This third novel by the British midwife converted to full time writer begins in July 1938 and 57 chapters later ends a WWII begins. postscripts detail the postwar lives of the main characters.
British foreign correspondent for The Chronicle, who becomes part time detective, Georgie Young in Berlin relates the details of the city and the buildup to the war as the rest of the world ignores her warnings and documentation of Nazi atrocities in fifty seven straightforward, numbered and dated chapters. Among the most graphic details of Nazi horrors, is the description of Kristallnacht, (the night of broken glass, November 10th, 1938) when a coordinated Nazi roundup of Jews, the disabled, homosexuals, and Jehovah Witnesses should have alerted the rest of the world to their depth of their debauchery.
As the story progresses, the adventures become less and less realistic, but still gripping. Many chance encounters and harrowing escapes seem designed to hold the reader’s attention like a cheap spy novel, rather than as anything that could possibly happen. This includes the eventual romance of two of the rival British foreign correspondents posted to Berlin. I
The writing is certainly engaging and the plot is complex but not hard to follow. There are hints of support for early feminism in the misogynist world of journalism and the heavy drinking for which the crowd of journalists is known is not ignored. Sexual innuendo abounds as Nazi officials proudly display their foreign conquests, but there is no graphic pornography.
Among the memorable quotes is this:
“Hence the need for a foreign press, and the hundreds of underground pamphlets and newspapers pushing their heads up like daisies through the manure bed of propaganda.”
In the vast number of historical novels based on WWII, this is one of the better ones I have read, perhaps on a par with Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale. But my appetite for this specific genre is dwindling.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have no one to thank for recommending this book to me, as no one did. When I sent a draft off this review to my wife for comments and corrections, as I usually do before posting, she pointed out that the book she had actually recommended was titled The Girl From Berlin-same genre, different author, different plot, slightly different time frame, similar theme. My mistake.
The Passionate Reader 