4.5 stars rounded up
“Like me, she wants to know what’s true, what’s a story, and who made it up. Like me she’s searching…”

From the publisher: “November 1989 —After finding a secret cache of letters with intelligence buried in the text, CIA cryptographer Luisa Voekler learns that not only is her father alive but he is languishing in an East German Stasi jail. Alternating storylines between Luisa and her father, The Berlin Letters shows the tumultuous early days of the wall, bringing Berlin, the epicenter of the Cold War, to life while also sharing one family’s journey through secrets, lies, and division to love, freedom, and reconciliation.”

Interesting, nuanced characters and a strong exciting plot make The Berlin Letters a historical fiction book that stands above many others. Reay’s book captures the DDR (East Germany) during the Cold War, with well-researched details. ”The new neighborhoods are full of tall and identical cement structures that have been built in the last several years, but with little style in their design and little grass and greenery between them. They are not beautiful…the bombed buildings are not being reconstructed in their original fashion. If not left in rubble, the new additions are uniform, cement, and uninspired.”

There is a menacing undercurrent, but the book is not frightening or graphic and moves along quickly. The romance at the end of the book was OK but didn’t really add to the story.

I listened to the audio, which was excellent and made the story come alive. Small German accents added to and did not distract from the easy of understanding. I wasn’t as fond of the voice narrating Haris, Luisa’s father. It seemed like the narrator was trying too hard to use a low tough voice.s

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"The Berlin Letters" offers a captivating journey through the labyrinthine corridors of Cold War espionage and familial secrets. Set against the backdrop of a divided Berlin on the brink of historic change, this novel masterfully weaves together the stories of CIA cryptographer Luisa Voekler and her incarcerated father. As Luisa embarks on a perilous quest to reunite her family, readers are treated to a gripping narrative that brims with suspense, emotion, and intrigue. With its richly drawn characters and vivid historical detail, "The Berlin Letters" is a spellbinding tale of love, courage, and redemption that will linger in readers' minds long after the final page is turned.

The Berlin Letters was an incredible piece of work. The story was highly engaging. I could very clearly imagine myself in East Berlin when the wall went up. The author is very well talented. Congratulations on this wonderful book.

Set in the Cold War era, Luisa is a CIA decoder who is tired of all the boring assignments. She was raised by her grandparents, but shortly after her grandfather’s death she stumbles upon letters between her grandfather and father. Her parents had died in a car accident when she was a child. But it seems to be her father is alive in East Germany. She’s on a mission to find out what happened to her parents and uses her CIA training to her advantage.

Fantastic historical fiction!

Thanks to Net Galley, Harper Muse, and Katherine Reay for the audiobook!

This was absolutely brilliant - a combination of a great book and delivered by a super narrator. I thought the book was perfect, really well plotted and navigated. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author as I had not come across them before. Stunning.

The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay lets us break free from the usual WWII historical fiction fascination by highlighting a different era instead: 1960s Germany, behind the Berlin Wall. It's engaging and immersive, with fleshed out characters and an underlying theme of personal sacrifices made for the sake of familial love.

Written with a dual timeline, The Berlin Letters centers around the story of Monika, a young German woman married to Haris, a news reporter who is a supporter of the Party in East Berlin. In 1961, Monika finds to her shock that the Berlin Wall is now being policed, and that she can no longer cross it to visit her family in West Berlin. Horrified and worried for what's to come, she throws her young daughter Luisa over the wall and into the arms of her waiting parents. The story of Monika's life in the days to follow is contrasted with that of Luisa in the 1980s, growing up in America, where her grandparents moved. Following the death of her grandfather, Luisa, now an agent in the CIA, discovers papers in her grandfather's belongings that suggest her past is more than what she's been told.

For readers who like slow burn, character-driven novels with a good amount of espionage, The Berlin Letters will be a great choice. It's also a great option for those who like historical fiction but need a break from the typical WWII novels. The audiobook production is done well and adds to the experience.

Thank you to Harper Muse and Katherine Reay for providing an advance copy for an honest review.

1989 USA - Luisa works as a CIA code breaker, though her Oma simply believes she works in finance. Letters with an eerily familiar symbol come across her desk and she realizes that her Opa had more family secrets than she realized. There was a reason he raised her to crack codes and break cyphers, and now her expertise may help save her family. (Also... don't read the Goodreads summary because it literally gives the whole story away.)

My knowledge of the Cold War and Berlin Wall eras is vastly lacking. This time period and story were fascinating to read about. I knew about the Berlin Wall, of course, but I never thought about how long it had been up and how it had come to exist. I never thought about the family members who may have been separated on either side. After this book, I want to go on a deep dive into all the great nonfiction. Katherine Reay (the author) included a substantial list of reference books at the end that she used while writing this.

