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A review by katkinney
The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham
5.0
This was an outstanding work of historical fiction by author Mandy Robotham. In 1960’s Germany, twin sisters Jutta and Karin live in West Berlin and see every day the tension between the western controlled portion of their city and the communist controlled portion to the east. When Karin travels through the checkpoint one day and falls gravely ill, she is forced to stay in an East German hospital overnight after an operation. That night, the borders are closed and the wall goes up.
I loved the way the writing examined this period in history from both sides, with Jutta living in the West and Karin in the East, both shaped by the perspectives of where they were living and the people who they came to care for. It was not so simple as one side was evil and the other good, but drawn in shades of gray, with family ties and being unable to leave those you loved even if you might have preferred to try to escape being a factor. This was very well written and I highly recommend it for readers of historical fiction!
I loved the way the writing examined this period in history from both sides, with Jutta living in the West and Karin in the East, both shaped by the perspectives of where they were living and the people who they came to care for. It was not so simple as one side was evil and the other good, but drawn in shades of gray, with family ties and being unable to leave those you loved even if you might have preferred to try to escape being a factor. This was very well written and I highly recommend it for readers of historical fiction!