*The Secret Hotel in Berlin* by Catherine Hokin is a historical fiction novel that weaves together mystery, romance, and the deeply emotional narratives of war and family secrets. Set in two timelines—during World War II and the post-war period—the book captures the dark and haunting atmosphere of Berlin, exploring the ways history shapes people and places.

In the heart of the story is a secret hotel in Berlin, a place that holds many untold stories. The novel’s narrative alternates between two protagonists: Fania, a Jewish woman navigating the perils of wartime Berlin, and modern-day Grace, who uncovers Fania's story when she inherits an old hotel with a mysterious past. Hokin uses this dual narrative structure effectively, keeping readers intrigued as both stories unfold simultaneously and begin to intersect in unexpected ways.

Overall, *The Secret Hotel in Berlin* offers a captivating blend of history, mystery, and human drama, making it a memorable exploration of the hidden stories that shape our present.

I am huge fan of Catherine Hokin. Her books are always well-researched, intriguing, thought-provoking, and heartfelt. The Secret Hotel in Berlin is no exception.
The dual timeline nature of the story gives readers a bonus – it’s almost like two historical novels woven into one. The intricacies required to give both timelines their own due are handled beautifully, and each is equally engaging. The transitions between time periods are never clunky.
Ms. Hokin also creates realistic characters who are relatable, even as they are in positions that are completely unrelatable to a reader. The characteristics and personalities jump off the page.
It may seem like a small thing, but I found Lili’s original profession to be quite telling. As a florist she knew how to make things beautiful, creating bouquets that had the perfect flowers for the right occasion.
I choose to believe that she used that knowledge and adapted it as her situation changed. I think she still believed in finding beauty (good) in chaos and creating/supporting methods that helped others survive.
Even though the whole book was fascinating, the last third felt accelerated if only because the reader gets answers to questions that built throughout the rest of the book.
Yes, reading about WWII Germany and 1990s East Berlin is difficult, knowing the pain and suffering experienced by millions of people. But Ms. Hokin reminds us that amid tumultuous times, strength and resilience are imperative.
The Secret Hotel in Berlin is a must-read book.

I enjoyed reading this page turner historical fiction novel and reading the dual timeline of Lucy and Lily. I highly recommend it for lovers of WWII historical fiction aficionados. It will move your heart and keep you on the edge of your seat. I received this book as an ARC for my honest opinion. .

This book took me a while to fully engage with, largely due to the dual timeline structure. The shifts between Lili's and Lucy's stories felt too brief, making it difficult to connect with either character or fully understand their motivations. As a result, the first half of the book struggled to draw me in. However, by the halfway mark, Lili's story became compelling, and I found myself engrossed in her narrative. Unfortunately, this made the switches back to Lucy's story feel more like interruptions than necessary plot developments. While I understand the intent behind the dual timeline, it ultimately shortchanged both characters. The rushed ending further diminished the overall impact, leaving me wanting more resolution for both storylines.

In The Secret Hotel in Berlin, author Catherine Hokin returns readers to the fictional Edel hotel mentioned in The German Child. Hokin notes that prior to World War II, Berlin boasted some of the grandest hotels in the world, most of which were built in the early twentieth century. She modeled the Edel after and pays homage to, among others, the Adlon, which was plagued by “scandal and intrigue, including a thwarted bomb attempt” during the society wedding of the then-Kaiser’s daughter. None of those hotels still exist today. But Hokin says she has always loved the grandeur of luxurious hotels “because there is nowhere like a hotel when it comes to keeping secrets. They really are places where different worlds can exist.”

Less glamorous than the real Adlon, Hokin fashions the Edel as Hitler’s favorite hotel In Berlin. There, he presides over meetings with his top leaders and closest advisers. The stages of the hotel’s existence mirror those of Berlin itself. It is depicted before and during World War II, as well as in 1990, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Having long languished in a state of decay, the Edel is about to undergo a major renovation and reopen. According to Hokin, over the years, the Edel houses beauty, fear, darkness . . . and secrets.

