Thank you NetGalley, author Mandy Robntham, and Avon publishing for giving me a free copy arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
5 stars
What would you do if you woke up one morning and found you and your twin sister are now living in two different countries, which are separated by a wall?
That is the question Karin and Jutta find themselves asking as they are living parallel lives for years, cut off by the Berlin Wall, which separated East and West Germany! Karin finds herself living under the ever watchful glaze of the Stasi. Her only saving grace can be found in the arms of Otto, who is an East German Architect that believes in the East German Regime! Jutta finds a hidden passage that leads her to reunite with her sister in East Germany. Over the years, they will meet and try to give each other hope that one day they will be reunite as a family. But as the eyes of the Stasi can be anywhere and no one knows who they can really trust, Karin will come to a decision, can she flee to the West in order to live with her family or will she remain in East Germany with the man who has her heart?
This was a wonderful historical fiction story. While most people consider WWII to be the more interesting topic to study and read about during this time, it is those who had to live in a country that divided itself by ideology that resulted in a wall. This led to many families being separated by years with the possibility of never seeing them again. These sisters were well developed! I loved how much they were willing to risk for each other in order to keep their connection alive.
The author did a great job researching the time period and the experiences both sides went through during the Cold War. The author was able to show the reader the differences within the sisters' lives by the descriptions of the food, clothes, and music each experiences over the years.
This book was hard to put down! The writing and pacing kept the events flowing easily until a very satisfying epilogue! This was my first book by this author and it will not be my last. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in the Cold War era!

At the beginning of the story, Mandy Robotham brings back to past when the Berlin wall was erected, when family members were forced not to be able to see one another.
The chapters are alternated between Jutta in West Berlin and Karin in East Berlin. Jutta and Karin are identical twins, however Karin was stranded in the East Berlin Charitè Hospital and denied to go back to West.
1961-1989 set in Berlin, both of them are forced to make overwhelming choices.
I was gripped from the beginning of the book, and I feel like being sent on the set of Berlin as the author described  the setting extremely well. Most of historical fiction I read were set in WW II era, so this is a really nice change.
Definitely is a must read for all historical fiction lovers.

Twin sisters accidentally separated by the Berlin Wall. Karin trapped under Soviet rule. whilst in an East German hospital. Jutta will risk anything to reunite them. But does Karin want to come back? An interesting historical read with a great storyline.

I must admit that I didn't enjoy this one so much but not the fault of the author so much as my own ignorance of how much the building of the Wall that split not only Berlin but Germany as a whole. I remember the highlight of the news of the wall coming down in 1989 but again it wasn't something I paid much attention to. I was only 15 and I never knew how much of a life changing event this was.

As usual, fantastic atmospheric setting with emotional attachments to the 2 main characters, twin sisters Jutta and Karin. It is just imposssible to co comprehend what emotions you would feel to know you've gone somewhere, you're I'll and when you come to, you find yourself completely and utterly trapped, unable to go home! What that must feel like?

For me, my favourite Mandy Robotham is still "A Woman of War". That story is very much a "what if" scenario.

**I was excited to receive a complimentary copy of The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham from NetGalley. Opinions in this review are completely my own.**

I have read a couple of her other books-- The Secret Messenger and The Berlin Girl, and loved them, so I was excited to get the chance to read this book. I love historical fiction but didn't really know much about the history of the Berlin Wall. I had no idea that families could be separated from each other. This sounds horrific.

I enjoyed the plot quite a bit, but the characters fell a little flat for me, although this could have been due to reading it during Covid. I struggled to read during this time due to anxiety.

The novel revolves around the building of the Berlin Wall and its aftermath, specifically its effect on families who wound up being separated by it. The story sucked me right in and (mostly) didn’t let me go. The most riveting parts for me were the descriptions of the chaos and shock on both sides when the wall went up, seemingly overnight, with no warning. Jutta and Karin are identical twins and it is Karin’s misfortune to be on the “wrong” side of Berlin when she collapses with a burst appendix and is rushed to the hospital. When she awakes after emergency surgery, the wall is up and she cannot get home or communicate with her family, who are - of course - frantic to find out where she is and what happened to her. Eventually Jutta happens upon a hidden way through the wall (it sounds very strange, and I had trouble visualizing it) and the rest of the book follows what happens after her discovery. I did find Jutta’s adventures a bit hard to believe, but I bet something like that actually did happen. Reading about the Stasi surveillance machine in East Germany was bone-chilling. It’s hard to imagine living like that, always afraid someone is watching or listening, and yet somehow East Germans found a way to get on with their lives.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The Girl Behind the Wall is both a heart warming and heart wrenching story of how the Berlin Wall built in 1961 not only divided a city but families, friends and people's way of life.

Jutta and Karin are inseparable twins and Karin is on the wrong side of the Wall the day it goes into effect.

