I am old enough that I remember the Berlin wall coming down, but young enough that my memories are very vague and I did not really understand the implications of this historical event at that time. This is one of the few historical fictions books that I have read about the Cold War and the divide between East and West Germany, especially focusing on the harsh realities of life in the USSR for its citizens.

In the novel, Luisa is born in East Berlin, but given to her grandparents in West Berlin as an infant, and they later move to the U.S., where she grows up to become a CIA analyst. After the death of her grandfather, she discovers a secret code hidden in letters that her grandfather wrote to a man behind the Berlin Wall. Luisa using her training to decode the letters and discovers some shocking secrets about her family. This leads her on a dangerous mission to Germany to go undercover behind the Iron Curtain.

The first part of the novel was a bit slow for me, and I enjoyed it more when the pace picked up after Luisa arrived in Germany. Regardless, I found this to be a very well researched and interesting overview of The Cold War, and I would definitely recommend it to historical fiction fans who are eager to learn more about this time in history. I received audiobook and e-book versions to review, but I enjoyed the audiobook more, as I appreciated the authentic German accents to bring the characters to life. Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Harper Muse for this book to review!

I loved everything about this story! The Berlin Letters gives a very real sense of life under communism in East Berlin. It is told from two POVs over two timelines that intersect as the wall falls in 1989.

Horace Voekler is a believer in the DDR. Growing up in the turmoil of WWII he looks to the East in hopes of a new Germany that he fully wants to participate in. But his wife Monika does not see through the same rose-tinted glasses. She wakes one day to find a wall being erected between the East and West and she knows what that will mean for her family. In an act of desperation she throws her daughter Luisa over the barbed wire to her parents and freedom in the West. She returns home to Horace and for a while they face their new stark reality.

Luisa comes of age in America and through childhood games with her grandfather, finds passion for code breaking. Working with the CIA she stumbles upon a code signature she recognizes from her childhood. From there she finds old correspondence between her father, whom she thought was dead, and her grandfather all in code. Filtering through decades of messages she uncovers a powerful truth about her family and her father’s changing mindset.

This novel builds slowly but as Luisa makes the decision to go to East Berlin it picks up very quickly. By the end I was in tears and so happy for how it all came together. A fantastic historical read with only a few liberties taken. Really an astonishing story of survival and fortitude to see a new era ushered in.

The audio production was fantastic. Both narrators did a superb job and I appreciated Horace’s accent and the realness it brought to the story.

Highlights:
✨Dual Timelines & Dual POVs: Both the timeline and POVs aid the character development of Haris and Luisa while maintaining a riveting pace for the story. Personally, I liked Haris’s storyline a bit more since I enjoyed learning how the Wall came to be.
✨Historical Research: Reay’s research shines through the story. I remember the Berlin Wall coming down, but I didn't know much of the history before 1989. Reay paints the bleak, gray, hopeless reality of how quickly the wall was built, highlighting that it not only physically separated East Berlin from the rest of the world but also had a significant social and economic impact. I love that she includes how the punk scene in East Berlin propelled the resistance.
✨Espinoage Elements: I love the inclusion of code-breaking. Luisa, a trained CIA agent, unravels the secrets of her family's past. This mystery will surely excite any spy thriller lovers.

I paired the audiobook with the physical copy of the novel. All three narrators did an excellent job with their respective characters. However, since the book was so engaging and fast-paced, I found that my eyes read faster than my ears could listen. Usually, I listen to audiobooks at 1.5x speed, but in this case, I just had to know what happened next, so my eyes won the battle.

The Cold War. The CIA. Code breakers. The Wall. East Berlin. West Berlin. So much is riding on the job that the CIA code breakers do. They don't even officially exist. Which makes it so hard to keep from lying about their jobs and where they spend their time.
Luisa Voekler spend her days working on various codes from WWII. It can be dull, dry work until something exciting shows up. Like the letters another workers shows her that strikes a memory. And that memory grows, opening up old thoughts and memories and love and wounds within the family. But it draws Luisa in. Until the day she finds her grandfather's stash of letters that tie into the other letters from work. And then, it is full force forward, diving into the deep end, and pushing herself to the end of it, to understanding, and then into action.
This is an exciting story that will grab hold like the barbed wire of the first few days of the wall in Berlin, ripping open emotion and ideas and need. Once you are caught, you can't put it down. Flying through the story in just two days, I found myself wanting so hard for Luisa to find that happy ending that she is hoping for while fearing that she just might not. So much is against her in East Berlin. Yet, I could not stop until I knew. This is what historical fiction should be - teaching so much while telling a story so well that nothing else seems to matter until you know how it ends up.