At the heart of the novel is “a story which has been told so often it has become the truth and, in the telling, has ruined countless lives probably because nobody ever thought to ask who told the story in the first place or why they told it.” The “quest” for the truth compels Hokin’s fully formed and engaging characters, whose lives are transformed when long-concealed and forgotten answers are finally revealed.

The story opens in 1929. Lili Krauss arrives in Berlin from her native Leipzig. She lost both of her parents – her mother succumbed to Spanish flu in 1919 and her father, an elder at the Leipzig synagogue who endeavored to be the “very best German he could be” and raised his daughter to do the same, was tragically killed. Just eighteen years old, she is a young woman with sufficient means to purchase a flower shop and procure papers granting her a new identity and name, Lili Falck. Intent on building “a life no one can touch,” she quickly realizes how naïve she was to believe that she could escape danger.

She soon meets Marius Rodenberg who, at twenty-three years of age, already manages his family’s hotel, the storied Edel. At first, Lili’s only interest in him is strictly professional – she has a lucrative opportunity to supply flowers to the hotel and its guests. But their relationship deepens, and she cannot bring herself to tell Marius who she really is and gives him no reason to suspect that she is Jewish. They marry, have a beautiful daughter, and Lili settles into a life of comfort and safety.

But as the political climate in Germany grows increasingly treacherous, Lili lives in terror as the Edel hosts Hitler; Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief; Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goring, architects of the Holocaust; and other party leaders. Marius is a proud German intent on protecting and preserving both his family and they successful business they have created, but Lili is horrified when he salutes the officers, oblivious to the threat they pose to his wife and child, along with many of his employees. “Marius had saluted the officers back without thinking – that was the problem. His arm had shot up and her jaw had dropped. . . . The encounter had left him as untouched as it had terrified her. Because he didn’t see the threat – why would he? He’s never lived in a world where you can lose your footing overnight.” Gradually, life in Germany becomes exponentially more dire for Jews as the Nuremberg laws are enacted and complete Aryanization is mercilessly implemented.

A second narrative begins in 1990, four months after the Berlin Wall falls. Lucy has traveled to Belin for the first time, assigned by her employer to oversee restoration of the Edel hotel and bring it back to life. As she walks through the door, she feels the structure’s magic. “This place has lived through so much history, the past is soaked through its walls. There’s a story here waiting to be uncovered,” she observes. When she meets the lead architect on the project, Adam Wendl, she is surprised to learn he is the grandson of Marius Rodenberg. Adam was raised by his mother, Gabi, in East Berlin, who told him little about his family, including his grandfather who went missing in the 1943 battle for Stalingrad and has for many years been presumed dead. Lili, Adam’s grandmother, gained a reputation during World War II as not just a devoted Nazi, but a close friend of the Fuhrer and his closest advisors because of their frequent patronage of the Edel. When the war ended, she was reviled and classified as a Belastete – a person who profited from their connections to the Nazis. Adam’s relationship with Gabi is fractured for reasons that Hokin discloses as the story proceeds, and he dreads telling his mother that he is the architect in charge of revitalizing the Edel. Gabi grew up believing in the communist philosophies of the German Democratic Republic and has lived an austere life adhering to its principles. Lucy close relationship with her parents was shattered and caused them to become estranged. She is haunted by that development, as well as other circumstances that brought her heartbreak as a young woman that have thus far prevented her from entering a healthy and satisfying romantic relationship.

Alternating the two narratives, Hokin takes readers on Lili’s journey, showing the truth about it that has been lost to history. Spurred by outrage over the growing atrocities and guilt-ridden about successfully concealing her identity and living a comfortable life inside the Edel – while so many others are losing everything, including their lives – Lili becomes determined to provide share her haven, even if only for one night. Lili could “no longer live with being powerless. She could no longer pretend that the world outside the Edel couldn’t impinge on their lives as long as she kept the world inside it safe.” So she joins a secret network transporting Jews to safety. After all, what better place could there be than a than a hotel to hide someone for a night or two before they continue on their way? With Marius away, she begins journaling as a way of “unloading the secrets she can’t voice,” and communicating with the husband she misses desperately. She plans to ask him to read her diary when he returns home after the war so that he will understand why she had to act when Jews were “being erased, and the city papered over the gaps as if we were never here.” She writes that her father “would be proud of me for making this stand,” even as the Resistance demands that she engage in increasingly risky efforts.

