Another captivating, compelling historical novel from Katherine Reay! I love everything I read by her and The Berlin Letters is a fascinating addition to her fantastic body of work. Reay tells her story with poignant details and incredible heart. I was engrossed in the story and the fate of these characters.

The Cold War Berlin setting was incredibly fascinating as I learned so much about post-WWII Germany and the Berlin Wall. Getting a glimpse of life behind the Iron Curtain was so interesting. Learning about how the world worked in East Berlin was so intriguing. People thought differently, accepted things differently, revolted differently, and fought for freedom. I came to this book with my American experience and the German and Soviet experience surprised me. The way the wall came up so quickly was surprising. I couldn't believe they had collected so much barbed wire! Then I found it fascinating how the Party controlled the news, the border, peoples jobs and homes, churches -- everything. But that control couldn't hold forever. The ending was the most compelling part of the novel as the wall comes down and the world changes forever.

I loved the dual perspectives in this novel giving us the story from different times. The letters that Luisa reads were clever and intriguing. The codes were even more compelling. We read Luisa's grown up perspective in 1989 and Haris', her father, perspective through the 1960s-1980s. I appreciated the similarities between their voices and also how they both change and grow through their stories. Haris is absolutely fascinating because of his growth. He begins the novel a very different man than who he becomes at the end. Seeing his opinions of the party and their platforms shift was an intriguing journey. I also enjoying getting to know him and Luisa better through their shared perspectives. They both are surprised by the secrets they discover and their abilities to create and decipher codes were impressive. I love their reunion at the end and the ways they experience such a poignant moment in history together.

The storytelling is exquisite as Reay creates a compelling and vibrant story. Although I have not yet visited Berlin, I was transported there though Reay's writing. I could see the creation of the wall and the many additions to it's intensity. I could see the abandoned churches, the sterile block housing, the dying trees, the simple apartments and sophisticated Stasi center. I also felt the emotions of the people -- the fear, the anger, the determination, the courage, the strength, and the overwhelm. Reay so expertly balances the experiences of the masses with the experiences of individuals. In many ways, Reay puts us at the center of the conflict and I was impressed by how much I felt I understood this time in history after reading The Berlin Letters.

Another absolutely fantastic novel from Katherine Reay. The characters are complex and endearing. The storytelling is fantastic. And the historical moment is unlike any other. I was fascinated by all I learned in this novel and grateful for Reay's many notes and sources that she mentions at the end of the book. A must read for anyone interested in understanding the Berlin War years and anyone who appreciates a compelling story showcasing the best of the human spirit during a unique time in world history.

The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay is such a fascinating read. The author does such a wonderful job of writing about the Iron Curtain and The Cold War. I think this is her best book so far. The characters are well developed and makes the story totally engrossing. I learned so much about this period of time in history. This is a fast paced spy story that will stay with you long after you are finished reading it.

The story is about Luisa and her family, who get separated when the Berlin Wall is erected, their struggles and how they cope to survive. It shows how opinions we thought to be true can change over time. This book will keep you on your toes until the very end. The story will evokes many emotions in the reader from hatred, sadness to joy and even love. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. One of my favourite reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for an advanced copy of this book.

The Berlin Letters was fascinating! I doubt I would have ever chosen to pick up & read a book about The Iron Curtain & The Cold War...but Katherine Reay's writing kept me coming back for more & anxious to see how it ended!

I loved the book. It kept me engaged & it was very hard to put down! I always appreciate aome good twists & turns and I wasn't disappointed!

One of the reasons I enjoy Katherine Reay's books so much is that they challenge me to read "outside the box", so to speak...reading books & genres I might not automatically choose.

Thank you to Netgalley & the Publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Did you read the book description? If so, it tells you nearly the entire plot. The part of the book I most appreciated was its depiction of the family and other relationships affected by the Berlin Wall. This depiction feels genuine, nuanced and affecting. Luisa’s father’s life in East Berlin is also compellingly described.

Where the author lost me was the plans to get Luisa’s father out of East Berlin. Just the idea of sneaking somebody out in the late 1980s is silly. The Wall had been there for over 25 years and vast sums had been spent to make it impregnable. And it’s East Berlin, the most surveilled place in the world. Luisa’s own plan is laughable, but the new plan of her friend’s isn’t any better when it comes to the part of actually getting her and her father together in East Berlin and then out. [spoiler]The only reason they get out is because they happen to be there the night when the Wall comes down. But that means that Luisa’s father would have been able to leave (soon, if not the same day) without her efforts, which makes the whole escape plot seem pointless.[/spoiler]

Reay is a good writer, and I hope her plotting comes up to the same level in the future.

