"The Berlin Letters" by Katherine Reay is a captivating and poignant novel that explores themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships against the backdrop of post-World War II Germany. The story unfolds through a series of letters that reveal the intertwined lives of its characters, each grappling with their own struggles and aspirations.

Reay's writing is both lyrical and insightful, painting a vivid picture of Berlin during a time of rebuilding and reflection. The letters serve as a powerful narrative device, allowing readers to delve deeply into the characters’ thoughts and emotions. Through their correspondence, the novel beautifully captures the nuances of connection, highlighting the ways in which communication can bridge distances—both physical and emotional.

The characters are well-crafted and relatable, each with their own unique voices and perspectives. As they navigate the challenges of their pasts and the uncertainties of their futures, readers are drawn into their journeys of self-discovery and resilience. The emotional depth of the story is enhanced by the historical context, providing a rich backdrop that adds layers to the characters' experiences.

Overall, "The Berlin Letters" is a moving and thought-provoking read that invites reflection on the nature of love and the impact of history on individual lives. Katherine Reay has crafted a beautifully woven narrative that resonates with readers, making it a must-read for fans of historical fiction and character-driven stories. This novel will linger in your mind long after you’ve turned the last page!

The Berlin Letters was an absolute page-turner for me (as an audiobook haha). Set against the backdrop of Cold War tensions, it tells the story of Luisa Voekler, a CIA codebreaker who uncovers long-lost letters from her father, whom she thought was dead. What unfolds is a gripping dual-timeline narrative—Luisa’s present-day search to free her father from East Berlin and Haris Voekler’s past, as he navigates life under the oppressive East German regime.

I loved how Reay weaved historical detail with the suspense of espionage and family secrets. The alternating perspectives between Luisa and Haris gave depth to the emotional stakes and kept me hooked from start to finish. It was especially refreshing to read a Cold War-era story instead of the more common WWII narratives (I really need a long break from those). The urgency of the Berlin Wall's history combined with the personal stories of love, loss, and survival made this a compelling and reflective read. Love!

"The Berlin Letters" by Katherine Reay is one of those historical fiction books that grabs you with its suspense and doesn’t let go. It’s got everything—Cold War drama, CIA intrigue, family secrets, and some seriously high-stakes codebreaking.

The story is split between two timelines. In 1961, we follow Luisa Voegler, a CIA codebreaker, who stumbles upon a symbol that sends her down a rabbit hole of family secrets she never saw coming. Luisa learns that her father—who she thought was long dead—is alive and imprisoned in East Germany, and she's got to figure out a way to rescue him. We also get her father side of the story, as he navigates life behind the Iron Curtain, separated from his daughter when the Berlin Wall went up.

The tension ramps up as Luisa uncovers a stash of coded letters from her father, and with some help (but mostly her own determination), she decides to take matters into her own hands and flies to Berlin, ready to risk it all. The alternating perspectives between Luisa and Haris really drive home the sense of division and the human cost of the Cold War, but it’s the personal stakes—the broken family, the secrets, the lies—that make this story so captivating.

What really stood out to me was the way the book captured the chaotic, desperate vibe of Berlin in the early days of the Wall and again in 1989 as it came tumbling down. Reay’s storytelling brings the Cold War era to life, and I found myself learning a lot about post-Holocaust Germany and the reality of life in East Berlin (seriously, where was I during World History in high school in 1991?).

And the audiobook? Narrators Saskia Maarleveld, Ann Marie Gideon, and P.J. Ochlan absolutely nail it, bringing the alternating timelines to life in a way that kept me hooked. Each voice actor perfectly embodied their characters and shifting timelines. The switches in POV were seamless, thanks to their distinct voices, which made it easy to follow who was narrating at any given time.

If you’re into stories with alternating timelines, Cold War espionage, and a bit of family drama, The Berlin Letters will totally be your jam. It’s a gripping, fast-paced journey through one of the most intense eras of the 20th century.

Special thanks to HarperCollins Focus and Harper Muse for the advanced listener copy of the audiobook via the NetGalley app. Highly recommend giving this one a listen!

Katherine Reay finds her niche in this Era! The way she ties the events with the wall going up with the wall going down, Louisa had no clue she was there when the division or that she'd be there at the end as fights to free her father. An amazing heartfelt story of tragedy, betrayal, and family love that outstands it.

