The Banned Books of Berlin, Daisy Wood (Review by Kristin Kurek)

The Banned Books of Berlin by Daisy Wood is a dual timeline book that follows Freya, a young woman in 1930’s Berlin, Germany and her granddaughter, Maddie, in 2024 Los Angeles. Freya is an aspiring writer and lover of the written word. Due to her family’s precarious financial situation and her mother’s recent death, so must work as a seamstress to support her family. She becomes concerned with the uprising of the Nazi party, particularly the burning of books.

Maddie is a journalist who is spending time with her family in Los Angeles to help her grandfather organize his affairs for his eventual death. In the process, she begins to learn more about her grandmother, Freya. She begins to investigate more of her grandfather’s (and her) family history. What she learns is shocking.

I loved this book. Yes, it is another WWII historical fiction novel. But, this unique perspective from a woman with resistance ideology in Nazi Berlin was fascinating. The frequent setting inside the cabaret made the novel dark and atmospheric. I loved the diverse cast of characters that Freya meets and, while many of them are deeply flawed, she loves each of them uniquely. Maddie’s investigation into the past keeps the book driving forward with breadcrumbs of revelation revealed along the way.

I did find Maddie’s mother absolutely onerous and detestable. I would love to give her a piece of my mind. If not for the mother character, this book would be a 5-star book for me.

This is a meticulously researched historical fiction novel with very unique characters. I felt that they could have been my friends and took a vested interest in their survival. This is a wonderful addition to the bookshelves of historical fiction readers everywhere.