It is not only their story but the story of East and West Berlin and Mandy Robotham has done an amazing job describing both. I felt like I was right there, though I can not imagine.

The Girl Behind The Wall is historical fiction at its best.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK, Avon for a story that will stay with me for a very long time.

This is the second novel I have read by Mandy Robotham and have found both of them rewarding. While some elements in the story may strain credulity, it is factually accurate and the emotions do reflect that time in history.

Robotham weaves such an engrossing story, it was difficult to put the book down. There has been much written recently about wartime Berlin; it was refreshing to read about the post WWII Cold War era. As a reader who always wants to know “what happened next?”, I was appreciative of the Epilogue which took place in 1993….it answered that question as well as at least one that arose while reading about the 1960s.

Karin and Jutte are twins, living in Berlin in the 1960s. In 1961 when the Berlin wall goes up practically overnight, Karin is trapped in East Berlin.
The twins are seperated and neither girl allowed cross the border wall by the DDR authorities . Both girls must now get on with their lives on with the Wall seperating them from their family.
Jutte however finds a secret crossing in a derelict building which allows her to visit Karin without being caught by the Stasi. The book the events following this discovery and the choices each twin makes.

While the book was an easy read and the setting interesting, I found it very unbelievable. In reality, the 27-mile wall dividing Berlin into east and west consisted of two narrow concrete walls with a "death strip" 170m wide that contained watchtowers, anti-vehicle trenches, guard dogs, floodlights and trip-wire machine guns between them. This second wall was built in 1962.
Surely if a derelict building stretched over the 170 metres divide between the walls the DDR would have noticed . For me that was a massive hole in the plot which I couldn't stop thinking about. It was hard to enjoy the book after realising the impossibility of finding a secret forgotten pathway through the wall
It was a shame as the book was so well written.

This is the first time I have read a book about the Berlin wall. I loved learning about this time in history. I liked that the story really jump started right at the beginning. I appreciated that it didn't take forever for the sisters to be separated, it made the book very fast-paced. I didn't ever consider that people would be separated by the introduction of the wall overnight. Thinking about how families were separated because they were working or visiting was heartbreaking. I thought this was a great book, and I highly recommend it for historical fiction fans!

Spanning the years of the Berlin Wall, this is the story of Karin and Jutta, twin sisters who are separated by the divide. Karin was in the hospital in East Berlin after an emergency appendectomy when the Wall went up, sealing her fate. She builds a life there. Jutta never gives up on Karin and, at great personal risk finds a way to visit her. They both tell their own stories a device that works especially well in this case. Robotham writes sweeping historical fiction and this exploration of life in Germany during the Cold War is no exception. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I enjoyed this book for many reasons.
For one, I enjoyed the characters and their connection to each other.
I liked the different era and setting for historical fiction. I have even been to what’s left of the Berlin Wall and I admit I didn’t know much about the history. It was neat to read a story with that as the backdrop.
This is the second book I have read by Mandy Robotham. I’d recommend it to anyone with the same book taste as I.

When the Berlin Wall goes up, Karin is on the wrong side of the city. Overnight, she is trapped under Soviet rule in unforgiving East Berlin and separated from her twin sister, Jutta. Karin and Jutta lead parallel lives for years, cut off by the wall. But Karin finds one reason to keep going: Otto, the man who gives her hope. When Jutta finds a way through the wall, the twins are reunited. But the Stasi have eyes everywhere and soon Karin is forced with a terrible decision: to flee to the West to be with her sister or sacrifice it all to follow her heart,

Thirteenth August 1961: Jutta wakes in the middle of the night to witness the first closing of West Berlin from the East. Her twin sister is stuck in hospital on the East side of the wall.

This is a good insight into the rise of the Berlin Wall and the effects it could have on family lives who were separated by it. This is an emotional book to read as it tells of the physical and social divisions. This is a well written story and people who like historical novels will love this book.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AvonBooksUK and the author #MandyRobtham for my ARC of #TheGirlBehindTheWall in exchange for an honest review.

Robotham was a journalist and then a midwife before becoming a best-selling author. Her previous books were "The German Midwife", "The Secret Messenger" and "The Berlin Girl". This new one is set in Berlin during the years 1961-63, just after the Berlin wall was put in place. The story features twin sisters Jutta and Karin, in their early twenties and living in West Berlin. When the wall goes up Karin finds herself trapped on the east side after having visited the evening before and needing emergency appendicitis surgery. Jutta is desperate to get her home, but all attempts are failing. Eventually Jutta finds a way to travel between the two sides and risks everything to see her sister. The story does a wonderful job of detailing the early days of the wall's construction and the agony it caused families separated by it. It is a great recommendation to fans of historical fiction wanting a different time period than WWII. I really enjoyed it.

