So after numerous World War II fiction this year, this one is about the aftermath of the war, the tribulations of the people who ended up on the losing side. It's about those who suffered first through the war because of the oppressive regime and later as they lost the war - the plebeians.
Setting
Post the Second World War there was an ideological and political divide between the Allies and the Soviet Union and thus began the Cold War. Germany was divided into West Germany led by Allies and East Germany under the Soviet occupation. Amidst this was Berlin situated entirely in East Germany but still divided into two parts one under Allies (west) and the other under Soviets (east). West Berlin was the symbolic presence of Allies behind the iron curtain.
"It's hard to picture an entire metropolis as floating in the land-sea of East Germany, 160km adrift from the remainder of West Germany, but that's how it is in the post-war world."
Storyline
August 1961, the people of Berlin wake up one morning to realise that barbed wire has been put up between East and West Berlin with no way to access the other part. This barbed wire gradually transformed into a concrete wall. Karin, a West Berliner unfortunately gets separated from her family and her twin Jutta as she was hospitalised in the eastern part of the city. Karin was the quiet and the creative type and Jutta was the ambitious one out of the two. Unable to cross the wall, Karin builds a life for her on the eastern side with Otto. Despite the constant fear of Stasi and a life of always looking over your shoulder, she made peace with her predicament and tried to adjust to life in East Berlin. While Jutta spends almost all her waking minutes trying to reach or get a message across to her twin. But with the love of her life on the eastern side, would Karin ever decide to get back to her family?
My Thoughts
Mandy Robotham has written the book in a single timeline which does not break the flow of the story and kept me engrossed. The exposition of people separated and divided by the wall is done beautifully and vividly. Their anger, fear, misery and helplessness are palpable. I was completely invested in Jutta's character. She went to great lengths to reach her twin. For some reason, I was unable to understand Karin's indecisiveness and hesitation to cross over. But then maybe love does that to you. The book is slightly slow and at times some events appear repetitive and stretched. But overall a good book and worth reading. It made me go back and research about Berlin Wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment