News from Berlin by Otto de Kat

(Book received from, and review written for, TripFiction.com)

Separate, yet interwoven, lives in London, Berne and Berlin    My rating:  2/5

What to do when you have news that could save hundreds of thousands of people, but if told could also result in the death of your daughter?

Although a short book (200 pages) there is plenty of depth to this book. The plot skips between Berne, London and Berlin and shows how a few words spoken in 1941 can change personal lives, and might (literally) change the future of the whole world. The father, leading a shadowy life in Switzerland, aware that he always being watched. The wife, living in London, with memories of a past love being rekindled. The daughter, living in Berlin, hoping for a future. Everyday lives, taken over by the power of war – and the implications of what they now know.

This is a book for those who like to think, and consider the material they are reading. If this is you, you will probably love this book, and return to it again. Others may find the lack of depth of information and character portrayal frustrating.

The differences in lives being lived at the same time in the 3 cities are illustrated well, though without detail to help a visitor to any of these cities. However the opening scenes in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland will bring a smile of recognition to anyone who has visited traditional Alpine villages in the winter.

Love it, or be bored by it. Which will you be?