Hokin has crafted a uniquely inventive and gripping tale. In one narrative, she reveals to readers exactly what is happening in Lili’s life. She is a sympathetic, fully developed character and Hokin compassionately illustrates how she reacts to a world gone mad. Initially fueled by a youthful desire to protect herself, time passes, and she matures, falls in love, and becomes a mother. She fully comprehends the duality of her life. She is both sheltered and fed, and in grave peril should her past and true identity become known. She loves her husband and daughter fiercely, as is loyal to and protective of the hotel’s employees. As the Nazis carry out unthinkable atrocities, Lili is repulsed by having to host the architects of those vile acts, and her revulsion, guilt about hiding in plain sight, and moral convictions compel her to join the Resistance. “I’ve been a coward, living my safe life while so many others have had that right stripped away. It’s not enough. I owe my father more than my silence,” Lili says. But Lili is not experienced in espionage. Is she courageous and convincing enough to carry out the dangerous mission into which the Resistance presses her?

Hokin’s more modern characters are equally fascinating. In 1990, as Lucy and Adam grow closer, sharing details about their respective pasts, Ludy discovers Lili’s journal among many abandoned items in the hotel basement. Lucy becomes entranced and, as she reads the entries, it becomes clear that Lili’s legacy has been misrepresented. Intent on piecing together, to the extent possible, what really happened to Lili, Adam joins her in the search for evidence. He also helps her take steps to reconcile her past, while hoping that learning more about his grandparents will facilitate healing in his relationship with Gabi. Adam and Lucy both carry guilt about choices they made as young adults have reverberated in their own and others’ lives. For Adam, his inability to accept the limitations of a life in East Berlin had far-reaching consequences not just for him, but also for Gabi, “a dowdy and functional-looking woman,” is bitter and ailing. She grew up feeling abandoned by her parents and ashamed of being the daughter of a woman condemned for aligning herself with and profiting from Nazis. “Everything Gabi’s done in her life was to redress the shame of having a Nazi for a mother,” Adam notes, even though that characterization of Lili has always been at odds with the loving mother who resides in Gabi’s early childhood memories.

The Secret Hotel in Berlin is well-researched, set against the backdrop of actual events and depicting historical figures, although, as noted, the Edel is a fictional counterpart to the real hotels of the era. Hokin’s riveting story is moving, poignant, and thought-provoking. She explores the various ways in which childhood beliefs impact decision-making and how choices fueled by self-interest have the capacity to profoundly affect those we love. She also examines how the discovery of new evidence disavowing matters previously believed to be true can be life-altering in myriad ways.

The Secret Hotel in Berlin is another beautifully constructed, richly emotional, and memorable work of historical fiction from the exceptionally talented Hokin. She again challenges readers to consider how they would react if placed in challenging circumstances such as her characters face. In the case of Marius and Lili, their contrasting responses merit consideration. And as in The German Child, Hokin invites readers to explore the extent to which one’s identity is derived from family and how much of one’s self-concept is independently formed by acquired beliefs and values. It is definitely one of the best volumes released in 2024.

Catherine Hokin tells the story of the von Rodenberg family as their story spans out over two timelines. The first timeline that’s set in the 1930’s and 1940’s tells the story of Lily von Rodenberg and Marius Rodenberg, the owners of the glamorous Edel Hotel in Berlin. Lily and Marius are apart of the elite high society in Berlin, and the hotel is known as a Nazi hotspot for the Third Reichs highest officials, including Hitler himself. But Lily is keeping a very dark secret of her own, and if anyone finds out, it could mean instant death for her. The second timeline starts just four months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and we meet Lucy and Adam. Lucy is a hotel manager for a famous hotel group and Adam is one of Berlin’s most well-known architects. Adam and Lucy meet as Lucy’s company acquires the once prestige Hotel Edel and Adam’s company takes on the restoration and renovation, hoping to restore it to the elegance that made is so popular since it was built in the 1920’s.