When the Berlin Wall goes up, Karin is on the wrong side of the city. Overnight, she’s trapped under Soviet rule in unforgiving East Berlin and separated from her twin sister, Jutta. Karin and Jutta lead parallel lives for years, cut off by the Wall. But Karin finds one reason to keep going: Otto, the man who gives her hope, even amidst the brutal East German regime. When Jutta finds a hidden way through the wall, the twins are reunited. But the Stasi have eyes everywhere, and soon Karin is faced with a terrible decision: to flee to the West and be with her sister, or sacrifice it all to follow her heart?

This was an interesting take for me on what happened when the Berlin Wall was erected, I did not know much about how it happened or how sudden it actually was for people. For families to be torn apart so suddenly was crazy. While I thought the beginning of the story was slow and hard to really get into, about half way through the book I thought the story picked up.

Twin sisters Jutta and Karin are separated overnight when the Berlin Wall goes up! This story follows them leading parallel lives on opposite sides of the wall. Karin is in the East and Jutta is in the West. Years later Jutta finds a hidden way through the wall but will Karin be ready to go back with her.
I loved all that I learned about the Berlin Wall while reading this story! I am a sucker for historical fiction books where I learn something new. There is so much that I didn’t know about it. The chapters are short, so I felt like the book flowed between the two characters well. If you love historical fiction this may be on for you!

I absolutely love historical fiction like this. It took me awhile to get into but I ended up really enjoying it. I feel like the time surrounding the Berlin Wall is one overlooked in fiction so I greatly appreciated reading about it here.

Thank you NetGalley and AVON/HarperCollins Publishers for a copy of "The Girl Behind the Wall" in exchange for my honest review.

Ms. Robotham has once again written an engaging and thought provoking book. It took us back in time to the years the Berlin Wall stood.

The story starts on 13 August 1961 in what was then known as West Berlin - an area controlled by allies Britain, France and America. Jutta Voight and her cousin Hans are out in the streets trying to figure out what is happening overnight in their city. Hugo works for Radio Free Berlin so he is out there reporting on events.

Jutta has a twin sister Karin and her appendix burst and she is caught in East Berlin as the Charité Hospital. It would not have been a problem - had a wall not gone up overnight. Though in the East it is not a "wall" but rather an "anti-fascist protection barrier." It is meant to keep the insidious evil of capitalism from infecting the GDR State. Karin wakes in the hospital and is confused as to why her family ahs not come to visit her.

Doctors, teachers, engineers were all fleeing to the West and this wall was meant to keep East Germans from bleeding out through the border to the other side of the Iron Curtain. Phone lines, telex were cut to the West. Mail was no longer moving back and forth. Permission needed to be applied for the cross the border. Karin somehow manages with the help of a kindly doctor (Dr. Walter Simms) to get a message to her family that she is recovering. Thinking that once she is well she would be allowed to return home, she is full of disbelief when her request is denied.

The story continues to be told in the two perspectives - East and West Berlin - in the voices of the two sisters. Dr. Simms and his wife Christel took Karin under their wing, they helped her get a job at the hospital. Karin then meets Otto Kruger and she falls in love. When Jutta finds a way through the wall and is able to get to Karin, she doesn't understand why her sister doesn't want to return home immediately with her.

While everyone thought the wall would come down in a few weeks or months, the years go on - President John F. Kennedy makes his famous visit.

Jutta herself meets Danny Strachan an American soldier and she falls in love - starting to understand how Karin feels about Otto.

There is an interesting character only referred to as the Boy Vopo for most of the book - we later learn that his name is Erich Meixner. Jutta runs into him every time she crosses the border. He plays an important part in the story and it is shocking when we learn who he really is and what he is doing.

The story ends on 11 November 1989 when all the different threads of the story are unraveled and the reader learns all the details of what really happened through the long years the twins were separated. The shock of who Jutta thought the informant was and who it turned out to be.

Once again a highly recommended book by Ms. Robotham as all her previous books. Definitely looking forward to her next one.

I can pretty much guarantee now that when I pick up a Mandy Robotham book I am about to embark on a journey and learn about a place and time I knew very little about.
Very informative read about life in East and West Berlin during the time of the Berlin Wall.
Robotham’s has a way with characters that always draw me in and tug on my heart strings,
Karin and Jutta are identical twins living in West Berlin but when chaos issues and a wall starts to be formed in the middle of the night Karin finds herself trapped on the East side of the wall unable to communicate with her family.
A wonderfully detailed look at lives on both sides of the wall. The control and fear the Stasi instilled in the people of the East and how things differed on the other side of the wall.

Another great read from Robotham! Can’t wait to see what she creates next.

Thank you to Avon Book UK and Net Galley for the advanced copy.

Thank you netgalley for the audiobook.

I have to say, I struggled with this one. I found it difficult to focus on. But saying that, it could be me and not the book causing that.

I really enjoyed The Berlin Girl so had high expectations. I do like the authors writing style and the calmness of her books. The author clearly researched a lot and does a good job.