Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Muse, and Katherine Reay for the opportunity to read, The Berlin Letters. This book was a fantastic historical fiction story about Berlin during the Cold War. I never learned much about the Berlin Wall when I was in school and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about that time in history. Reay did an amazing job keeping the story fast paced and full of adventure.

The story went back and forth between a young German woman named Luisa who was born in Berlin, but escaped with her grandparents to America when she was a young child and her father who stayed in Berlin and struggled to find his way back to his only daughter.

For many years Luisa thought her father was dead, but then one day she found letters proving he was still alive and living in East Germany, the most dangerous side of the Berlin Wall. Luisa had to use all of her resources to try and find him. When she finally knew he was in East Germany, she realized he was in serious trouble and needed to go there immediately to try and rescue him. She took all of her money and boarded a plane to Germany just as Berlin was becoming extremely dangerous.

This story was incredibly captivating and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. It was full of secrets, spies, and extremely dangerous situations. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves reading historical fiction. It's a story that will stay with me forever.

Dark days of the past haunt and beckon.

Improbable? Possibly not. When the wall dividing Berlin went up, the world gasped. When the wall came down the world was ecstatic.
Luisa Voekler is a baby when the wall interrupts their lives. Her mother, Monica, throws Luisa across the razor wire to her grandparents. Monica attempts to follow, climbing through the wire. At the last minute she is noticed by the guards.
Luisa’s father Harris is a successful journalist in East Berlin, a true believer, a product of the benevolent state. It’s only years later he becomes a subversive.
Her grandparents take Luisa and flee to the states. It seems there is something about her grandfather that made him an asset to those there. He’s an expert cryptographer. Luisa’s grandfather taught her from a child to decipher riddles and codes. She even had to solve codes to find her birthday presents.
When older, Luisa trains with the CIA as an agent but she’s suddenly moved from that program working on budgets and now as an analyst.
She stumbles upon letters that have envelopes with a symbol she recognizes. Hints left by her grandfather when they played at solving encryptions.
Luisa realizes her father is alive, detained by the Stasi, about to be transported to a prison far away. She goes to go to Berlin to bribe guards and obtain his release. Dangerous as it is, she’s compelled to do what she can. Anything could go wrong.
I found the ending, although heart stopping, just a tad to pat.
An exciting Cold War thriller, set in places I recognize.

A Harper Muse ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Wow.

I've read several of Katherine Reay's post-WWII novels and this is her best yet.

"The Berlin Letters" is a remarkably researched and executed story of a father (Haris) and daughter (Luisa) in separate worlds, fighting for what is right on either side of an oppressive wall.

I read a lot of WWII fiction, so loved experiencing "the next phase" in history, even with all its dark, horrific details. I was so sad for Luisa's mum being suddenly separated from her family, and understood her reaction and response to her husband, Haris. She was justified to have responded as she did, and though things didn't turn out well for her, I'm so glad Haris was redeemed through decades of letters. I felt like I travelled Luisa's journey of discovery beside her, mourning her losses and anxious to know what happened next.

Luisa was so believable and lovable. Such strength and brokenness in one small package. I felt so many emotions as she journeyed this story, but my favourite "extra" bit was her hinting at her past infatuation with Daniel. Such a great set up for things to come.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the eARC of this absorbing historical fiction documenting the first days of the Berlin Wall and more. I'm a new Katherine Reay fan. The story is told with thoughtfulness and tenderness and weaves in an engaging mystery. The characters are multifaceted with believable motivations. I like Katherine Reay's writing style, and I appreciate what I learned about this part of history.

This was a really fascinating look at the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. I enjoyed the back-and-forth in time and perspective, as it really brough the eras and events to life for me. Reay did a fantastic job setting the stage for the paranoia and hysteria of East Berlin, and I was drawn into her worlds from the opening pages. The characters and pacing were spot-on - well developed and consistently engaging. I searched a slew of her references on Google, further deepening my interest in the story and history. This was a fabulous read and I'm definitely recommending my library pick up a copy!

I loved that part of the books was set in November 1989! It was so much fun reading about VCRs, renting movies from Blockbuster videos and having payphones plus a very long telephone cord.
I found the scenes set in East Berlin jarring because of how controlled and fearful society was. I thought Haris was naive and very gullible to willingly be the mouthpiece for the party.
As the clock ticked down toward Nov.9 I read with great anticipation! I had chills when I read Reay’s Interpretation of events and I found that part of the book to be exciting. I well remember watching the Wall come down and realizing I was witnessing an unforgettable historic event.
I was glad for the ending. The only part that really bothered me was what Luisa did to get to Europe, I think she was wrong to take what didn’t belong to her.
It’s a memorable read!

I love historical fiction. Admittedly, I haven't read a ton about the Cold War - not intentionally, but it just hasn't happened. The Berlin Letters, by Katherine Reay has now really raised the bar on this genre.

This was just fabulous.

