don’t make the same mistake I did. Finish the book. Make an informed response. The author wrote to show the plight of the ordinary Germans during the second world war and how extraordinary and difficult it must have been to stand against such a powerful and evil regime. Only a skilled author can do what Hewitt has done; shown NOT told. Patience is key in this novel. Don’t give up. The best part is the final third where all is revealed.

I appreciated the author’s masterful integration of facts as she informed readers of Operation Overcast, Operation Paperclip, as well as revealing the role IG Farben had in the Nazi camps and the atrocities at Schloss Hartheim.

This book raises many issues suitable for book club discussions. Please put this on your radar come February; it's to be published February 25, 2021.

Thank you to Kate Hewitt, Bookouture and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This WWII story started well, enthralling, dual timelines, which I like, and a 14 yo main character who doesn’t know how she really feels about the situation in Nazi Germany in 1936. But then the pacing slowed down. The story jumped from 1936 to 1937 and into the next years without anything really happening. Just endlessly telling Liesel’s feelings about what happened in Germany, I knew what she thought and was only waiting for Rosa to beg Liesel for help, and I became restless and impatient. Well, the begging finally happened in 1941 at 65% of the story; until then, Rosa was just a side character.

I liked the 1945/1946 timeline more, but those chapters were in the minority. And from the start, it was clear who Anna was; I expected that to be a mystery longer.

It’s challenging to write something new about WWII, and that’s why, when I read stories like this, I need to feel emotions, like having a lump in my throat, goosebumps, watery eyes, whatever. I only felt my chest tighten a little when Friedy was taken away and at the end of the story when Liesel searched for him. He was the only person I cared for in this story, passionate and smart. Furthermore, this story felt like a light, and tolerable summer read. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t dislike the story; it just felt a little meh because the plot was rather weak, and it wasn’t a character-driven story either.

Overall it’s a 2.5 star rating for me, and I’ll round it up to 3 because I’m the first one rating it, and I don’t want to scare people off. It’s my opinion, and other readers might think differently. This book could do well after release because I believe a group of readers will really enjoy this story.