I went it into this book with inflated expectations of loving it, and that set me up for disappointment. I did not like the main female character. She came across as selfish and I was uncomfortable with how she used people to meet her goals.

The book however, wasn’t only about her. I think the best part was how it portrayed life on the Eastern side of the Berlin Wall. You feel the horror of the wall going up overnight and the awful ways people changed. It gave the reader a picture of how precious freedom is I whole-heartedly applaud that.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse Audiobooks for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

Audiobook Note: There are several different narrators and some have very heavy accents which can be difficult to understand at times.

The Berlin Letters
By: Katherine Reay

Having been to Berlin after the wall fell, I found this novel absolutely fascinating and could feel the scenes about the wall and the people caught on the East. I was by the wall in 1991 and took a tour of what was previously behind the wall. The bullet holes, non-graffiti side that was desolate. Checkpoint Charlie was also talked about in this novel and I was able to this in person.

This Cold War thriller was absolutely detailed and full of scenes that will make you think about those times.

Luisa Voekler, a CIA cryptographer is decoding Third Reich from World War II. She recognizes a symbol from her childhood and things heat up.

Harriz Voeker, was an East German who was a reporter for Deutschland, for the Party’s paper and realizes things are happen that go against his believes. The Berlin Wall is erected and it separates him from his daughter. He has to find a way to communicate with his father-in-law to keep up with his daughter.

This story tugged at my heart as a mother and human. Captivating, compelling, emotional and detailed as we find out more about this family.

If you get a chance to take a tour, you find out about the many attempts of unique escapes and sadly about all the lives lost. When I was there I was able to research more about this life-changing war. Watching the wall come-down and hearing Reagan say “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” I have a piece of the wall as I used a chisel. Looking forward to meeting this author next week.

When Luisa Voekler, a German raised in the US, finds a familiar symbol on a letter she is decrypting for her job with the CIA, her world is turned upside down. Not only is her father, whom she has been told for most of her life was dead, actually alive, but he's locked up in an East German Stasi jail for his work against the regime. With help from friends gone but not forgotten, a Grandmother who has taken care of her her whole life, and a wealth of knowledge learned from her late grandfather, Luisa is on a mission to learn her real history and to save her father. Told from both Luisa and her father's viewpoints, we learn about what it was like being a family divided during the Cold War in Germany.

Reay is a new author for me, and I found myself very impressed with her writing style and storytelling. The dual narration helped this story cruise along at a pace that was perfect. A well-researched historical novel is hard to beat, and add in a historical era that not a lot of authors write about, and you have a fascinating journey into days past that is so engrossing you won't want to put it down. An absolutely fantastic read.

I’ve of course heard of the Berlin Wall. I’ve heard of its fall. I’ve seen pieces of it. I’ve heard of the way it divided family and friends. I heard of the oppression by the soviets. I heard courageous tales of people escaping. What I think I didn’t quite realize was how frustrating it would be to perhaps hope for a better rule under the Russians. To hope for a better life in a home and country you love. And then how heartbreaking it would be to see your hopes be unfulfilled. To be trapped in a place you want to be, ruled in a way that takes away the joy of your home country. Takes away your freedom. I loved how the characters in this book showed me they didn’t want to escape the wall to escape East Berlin, they wanted to stay. They wanted to be free to provide and think for themselves. To thrive in a place they loved.

In this novel the the main character, Luisa, works as a cryptologist for the CIA. When she comes across a symbol that she remembers seeing in her grandfather’s study, she begins to search her grandfather’s old things. After several clues, she discovers letters from her father. A father she can’t remember and no one talks about. The letters teach her about life in East Berlin, the love of her father, and many secrets her family has kept from her. I thoroughly enjoyed her journey of discovery.

