Shadows of Berlin
A Novel
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
"Reminding us that history is made up of infinite individual choices, Shadows of Berlin is a masterful story of survival and redemption." — Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star
A captivating novel of a Berlin girl on the run from the guilt of her past and the boy from Brooklyn who loves her
1955 in New York City: the city of instant coffee, bagels at Katz's Deli, ultra-modern TVs. But in the Perlman's walk-up in Chelsea, the past is as close as the present. Rachel came to Manhattan in a wave of displaced Jews who managed to survive the horrors of war. Her Uncle Fritz fleeing with her, Rachel hoped to find freedom from her pain in New York and in the arms of her new American husband, Aaron.
But this child of Berlin and daughter of an artist cannot seem to outrun her guilt in the role of American housewife, not until she can shed the ghosts of her past. And when Uncle Fritz discovers, in a dreary midtown pawn shop, the most shocking portrait that her mother had ever painted, Rachel's memories begin to terrorize her, forcing her to face the choices she made to stay alive?choices that might be her undoing.
From the cafes of war-torn Germany to the frantic drumbeat of 1950's Manhattan, Shadows of Berlin dramatically explores survival, redemption and the way we learn to love and forgive across impossible divides.
"A tribute to resilience and starting over. This is heart-wrenching and memorable." — Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This searing slice of historical fiction reveals how some survivors of captivity still remain trapped—by their own guilt. That’s how it is for Rachel, a woman living in New York in the 1950s who used to go by Rashka, back when she was trying to survive the Nazi regime as a Jew living in WWII Germany. David R. Gillham sensitively guides us through Rachel’s struggles during and after the Holocaust, skilfully shifting between 1940s Berlin and 1950s New York City. Rachel’s American husband, Aaron, can’t begin to comprehend what she’s experienced or why those horrors still traumatize her, and she’s too deeply trapped in her anguish to reach out. Gillham’s ear for dialogue and eye for period-perfect detail grounded us in time, surrounding us with snatches of German and Yiddish and the sights and sounds of each setting—from the glamorous to the grim. We were deeply compelled by Rachel’s war with her own painful past.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Trauma and survivor's guilt haunt a young woman in Gillham's stunning latest (after Annelies). Berlin-born Rachel Perlman, 29, lives in New York City in 1955 with her American husband, Aaron, having fled Europe after WWII. Gillham flashes back to the years before the war, with Rachel (born Rashka Morgenstern) living comfortably in Berlin with her widowed artist mother until the anti-Jewish laws strip them of their possessions and her mother's livelihood. Rachel and her mother go underground and live as what are known colloquially as "U-boats," or Jews hiding in plain sight. They're caught in 1944, and to save themselves from being sent to a concentration camp, Rachel is pushed into helping her mother's former muse Angelika identify other U-boats. Now, in New York, Rachel struggles to be a conventional wife, while being terrorized by nightmares and visions of her deceased mother and others. After her uncle discovers her mother's shocking portrait of Angelika, Rachel's painful memories of Berlin peak into overdrive. Gillham's use of Berlin's cafés and New York's walk-ups, restaurants, and parks is superb, and the generous sprinkling of Yiddish in the text adds a layer of richness. While the story is a tribute to resilience and starting over, it doesn't shy away from the hurt that adults can bring to children. This is heart-wrenching and memorable.