Summary:
August 1961 changed the life of Monica Voekler and her family. She planned on joining her parents and sister for lunch, but she's stopped by a barricade. One that arrives overnight and separates more than just parts of a city. The Berlin Wall changes history and the lives of the Voekler family. Sacrifices are made with devastating consequences. Lies that were once believed reveal their truth. Eyes that were blinded to the reality of the the wall are cruelly opened. Navigate the Berlin Wall with the Voeklers- from all angles- as it goes up, while it's up and the day it's torn down.

Katherine Reay has quickly become one of my favorite historical fiction writers for good reason. The Berlin Letters has sealed her place among my favorite writers. I LOVED this book. So very much. I was gripped to the story. There were several times I thought I knew what was going to happen only to be proven wrong. I was captivated. I was enthralled. I was rooting for each character. I didn't want to put the book down. This book has found it's way onto my favorite books of all time list.

Monica Voekler is a wife and mother in 1961. On this particular day she plans on joining her parents for breakfast. However, she finds a wired barricade stopping her from entering West Berlin. It doesn't take her long to realize the barricade has nefarious intentions. Nor does it take her long to realize she has to decide not just her future, but that of her 3 year old daughter, Luisa. As Monica watches events unfold at the barricade and the actions of the guards in charge of it, she knows the life she knew is over. The woman who set out to meet her family doesn't return home the same.

Monica's husband, Haris, is a reporter for a local newspaper and a member of the Stasi party. He's heard rumblings of a barricade going up and is positive it's for good intentions and not meant to be permanent. He's the last of his family to see things for what they really are and he stands to lose everything he has left. However, in learning the truth, Haris fights for the truth to be known. He finds help in the last place he would've expected it ands sets out to educate the world beyond the wall of what life is like for those living behind it. He has no idea the words and secrets he passes on become known by more than the eyes he wrote them for.

Luisa Voekler has been brought up by her Grandparents after her parents die in a car accident. Her Opa has died, so it's now just her, her Aunt and her Oma. Her family doesn't know that Luisa is one of a team who cracks WW2 and Third Reich codes and ciphers. When Luisa helps her coworker decode a set of letters from berlin, she notices small details like dots over paragraphs and an infinity symbol. The same symbol she's found on one of her Opa's envelopes. Thus begins the journey of uncovering secrets she has no clue of and no idea how deep they went.

As Luisa discovers more letters with the symbol on them between her Opa and someone she long since thought she lost. Once she makes the connection of who her Opa exchanged letters with, she's on a race against time to rescue them from the hell they're in.

I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. I'm not even remotely doing it justice here. Katherine Reay wrote a story that had me gripped to the very end. My heart broke over Monica's story. My heart felt despair over the path Haris found himself on and the consequences it had. I was shocked as Luisa learned the truth of her beloved Grandfather. By the time I read the last line, I had traveled all over the emotional map. This book was AMAZING!! Not only did you learn about the characters and all they endured, but you learned so much history. I haven't heard of any other book involving the Berlin Wall and Katherine did it perfectly.

If you love historical fiction, you will be a fan of this book. You get a real and in depth look at what life was like during the years the Berlin Wall was up. I cannot rave about this book enough. Katherine Reay, thank you for telling the story of so many. Thank you for bringing to light the events many people know nothing about.

Such an amazing book. Totally engrossing novel set in East Berlin and Washington DC during the Cold War era of the 1960s, 70, and 80s.. I was completely caught up in the story of Luisa and her family, all victims of the Soviet domination of East Berlin during that time. So well written and researched, I would have read 24/7 if I had been able to. It’s a different view of an era I remember very well but did not fully understand. Highly recommended—my first five-star book of this year.

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



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Although I enjoyed it overall, it was well-researched and the author did a wonderful job immersing the reader into ’The Berlin Letters’ world, I couldn’t help but feel the 1961+ chapters were faster, and more evenly paced than their 1989 counterparts, making them far more entertaining. I found myself skimming 1989 chapters.

This book is a must-read! If you are looking for history, adventure, messy family relationships, or espionage, you will find it all in this story. Be warned that once you begin reading, you may not want to put it down! You also may find yourself thinking about Luisa's and Harris' story long after you read the ending.

This is a wonderful "inside" view of East Berlin beginning from the night the wall was erected to when the wall came down. Although a very up-close view of local and personal history to the characters, it is a piece of history that impacted the world but is little understood or known so intimately. It is the story of the cost and sacrifice of the freedom to help make home better.

This book was just what I needed. Historical Fiction set in Berlin and the USA after WW2. Dual timelines, spies, secrets, family torn apart, and badass female CIA agent? 😍

Seriously, reading how she broke codes and cyphers made me want to be her. Of course, thats impossible. The only code-like thing I am capable of is a sudoku puzzle 😆 but how freaking cool?