I loved all the complicated relationships and how slowly uncovering the past helped the family members to process their trauma and understand each other better. One of my favorite parts is when the main character sees East Berlin and finally understands her grandparents more. It was a good reminder that we tend to see the world from our own vantage point and experiences. Others see very differently.

I listened to the audio of this book and loved the story as well as the narration.

The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay was a fast paced and riveting book. It was written in a duel time line and narrative. The characters were compelling and well developed and there were several twists and turns throughout the book. The Berlin Letters was well written and impeccably researched. It covered the years from when the Berlin Wall was first built through the years of the Cold War in a very believable manner. I listened to the audiobook that was very well narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, Ann Marie Gideon and P. J. Ochlan.


For several years before the concept of the Berlin Wall was implemented, many families began leaving East Berlin, choosing to live in West Berlin instead. Monika Voekler’s parents, Gertrude and Walther and her younger sister, Alice, had done just that. They had left East Berlin a few months prior to the wall being built. Even though the city of Berlin was divided into the American sector or West Berlin and the Democratic Sector of Berlin or East Berlin, it was easy enough to cross over into one or the other without any difficulty. Prior to her parents’ move to West Berlin, Monika had married Haris Voekler. Monika and Haris now had a three year old daughter named Luisa. Haris worked at the Party’s newspaper, the Neues Deutschland. He was considered a highly regarded reporter. Haris believed in the Party and supported them completely so he refused to follow Monika’s parents to West Berlin. Monika and Haris had a good life in East Berlin.

On the morning of August 13, 1961, everything changed. Haris got a phone call that morning that something was happening at Potsdamer Platz. He was told that an “anti-Fascist protection barrier” was being constructed and that he was expected to cover it and write about it for the evening edition of the newspaper. Monika, Haris and Luisa had plans to have lunch with Monika’s parents that day. Haris was unsure that he would be able to join them. Monika and Luisa went on their own. When Monika arrived at the border crossing she was surprised by what she saw. The crossing was heavily guarded and barbed wire had been installed. Monika was prohibited from entering West Berlin. She spotted her family and learned from her father that the Party had secured the border crossings because they saw it as “necessary to keep unsavory western influences away from their pure ideology“ and that it would not be coming down any time soon. In that instant, Monika made the most difficult decision of her life. Monika lifted Luisa high above her head and propelled her through the air into her father’s arms. She would never hold or be able to kiss her little daughter again. In the following days, Monika lived for the few moments she was able to see Luisa. Her parents brought Luisa to the wall everyday. Monika treasured those moments even though they were from a distance. She got as close to the wall as was allowed so she could see her daughter. Then word came to Monika that her parents, Alice and Luisa immigrated to America. Monika was beyond distraught and inconsolable.

Luisa grew up in America and was brought up by her grandparents. She was told that her parents had died in a car crash. Luisa was encouraged by her grandfather from early on in her life to help him solve puzzles and decipher codes he made up for her. It was no wonder, then, that Luisa trained to become a member of the CIA. After Luisa’s grandfather died, she found herself living with her grandmother. While going through some of her late grandfather’s things, Luisa discovered a stack of correspondence between her grandfather and her father. Luisa discovered that her father was still very much alive and still in East Berlin. What will Luisa do with this newly acquired information? Will she be able to discover a way to get her father out of East Berlin and be reacquainted with him after all these years of believing that he was dead?

The Berlin Letters alternated between Luisa’s and Haris’s narratives and alternated between the years of the 1960’s and the latter years of the 1980’s. It was a superb example of a parent’s heartbreaking sacrifice for the future welfare of their child and a child’s determination to rescue a parent they were denied of knowing. The Berlin Letters focused on family, choices, grooming and preparation for the future, secrets, lies, hope, resilience, bravery and courage. Be prepared for lots of espionage, a way of life that made my heart pound and lots of twists and turns along the way. I really enjoyed reading The Berlin Letters. It was a very telling book that disclosed much about the life that people in East Berlin led during the Cold War years. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Recorded Books for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading about this time period because I haven’t read many novels set during the Cold War. I enjoyed taking the time while reading to do some research about the Berlin Wall to better educate myself about the history behind this beautifully written story. Katherine Reay does an amazing job using the dual timeline, dual perspective to take us through the journey of Luisa breaking the code of the letters to discover not only secrets for the CIA but also the secrets of her past.

