The Girl from Berlin

July 1, 2018

Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggert, the wife/husband, attorney/private investigator team from Balson's previous novels (Karolina's Twins; Once We Were Brothers), are asked by a friend to help his octogenarian Aunt Gabi retain control of her house and property in Italy. As with the previous titles, there is a World War II Holocaust backstory, this time involving Jewish child prodigy violinist Ada Baumgarten and her family's persecution by the Nazis in 1930s Berlin. The present-day narrative revolves around the supposedly ineffective (i.e., not in the chain of title ownership) deed that Gabi holds to the property where she's lived her entire life. Catherine smells a rat after meeting with Gabi's Italian lawyers, who appear to have been paid for less-than-careful research, and vows to get to the bottom of the dispute and prove Gabi's rights to the land. VERDICT Balson's many fans will thoroughly enjoy this new addition to the series, which continues the earlier novels' dynamic plotting, compelling characters, and back-and-forth between-eras action. Newcomers will find the portrayal of the plight of the Jews of Central Europe leading up to and during World War II an unvarnished testament to the ugly truth.--Vicki Gregory, Sch. of Information, Univ. of South Florida, Tampa

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2018
Today's political and cultural environment is frighteningly mirrored in Balson's thought-provoking look at one young woman's battle to survive the encroachment of Nazi ideology and the Holocaust. Ada Baumgarten is a talented violinist; her success and love of family sustain her during dark times, and her talent enables freedoms that are denied other Jews. Ada's engrossing story is told in alternating chapters with that of another strong woman, Catherine Lockhart, an American lawyer who, along with private investigator Liam Taggart, travels to Italy in the present to help resolve a dispute over a vineyard's ownership and soon becomes involved in a web of corruption and long-suppressed evil. How these plot strands are related unfolds over the course of a novel that will at first make readers wonder why a Nazi is being portrayed sympathetically. Readers may also notice a few spots in which characters relate historical facts to one another in an artificial way. However, those who persevere will find this mix of historical fiction, melodrama, and WWII thriller a memorable and satisfying read, and one to try after Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller?.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)