This book was flawlessly written. I both tried to devour and savor it. I loved every moment and learned so much.

There is something about bravery during oppression that speaks to my soul. It reminds me of what we, as humans, are capable of.

I loved how so many characters didn’t want to escape the iron curtain, but wanted to fix the root issue. It was absolutely beautiful and like… Daniel though 🫠🫶🏼

CIA cryptographer Luisa Voelker finds a familiar symbol in a batch of letters a colleague is decoding and realizes her father - who she has been told died in a car crash with her mother when she was a small child - is actually alive and imprisoned by the Stasi in East Germany. Luisa makes a plan to get across the wall and save her father.

A book set during the end of the Cold War involving secret codes + the Berlin Wall... sign me up! I was a kid in America in the 80s and remember being so freaked out by the idea of secret police and snitching and being trapped on one side of the wall and not being able to get across (I think this was fueled in part by some vaguely-remembered tv movies? with a romance element? or something? I don't know, exactly, but it gives me the shivers anyway.)

I loved all of the code aspects of this story and glimpses behind the wall (especially all of the punk kids - I had no idea!) and really enjoyed the dual perspectives of Luisa and her father, but it did lead to some repetition and sort of slowed down the action. I also didn't super love Luisa - she didn't seem super skilled at anything and had a lot of help/just got lucky, especially at the very end - that was a little too bananas. This book is getting rave reviews from many readers, so I'm definitely an outlier, but it was just ok for me and not the thrill-ride I was hoping for. That said - it was VERY well-researched, and I'm definitely interested in reading more of Reay's books!

The Berlin Letters is set during the Cold War when the Berlin Wall went up and when it came down. East Berliners could travel to West Berlin freely at the beginning of the novel. Suddenly one day Monica is trying to cross to visit her parents who live on the West Berlin side when she comes across barbed wire standing across the border area. She makes a split second decision that will change her life and her parent’s lives.

When Luisa, a CIA cryptographer, finds coded letters to her grandfather, she realizes her father is alive in East Berlin in a prison. She travels to West Berlin to hopefully find her father.

The novel is very fast paced and a great spy/ thriller story with the historical aspect of how East and West Berliners lived during that time period.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for my complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to read it. Firstly, it is Katherine Reay and I have not read anything by her that I did not treasure. Second, the setting is Berlin. I lived there as a teen during the events in the story, so I knew it would have a totally different impact on me due to experiences. Once again, Reay demonstrates her ability to research properly to tell an accurate, compelling story. Luisa is a complex character who does not even understand her own layers. As more starts to come to light and she learns that her past and her family are not what she has always believed, she learns that she has been prepped and prepared for these revelations her whole life. The dual timeline perspective makes the events so real and helps the reader understand why some people reacted the way they did. The setting, the temperaments, the descriptions, and stage is cast perfectly. Details are spot on and enhance the experience. I was completely engrossed by the time Luisa made it to Berlin and could not put the book down. I have walked in those spots and to hear the story from various perspectives knowing where I was and what I experienced at the exact same moments was powerful for me. Reay did her homework, she got it right, and she told an exquisite story. There is a little romance sprinkled in to lighten some of the heavy moments, but even this is well done and brings great balance. Do yourself a favor and set some time aside to walk in Luisa and Haris’s shoes. You will be impacted, and you will never view the fall of the Berlin Wall the same again.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

When CIA codebreaker discovers a symbol she recognizes from her childhood on coded letters from Berlin, she embarks on a journey to learn more about the secrets of her childhood and her family as the Berlin wall was constructed during the Cold War and eventually torn down.

This is the first book I’ve read about the Cold War in awhile and apparently, even living through most of it, knew very little. Told through dual timelines and dual POV, Katherine Reay has crafted a thoroughly researched and engaging novel set in Berlin during the tumultuous Cold War. I loved the character development and growth that she achieved through the dual timeline. There were some times when there were some info dumps, but if you know me, I enjoyed those and don’t think they took away from the story, but added to the understanding and stakes in the story. This book achieved everything I want for historical fiction and I highly recommend.

Wow! Katherine Reay has penned a very intellectual historical spy thriller that had me gripped from page one. I remember the Cold War era and the day the Wall came down in East Berlin. As a young mother of two at the time, I thought, God bless them!! They were finally free. They can choose and live a life without fear. This book follows a young girl from the time she was three when the Wall was erected until she was thirty-one when it came down. This is a book rich in historical detail in a duel time line that brought back memories of that era and allowed me to feel the emotions the characters went through. If you like spies, espionage, thrillers, and some romance in the mix, then you will absolutely love this novel. I know I did. 5 stars!!

