An unforgettable story of the shadows of war and its hold on those trying to move forward.

The year is 1955 and Rebecca Perlman is married and living in New York City. Her past, however, haunts her. As a German Jew, she managed to survive the hell that was WWII and was able to make her way to America. What she experienced during the war and the guilt of surviving that she carries with her makes things difficult at times as she begins a new life with her husband, Aaron. Aaron, also Jewish, served in the war but stateside. He never witnessed first hand what Rebecca did and at times, that puts a strain on their marriage.

Back in Berlin, Rebecca was the daughter of a famous artist. When the Nazis came to power, her work was banned and then destroyed but miraculously…one painting survived and made its way to New York. Seeing the painting opens old wounds and memories she’s trying to bury begin to haunt Rebecca once more.

One of the things I love the most about David Gillham is the way he brings to survivors guilt to the page. He does so with great compassion and eloquence. It’s a very real topic that resinates with so many people on so many different levels.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and David Gillham for access to this story. I’ll carry Rebecca with me for a while.

When we meet Rachel Perlman, it’s 1955 and she’s living in New York City with her husband Aaron. Aaron is hoping to start a family with his wife of seven years but Rachel is trapped in the past and can’t move forward. Born in Berlin, she came to the U.S. in 1948 with her uncle, her only relative to survive the war. Through flashbacks, we learn how Rachel (born Rashka Morgenstern) and her mother, a talented artist, went from a comfortable life in Berlin to being stripped of all possessions. Jews were being rounded up and sent to the concentration camps. Her mother ultimately perished. Believing that all her mother’s artwork was destroyed, the emergence of one of her paintings in a New York pawnshop creates new struggles for Rachel.

Shadows of Berlin is a very moving story about how one survivor of the Holocaust deals with survivor’s guilt. Her constant visions of her mother are heartbreaking. Author David R. Gillham has done an exceptional job describing the horrific existence of the people who tried to hide in plain sight as fellow neighbors and former friends were paid handsomely to turn Jews and other undesirables in. Once in New York, Gillham skillfully portrays the tension of a young couple who love one another yet are unable to understand what each are going through. In addition to Rachel’s predicament, Aaron lives with his own guilt as he was never shipped overseas to fight. His knowledge of what happened is only through tragic images on news reels. While this is a heavy story, I enjoyed all the references to New York City during the 50s, including places and restaurants that survive in my memory and in family stories. Unlike many books in this genre, Shadows of Berlin focuses on life after the war. I highly recommend this tragic yet hopeful story.

I am an historical fiction fan and I couldn’t wait to read this story. Unfortunately it did not deliver. And I wondered why so many others gave it glowing reviews whereas I had to force myself to finish it. And then I realized why it did not resonate with me. I read as a writer more than as a reader. The story fell flat because it was mostly telling. Although I did learn some things about the Jewish population in World War II Berlin that I was totally unaware of, it was as if I were reading a newspaper account rather than experiencing the situation along with the story characters. Just when it got to a point where the author could show us the depth of emotion, fear, or whatever that the character was experiencing he would switch to “current” (late 1940s) time period. Because the author ignored the primary rule – show, don’t tell – I didn’t care what happened to Rachel or any of the other characters in the book.
But more important than that, the story was historically inaccurate. When writing an historical fiction piece authors must not only be accurate in situations, mannerisms, etc, but also language. And it is in the latter that the author failed. Writers of historical fiction may not use language that was not part of the lexicon during the period they are writing about. This book was loaded with F-bombs. And people in the 1940s did not use them. Men and women did not swear like they do today. Swear words, if used, were much milder. And men did not swear in front of women or if they did they would say something like, “pardon my French” thus showing some respect for the woman. This disregard for language accuracy of the time period, plus the telling nature of the narrative doomed the story for me. I gave it two stars rather than one because there were a couple sections where I did get caught up in the story. Sadly they were few and far between. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Set mostly in Manhattan, New York City in 1955, aptly entitled Shadows of Berlin is a heart churning, achingly beautiful, poignant and compelling novel about one woman's horrific past which intertwines with and consumes her present and future. Though as a young woman Rachel (Rashka in Berlin) escaped 1948 Germany with her Uncle Fritz and later married Jewish American Aaron Perlman, she cannot get away from her mental torment which affects every aspect of her life. Her uncle and mother suffered unbearable agonies at killing camps. Rachel knew the horrors of starvation and constant fear and sees a psychiatrist to attempt to come to terms with her past. Though Aaron loves his wife, he cannot possibly understand what she lived and at times inadvertently insults her. We also see glimpses into the lives of Aaron's family at get togethers.

Eccentric Uncle Fritz happens upon a painting by Rachel's mother in a pawn shop and Rachel is desperate to own it. The story is about her search not only for the symbolic painting but also for answers to quell her constant unease and pain.

