A beautiful book about Holocaust and the impact that it had mentally on the survivors, a true example that shows if a trauma is seemingly over, it's not entirely for its victims.
Rachel is a war survivor, she deals with survivor's guilt on daily basis specially with her line of work. she's married but the ghosts-shadows- of her past are not letting her be as happy as she could be, and then something else happens that makes everything much harder. her mother's painting.
at the beginning the story could seem like a slow read and could be difficult but as you keep on reading it takes shape and is worthwhile. though I can't say this was one of the best books I've read about WWII, but it was good and I have no regrets,

Thanks to NetGalley for providing my copy of this book

Thank you netgalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this historical fiction story. It’s the first I can remember that took place mostly after world war 2 with flashbacks for Rachel during the war. I was surprised how her husband treated her as she suffered from the flashbacks and was having difficulty with living a “normal” life.

I hadn’t heard of Jews acting as grabbers or spotters for the nazis but can see it happening especially with the promise of food and not being killed.

I enjoyed this audiobook and the story, if you like historical fiction I think you will too.

This is a good read (or listen) for fans of historical fiction. The story goes back and forward in time, which helps you understand more about the characters. Complex family relationships and differing ways of dealing with post WWII trauma are some themes. I listened to the audio and appreciated the narrator's interpretation.

2. Shadows of Berlin is a heart wrenching story that explores the post-war consequences of the Holocaust on its survivors.

Rashka Morgenstern is a young Jewish girl who has survived the horrors of the Holocaust. Displaced from her home, she and her uncle (her only living relative) emigrate to America as refuges with the hope of settling into a new life. In New York she becomes Rachel and meets her husband Aaron Perlman, but happiness evades her. While she has survived the horrors of war, she is haunted by the memories and carries the burden of survivors guilt, which lies heavily on her conscience.

I am drawn to WWII fiction and this was a fantastic exploration of the serious ramifications trauma, guilt, regret and culpability can play particularly on one’s mental well being.

My thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to an advance listeners copy of Shadows of Berlin, narrated by Suzanne Toren, in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Audiobooks have so much to do with the narrator, and I did not like the narrator of this book it distracted me from the book, and therefore I did not finish the book. Maybe I will try again when it comes out in print.

Rachel’s story begins with her life as a new wife in NYC consumed with her memories of WWII in Berlin. Rachel must come to terms about how she has managed to survive the war. In order to save the lives of herself and her mother she did unimaginable things she cannot forget or forgive herself for. Her husband, uncle and a counselor all try to help her cope with her past, however it takes a special painting to help her move away from the past and into the future. This was an audio book and the narration of this was great (especially of her husband, Aaron). This is a unique historical fiction as it does not usually deal with the aftermath of war, this book does and shows how a survivor's guilt can haunt a person. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book shows more than just a persons view of going through WWII as a Jewish person but also the view of a colored persons view after the war. It is hard to follow as they bounce back and forth between war time and after war time. I can't imagine what all the victims of the war (no matter who they are) but it is even harder to try to feel or follow their experience when it jumps around so much.

Thank you to Recorded Books for the ALC.

This book ended up being a DNF for me - I just wasn't connecting to the characters and found it a little slow-moving. I do tend to be pickier about historical fiction because I don't read as much of it, and I'm sure that historical fiction lovers will enjoy this unique look at WWII.

I highly recommend this audiobook.

Shadows of Berlin is historical fiction with a twist. The main story is about the life of the main character long after the war was over. The flashbacks from earlier times help you understand why the character feels or acts the way they do. The family relationships are interesting with ups and downs. The war was a struggle but living life after the war is a struggle as well. It was interesting to think about living life after all the hardships of war - guilt, nightmares, hard choices made to stay alive, etc.
The main character is a female jew that is honest about the life that she lived during the war. She will answer questions and be open in ways that people in America are just not ready for. Her mother was a famous artist and she is an artist as well. She struggles with how to live her life after everything that she saw and experienced during the war. She has to determine whether to paint like her famous mother or not. She has a husband that wants children so bad but she struggles with whether it is right to bring a child into this world. Her mother still has a strong influence over her thoughts and feelings. Is she crazy? Can she recover from all of this and lead a good life? She thought war would be the hard part but life is still hard.

(Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback)

First of all, the narration of this book was fantastic. Bouncing between a New York and German accent and conveying a large range of emotions, the narrator did a phenomenal job of bringing the book to life.

This was a wonderful book about a Jewish housewife in America, Rachel, told in two timelines. One from her adolescent years in WWII Germany and her being one of the lucky Jewish to flee successfully to the USA while leaving so much behind. Then the current time in NYC, married to an American Jewish and her life now, free but stacked with guilt and mental trauma from what she endured and how she survived.