As Lucy finds out more about the hotel when she stumbles across old photos, boxes, and Lily’s diary, she starts to piece together what tragic fate Lily met. Adam has a secret of his own about the Hotel Edel, and as he and Lucy get closer, the truth comes out and before Adam and Lucy know it, what happened to Lily and Marius von Rodenberg over 50 years prior brings them closer than ever and helps them overcome their own personal struggles.

Catherine impeccably intertwines both timelines providing riveting character development on all four major characters that will keep you turning each page as she ties all the strings together to form one amazing storyline. If you love WWII historical fiction, and love stories based upon bravery, tenacity, resistance, forgiveness, trials and tribulations, and suspense, than this is the perfect book for you.

Really enjoyed it and would give the book 3.5 stars. Love the dual time line of Lili during WWII and Lucy in 1990. I enjoyed reading about East Berlin after the war and also after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Gabi was hard to love at first, but she went through so much at such a young age. Plus, she grew up in East Berlin with strangers. She believed her parents were dead and that her mom was a Nazi sympathizer. Her relationship with Adam was never the best. Gabi followed the East German rules and never strayed. She couldn't understand Adam wanting more. I never realized what family members might have gone through after someone secretly crossed into West Berlin during Soviet occupation. The Edel sounded like such a beautiful hotel. The Nazi's must have been infuriated when they found out the truth about Lili. They never once realized what she was hiding from them. Lucy's parent's kept so much from her. Why not forward the letter's to her?

Definitely recommend the book. Loved the story, characters and writing style. It was a great historical fiction. Marius and Lili's story was my favorite part of the book. The ending was perfect. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

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

It was such an intense and gripping story, I finished it at 2:30 am although I had to get up a few hours later for work, I simply couldn't put the book down. It's full of emotions, fear, courage, heartbreak, hope and love. The pace was good and both timelines were extremely well written. I also liked that we learned a little about Gabi and her life in the DDR.

Thank you to the publisher who provided me with an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gripping and sad. A beautiful story which tells you about Germany in WW2 and present day. A very good story. It describes how the Jews were hunted down and sent to concentration camps. Very thought provoking. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This gripping & heart-wrenching novel is set in different timelines; one set during WW2 novel. It’s a heartbreaking story of bravery, love & sacrifice which may cause you to need tissues. You’ll be invested into the details, feeling so many emotions as you read through what’s an unforgettable historical fiction story.

Thank you, Catherine Hokin, Bookouture, & netgalley for my early copy! All opinions are my own.

The Secret Hotel in Berlin is written by Catherine Hokin. This is my first book by this author, and it will not be my last. The author transports readers back in time and we see Lili and Marius Rosenberg. They run the Edel Hotel. This hotel caters to the more wealthy and prestigious customers. However, The Hotel is in Berlin and Lili is Jewish.

You can feel Lili's fear radiate off the pages. Every time that a German officer comes throuh the doors, she is terrified her secret will be discovered. She knows that she has to do something. She convinces her husband to allow her to hide Jewish neighbors and others that are trying to escape the wrath of Hitler.

When her husband is sent to the front lines, he goes missing in action. She suddenly finds herself alone and trying to stay brave while she is terrified on the inside. The author captured such raw emotions. My heart broke for the cruelty that was a reality for so many.

The author has done careful research, in order to bring this portion of history to life. Her descriptions allow readers to close their eye and visualize the hotel unfolding around them. Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book - all thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed the Secret Hotel in Berlin because I don't often read about the collapse of the Berlin wall and the impact of that wall on East Berlin. My heart ached for Adam and his mom, especially seeing the trauma she went through after he escaped to the West. That isn't something I know much about and enjoyed reading.

The Marius chapters were a little clunky because I got so involved in Lili and Lucy's timeline that it feels like Marius's chapters come out of nowhere.

The tie between the two timelines was well thought out and integrated. Even though Lili's timeline is a different twist on the typical WWII fiction, it didn't resonate as much Lucy's timeline because I haven't read much about Berlin after the wall came down.

One thing to note: I wish the description would have something about Lucy in it. I was surprised by the inclusion because nothing in the blurb of the title mentioned her.