Amongst the many standout scenes for me is that of the dinner roll. Harrowing details of Jewish persecution, culture and tradition are also described which add to the very personal perspective. Though I have read countless books on the Holocaust, in my view this falls into the best of the best Historical Fiction category as it is so intense and emotive, written with a direct sharpness and candor.

Those seeking originality in Historical Fiction, do read this incredibly gripping book which takes you into the recesses of a second-generation familial survivor's mind. I could practically feel Rachel's desperation and wandering hopelessness. Do know there is adult language.

My sincere thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this haunting and unmissable book.

SHADOWS OF BERLIN
by David R. Gillham
Sourcebooks Landmark
Pub Date: Apr 19

Shadows of Berlin is an intense and important look at the Holocaust and its lasting impact on survivors. Rachel and her uncle, Jewish immigrants, have relocated to New York and while they have started a new post-war life -- with Rachel even marrying a kind Jewish American -- she struggles profoundly with survivor's guilt, especially with what she had to do to live.

Emotions of terror, guilt and sadness haunt her, and intensify after her uncle finds her artist mother's most disquieting painting in a local pawn shop. How can Rachel ever cope with the feelings evoked by her mother's art? Shadows of Berlin's sensitive narrative, though slow-paced at times, offers a compassionate view of what it takes to survive war trauma, and to heal from its searing aftermath.

Thanks to the author, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#ShadowsofBerlin #DavidRGillham
#sourcebookslandmark #NetGalley #histficnovels #holocaustfiction #holocaustsurvivorsfiction #survivorsguilt #bookstagramcommunity

This was an absolutely heart wrenching novel that had me shedding silent tears at multiple points in the story. When it begins, we meet heroine, Rachel in NYC in 1955. She's 27 and an emigrant from Berlin. After surviving WWII, Rachel and her uncle Fritz were able to move to NY with the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. She's now married to an American Jew named Aaron, who she met at a library, and her best friend is Aaron's sister, Naomi. When we first encounter Rachel, she is at an appointment with her psychiatrist. Although it's not described, she's seeing the doctor because of an "Episode" that occurred at a department store and ended with Rachel locked up in Bellevue in a straitjacket (for her own protection). Aaron is a good man who very much wants to start a family, but Rachel can't begin to imagine bringing a child into the world she experienced back in Germany. As much as he tries, Aaron can never truly understand what Rachel survived and what continues to haunt her even six years after arriving in the US.

Rachel is an artist who can no longer bring herself to paint. Her mother was a famous artist back in Berlin, and her uncle was an art dealer among other things. Though she is no longer living, Rachel still sees and talks to her mother Eema, sometimes as the glamorous woman that she once was and sometimes as the emaciated woman she was at the time of her death. When she first got to NY, Rachel tried to paint again, but her paintings were of "ghosts" that she still carries with her. Since the "Episode," she is now afraid to paint -- afraid of what will come out of her.

The meat of the novel is about a painting of her mother's that Fritz says he has discovered at a local pawn shop. It is a painting of a nude woman known as La muse de rouge. It is an inferno of red pigments, and its discovery evokes incredible emotions in Rachel. There is obviously a story here, but it is one the reader doesn't understand until later in the novel. The latter half of the novel brings the reader deep into the world of war-torn Berlin, and it is unbearably intense. It is here that we learn more about La muse de rouge and how she interacted with Eema, Rachel, and Fritz.

Shadows of Berlin is a powerful, gripping novel that kept my emotions right on the surface. It is beautifully written and thought-provoking. I'll be recommending it to my book club because there is so much I want to discuss with others. My only negative comment is that I was wishing for an epilogue that would tell me Rachel finally reclaims her own talents as an artist. I'd like to believe that for her.

My thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks, and David Gillham for providing me an eGalley in exchange for posting an honest review. I loved Shadows of Berlin.

It took me awhile to get into this story, but once I did it was compelling. The authors did a great job of sharing the details and culture of 1950s New York City where the main story is set.

Through a series of visions and flashbacks we are slowly shown the past of the main character Rachel. We come to see why she reacts the way she does to her present situations. Though she now lives in America, she suffered many horrors as a Jew in Berlin during the Holocaust.

Because of her experiences and the things she felt forced to do to survive Rachel carries a lot of survivors guilt and guilt for some of the things she did. We are shown how it affects her life even after the war and we share in her journey to redemption.

This would be very appealing to those who love historical fiction, especially about this time period. There were several instances of profanity and vague descriptions for sexual situations.

Shadows of Berlin is an emotional novel of post-WWII. Rachel and her uncle have immigrated from Berlin to New York to start a new life. But it seems the past will never fully leave you alone. Packed with the trauma, terror, and sorrow felt by survivors of the Holocaust, this book will keep you turning pages. For historical fiction fans, Shadows of Berlin is a must-read. Thanks to author David R. Gillham, publisher Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for an honest review.

