The One with the Stasi Office Cleaner
Michelle Barker, The House of One Thousand Eyes (2018)

This YA novel is set in the German Democratic Republic in the early 1980s; but it's democratic only by name. Lena is a young woman who has lost both her parents in a factory accident and who has dropped out of high school. She lives with her aunt who has a good position in the ruling Communist party and who has found her a job cleaning offices by night at the headquarters of the National Security services, a.k.a the Stasi, the terrifying secret police.

But Lena is also a girl who spends her life under a cloud of fear and suspicion. When her parents died she had a mental breakdown and was sent to a psychiatric unit, a terrible place where a lot of abuse took place. She has to behave and toe the party line (and her aunt's) otherwise she might be sent back there. She also has an uncle who writes, has anti-party leanings, and who suddenly disappears...

The book was terrifying and sad and gripping and heartbreaking. Barker has done her research well and it rings very true. Life in East Germany in the early 1980s was not as harsh as in the immediate post-war, or while Stalin was still alive, but it doesn't mean that it was liberal. It doesn't only mean that people couldn't wear jeans, drink Coke and listen to Western rock and roll. It means that everyone could be a police informer, and the slightest critic uttered against the regime (or the simple yearning to something different and better) could change your destiny.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I particularly liked that the ending was not all rosy. People make complex decisions when they are in complex situations, and the novel allowed for this. I believe a lot more in a flawed character rather than in a perfect, fearless hero.

I'd recommend it to large YA audience, but reader's discretion is advised because of sexual assault and abuse.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.

TW: Sexual assault, child abuse

3.5 stars

Lena is simple. At least, that's what she's been told. After having wasps in her mind and leaving a mental hospital, she lives under strict rules in her Auntie's house, she works as a night janitor in the Stasi Headquarters, she goes to work, goes home, and on Sundays she visits her beloved Uncle Erich.

Then Erich disappears.

And Lena begins to wake up.

This was an incredibly difficult book to get into. I'm not sure if it was because of the narrative style, which is told in deep third person POV from Lena's viewpoint (she talks to herself, calls herself Mausi, has a wall of protection to insulate her mind, and repeats images/events and also dips into an imaginary land/fantasies occasionally), or because Lena spends half of the book slowly coming out of her self-induced fog of protection. (view spoiler)

It wasn't until around the halfway mark that I became invested, and even during the heightened scenes of tension I wasn't incredibly interested in the fates of the characters. Part of it was because everyone was so guarded (one of the themes of the book is that you can never really known anyone), and also because Lena did some incredibly frustrating decisions (for one, it's like she's aware people might be watching and then she just...forgets). There's also a kinda love-triangle with two dudes—neither of whom were particularly interesting.

Regardless, it was a fascinating look into live in East Berlin in the early 1980s—in the height of the Cold War—where everyone was careful because anyone could be an informer. And where people who were attempting to flee or suspected of unsanctioned words/actions/thoughts were arrested or worse, disappeared.

An interesting read that takes place in East Germany. It was a surprisingly well done story that I found myself enjoying far more than I thought I would.

Enjoyed this story. Great read for high school or older, While historically accurate a few things are too real for my middle schooners. I do recommend for high school studies of that period in history..

Lena is an orphan who has lived with her aunt since her parents died in a factory explosion. Her aunt is an unsympathetic character who is committed to the Communist Party line, so Lena loves to visit her warm and doting uncle, a famous author. When her uncle disappears, not only from his apartment but also from any public record, and his books disappear as well, Lena is determined to find out why and where he is. Her perseverance gets her in trouble with government officials, and she is urged by many to give up her quest. Her situation becomes increasingly dangerous, not only for her, but also for her acquaintances and family. Although this novel is fiction, it serves as a dramatic portrait and reminder of the repression imposed by the Russians in East Germany, and the loss of human rights there following World War II.

I was debating between giving this book three and four stars... I did enjoy it, and I think that it's an important book, but there were some elements that were not for me, which is why I eventually gave it three stars instead of four. That doesn't mean that this won't be a great book for many people though.

The concept of this book is outstanding, and really important for people to read about. Lena was living in East Germany in the early 1980s. It was a time when Germany was ruled by the Stasi, or German secret police. Her uncle had some thoughts that were not approved by the government, and was made to "disappear". It was as if he had never been born. He didn't even have a birth record. People had to talk as if he never existed, or else the government might think that you have wrong thoughts too.

Things like this actually did happen. Which is why I think that it's an important book, especially if you don't remember a time when there was such a thing as East Germany. Overall, this was an enjoyable book.

There are a couple elements of this book that caused me to eventually give this book three rather than four stars. I thought that the main character, Lena, could have made some wiser decisions. I think that if someone actually did grow up in East Germany during that time, they would not have been that clueless about how to behave if someone disappeared like her uncle did. I also thought that she probably would have been a little more careful later on in the book regarding certain things that she did at work, if this was an actual story. Also, the final decision that she made before the chapter about the sleeping girl (not giving away spoilers which is why I'm wording it this way)... to me, it also doesn't seem like the decision she would have made, especially after taking all of the risks that she did throughout the rest of the book.

There are some scenes in here that I did find disturbing regarding sexual assault. Readers that are triggered by that sort of thing might want to avoid it. It also may not be appropriate for younger YA readers. I didn't enjoy this element of the story, although it probably added to the realism, because in that type of society, I'm sure that things like that did happen.

I did enjoy the story, and I think that it is an important book, especially if you don't know much about this era of history. It is not something I will probably reread though.

Every once in awhile you read a novel that stands out from the rest, sticking in your mind for good. The House of One Thousand Eyes is one of those standouts. I would give this ten stars if I could.

Set in East Germany in the 1980s before the Berlin Wall comes down, this novel focuses on Lena, who was orphaned when her parents were killed in an industrial accident and she is being raised by her aunt, who is a devout member of the ruling Communist party. Lena lives for the visits she has with her uncle, a writer and anti-communist, but when he suddenly disappears, her world falls apart.

Not your usual setting, not your usual story and certainly not the usual ending. I don't want to give it away because reading this novel is such an immersive experience. Nuanced character development, atmospheric, well-researched. Bravo Michelle Barker!