Shadows of Berlin Book Review

Rachel has a secret. Living in 1950s New York with her husband, Rachel tries to lead a normal life despite carrying guilt over something that happened when she was a young Jewish girl trying to escape Nazi Germany. That's the "shadow" that hangs over Rachel's everyday life in the new novel Shadows of Berlin.

Rachel is haunted by her mother (who died in a concentration camp) and a mystery crime that Rachel committed. This crime prevents her from wanting anything good for herself - a child, her painting. It causes a rift between Rachel and her American-born husband, who claims that he understands what happened in Germany but he doesn't really know what it was like. 

There's a passage toward the end of the novel that I thought was really good: "The grief of a victim, the grief of a betrayer, the grief of one who has survived. She carries all three."

This takes a look at a part of Nazi Germany that maybe you weren't aware of, and it asks the question of what you would do to save your family and save yourself. The book also deals with topics of women's experiences and race, showing how African-Americans are treated in America by people who should know better.

So much of the novel is pure dialogue, and I think this would make a really good play or movie.

Shadows of Berlin is published by Sourcebooks Landmark and is available to purchase now. I received a free e-ARC.