First of all, this not only taught me a lot about WWII Germany and how Jews were able to survive, but also great perspective into the survivor's guilt for those who did. The book also gave a great look into prejudice (be it about race, ethnicity, birth country, or sexuality), the reasonings behind how the characters feel, and how society reacted to differences.

This was truly a phenomenal book. I can't really fully do it justice with my words, but I give it every star and every thumbs up I can!

Overall, I was disappointed in this book. I couldn't connect with the main character, Rachel. In addition, I found the story to be rather long and tedious. This one came off as depressing, which I understand based on the subject matter. The narrator for the audiobook was very good. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with both an advanced reader's copy of the ebook and the audiobook.

4 1/2 stars

Life after a horrific was is always difficult for the survivors, but it’s so much worse when you feel guilt and grief for the actions that kept you alive, the same ones that might have sent your mother and others to their deaths. There are no passes, even if you were a child at the time. Rachel Perlman, now a young married woman, must face the ghosts of her past as she tries to move on with her life, but PTSD holds her back. Her husband, a good and loving man born and raised in New York, tries to understand what she’s going through, but he freely admits that he can’t comprehend it. He spent the war in California doing catering for service organizations.

The reader follows Rachel as she discovers new facts and works her way through her guilt. It’s a dark and depressing read, but it always offers shreds of hope. In the end, I felt rewarded for my efforts.

This book is well-paced, beautifully plotted, and written in a captivating way. I listened to the audiobook version, and the narration was very good. I thought it had a problem or two, specifically when almost every male character spoke with the exact same cadence and accent, but I could deal with that, especially realizing that the narrator had to be able to pronounce all of the Yiddish, German, and French words worked into the story. On those, she was amazing.

I highly recommend this book. It illustrates aspects of war that are often overlooked, and shows them from the viewpoint of a child.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

Shadows of Berlin follows Rachel Pearlman, a Jewish World War II survivor living in NYC navigating life after the war in 1955. Rachel, who changed her name from Rashka Morgenstern to better fit in after moving to NYC in 1948 with her only living family member, her uncle Fritz. Rachel marries American-born Jew Aaron Pearlman but continues to struggle with depression and survivors guilt about the things she was forced to do to survive the Holocaust. After her Uncle Fritz finds one of moms paintings in a pawn shop, Rachel is tortured even more by the ghosts and memories of her past.

The premise of this book intrigued me because most of it is set in the aftermath of World War 2 and I feel like few books focus on the emotional aftermath of the Jewish people that survived the war. I found the exploration into mental health especially for the time period this took place very interesting. Throughout the book you see Rachel struggling to live a normal life because of her past trauma, anger, and survivor's guilt. These issues interfere with her developing and maintaining close relationships with people in her life.

This novel is definitely more of a character focused book than a plot driven book. Suzanne Toren did a great job with the audio and her accents were fantastic and made the audio experience even better even though I listened to this on 1.5 speed. This audiobook was over 16 hours and I felt like it could have been trimmed down. I think this book brings up an important discussion of the lasting mental trauma many faced after the war but it felt a little too long.

Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media and Recorded Books for an audio arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed.reading this book because most of it was set in the World War II aftermath. Few books cover the emotional ramifications of those who survived the carnage and camps in Europe and emigrated to the United States. The main character Rachael settled in New York City. Since I was born in the city and group up very nearby it was fun to see familiar places mentioned, ie the automat and Katz deli.
Rachael found it very difficult to adjust to “normal” life because of her past experiences, anger and survivor’s guilt. This interferes with developing and maintaining close relationships. During the course of the book we see Rachael struggle with these issues and see the development of empathy and compassion, with an underlying theme of resiliency. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this advanced copy.

I enjoyed this first look at the Shadows of Berlin on audiobook. I found Rachel an interesting character who is not given the respect and freedom she deserves. But given the time she lives in is any lady given these things really? I found myself frustrated with the people in her life and wanted to yell at them to get out of her way and let her live her life her way but once again its a different time and a different world. But even in that time and world it felt like she was being smothered by the people in her life who should be loving her and helping her make something of her life. She is stronger than they give her credit and I feel she will show them in the end.