In 1950s NYC, a young married couple, Rachel and Aaron, are trying to carve out their part of the American dream. Aaron, a Jewish Brooklynite, works in a trendy Broadway restaurant. His dreams are typical: better apartment, welcoming wife, and children. Rachel has trouble envisioning that kind of life because she is still consumed by the past. Barely out of her teens, she came to this country with her Uncle, the only family member to survive the Holocaust. Rachel is wracked by past events that she believes she may have caused or failed to prevent. Her mother was a gifted artist, and so is Rachel. But her angst and guilt has stymied her creativity and is now threatening her path to find happiness with Aaron and hope for the future.

Gillham explores the trauma of a survivor when all was lost: family, friends, home, self. Past actions and words that were hurtful take on greater meanings to form an endless loop of despair and anger. Rachel has glimmers of how she is boxing herself in by focusing on the past, but she thinks she cannot abandon these overwhelming feelings. Even the “ugly” past is still part of who she is.

In a dual narrative of time and place (Rachel in NY, young Rashka (Rachel) in Berlin), the reader slowly learns what Rachel experienced and her journey to survive. Aaron and his family are supportive but can not truly know what happened to her. She cannot bring herself to even speak about it.

The thrust of this book is how Rachel makes the smallest of steps to reclaim herself. So small are the changes, that they barely register on her, or even the reader. Looking outward to others, Rachel begins to see inward.

Gillham’s descriptions of NYC in the 1950s, and the desperation of Berlin as the war grows are detailed and consuming. He places the reader where Rachel was and how she struggles with her present.

Issues of family, emotional support, obligation, art, class, sexism and race are all part of this book. There is even some mystery. Add this to your TBR titles and recommend it to your book club. Highly recommended.

I did like Shadows of Berlin. Wasn't sure at first but as I continued I liked it - I have read many books dealing with the Holocaust and the camps - this one was from a different perspective. Rachel came to Manhattan as a displaced Jewish immigrant who managed to survive WWII. Her Uncle Fritz fled with her. She had hoped she could forget the horrors of what she saw and had to do to survive in Germany., She met and married Aaron who tried to help her but it was a hard memory to set aside. Her memories were not going away. It was something she had to do on her own. Good story - good writing.

Can the past be redeemed by the future?

Author David Gillham writes to explore wartime trauma and survivor’s guilt. He explores the consequences of the Holocaust both in those who suffered at home and afar. Written so beautifully, he contrasts his two main characters, a husband and wife, who struggle because they can’t understand each other. Both suffer from survivor’s guilt and neither can understand how it manifests in their loved one; Rachel is consumed by her past whereas Aaron is focussed on the future.

Rashka Morgenstern, 29, carries much more than physical baggage when she crosses the ocean to start a new life in New York. She’s come as a displaced Jewish Berliner after surviving the horrors of Nazi occupation. She changes her name to Rachel and marries Jewish American, Aaron Perlman, who has spent the war in California in the Catering Corps. Like many married couples throughout history, they discover that discussions around starting a family only add fuel to an already unstable relationship. Transitioning to an ‘ordinary housewife’ is not easy for Rachel. The author brings readers to the point where they realize that ‘saving’ each other isn’t enough for marriage nor does it look the same for each spouse. Hope needs to be the catalyst for healing and for change.

Stepping back ten years to her experiences in Germany, Rachel shares about the Jewish laws which took everything from her and her widowed mother. You’ll read about fleeing with her uncle, the Red Angel and her role in Rashka’s life, a found portrait and see how these link to what the author reveals about U-boats. I’d never read about this expression before, despite reading a variety of wartime historical fiction.

I absolutely loved being immersed in the New York atmosphere! I was right there with the characters in the residence in the Lower East Side, in the cafes and gardens, and could almost hear the Yiddish and New York accent as I turned the pages. I loved how the author immersed me in the story. His exploration of his character’s motives was extremely interesting for me and I think this would make a great book club choice for this reason: knowing a character’s motive doesn’t always precipitate sympathy. I’d gladly read another of this author’s books.

Beautifully imagined and expertly written, Gillham writes about survival and redemption. He explores (1) if it’s possible to learn to love and forgive after a life-altering and traumatic experience and (2) what, if anything, do the living owe to the memory of the dead?

I was gifted this advance copy by David R. Gillham, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

David Gillham's Shadows of Berlin examines holocaust fiction from a different angle. I've become very used to a certain type of World War II book --and frankly a little tired of it. This book is fantastic if a little bit grueling. It deftly shows what it would have been like to be a survivor married to someone who could never understand your plight. There is much in this book that reminds me of Isaac Singer, particularly Enemies, A Love Story. It reads as very true to the time and the little historical details are carefully enmeshed in the plot rather than shoehorned in. Unflinching and unsparing, but highly recommend.