I suspect this book is fabulous - but it was a DNR for me because of the narration. I had such a hard time following the book, even at a slow speed. I'll read this in Kindle form another time, though!

As a German, I unfortunately have to say that this book was not for me, not only meaning that I did not like it, but also that this book was clearly not meant to be read by someone from Germany. The writing and the story may have made for an okay read, if they were not based on actual history and German culture which were, in my opinion, both misrepresented widely. This book is clearly written for a US demographic scandalizing and overdramatizing, but also simplifying aspects of history to make it more 'juicy' for the readers without having done a deep research to accurately portray the events or the culture. It is also written in a manner that is very black and white. We have the American heroes on the one side and the bad communist country on the other.

Throughout the entire book, I felt reminded of the book ‘Yellowface’, where a writer is trying to represent a culture that they don't know as well as they think they do. This book would have benefited from a cultural sensitivity proofreader, as well as a language coach for the audiobook. I actually had to stop the audiobook several times to take a breather in order to be able to finish the audiobook. If I had not gotten an ALC from Netgalley, I would not have finished this book, but I felt like I had to in order to give it a fair review.

I am not a historian and have not lived during the times of the GDR myself, so I will not comment on the accuracies of the historical elements too much. What I will say is that I feel like the book lacked some important nuances. Everything that was written about the GDR felt scandalized, dramatized and very black and white (capitalist US – good, communist GDR — bad). Lisa seems like the representative of American ideals, and she does not seem to grasp why someone would become a spy, even though she works for the CIA herself. She is very idealistic in her thinking, without accounting for the realities of an individual that is just trying to survive. She only thinks about what it means for a country or the greater good, and she is judging her relatives, as well as the people she meets in the GDR, based on that.

I am not necessarily saying that the representation in this book is false, but there are some further things in this story that did not feel right to me:

— The cover story that the family would leave Germany for Luisa to “have a better life” in the US, makes no sense. From 1961 the immigration numbers from the US to Germany dropped significantly. There was an economic boom in Germany and a move to the US, especially considering that the grandpa already had an established business in Berlin, offered no finical security. It also does not make sense to take a 17-year-old (Luisa’s aunt) from their home country, where the university standards are very high and fees are low to a place where they would have to take out loans to pay for this education, on top of the costs for a continental move. Furthermore, when the wall was first built, many believed it to be a temporary solution. While border crossings and telephone lines were not established in the beginning, it was possible to arrange family visits and reestablish phone contacts from 1971 onwards, if not earlier. Leaving Germany meant eliminating all possibilities for a quick contact. This notion that Germans would move to the US “to have a better life” also feeds into this false idea of the “American dream” and that this would be something people from Germany strive for.

— I don’t understand why it would have been necessary for her grandparents to move to the United States, even if her grandpa was a spy for the US government. West Germany was working closely with the US government at the time and would have protected him. Then there would have been better chances for the family to reunite.

— I understand that Monica was scared of the Russian officer, and this is why she didn't try to go over the fence after her daughter, but if this opportunity of simply walking into a house on Bernauer Straße and exiting on the other side was there, and Monica is even friends with people living there, why not take this opportunity herself?

— People's relationship to the GDR were complicated, but Haris arguments for wanting to stay in the GDR, after Luisa is gone, don’t make any sense. He says he has built this life for Luisa and that's why he can't leave, but what sense does that make if she's not there.

— Family separation, especially among grown children and their parents or cousins or even spouses, did happen, but not the way it was described here. While the life in the GDR was maybe not the most lucrative to some people and a lot of people left or fled, because of the lack of freedom of speech, there was no immediate threat to people living there, especially not the children. Therefore, it made little sense for Monica to separate Luisa from them. Luisa or herself could have gotten injured or killed during this escape, and the family members that stayed behind were usually blamed and shunned. Monika put herself and her child in more danger this way.

— I understand that the author had to come up with a way for Luisa to get to Haris, but many aspects of their reunion don’t make much sense and the resolution is not due to any of their skills, but rather a coincidence.

— For being a CIA agent, Luisa is alarmingly bad at being a spy, and she knows very little about the CIA

— It is not very believable that Luisa, having grown up in the US, speaks ‘perfect’ German and does not have an American accent when she speaks German.

