Two women. One shocking wartime secret. And a family mystery just waiting to be discovered...
Berlin Zoo, 1943: Ten-year-old Adelaide and her newborn sister are orphaned after a devastating night of bombing. Heartbroken and frightened, Adelaide runs to her mother’s closest friend, Katharina Heinroth, and the kind zookeeper takes the two little girls under her protection. As the bombing intensifies, Adelaide tries to shut out the horrors of war by caring for her tiny sister and playing with the adorable baby monkeys. But when Katharina organises a dangerous operation to enable children and animals to escape the battle-scarred city, something goes wrong. And Adelaide has to promise her adopted mother to keep a shocking secret. A secret that will change Adelaide’s life forever.
Berlin Zoo, 2019: Bethan Taylor notices the elderly lady sitting on the bench next to her seems confused, her thoughts flitting between past and present. Ada talks of her childhood, played out in an underground bunker beneath the animal enclosures during the war. As Ada’s story unfolds, Bethan is surprised to hear a name she recognises…
Katharina Heinroth is at the top of a list of German names Bethan found in a hidden compartment of her late mother’s jewellery box. Bethan’s father couldn’t tell her anything about the crumpled piece of paper and she’s been searching for the meaning ever since.
As the two women are brought together by the pain of the past can they help each other to heal? And after decades of silence, can Ada help Bethan to uncover a long-buried family mystery?
An unforgettable and heart-wrenching novel of a brave orphan girl and a shocking wartime secret, inspired by a true WW2 story.
Berlin Zoo, 1943: Ten-year-old Adelaide and her newborn sister are orphaned after a devastating night of bombing. Heartbroken and frightened, Adelaide runs to her mother’s closest friend, Katharina Heinroth, and the kind zookeeper takes the two little girls under her protection. As the bombing intensifies, Adelaide tries to shut out the horrors of war by caring for her tiny sister and playing with the adorable baby monkeys. But when Katharina organises a dangerous operation to enable children and animals to escape the battle-scarred city, something goes wrong. And Adelaide has to promise her adopted mother to keep a shocking secret. A secret that will change Adelaide’s life forever.
Berlin Zoo, 2019: Bethan Taylor notices the elderly lady sitting on the bench next to her seems confused, her thoughts flitting between past and present. Ada talks of her childhood, played out in an underground bunker beneath the animal enclosures during the war. As Ada’s story unfolds, Bethan is surprised to hear a name she recognises…
Katharina Heinroth is at the top of a list of German names Bethan found in a hidden compartment of her late mother’s jewellery box. Bethan’s father couldn’t tell her anything about the crumpled piece of paper and she’s been searching for the meaning ever since.
As the two women are brought together by the pain of the past can they help each other to heal? And after decades of silence, can Ada help Bethan to uncover a long-buried family mystery?
An unforgettable and heart-wrenching novel of a brave orphan girl and a shocking wartime secret, inspired by a true WW2 story.
This is a fascinating story, unusual in that it takes place in war-torn Germany with ordinary people of the time, and that is a perspective we are not often exposed to. Not all Germans were Nazis, and they had a horrific time during WW2. This is an extraordinary story of survival and resilience, and it is also a mystery as, in the present day, Bethan tries to discover the truth of her ancestry which her mother had failed to uncover before she died. It is beautifully written and the characters engaging. The admirable, extraordinary attempts by the keepers to keep Berlin Zoo going and its animals alive and safe despite the privation and widespread destruction towards the end of the war are inspiring, and the members of the Zoo Family become ever closer in their efforts.
Bethan is our present day heroine who manages to secure a temporary prestigious post at the zoo to develop her veterinary knowledge and experience, as well as the opportunity to discover who she is and an interlude to reconsider where her life is going.
I found this book hard to put down, enjoying the mix of historic heroism in the course of everyday life, the relationships within the zoo community and also a satisfying element of love and romance.
It was engrossing, satisfying and thought provoking and a really good read.
This review should have been posted in 7th May, but was delayed by illness. Unfortunately I missed my stop on the book tour organised by Bookouture, but I caught the next available opportunity and, hopefully, better late than never. Apologies, Anna Stuart and Bookouture.