One of my favorite quotes from the books is “It’s funny how easily you can convince yourself that the people that you live with see the world like you do.” It really stuck with me because it is so true.

Specific to the audiobook:
I really enjoyed the narrator. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and sometimes it feels like the narrator is a robot just reading the book. Not in this book. I felt the emotion while they were reading. I loved the intentional pauses to that made you feel even more emotion. I was drawn more to the female narrator and I can’t say why but that by no means takes away from the performance of the other narrator. They were both great and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Another excellent historical fiction from Reay! Incredible history told through a father and daughter's stories with an added "there's only one bed" scene (it was only a bit romantic but I still loved it!).

The audio is amazing. Three incredible narrators, telling the story in American and German accents, as is appropriate. The perfect amount of emotion but still told at a steady pace and pitch.

I appreciate the insight and emotion now woven into my book-knowledge of this tragedy. It's easy to learn things without feeling them with sympathy, and I love how novels can transport us.

Thanks to Harper Muse and NetGalley for an audiobook to listen and review voluntarily.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC for this book. What a great read with a dual timeline to really depict the Berlin Wall/Cold War period and the inside to the code breakers. I really enjoyed this book and the audio version was well done. The narrator has such feeling and passion. You could hear the inner struggle in their voices.

I used to say that I'm not a fan of historical fiction, but it seems that when the author is Katherine Reay, I am. She writes engaging characters set in historical settings that are interesting and well-researched. She handles multiple POVs and dual timelines deftly. I won't go further into the plot than the summary, but if you're interested in Cold War era fiction, give this one a try!

The narration was excellent.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HarperMuse for a free copy of #TheBerlinLetters by Katherine Reay. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

Synopsis: In 1961, 3 month old Luisa handed over to her grandparents in West Berlin just as the Berlin Wall is being built. In 1989, Luisa, now an adult, works for the CIA as a codebreaker. When she happens upon a covert symbol in a set of old letters, she begins to uncover old secrets that will bring her back to Germany in hopes of finding her father, who was assumed to be dead.

Thoughts: The Cold War is a time in history that I do not know a ton. about, so I welcomed the opportunity to read a book set during this time. Paired with stories of hidden messages, espionage, and suspense, this book immediately grabbed my interest. I also really enjoyed the dual timelines/POVs, as represented by the two narrators, and Saskia Maarleveld, in particular, is one of my favorite HF narrators. This is an excellent choice for readers who want to learn more about the Cold War through a fast-paced, genre-blending, book. The audiobook happens to be wonderful, for those who prefer to listen over reading!

I have truly enjoyed reading Reay’s previous publications, and A Shadow in Moscow found its way onto my lifetime favorite shelf last year. The Berlin Letters is another rich story full of heart, suspense and emotion that tells an unforgettable espionage story from the Cold War of a family torn apart because of the Iron Curtain.

What appealed to you the most in this story?

I loved the dual timelines in this story. Usually in a historical fiction book I tend to find myself engrossed in the one particular timeline and always wanting to get back to it. That was not the case in this book at all. I could not get enough of the tension, suspense, character growth, and of course the risks related to being a spy in Germany from post WWII to the late 1980s.

I also liked how Reay took a unique look at the Cold War and the erection of the Berlin Wall as the story was told through the alternating points of view from both father and daughter, as one struggles to live with the consequences of his allegiances while under a controlling and oppressive regime.

How was the audio version?

This is the perfect book to listen to! It was almost like a movie as I found myself walking, running, and holding my breath right along side the two lead characters. I also have to give the story credit for tacking on an extra few miles to my walks, because I just couldn't stop listening, since each chapter would leave you wanting more.

Read if you like:

Multiple POV
Dual Timelines
Espionage
Family Secrets
Cryptography
Historical fiction

How was the pace?

For me this was a fast-paced story that I was completely drawn into from the very beginning. There was so much atmosphere to go along with the tension as I moved from the beginning of the division of Germany in the 60s and the KGB’s authority and paranoia. There were so many times I found myself holding my breath as each new secret was revealed. This is the kind of historical fiction I love and learn so much from.