This was a dual-timeline story of Lili during WWII and Lucy during the 1990s after the fall of the Berlin Wall as she gets ready for renovations and reopening of the Hotel Edel. I enjoyed the story and I learned more about what it was like to live behind the Berlin Wall, after WWII. It was an inspiring story of love and bravery during treacherous times as well as the effect it had on the families. I look forward to reading more by this writer.


Thanks to @bookouture, @netgalley, and the author of this ARC

My Review: I don't even know where to begin, as a woman who grew up/ lived in Germany from 1979 to 1996, I can relate to some of the energy in this book, especially the East and West Germany parts and the fall of the Berlin wall. This book is set in different timelines. The years around and during WWII and 1990 after the fall of the wall. We follow Lilly (WWII) and Lucy (1990) on their journey's. Lilly is Jewish and desperate to save her life, she swaps Leipzig for Berlin, her parents dead, the anonymity her hope to thrive and survive an ever darkening Germany under Hitler. Lucy is living a life with a lot of buried guilt and secrets, she buys The Edel Hotel with the hope of refurbishing it and breathing fresh new life and memories into the place, which is where we meet Adam and Gabi. The past and present mesh together. Stories are retold and corrected, what if what you thought you knew is a lie, will the truth set the past free, reframe it or make it worse? You'll have to read this gripping story. It's disturbing, inspiring, shacking and heart-warming, there's just so much packed into the page pages you won't be able to put it down. A recommended read.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I completely lost track of time as I was pulled into this story, flipping through the pages at such a rapid speed, that I couldn’t stop reading. Get ready to be transported to Berlin during WWII and then jump ahead to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Many secrets lie in the Edel Hotel. Lili lives there with her husband, Marius. Lili is Jewish, but she has hidden her identity. While her husband is on the Eastern Front, Lili, helps Jews escape out of Germany. Lucy is in Germany and meets Lili and Marius’s grandson, Adam. Lucy and Adam work together to discover the truth about Lili and the Edel.
I am happy to be part of Bookouture’s Books on Tour. Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
#TheSecretHotelInBerlin #CatherineHokin #NetGalley #Bookouture #BooksOnTour #BookLove #Bookstagram #NewBook #ILoveBooks #BooksSetInBerlin #BooksSetDuringWWII

I enjoyed the dual timeline of this one, especially that the second was present day, but still historical.

Lili’s timeline fascinated me. As a Jewish woman in Germany, she redevelops herself early in Hitler’s regime so no one knows she’s Jewish. Falling in love with hotelier Marius Rodenberg brings her right in Hitler’s path. He frequents their hotel, the Edel, with his entourage. Right under his nose, Lili is determined to help the Resistance.

Lucy’s timeline shows Berlin right after the fall of the Berlin Wall. She’s at the Edel to revamp it and reopen it. She encounters Marius and Lili’s grandson and together they are determined to find the truth about his grandparents and what happened to them. I love reading about what loved ones had to go through to find out what happened to their family members. I couldn’t imagine going through the process but it intrigues me. Without technology they had it so much harder than we would today.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC of this book.

As a reader, there are authors whose work you automatically know will tick all your reading boxes and Catherine Hokin does that for me in spades. I feel Catherine Hokin is the queen of a dual timeline and has gotten it down to a perfect science.

The Secret Hotel in Berlin brings us into the world of The Edel Hotel in Berlin. If only the walls could talk they would reveal so much. We get to meet Lili and Marius as they fall in love but Lili’s secret could break their love and so she must live with the angst. Although LIli and Marius’s story is fictional it did make me think about how much this must have happened during the war and how heartbreaking it must be.

Before, the war style reads that I really enjoyed mostly for the human stories and the comradery that were so long ago and in the past. Fast forward to today and reading them is a different experience with so much going on right now in the world. It makes the suffering both physically and mentally for the people more real. Less fiction and more reality. It is an added dimension that I wish was not happening.

The book is harrowing and brutal as was that time. I can’t imagine your family and friends being removed from society just because of their religion. Then understanding that they were murdered. I just don’t understand and never will.

