Shadows of Berlin

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, new-fangled 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.

Author: David R. Gillham
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Published: 04/05/2022
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Hardcover
Size: 9.25h x 6.25w x 1.25d
ISBN: 9781728250441

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 12/01/2021 pg. 31
Publishers Weekly 02/14/2022