In Shadows of Berlin the reader is plummeted into the transformation of Raschka Morgenstern a young woman who with her uncle survives the Holocaust to become Rachel Perlman, wife to an American husband now living in New York City in 1955. Raschka/Rachel's story is triggered by her breakdown in Bonwit Taylor and subsequent conversations with her psychiatrist. Not all stories about the Holocaust describe the horrors of life in the camps. Indeed, this novel reveals how some Jews survived by working with the Nazis to identify and round up others in hiding. In Berlin, Raschka's mother had been an exceptionally talented painter. Her beautiful model Angelika, subject of one of her most famous paintings, was to become the notorious Red Angel who survived by collaborating with the Nazis. The memories of Raschka's experiences as Angelika's "pet" continue to haunt her. A series of flashbacks intrude on life with her husband Aaron who as "just a Jew from Flatbush" tries to be supportive and understanding about what haunts her. The comforts of post war America with a television in every living room, Chinese take out and easy to prepare meals from a box or a can in the cupboard provide a contrast with Rachel's memories as a young girl forced to do the bidding of Angelika. When her uncle reveals that the Red Angel's portrait has been discovered in a pawn shop in New York it sets other events into motion. While this is essentially Rachel's story, there are richly drawn characters from Aaron's family including his sister whose choice of an African American boyfriend challenges family norms. Rachel who has rejected motherhood is forced to come to terms with why she does not want to give Aaron what he most fervently wants. In the end, this complex and compelling story benefits from being enjoyed in the audio version . The narrator gives an outstanding performance of all characters especially helpful because of the sprinkling of Yiddish, German and occasional French phrases throughout the story. Highly recommended.

DNF at 51%

This is the third book this year that I am dropping, and that's not like me at all. But I just can't bring myself to continue.

Unlike the other two DNFs, there's nothing incredibly awful about this book. It isn't <i>bad</i>, it just ended up really boring. The way this is written makes it hard for me to feel for any of the characters, and were told things, but rarely shown them, and not a lot happens. There's a whole lot of nothing really happening, which would be fine if we had some great characters, or learned about them, but I feel like I didn't learn all that much about them either.

The relationship between our main character and her husband felt really toxic. Like when he pressured her to just have his child (super uncomfortable, especially in an audio book where you hear her beg him to stop). He did eventually give up, but that still doesn't mean he didn't try very hard to pressure/force her. And to make it worse, this happened in the first chapter. Yes, we really had an almost martial rape scene in the first chapter of the book. Or when he decided that going to the play about Anne Frank with his wife who was a holocaust survivor was a good idea. Their interactions all felt like they really disliked each other.
The other relationships our main character has, with for example her uncle and her (late) mother feel really toxic too.

The plot takes place in different time periods, we get a lot of flashbacks, following both the main character, as well as someone else completely. Life in Berlin during the war for Jewish people was obviously hard. This book tries to give some perspective on both hiding as well as trying to find Jewish people and sell them out to the Nazi's as a Jewish person.

The historical accuracy wasn't great, in the sense that it didn't <i>feel</i> like it took place it the past. The way the characters talk and behave just didn't fit the time period.

The audio book is fine, I don't have much to say about it. The author read well enough, but it wasn't enough to save it for me. <s>If I rather have silence than listen to something, it's not good, because I hate silence.</s>

I don't think this book is bad, but I just can't keep my attention with it. I can't make it through it, even though I've tried multiple times, so I've decided to just give up. I don't like DNF'ing books, but honestly, I'm struggling enough with my health atm, I don't also want to struggle to get through a book I don't care about.

Rashka Morgenstern survived World War II, despite living underground in Germany as a Jew. Her mother died at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and now her only living family member is her uncle Fritz. In 1948, the two move to New York City, where Rashka changes her name to Rachel to fit in better and marries American-born Jew Aaron Perlman. Rachel struggles with depression and survivor’s guilt about the things she had to do to survive the Holocaust. When her Uncle Fritz finds one of her mom’s paintings in a pawn shop in Brooklyn, the ghosts and memories haunt her become more vivid and terrifying than ever. Can Rachel learn to forgive herself and move on?

This novel is definitely more of a character study than a plot-driven book. There are some flashbacks to Rachel’s years in Germany, but the bulk of the story takes place in 1955 New York. Suzanne Toren did a great job narrating the audiobook. At 16 hours in audiobook format or over 400 pages for the written version of the book, I feel like it could have been trimmed down. Additionally, I never connected emotionally with the characters, so the story didn’t hold my attention like I was hoping.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Shadows of Berlin focuses on Rachel, a WWII survivor, as she finds her way in NYC after the war. She marries a man named Aaron from Flatbush and some would say that she should be happy to still be alive. Her transition from survival mode into housewife isn't an easy one for Rachel. She suffers from survivor's guilt which manifests itself with visions and sometimes outbursts that aren't becoming a young woman.

I listened to this one as an audiobook and loved Suzanne Toren's narration. She nailed the accents and made this story more enjoyable to me. It could have been a bit shorter, but I appreciated that the bulk of this book took place after the war and was told from a different perspective than most historical fiction books set in that timeframe. I also give it kudos for showing a woman trying to take care of her mental health even in the 1950s.

True rating: 3.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads.

Special thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for the physical ARC and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

We had a great book club discussion about Shadows of Berlin. One interesting thing to note - those that listened to the audiobook much preferred the book than those that read the egalley. The narrator here brought a lot of detail to the story. Without giving away too much, we talked a lot about survivor's guilt. Some felt the husband was a little annoying and we all felt that the book was really long. Overall, most liked the book.