A review by drey72
A City of Broken Glass by Rebecca Cantrell
4.0
A City of Broken Glass is a story set in 1938 in Berlin. Adelheid Zinsli is a Swiss journalist sent to Poland to write a lifestyle piece on the Saint Martin festival. While there, though, she hears about twelve thousand Jews deported from Germany, and knows she has to get the story. Which she does, before she’s arrested by the Gestapo and brought back to Germany in the trunk of a car…
As she leaves her twelve-year-old son Anton and her former lover Lars in Poland, Adelheid must stay calm and plan an escape — she faces certain death once she gets back to Berlin. Because Adelheid Zinsli is really Hannah Vogel, who made herself persona non grata in Germany before she last left Berlin…
And so begins this gripping tale of betrayal, forgiveness, and reconciliation set during one of the scariest times in our current history — especially for those the Germans have marked as impure. Of course, Hannah escapes the Gestapo, with the surprising help of Lars and Anton. But once in Berlin, she discovers that the situation is way more dire than imagined — especially when she realizes that she’s the target of a personal vendetta. The question is, by whom — and why? Ok, so that’s two questions.
A City of Broken Glass is tense and taut, and manages to suck you under a spell weaved with expert story-telling and memorable characters. Hannah is strong and stubborn and independent, yet doesn’t hesitate to accept help when she needs it. Anton is so very mature for twelve — understandable, considering all that he goes through in this book. And Lars. He’s been through so much, and could’ve reconciled with Hannah sooner if he’d only have overcome his own pride. And all around them, the heartache and heartbreak of loss — loss of lives and loves, loss of freedom, loss of identity, loss of trust. Can they make it out of Berlin before it’s too late? Or will these three be added to the ever-increasing numbers of the casualties of the Germans’ cleansing?
I enjoyed this so much I’m looking up the previous three Hannah Vogel books to add to my TBR pile.
drey’s rating: Excellent!
As she leaves her twelve-year-old son Anton and her former lover Lars in Poland, Adelheid must stay calm and plan an escape — she faces certain death once she gets back to Berlin. Because Adelheid Zinsli is really Hannah Vogel, who made herself persona non grata in Germany before she last left Berlin…
And so begins this gripping tale of betrayal, forgiveness, and reconciliation set during one of the scariest times in our current history — especially for those the Germans have marked as impure. Of course, Hannah escapes the Gestapo, with the surprising help of Lars and Anton. But once in Berlin, she discovers that the situation is way more dire than imagined — especially when she realizes that she’s the target of a personal vendetta. The question is, by whom — and why? Ok, so that’s two questions.
A City of Broken Glass is tense and taut, and manages to suck you under a spell weaved with expert story-telling and memorable characters. Hannah is strong and stubborn and independent, yet doesn’t hesitate to accept help when she needs it. Anton is so very mature for twelve — understandable, considering all that he goes through in this book. And Lars. He’s been through so much, and could’ve reconciled with Hannah sooner if he’d only have overcome his own pride. And all around them, the heartache and heartbreak of loss — loss of lives and loves, loss of freedom, loss of identity, loss of trust. Can they make it out of Berlin before it’s too late? Or will these three be added to the ever-increasing numbers of the casualties of the Germans’ cleansing?
I enjoyed this so much I’m looking up the previous three Hannah Vogel books to add to my TBR pile.
drey’s rating: Excellent!