Something I will comment more firmly on is the misrepresentation of German culture and language within this book. I noticed the following inaccuracies (there might be more that I did not pick up on):

— The names: Monica is spelled Monika in German and pronounced slightly different, Haris is and was not a common name in Germany as it has an Arabic background, so it would be very unusual for someone without a different heritage to have such a name at the time; Gertrude is spelled without the e in German; and Walther has not been spelled with an H since 1901, is he supposed to be this old?; Voelkler is spelled Völkler, I would understand if the family spelled it this way after they came to the US, but there is no way it would have been spelled this way before then

— German fairytales are generally speaking not about love and don't have happy endings. They were to teach children lessons and are largely gruesome. Happy endings happen in the Disney adaptations of the original Grimm stories. The stories are not romantic, but relating to the romance era.

— I doubt that even uneducated US Americans would mistake German for Russian

— Haris signs his letter 'your son'. Germans don't call anyone that is not their actual son “son”, even if they married into a family.

— I wished Gertrude and Walter were more nuanced characters, instead of just an accumulation of stereotypes about Germans.

— The translation of 'I will stay' was absolutely butchered either in the pronunciation by the narrator or the translation, or both. As a German speaker, I did not understand a single word of that ‘German’. But there is no way to say this formally or informally, so it makes no sense remarking on the formality of the speech.

I listened to the audiobook and unfortunately did not have a great time with it. The “German” accent of Haris, was, to put it plainly — offensive. It was much too thick and inaccurate to make for a nice listening experience. You would think that a German can understand someone speaking English with a German accent better or at least the same as someone with a plain American accent, but I really had to strain to understand what he was saying. I can't imagine that it's any easier to understand for other people. And to top it off, the German terms were not even pronounced correctly. Luisa speaks ‘perfect’ German in the book, but the narrator could not even pronounce Oma, Opa, Mäuschen and Straße properly, terms that are used very frequently within the book. It didn’t make the story any more believable when Luisa makes nonsensical comments on someone else’s German and can’t pronounce simple German words in the meantime. I am sure that there must be narrators out there that speak both German and English and would have done a much better job. I don’t fault the narrators for trying and/or following their producers' advice, I just wish that better casting choices were made or that at least a language expert would have been consulted.

If you are interested in this part of history, I would recommend you to skip his book, especially the audiobook, and pick up books that were written by Germans (or anyone that was living through this time) and translated into English. As this part of history was fairly recent, there are many really good stories about it that actually happened and represent the time and culture accurately. There are also many amazing TV shows.

If you have read this book and liked it or liked the topic, this review is definitely not a critique on your taste. I would just encourage you to try out some other books with similar topics to broaden your perspective on the historical events.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to leave this review.

This is a great family drama just happens to be set against the backdrop of The Berlin Wall.
It’s quick paced with well-developed characters. I definitely recommend!

What a fascinating story. I learned so from this book about Berlin, Germany, the Wall, the Cold War, the CIA, secret war codes, hidden letters and communication, family secrets, and more. Wow! It's stuff that I'm going to remember for years to come.

I would definitely like to read more by this author!
Pretty clean fiction.

I loved this book. Would 100% recommend this to anyone wanting to read books related to War fiction.

I am grateful to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

‘Berlin Letters’ is a Cold-War story with the opening set in Berlin at the time the East and West Sectors were suddenly partitioned, thus restricting the movement of people between the Russian Sector and the Western Sectors. Families and communities are suddenly separated. One young mother in the Russian Sector quickly decides to pass her baby daughter to her parents in the US Sector, across the barbed wire. Fast forward to the late 1980s and the baby is now a young adult working for the CIA as an analyst, in Washington DC. She is only partially aware of certain aspects of her past, her parents and family. She comes across a collections of letters sent between family members, possibly in code, possibly with meanings beyond the banal topics and events they appear to describe. The story surrounds these letters, what they reveal, possible espionage and shifting alliances of some of the characters involved. The chapters move back and forward in time, often driven by when the letters were written in the decades after the Berlin wall was erected.

I did not finish this book, which I was listening to as an audiobook. My apologies to the author. At about a third of the way through, and realising there were several more hours to go, I stopped.