Rachel, survivor of the Holocaust, is adjusting to America and life. Aaron, her husband, knows the Holocaust only through news reels, but is trying to please his sometimes unstable wife. He has a strong, loving family for support; Rachel has one uncle, also a survivor, whose motives are sometimes questionable. He encourages her to paint as he did his sister, her mother. As the novel progresses we learn of Rachel’s loss, suffering and the means by which she survived. She has many questions and much guilt. Haunted, she harbors a secret which she reveals not to her psychiatrist but to another social “outsider.” Will she find find answers or bury them even deeper? David R. Gillham’s style is one of slow revelation and slight confusion at times. By the novel’s end, however, there is clarity. This is my second historic fictional work by him. I look forward to the next.

You'll not learn anything you didn't already know about the Holocaust in this account of a young New York woman so traumatized by her past in Germany that she can't bring herself to have children with her husband, but the story of what happened to her, particularly with a betrayal that she was forced into, is compelling enough to have you racing through the pages.

I adore historical fiction, and this is such an interesting premise. I recommend because of the story itself, writing style, and its ability to transport you into a different world/time period.

The trauma, horror, and survivor guilt never leave you...Rachel knows it all very well.

Rachel is now in America and married to Aaron, but her time during the war haunts her, and she can't be happy.

We follow Rachel as she can’t help re-living the horror and tries to be a good American wife.

She resents that Aaron has family and she has lost everyone but Uncle Fritz. She had lived with Uncle Fritz when they came to America until she married Aaron. Uncle Fritz can be an "operator." He was during the war and still appears to be.

Rachel goes through her days with the smallest thing reminding her of the war and her crime and speaks to and sees her critical mother.

One day Uncle Fritz who always needs money summoned her to meet him because he found a painting in a pawn shop her mother had painted and one that had survived the war. The only problem is that they couldn't afford the fifty dollars to buy it. When they went back to try to get it at a cheaper price, the painting had been sold.

That photo brought back bad memories, but she wants it.

Rachel doesn't trust her Uncle and thinks he found fifty dollars and took the painting and sold it for more money.

We go back and forth from wartime to present day as Mr. Gillham masterfully blends both timelines and as you are feeling what Rachel is feeling during the horror of wartime and her suffering in present day as she tries to forget and to adapt to her life in America.

SHADOWS OF BERLIN is another gem by Mr. Gillham that will tear at your heartstrings but also have you hoping that Rachel can overcome her nightmares and be happy. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher for an honest review.

This is an absolute whirlwind of a book that will keep you glued to the seat of your chair. So many mysteries reveal themselves and the postwar setting (and war setting) is filled with great detail. The author has also given us a story that includes some new details of how Jews lived during the war and how they survived, or did not survive. For loves of historical fiction and particularly those who have an interest in the Holocaust, this is highly recommended.

One of the things that draw me to historical fiction time and time again is the details. Often a story shines a light on something small that gets lost in the larger picture of history. That is precisely what happens with Shadows of Berlin. This is not another World War 2 story. It is told from a unique place. We follow Rachel a displaced Jewish woman who now lives in Manhattan in 1955. She is married to Arron, a Jewish/American man who did not live through the war the way she did. And though Rachel has survived the horror of the war, she can not escape the guilt of her life in Germany and what she had to do to survive.

The story brings to light U-boats, Jews who hid in Berlin in plain sight during the war. It also addresses survivors' guilt and what life post-war meant for those who had endured. The author lets us in slowly to the story of Rachel's life in Berlin and why she is carrying around such immense guilt.

I was fascinated by the story. While the story is heart-wrenching, it also highlights resilience and healing. Ultimately it is a story about family and love.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the arc. This is my honest review.

Shadows of Berlin is such a powerful - and at times heartrending - novel set in 1955 Manhattan, and focusing on Rachel, an immigrant from Berlin. I was interested in this book because of the 1950's NYC setting and found Rachel's story engrossing and moving. Recommended for fans of historical fiction, especially post World War II and 1950's NYC.

A stunner of a book—the characterizations, the prose, the pacing, the story, everything was exceptional. While much has been written of German Jews during the Nazi regime, Shadows of Berlin manages to bring to life two less-discussed aspects: the U-boats, or Jews who hid in Berlin even after it was officially declared Jew-free, and life post-war for the Jews who survived. Even the most villainous characters aren't pure evil, just as even the most sympathetic characters aren't pure good. And the complexities of the characters, their choices, their ways of coping are echoed in the skein of subplots, some seemingly tangential, that make this so much more than "just another story about Nazi Germany."

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.