We meet Haris, Monica, and Luisa Voekler on an extraordinary day in 1961 that starts lunlike any other. They live in East Berlin, where Haris is a journalist and often serves as a propaganda mouthpiece. Monica takes their young daughter Luisa for lunch with her parents and sister who recently moved to West Berlin. When she gets to the border, though, she is unable to pass through - barbed wire has been put up, the beginning of the Berlin Wall. Scared and hopeless, Monica does what she thinks is best and hands her daughter over the wire to her parents. This decision will forever change the lives of the Voeklers and their family.

We fastforward to 1989 and little Luisa is now fully grown and living in Washington, DC with her Grandmother. Her Grandfather recently passed away. Luisa works the CIA as a codebreaker. While her work is focused on WW2, her colleague brings her a letter from the cold war that has her stumped. Luisa notices an infinity symbol on the letter that takes her breathaway - shes seen it before from her Grandfather.

What follows is a gripping tale of a young woman questioning everything she's ever known as her professional work becomes deeply interwoven with her personal life. I couldn't put it down and became so invested in Luisa and her journey. I just loved it.

Big thanks to Harper Muse and NetGalley for an advanced copy to read and review. The Berlin Letters is out this Tuesday, March 5!!

Will post this review on retail sites, goodreads and my bookstagram @scottonreads

In The Berlin Letters , published by Harper Muse on 3/5/2024., journalist Harris Voekler and his daughter (Louisa) each tell their stories. When the Berlin Wall went up it forever changed their family. The letters were written by Harris and his father in law, from opposite sides of the wall that separated them. And when Luisa, now a CIA cryptographer, finds her grandfather's stash of correspondence and news stories, she begins to realize they are written in code. And in them she recognizes a symbol from her childhood, having been raised by her grandparents due to the separation. Now it is 1989, near the end of the Cold War, and the letters raise a question. Is it possible that her father is still alive in an East German prison? As the storylines alternate between Luisa and her father, you will experience first hand the trials of this family. They struggle with hard decisions and fight to survive during the early days of the wall and during its continued separation of families. The story of the family becomes a marathon of secrets and lies. Luisa continues to unlock the coded clues and mysterious revelations in the writings, but is literally blocked by that iceberg of a wall separating her from the truth that she needs. Luisa's adventure is assisted by brave journalists and the timely resource of a plan she pieces together with a friend in time of need.. Behind the scenes her father's struggles are real, so Luisa must get past the shivering realities of the Cold War - even if her bosses at the CIA will have nothing to do with helping her. Katherine Reay once again masterfully awakens you to experience history in the moment, as it unfolds. If you love history, mystery, codes, or heroines, this book will be sure to draw you in and Reay, with her masterful storytelling, will become a favorite author!

“It’s humanity at our most basic level. You go along until they come for you. Then you find out what you’re made of.”

Monica Voekler EAST BERLIN, GERMANY Sunday, August 13, 1961:
We are immediately dropped into Berlin the day the East/West border is closed; the barbed wire was unfurled and the guns came out and a relatively peaceful existence was changed in an instant

Luisa Voekler ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA Friday, November 3, 1989
A young CIA cryptographer recognizes a mysterious symbol from her childhood, sending her on a dangerous ride to get answers and save loved ones.

The timelines alternate and eventually converge to reveal a story of family, forgiveness and survival. This fictional account of a volatile period in history has actual events baked into each and every chapter and left me with an even deeper curiosity about untold stories from the Cold War and beyond.

I completely devoured this new novel by Ms. Reay, perhaps her finest, and especially found the punk connection of the late nineties compelling. This book would pair perfectly with the podcast “Wind of Change.” In a series of episodes, Patrick Radden Keefe details a conspiracy theory about a heavy metal band, the soundtrack of a revolution and the possible connection to the CIA!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this one . I loved the details of the Vold War era and what it was like to live then along with the CIA aspects and the code breaking aspects were fascinating.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

An entertaining historical novel with dual storylines set during the Cold War. In 1989, a young CIA analyst discovers a secret cache of letters that leads her to the truth of what happened to her family in 1960s Berlin. Very compelling story - I found the descriptions of code breaking fascinating. At times, the character did make some very silly choices that definitely detracted from the story. All in all, an enjoyable read. I look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this one!