The Cold War and in particular Berlin is well-covered by abundant books, both fiction and non-fiction. It must be a difficult topic for an author to revisit; to add a new perspective or to offer new insights into the politics, the people, their experiences, motives and lives. While touching on these aspects in the early chapters, the book did not seem to offer anything new or engage me in any meaningful way. The characters seemed a little typical, somewhat stereotypical; I did not become sufficiently engaged with them. The plot builds slowly, perhaps too slowly. An audio-book may not have been the best format for this book. At just under 12 hours, it is a long experience and the reader is unable to skim through less-interesting or superfluous scenes. It’s possible I may return to the book at some time, as I do have some curiosity as to what became of the characters, as the Berlin wall became a permanent fixture and Cold War tensions remained until German reunification and beyond.

"You own the culture, you own the country."

"Don't die in the waiting room of the future...try to change the story."

There are many profoundly poetic lessons in the often heartbreaking yet hopeful The Berlin Letters by heartfelt historical fiction author Katherine Reay.

In 1961 Russia brutally separated families, freedom and governments by erecting the ominous Berlin Wall. In this writer's creatively descriptive hands we follow the effects of this evil decision on the Voekler family.

Seeing the building of a wall separating her from the world, Luisa's mother instinctively grabs baby Luisa and throws her over the wall to her parents living in West Berlin.

Now in America with her grandparents, Luisa is unaware of her mother's sacrifice, believing her parents died in a car accident. With her grandfather's love and belief in her, "You are my girl of infinite possibility," she becomes a code breaker for the CIA.

When she finds hidden letters to her grandfather from her "dead" father, she's even more shocked they are written in code with symbols she recognizes as part of her work for the CIA!

Voice actors Saskia Maarleveld, Ann Marie Gideon and P.J. Ochlan are these complex compelling characters. I felt every feeling they conveyed with the emotions written for them.

As a daughter tries to save a father she never knew behind bricks of a dictatorship; we sense the anger in the art scribbled on the wall. Hearing her father quote Bruce Springsteen lyrics from bootleg music as inspirational had me in tears. The Berlin Letters is the perfect listen this holiday remembering being Born in the USA isn't always easy but it's worth fighting to keep our freedoms.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Muse for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

1961 Berlin - As the wall goes up dividing East and West Berlin, families are split apart. One such family is Monica and Stasi journalist, Haris Voekle, as the military barricades move in and a soldier turned his back, Monica made the heartbreaking decision to pass her baby to her father on the West side in the nick of time. Her and Haris lives forever changed in that split second.

1989 Washington DC - CIA code breaker, Luisa, is working on old war transcripts making sure nothing was missed. She comes across some hidden letters from her father to her grandfather...but that can't be since her parents died in a car wreck when she was a baby. As she pours through the letters and finds hidden messages she realizes Haris might still be alive and in a Stasi jail. How did he end up there and what can she do to help him?

I am a fan of Katherine Reay and really enjoyed Shadow in Moscow so was excited to get a copy of her newest novel. It is a dual timeline historical fiction with POV from both Haris and Luisa set at the opening and closing of the Berlin Wall. I liked the bookends of this period in history. Some of the store dragged being slowed down by a lot of detail and extra descriptions, especially of breaking the codes in the letters. I loved the addition of the punk element and watching Haris' transition. I was not as connected with Luisa which would have helped a lot of the story. I found her actions to be unrealistic. She was removed from the CIA spy training but claims to be the best spy... her actions prove other wise, I would go into more but don't want to spoil too much. It just seemed to easy for her. The love story was unnecessary. I did not mind the back and forth chapters between Luisa and Haris until the end when they repeated the same scene almost verbatim. Overall, I liked the this book and look forward to more of the author's work.

I had the audio version read by Saskia Maarleveld, Ann Marie Gideon, P. J. Ochlan. I felt Monica's part did not need a separate narrator but over all everyone did a good job and was easy to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay. This was my first attempt at listening to an audiobook, and I have to admit it was not for me. As I love historical fiction, The Berlin Letters is a book whose storyline was one I was looking forward to reading. I feel I cannot give a fair review of the book, as I had a difficult time staying focused with the audiobook. I do look forward to reading The Berlin Letters on my own.

Note: My star rating is only because NetGalley cannot send review without it.

Loved this one!

"Some secrets can get you killed"

Gratefully gifted this on audio book. I love historical fiction. If you enjoy reading historical fiction you will like this one.