All the characters in the book are flawed in their own way and most of them are carrying the burden of things not said or done. I loved Lili and I think she will be a strong heart stay character for me. Her strength to do the right thing at whatever cost was so inspiring and beautiful. It just all wrapped up so well at the end and like having a really good meal where you are so full and content. That is how the book left me.

The book is so layered and done in such an easy, non complicated manner. You are not bogged down with historical information. But you are welcomed to ghost along with the characters. I felt myself flying through the book as I had to know what happened. I hate to use the term emotional rollercoaster but it really is.

There is only one thing I really don’t like and I feel it does a disservice to the book and that is the title. The hotel is not a secret, it doesn’t make sense. Hotel Berlin, The Hotel in Berlin, In Plain Sight are all examples of titles that could be. I know the author has no say in the title. But that is the only thing that I have to critique.

If you enjoy books by Beryl Kingston, and Maureen Lee and The Storyteller by Jodi Piqoult, you need to have Catherine Hokins books on your autobuy.

All the stars and more, well done. It's a superb read.

Oh, my heart!
The more I read of this book the more I knew I had to continue it. The characters are so realistic in this dual timeline book. Taking place during the turbulence of WWII and more modern times we see an emergence of some characters during both timelines. I loved the grand elegance of the Edel Hotel in Berlin. I love books with hotels and this one was exciting: this hotel kept made me want to cry buckets and it's new and improved resurgence was unexpected but welcome with visions of days gone by full of glamour linger in the corners of my mind. It was uplifting to see such strong female leads The story has such a heartwarming ending, it'll uplift your spirits. This is one you'll not want to miss.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Lili Rodenberg and her husband Marius run the Edel Hotel. It’s a prestigious hotel located in Berlin. Its guests are among the most wealthy. The war is raging on just outside the beautiful, grand entrance. There seems to be no end on sight. Lili is Jewish, hiding in plain sight, walking among the very people that she despises. She knows that if any of the German officers find out her secret of being Jewish it would surely be the end for her and her family. Even thought they fear of being caught they use their wine cellar to hide Jews in until they can be transported to a safe location. Shortly after her husband Marius is called up to fight in the war, he is soon missing in action. Lili must do everything she can to protect her daughter, search for her husband and protect those she is hiding.

The Secret Hotel in Berlin written by author Catherine Hokin is a heartbreaking historical fiction that will leave you inspired. I was captivated from the very first page and was engaged until the last page was turned. I felt such empathy for Lili and Marius. They risked everything to keep others safe. And my heat broke again when Marius went missing. I am always amazed at the risk that people took and knowing the tragedy that would come if they were caught. I loved this story of hope, courage and sacrifice and I highly recommend it.

The Secret Hotel in Berlin by Catherine Hokin provides the reader with a fascinating insight into life in Berlin during World War Two. It’s told in a dual timeline format which effortlessly moves back and forth between Berlin in 1990 not long after the wall has come down and the early 1940’s as a prominent hotel in the city plays host to the powers that be that have inflicted untold violence, brutality and terror upon so many. It’s not often a story in this genre focuses on the aftermath and is set in the 1990’s so I found this aspect of the storyline to be informative and very interesting. Although, I will say the elements of the plot set in the past held my attention ever so slightly more. Not that there was anything wrong with reading with Lucy’s modern day storyline as it helped to bridge the gap between the past and the present and deliver much needed answers but the past always seems to draw me in and refuses to relinquish its grip.

March 1990 and Lucy has arrived in Berlin to scout locations for new hotels her boss Charlie hopes to buy as the city reopens itself to tourism following 50 years of a split between East and West. The scars of that time are still clearly visible and there are a lot of stories to be unearthed. Lucy visits the Edel Hotel, one of several on her list, and once she steps through the doors despite its state of disrepair there is something that speaks to her. There is history soaked into its walls and clearly an important story waiting to be told. Once it’s decided this will be the next hotel the company wants she sets about overseeing it’s transformation. Little does she realise upon beginning this journey that many remarkable and shocking things happened there during the war and now is the time to attempt to right many wrongs and injustices.