Keeping secrets is a family tradition

At 31, Luisa Voekler works in an off-campus division of the CIA using her codebreaking skills on files that are decades old, rather than as the covert operative she had hoped to be. She lives with the newly-widowed grandmother (Oma) who raised her, which hasn’t done much for her social or. romantic life. When a colleague comes to her for assistance. In deciphering documents from what she calls her “Berlin Letters” file, Luisa sees a small mark….an infinity symbol….that seems all too familiar. Years earlier, she had seen just such a symbol on a letter that her. Grandfather (Opa) was reading. What could her grandfather, the most honest man she’s ever known, have to do with the letters of a spy from East Germany? Soon all that she has been told about her parents, her childhood, and more come into question. Her parents, she had been told, had died in a car accident back in East Germany, and her grandparents brought their other daughter, her Aunt Alice, and Luisa to the US for a better future. But her father, a journalist, is actually still alive and may be imprisoned behind the Iron Curtain. Calling on her skills as a crypto analyst as well as skills she was taught years ago but never used in clandestine operations, Luisa must discover what is the truth about her family and find a way if she can to save the father she hasn’t seen since she was a young child.
As she did in a previous novel, A. Shadow in Moscow, author Katherine Reay delves into the world of. Cold War espionage from an interesting perspective. What leads an ordinary person to enter the world of spies, especially to spy against their own country? And what effects does this have on that person and on those around them? Luisa, who as a girl was dubbed “a girl of infinite possibilities” by her Opa, was raised by people who had not only escaped from East Germany just before the Wall would have prevented such an act, but also had lived through the actions the Soviet military took in the final months of WWII as they marched into Germany, which in turn has impacted her own development. Told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Luisa in 1989, when freedom is percolating in Eastern Europe, and that of her father Haris starting in 1961 and continuing to the present, The Berlin Letters is both an engrossing tale of espionage and one of family, both of which are impacted by secrets, courageous acts, and betrayals. I found the book hard to put down once I picked it up, and enjoyed the lore of codebreaking as well as a glimpse into what went on in East Germany both when the Wall went up and in the time leading up to its coming down. Readers of Ms Reay’s earlier works will enjoy this novel, as will fans of authors like Paul Vidich, Joseph Kanon and Alma Katsu. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for allowing me access to an early copy of The Berlin Letters….I look forward with great anticipation to the next book by Katherine Reay.

The Berlin Letters was one of those books that only a few chapters in I just knew it was going to be good to the end and it did not disappoint. I think this is Katherine Reay’s best novel yet. I enjoy historical fiction and love that this one was set against a memorable event in my lifetime although that does start to make me feel old if I think about it. This is a great family story told with bookends of the beginning and end of the Berlin wall. Other real-life events are woven in and it makes me want to go read more about that time period. Thanks to Harper Muse for an early copy to read through NetGalley, I am leaving this review voluntarily as my honest opinion because I love books and authors. This book will release on March 5, 2024.

This was a thrilling read that simply wouldn’t let me put it down! Riveting on so many layers - intense family dynamics, unique moment in history, thrilling CIA details . Luisa is such a likeable character. Almost an orphan, almost a success. I love the closeness she shared with her Opa/grandfather, balanced against the pain when she realized he hadn’t been totally honest with her. And yet, had she been candid with her family about her career? The way Opa prepared Luisa for both her job and the ultimate revelations about her family was incredible. I finished this book amazed at the courage and cleverness of these three generations . Reay writes with such precision that every emotion, every scene, comes alive. I was grateful to receive an early copy of this book from NetGalley, and was not required to post a review.

Amazing! Captivating! I loved this book. The characters were people I could feel for and learn from. I learned so much about a time from my childhood that I don’t remember.
Wow!

I have read Katherine Reay's earlier works and was excited to see that she had another one about to be published. This tale follows Luisa, a woman who was born in East Berlin, passed over the wall to West Berlin and who journeys to America with her grandparents to live.

At the start of the novel, Luisa is working as a code breaker for the CIA. She tried for active agent but was released during training. Luisa is working on a set of letters from post WWII and starts discovering information about her own life that she had not known. The book alternates between the present day and Luisa to the 1960s-1980s and Luisa's father, Haris. It is a long journey for Luisa but one that helps her to decipher who she is and reconnects her with family she didn't know she had.

I enjoyed this book and the glimpse of life in East Berlin as well as Cold War America. I'm grateful for the opportunity to read this ARC and recommended it highly.

Katharine Reay has done it again! I love historical fiction and this book was wonderful!The depth and emotion was gripping and I connected deeply with the characters! Highly recommend! I love the mystery of the book with the code breakers and the CIA! I learned so much about this time period and appreciate all of the research that went into this book.

This was a very interesting story. Luisa has been raised by her grandparents after the Berlin Wall went up. She now works for the CIA as a code breaker. She has been groomed since she was a kid to figure out coded notes from her Opa. While at work she notices the codes letters her co-worker is working on are the same as the ones she found hidden in her old room. She started decoding the letters and found out they were from her father in East Germany. She had been told her parents were both dead. She figures out the whole story and decides to help her father. There is a lot of suspense in the story. There is also a lot of history about the Wall and what went on in the years following. I don't want to go into too much detail, but it is a good story that's moves across the present and the past with Luisa's father's letters. Having all the backstory really helped ratchet up the suspense towards the final chapters. Good book and worth reading. I will be looking for other books from this author.

I received a free copy from NetGalley for an unbiased review.

3.5 rounded down

I really wanted to love this one. The story premise - a family divided by the Berlin Wall, really interested me! And while it was a good story, it didn’t blow me away. The main character had several moments that made me frustrated and wonder how she ever got a job working for the CIA. Overall, I enjoyed it but I don’t think it will be one that will stick in my mind for a long time.

This was a very intriguing story that I learned a lot from. The code aspect was really interesting. I learned a lot about this true history. There were some parts in the middle that slowed the pace, but overall a great read.