Do you recommend this book?

Yes! This story has everything - spies, family drama, secrets, hope, resilience and more!!

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Muse, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a beautifully written story of family, secrets, and espionage with the backdrop of the Cold War. The dual timeline helped build the characters’ history and reveal present missions. I enjoyed learning more about the Berlin Wall through this engaging, at times, nail-biting plot. I always love when a historical fiction book leads me down a path of learning more, which is exactly what this book has done.

Thank you Katherine Reay, Harper Muse, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook! The sound quality was excellent, and the narrators, Saskia Maarleveld, Ann Marie Gideon, and P. J. Ochlan, were engaging to listen to. They brought the characters to life especially with the contrasting German and American accents. Saskia has narrated several other historical fiction books that I have read, and her narration was comfortingly familiar.

I’m a sucker for historical novels and this one immediately pulled me in.

The book talks about life in Berlin during the Iron Curtain era and is told is duel timelines allowing us to experience both the start and end of the Berlin Wall.

The main character is Luisa. She works for the CIA as a code breaker and one day while she’s at work, sees a symbol she remembers from her childhood.

Some days after, she finds a stash of letters her late grandfather kept. They are from her dad who she thought was dead all these years. The letters are written in code and offer a story much bigger than she could have ever imagined. She also learns about her family’s past and then embarks on a journey in hopes to save her father and be reunited with him.

The story that starts off slow and builds up. It’s suspenseful, intense and full of so much hope. I was engaged the entire time and felt like I was living through the experience.

This historical fiction grabbed me from the prologue and kept me engaged all throughout! It follows a codebreaker for the CIA that comes across some coded letters out of Berlin that may have a personal connection for her. Set over the course of the Berlin Wall it is a story of family secrets, political dilemmas, complicated relationships, and personal struggles to find the best way forward.

The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall made for a really poignant backdrop for a family's multi-generational struggle. I have read several books set during this time period but I learned some new elements to it in this book that I'd never heard about before.

I’ve been a Katherine Reay fan for years but this by far is my favorite of hers. I quickly became fascinated by this subject and time period rarely written about. I paused throughout to do a little research since I found it so intriguing. Her meticulous research and grasp of the different time periods flowed flawlessly rather than being confusing. Her characters were developed and believable with their own flaws and humanity. Unexpected twists throughout left me on the edge of my seat. I’d love to see this made into a movie, but in the meantime I eagerly look forward to her next book! The audio version was well-done with all the proper accents and multiple readers.

In the twilight of the Cold War, against the backdrop of a divided Berlin, Katherine Reay’s novel “The Berlin Letters” unfolds. This gripping historical fiction takes readers on a journey through secrets, lies, and division, ultimately leading to love, freedom, and reconciliation.

Here's a bit of a synopsis:
Near the end of the Cold War, CIA cryptographer Luisa Voekler stumbles upon a symbol from her childhood—a symbol that sets her on a perilous path. As she unravels a cache of letters containing hidden intelligence, Luisa discovers that her long-lost father is alive but imprisoned in an East German Stasi jail. Determined to free him, she seeks help from journalists Bran Bishop and Daniel Rudd. Their investigation leads her to confront her boss, Andrew Cademan, who reveals that nothing is coincidental.

Emptied bank account in hand, Luisa flies to West Berlin, where adrenaline and uncertainty collide. With alternating storylines between Luisa and her father, the novel paints a vivid picture of Berlin—the epicenter of the Cold War—just before the fall of the infamous wall.

I think the “The Berlin Letters” stands out because of the compelling historical context. Reay masterfully captures the tumultuous early days of the Berlin Wall. Readers are immersed in a city teeming with intrigue, danger, and hope.

I loved the complex characters, especially Luisa’s determination, Bran’s journalistic instincts, and with Daniel’s unwavering support - a dynamic trio is created. I felt their personal struggles mirrored the larger political landscape.

I found The Berlin Letters to be a compelling and absorbing book. Reay not only satisfies and entertains but also sheds light on a dark period in history. The emotional depth and meticulous research make this novel a standout. Whether you’re a historical fiction enthusiast or simply seeking a captivating read, The Berlin Letters won't disappoint. This book is available now, and I highly recommend adding it to your reading list.