Looking for a real page turner to keep you going during lockdown? Alone in Berlin is just the ticket. Set in Nazi Germany, Alone in Berlin follows one man and his wife’s quiet defiance of Hitler’s regime as they drop postcards renouncing the führer around the city, a simple but incredibly dangerous act. You would think that dealing with such heavy subject matter would make this a difficult read, but I devoured this in just a few sittings (and I’m usually a slow reader!).
Otto and Anna Quangel are a simple working couple from Berlin, and everything about them is ordinary: they have worked their entire lives, are thrifty to the point of being stingy, and rarely socialise. But when they receive the news of their son’s death at the front, everything changes, as they set out on a path of quiet yet dangerous resistance. In some ways one of the most heart-tugging books I’ve ever read, you will fall in love with these simple characters. Perhaps the most important message of all in this book is that extreme bravery can take an unassuming form; even small acts can make a big difference.
Based on a true story, of all the books I have read this is one of the best at making you truly understand life in Germany during the darkest hour of 20th century history. (Suddenly #lockdown doesn’t seem quite so bad).
Buy the book here.
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