The ending felt a bit rushed and wrapped up a little too neatly in my opinion. I can't share too much without spoiling, but I felt like help and solutions showed up a bit too easily in the final quarter of the book. Some people love a happy and neat ending, though!

I also highly recommend the audiobook. The two narrators do a wonderful job, especially with accents.

3.5 stars rounded up

A CIA code breaker discovered her grandfathers letter and family history during the raise and fall of the Berlin Wall. I enjoyed the dual voices sharing this story of love, secrets, lies, heart break and freedom.

I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love historical fiction. I’ve read books about many different eras, but I can say I have never read one about the Cold War set in Berlin.

I remember learning very little about the Cold War in school, so it was a definite refresher on how everything went down. The author walks you through the years until the wall comes down (and even a later excerpt, which I truthfully found entirely too cheesy). The plot was great as it showed an average life of a Berliner in this time, not a higher up or exceptionally poor person.

The characters were written well, with great development throughout the book. Without giving too much away, it’s wonderful to see a character with a redemption arc. The author does a fantastic job of appealing to readers’ empathy, which creates great characters!

The writing was easy to read (listen to in my case, so I have not the slightest idea how to spell names) and you really did get a feel of what it was like to live there. She’s descriptive, which gives a more immersive experience.

As a whole, I really enjoyed listening to this book. The accents of the narrators were easy to understand, but I don’t understand why they use an English accent for American English natives. This is not the first time I’ve seen this in a book, but it doesn’t bother me enough to make or break it.

Overall I give it 4 ⭐️. Parts of the book were a bit too cheesy for me, but I’ve been reading darker stuff lately and maybe it’s just the contrast. The ending is extra 🧀 though, too saccharine for my tastes.

I really enjoyed this book! Being set during the Cold War was intimidating to me but I loved other books by this author and decided to give this book a try. It was wonderful and sucked me in right from the beginning.

The Berlin Letters is a beautiful story about a family who were torn apart by the Cold War. The most infamous symbol of the Cold War was the Berlin Wall which features prominently in this story from the time it went up until it finally came down. It was, in Katherine Raey’s usual style very well-researched and incorporated family drama with major events.

Haris is willing to do anything to protect his daughter: even if it means spending the rest of his life in prison. Nearly 30 years later Luisa will do anything to find the father she never knew and believed was dead. It is a story about lies, political extremism and idealism, oppression - and the power of love to overcome all. Some of the most tumultuous events come into it.

One little detail I enjoyed about this novel was the quite unexpected reference to my favourite movie, Henry V, starring Kenneth Branagh which was released the same year that the Berlin Wall came down. Love the way that the protagonist responded to in the same way as I do. Especially to the famous St Crispin’s Day speech.

What I find most profound and frightening about Cold War era novels as that none of this happened very long ago. Within my own lifetime there were places in Europe where a person could be tortured and imprisoned by the State for decades simply for having the “wrong” beliefs, reading the “wrong” material or questioning the political classes. If anything makes you value your freedom more, it should be the realization of how fragile it is and how many people very recently had to fight so hard to obtain and defend it.

I listened to the audiobook from Netgalley, which had two different narrators. Some people don’t care for nor than one narrator, but I think it worked very well for the parts narrated at different times by Luisa and her father.

Thanks to Harper Muse for approving me for this title. All opinions provided are freely given and my own.

The Berlin Letters takes us on an incredible journey - one that is complex, thrilling and filled to the brim with secrets and lies. Then at the end of this journey there is love, forgiveness and a brighter future - I loved the epilogue!

The author has done an excellent job of researching the extremely complex and fascinating history of Berlin and then reflecting this through the story of Luisa and her family - a story that is powerful and rich in detail. Luisa is a wonderful, determined and very likeable character and her story was engaging from beginning to end.

The audiobook narration is clear and has a perfect pace, allowing the story to flow and be understood by the listener. All three narrators beautifully bring the characters to life through their tone and expression.

Thank you to the audio publisher, HarperCollins Focus for an audio copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Louisa, a CIA codebreaker, immigrated to the US from Germany as a child. Through a series of coincidences, she discovers coded letters from her father to her grandfather. Until that point, she had thought her father was dead, but he is alive in an East German prison.

I enjoyed this book. The cold war is a subject is a newer topic for me. I was vaguely aware of the wall coming down in 1989, but I was 8 and didn't really understand what was happening. The book alternates between Louisa's life in DC and her father's life in East Berlin. The beginning of the book was a little slow, but the pace picks up when Louisa travels to East Germany to free her father from prison.

A mother’s decision changes the fate of the entire family, now after two and a half decades everything will be revealed. Luisa a CIA cryptographer has discovered a link to her past in letters hidden to protect there secrets. They hold many secrets but only one matters to Luisa, her father is alive and he is being held in a Stasi jail. As Luisa searches for answers, she also knows she will stop at nothing to free the man she thought was dead. These letters hide not only secrets from East Berlin but secrets of her family and their past as well. As she heads to Berlin she is faced with more danger than she ever imagined.

