The Berlin Zookeeper - Anna Stuart

 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 and perfect for fans of Orphan Train, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Alice Network.

My Review

The Berlin Zookeeper by Anna Stuart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to admit that my knowledge of what happened to the ordinary citizens of Berlin during the war. At school, we covered plenty about what happened in Britain, but very little outside of that and certainly not what happened in Germany. It's still in many ways a contentious subject. Even so, it's hard not to feel for the people left behind to try and keep the zoo together that we learn about in this book.
The whole story is told both during the second world war and in modern-day Berlin. Although the realities are very different for the characters of the two stories, it is clear that there are links between the two. I enjoyed the way that the story switched back and forth. The modern-day storyline helped to soften some of the horrors of what they faced back at the tail end of the war. I think that had it just focused on this period, it would have been a harder read. Instead, the human interest element of Bethan attempting to find out her mother's history helped bring the rest of the story to life.
I really enjoyed this book, particularly the sections that dealt with Katharina Heinroth. I'd never heard of her, but she sounds like a fascinating character. I have to admit that the book left me wanting to know more about her and wanting to be able to visit the Berlin Zoo when such things are possible once again.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name. Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels. Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers. You can reach her on Facebook @annastuartauthor or Twitter @annastuartbooks.