This is my favorite book that I have read in 2024. 5 stars for sure!! I have a degree in Political Science and love books set during the Cold War. I remember clearly when the wall came down in 1989 and the excitement surrounding it. I couldn't wait to read this book and it did not disappoint. It was so well written I actually felt like I was living during that time trapped behind the Iron Curtain. The plot of this book was so interesting and the author did an amazing job of going back and forth between 1961 and 1989. I was captivated from page 1 and did not want this book to end. I am hopeful that the author will write another book that picks up where this one left off. This book should be on everyone's list!!

I typically enjoy spy books, and I’m fascinated by the Cold War period, so I was pretty excited to pick this book up—and it totally delivered! I loved that this book went a little rogue with the spy elements, and that it was so family-focused. The story between Louisa and her father, and even her opa, really pulled me all the way into the novel. And the gentle touch of romance was absolutely the icing on the cake!

I was both surprised and impressed with this book! The dual-timeline and dual POV stories follow Luisa and her father Haris during the Cold War. The characters are very well developed and the relationships were complex, just enough to be interesting yet not too much to be confusing. As their stories progressed, I was fully invested in seeing how everything would play out and come together, as it’s easy to tell that Haris’ timeline was making its way towards Luisa’s. No spoilers, but it didn’t disappoint! As an audiobook, both POVs were perfectly narrated and Haris’ German accent was great!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse audiobooks for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I’ve read very little about the Cold War but I’ve been curious. I never thought about what the CIA was doing during that time. I was very young when the wall came down and barely studied it in school so reading this one was eye opening.

I liked Katherine’s portrayal of Luisa. It’s a great concept to interconnect the CIA with letters from Germany from the Cold War time period. Luisa finds out an awful lot about her family. She’s shocked when she finds letters between her grandfather and father during the whole time she had been living in the US with his grandfather.

The narration was great. I enjoyed the multiple voices for the different characters. It definitely made it easier to connect with each one.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for my ALC of this book.

The Berlin Letters, written by Katherine Reay, takes place mostly in November 1989, both in the United States and Berlin.
Luisa Voekler is a CIA Code Breaker, who has been raised by her German grandparents. Her grandfather has passed, so Luisa does her best to support her grandmother in whatever way she can. But while at their house she finds some letters from her father, who she has always thought passed away in a car accident when she was little. She finds out that much of what she has known is not true, and she now needs to do her best to help save her family.
I really enjoyed the setting and characters in this book. I feel like Luisa made a lot of progress in this book, learning and growing and allowing herself to be helped by those around her. I did not know much about the Berlin Wall and enjoyed learning about this, as well as the connections to the Catholic Church. This was my first book by this author, but will not be my last! Thank you to NetGalley and to the author and publisher of this book for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 Stars
Happy publication to Katherine Reay and The Berlin Letters! Thank you to @katherinereay, Harper Muse ( @harpermusebooks ), and UpLit Reads ( @uplitreads ) for allowing me to read a gifted physical copy of this book for an honest review!

Thank you to the author, HarperCollins Focus ( @harpercollinsfocus ) and NetGalley ( @netgalley ) for allowing me to listen to this book for an honest review! The audiobook is narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, Anne Marie Gideon, P.J. Ochlan.

📅 March 5, 2024 was the pub date for The Berlin Letters. Be sure to pick up a copy from your local bookstore or Amazon! 📅

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Kudos to Katherine for writing a book that is engaging, captures the truth and heartache of families so well, and teaches readers about an era in history that isn’t as well known. I learned so much while reading!

Luisa, a CIA codebreaker, makes an observation in her research that leads her to question what she’s known about her family. Every family has secrets, right? Will the secrets that she is harboring destroy her relationship with her last living relatives, will it jeopardize her employment, and will it sabotage everything she’s known to be true in her life? Will her new found knowledge leave her with a new perspective? Will she be able to uncover the truth in a web of many, many lies?

What I enjoyed most:
- Captivating read.
- Luisa’s determination to uncover the truth.
- The complex themes that include many moral and ethical battles and decisions.
- The relationship between Luisa and her grandmother.
- The love story intertwined.
- How everything in Luisa’s life was way more calculated and planned than she thought.
- Learning about a part of history that I was not very familiar with.

Most profound quote:
“It’s funny how easily you can convince yourself that the people you live with see the world like you do.”