This is a story of hope, unconditional love, and rebellion. There is so much fictional literature surrounding World War II but not enough about post war Germany. ‘The Berlin Letters’ was an immediate “I need to read this book” for me and it did not disappoint. I was hooked in and stayed glued to the story from beginning to end. This story is so complex and some of the twists left me with my jaw on the floor. Following Haris and Luisa readers are taken on a journey, as the wall is built the journey begins. I listened to the audio of this book and the cast was outstanding. It didn’t feel like they were narrating a book, it felt like listening to someone recounting their story. They brought this beautiful story to life. Luisa and Haris will stick with me and I cannot wait to reread their story. This book is perfect for historical fiction lovers, Cold War enthusiasts, and anyone who loves a little espionage. I will be recommending this to anyone who will listen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for providing me with the audiobook of ‘The Berlin Letters’ by Katherine Reay in exchange for an honest review.

I have had difficulty getting through Katherine Reay's books before but I listened to this on audio and enjoyed it more than I did her previous books. The narrators (there was more than one) did justice to the book. This is a work of historical fiction, specifically the Cold War, which is an area of fascination to me. In this novel, a young woman who works for the CIA and is stuck in the role of codebreaker (instead of moving on to more interesting positions) uses those skills to free her father, who she had presumed was dead, from a prison in East Germany. This is at great risk to her, of course. The narrators take turns telling the story from the young woman's and her father's perspectives. One reason that this novel was good was because it avoided many of the pitfalls of some other historical fiction novels that fall into the abyss of romance; there is a little romance here but it clearly takes a back seat to the history of the book and, quite frankly, the relationship between the woman and her family. Both are infinitely more interesting, in my mind. I would give this 4.5 stars; there was some confusion here and there which accounts for the half point.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Focus for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for my honest review.

Katherine Reay is a master at illuminating a corner of the world and making you feel like you live there. The Berlin Letters drew me in from the very first chapter. Invested is not a strong enough word. Did I finish the book and immediately tell my Grandma to read it? Yes. Have I had a book hangover for several days mourning the fact that I have to wait another year before getting another Reay masterpiece? Also YES.

The audiobook especially brought Luisa and Haris' characters to life. You don't often see father-daughter dual POV books and I really enjoyed that aspect of this one. The male narrator's voice when portraying Luisa irked me, but other than that, I LOVED listening to this story, especially because there are so many German words I would have had no idea how to pronounce on my own. Listening added an authenticity factor to an already well-researched and well-crafted narrative.

FIVE stars. Highly Recommend.

Thanks to Net Galley, the Publisher, and the Author for sending me an audiobook copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own!

I really liked The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay. I received an advance copy of this book in audio and my review expresses my own opinion. This is a story of Germany divided and letters written in code. Luisa Voelker was passed over the Berlin Wall as a small child just as it was being closed and was raised by her grandparents, thinking that her parents were dead. When Luisa's grandfather passes away, she finds letters from her father. This helps her understand why she hasn't advanced in her career with the CIA, and she knows she must turn these letters in to her boss. Haris Voelker is Luisa's father and as a journalist he stayed and supported those in East Berlin. As time passes, Haris begins to realize the Soviet promises are not coming to fruition. He is eventually turned in my neighbor "friends" and is sent to prison. Luisa discovers where he is and goes to Berlin to attempt his release. I found the story about codes very interesting and could see how many families were separated for so many years. Lots of thrills and mysteries with lies, family and traitors. A well-researched book about a period in history we may not fully understand.

This was a gripping story that I stayed up way too late to finish! I was drawn into the story right from the first story and was totally captivated. I’ve never read a book from the Cold War time frame and I feel like I learned so much. The character growth was great. The narration switches between and female and male narrator. The male narrator has a thick German accent…which feels authentic, but was hard for me to understand at first. I got used to it and really enjoyed it! The audio production was well done

This audiobook had great narrators and pacing. It tells of a family suddenly separated by the construction of the Berlin Wall. As the story progresses, we're introduced to a woman working as a codebreaker for the CIA who discovers something familiar in a series of letters. This sets her off on a journey of unraveling family secrets in a race against time. I enjoyed the timeline of events, ranging from just prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall to a short time after its fall. The author's thorough research is obvious and made for a captivating read.

Wow! This was such a captivating audiobook with excellent narrators. A multigenerational story during the times of the Berlin Wall filled with family secrets, espionage, and codebreaking. The story was fast paced, had great character depth, and unfolded with mystery/suspense that kept me engaged throughout the book. This book has to be on the list of one of the best historical fictions in 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley, Katherine Reay, and Harper Muse for the advanced copy of this audiobook.