Sorry, I hit the wrong button. I can't get into this book at all, so will not be writing a review. Since I can't go back and edit it and have to enter at least 100 characters, I'll just keep writing until I get to that number. I don't know that the book is a one star book. I just can't get into it and am not going to spend the time trying.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins Publishing for an early copy of The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay

Non-stop character development and a captivating plot centered on the fall of the Berlin Wall make The Berlin Letters a "must read" in 2024. While the story has its roots in the post World War II tragedies of a divided Germany and a divided Berlin, the actual events of the construction and eventual destruction of the Berlin Wall are remarkably modern, and many readers will remember vividly watching television coverage of the reunification of Berlin in 1989.

Reay's story focuses on a young Luisa Voekler living in East Berlin until the day her mother thrusts her over a fence and into the arms of Luisa's grandparents in West Berlin. Luisa's father, a staunch believer in the ideals of the Soviets in power, begins a correspondence with his father-in-law now living with his wife, daughter Alice and granddaughter Luisa in the United States. Within their correspondence are hidden codes that aid the Americans in understanding events in East Berlin. When Luisa goes to work for the CIA, she will learn about her father and embark on a dangerous journey to rescue him from prison.

So many real-life situations of the time are embedded in The Berlin Letters: the plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II, the role that young people played in weakening the Soviet hold on East Berlin, and the neighbor-against-neighbor spying that was such a part of an East Berliner's life at this time.

With all of its sorrows culminating in the joy of the downfall of the Berlin Wall, The Berlin Letters is much like an automobile that accelerates with no brake pedal in sight. At the conclusion of the novel, readers will want to view video of the night in November 1989 when the unbelievable came to be. Real people whose lives were forever changed.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Harper Muse. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Post-WWII Fiction, Germany
Spice Level: Low
Violence Level: Hard things are discussed or mentioned but not on the page.
Format: Dual POVs from different time periods and letters (The correspondence is more explained than shown on the page, but I felt like it was there.)

Here are words I thought I'd never say: I love spy novels! Yep, but specifically all the ones written by this author. Reay makes it approachable for me when I've never delved into this type of material before.

I think the reason THE BERLIN LETTERS works so well is because it's all about the faces behind the events. It's a human story.

We see loss, love, betrayal, secrets kept, and secrets revealed, and emotional turmoil in so many facets.

Somehow, this sucked me in and made me want to read more. I was equally vested in Luisa and Haris. This would make a great book club selection. And after reading this, I want to find out more about my relatives who visited from East Germany in the early 80s.

What a fantastic book! Yes, I highly recommend it!

Happy reading!

I absolutely loved every minute of Katherine Reay’s latest, The Berlin Letters. Set during the tumultuous times of the Cold War, Reay does a fantastic job at making the sudden appearance and lingering effects of the wall personal through the stories of one family divided by time, distance, and beliefs. I learned so much from this book about life in Berlin after WWII and then as the wall is built overnight to separate families and friends, one side free and one side imprisoned. The details of life behind the Iron Curtain were heartbreaking and shocking, the fear palpable as there was no one to trust, nowhere safe.

As in her last book (A Shadow in Moscow which I gave five stars!), Reay explores the strong bonds between family members and how these ties can bring about change on a global scale. I was thoroughly invested in the characters from page one, racing through the tension-filled chapters to the thrilling conclusion. Reay is a master at crafting electrifying novels full of historical details and research.

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about how the Cold War affected everyone behind the wall. Those of us old enough to remember this time period will be amazed at what was going on while we were living our typical American lives and those too young to remember the Cold War need to read this so they never forget.

Thank you to @netgalley and @HarperMuse for this ARC. Overnight East and West Berlin were divided. Everyone is now separated from their families, church, work and home. From first reports and with already scheduled plans to meet her parents in the West, Monica arrives to the barbed wire to find her family. Knowing her husband works for the Stasi and with the guard distracted, she shoves her daughter through the fence to her parents, Luisa grandparents. Haris arrives home to find an inconsolable wife and no daughter. Several years later, Luisa who is now deciphering letters from the time around the wall going up, she finds a letter that looks a lot like what her grandfather used to write. After deciphering his codes, she finds the truth of her family. I have read another book regarding the Berlin Wall and how lives were changed overnight but never from both sides. Really liked this story. #TheBerlinLetters #KatherineReay #March2024 #HarperMuse

I have always wondered how people ended up trapped on either side of the Berlin Wall. I assumed that it must have taken a lot of time to construct so how did families get separated? I got my answer in the prologue.
While I enjoyed most of the story, there were several times where my eyes glazed over because we're given a page or so of information that feels like it was pulled straight out of a history textbook.