Lucy throughout the story was the conduit linking the past and the present. She too is suffering from her own emotional trauma and in taking on this job she begins to see some small similarities to her own story and it only serves to fuel her fire in uncovering the truth and hopefully clearing someone’s name. She meets architect Adam who turns out to be the grandson of Marius the owner of the hotel during the war. Adam did not know he had any ties to the hotel until the wall came down. His history has been kept from him. But why? Adam initially, remained aloof and distant regarding learning more about his family and there must have been a reason that he didn’t jump at the chance to discover more. As the renovations begin and Lucy finds out that the last recorded owner of the hotel, that being Lili Rodenberg, was murdered by the resistance because of her connections to Hitler and his inner circle she is desperate to learn more and to see how it connects to Adam’s family and of course whether this was true at all.

I loved the subtlety of the connection/friendship that developed between Lucy and Adam and with the discovery of a diary their story goes on a different trajectory. One which will see them both work together attempting to uncover the exact truth. For the Lili represented in newspaper articles is painted as a demon and someone who betrayed so many but he can not reconcile with that fact. Soon the hotel and its renovation became more than just a job for Lucy it took on a more personal level and as the layers of the past were slowly and deftly pulled back I became completely engrossed in the story and thoroughly enjoyed the chapters set in the past.

Lili arrives in Berlin from Liepzig in 1929. She is Jewish and attempting to shed her old skin and keep her heritage a secret. She lost her mother to Spanish Flu and her father to a braying mob outside the synagogue and this hurt and pain will be a driving force for everything she does for the remainder of the book. Lili was a brilliantly written character so full of drive and ambition and as the years pass by and she acquires her own flower shop and meets and marries Marius and becomes an expert at playing hostess and running the Eden Hotel the reader sees her grow and mature. Yet that need for revenge never dulls inside her and with the rise of Hitler and his National Socialist party and all the laws, brutality and degradation inflicted upon the Jewish population she knows she can play a vital role in eliminating such cruelty from the world. Usually, I would find it disconcerting for a timeline to be moved forward quite rapidly over the course of just a few chapters but here it worked perfectly. I understood its necessity in setting the scene in how Lili came to be in Berlin, what fueled her and how her marriage to Marius developed and led to the birth of her daughter.

The details of the Eden Hotel during the war were incredible. It seemed to be a place out of this world where every need and whim of the German elite were met with little fuss and Hitler and his cronies could meet knowing there business would never be passed on. The descriptions of the hotel were stunning and I could picture everything so clearly in my mind. What really struck me though is the way life continued on as normal in this area whilst probably just mere streets away so much pain and suffering was being inflicted on anyone who was Jewish. Lili herself was in a very dangerous position and even more so when Marius is forced to enlist in the fighting and she is left to manage the hotel herself. If anyone had discovered her true heritage everything would have been over in an instant.

Instead, I admired her resourcefulness in how she used her position to her advantage. She put on a brave face day after day serving those who would have her killed in an instant had they known who she really was. I don’t know how she did this but it just goes to show the strength of character and fortitude that she possessed. I loved how she became involved in Resistance work and that she was able to glean information whilst serving Hitler at his private lunches. It was almost like a kick to his face that someone who he would have despised so much was right under his nose and he had no idea. Fear had made her run from her faith and hide who she was but she never forgot her roots and was determined that those who wrecked her world would one day pay.

The plot itself moved along at a good pace and there were plenty of twists and turns especially as Lucy and Adam edged further to the truth in the present. I felt we learned things in the present that at the time didn’t make sense given what I was reading about in the past and I did wonder how would things be explained. But the author had everything so carefully planned and I really enjoyed the last quarter or so of the book as things began to become clearer and in particular one aspect started to make itself known and I was thinking how was this possible? Would it seem laughable for it to come true but Catherine Hokin made it work very well. Lili is an inspirational character, whose story will stay with readers for a long time once they have read the final word. The ending was deeply satisfying and I felt like I had been taken on a rollercoaster of a journey packed full of emotions, devastation, heartbreak, resistance, hope and love. The Secret Hotel in Berlin is a book I would definitely recommend as you’ll be caught up in the bravery and sacrifice of some inspiring and impressive characters.