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A terrific all-around read — combining a mystery, a love story and a whole lot of historical intrigue — all wrapped up in a multiple-POV, multiple-timeframe narrative that makes for a unique and mesmerizing experience.
Greta Schneider and her family are native East Germans, living in Berlin in 1982, behind the Iron Curtain. Having never known a different life, Greta, at twenty-two years old, longs for adventure and the freedom to explore a world which is largely unavailable to her, as travel outside of the communist colonies is expressly and entirely forbidden.
When Henry Henderson, a twenty-six year old British engineer is stationed for an eight week project in Berlin, Greta’s life is unexpectedly transformed. With instant attraction settling quickly into must-have-you-forever bonds that cannot be denied, Greta and Henry struggle to find a path that will allow them to build a life together.
Without giving the plot away (no spoilers here, beyond that implied by the title of the book) the story will unfold across dual time-lines — the love-story as it progresses, beginning in 1982, and their lives of Henry and Greta, as they appear, decades later, in 2018.
In between these timelines, what we do know is that in 1984 Greta and Henry love each other, and will find a way to marry, settling down in the UK to finally live out their dreams. Only suddenly, cataclysmically, there will come a day (out of the blue for Henry), when Greta will leave him, disappearing entirely without a trace. Understanding why, — unscrambling the secrets that twist their way through Greta’s hidden story leading to that day, will eventually bring us to an alignment of Henry and Greta’s narratives in 2018, with our long-awaited explanation.
With an ending that is neat, tricky and complete, (no loose ends here), the author manages to deliver a well-written and interesting story, engaging and suspenseful (a sort of story within a story) — and one which kept this reader firmly on the hook, right up to the very last page.
A great big thank you to #Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this story. All thoughts presented are my own.
