A review by amy_alwaysreading
The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay

3.5

Thank you @uplitreads and @harpermusebooks for the #gifted copy of this book.  

 

1969: A baby tossed over the barbed wire that would become the Berlin Wall.  A young life thrust from the torment of oppression into the open arms of freedom.  

 

Harrowing.  Sacrificial.  

 

Twenty years later, that now grown adult and CIA agent seeks to free her father from the despair of a Stasi prison.  

 

Reay’s newest Cold War spy thriller proves a worthy education for readers.  This was an immersive history lesson, rife with tension and laden with details of the political turmoil and unrest.  

 

Both the 1969 and 1989 storylines unfolded at a quick pace and held my attention, though I found the 1969 timeline much more engaging and richly drawn.  Oftentimes, I found the 1989 storyline moving at a brisker (and easier) pace than would have been realistic.    

 

Even so, the accessibility of the storyline allowed Reay’s meticulous research to shine.

 

The history was exceptionally executed, fully encapsulating the essence of the Berlin Wall experience, from its rise to its fall.