The Berliners

At Friedrichstrasse 19, six people's lives intertwine across decades, reliving the tumultuous experience of a city on the frontline of history. Sigi, Sara, Hans, Ilse, and Heike all lived upstairs from each other, unaware of the thrilling irreverence and intoxicating wonders of Berlin. The war, hunger, loneliness, and barbed wire came, as predicted by a young girl from the Academy of Magical Arts. Hans longs for the age's spirit, but his mother's war involvement and his father's absence haunt him. Ilse, who escaped from the East, seeks freedom. Heike leapt from the Wall in 1989, but thirty years later, she realizes it was naivety. Recently divorced, she moves into Friedrichstrasse, where secrets and lies, visions, and misunderstandings echo.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 16 February 2023
Publisher: John Murray Press

Sometimes, I find myself indulging in whimsical thoughts, imagining that the buildings themselves possess a voice, carrying the weight of their history within their walls. If one listened carefully enough, they might be able to hear the echoes of all the people who once walked through their doors.

Sigi resided upstairs from Sara at Friedrichstrasse 19, yet before their encounter, Sara had no idea that Berlin could be so thrillingly irreverent or that sex could be so intoxicatingly wonderful. However, the war, hunger, loneliness, and barbed wire arrived, just as a young girl, a protegee of The Academy of Magical Arts situated in Friedrichstrasse at the start of the century, had predicted. Battered and divided, Berlin, like its people, endured. Hans yearns to be a part of the boundary-breaking spirit of the age, but he is haunted by his mother's involvement in the war and the absence of a father.

Ilse, who escaped from the East, desires nothing more than the freedom she risked her life for. In 1989, in a wild act of spontaneous joy, Heike leapt from the Wall into the arms of a stranger from the West. Thirty years later, she realizes that what she had willed to be destiny was nothing more than naivety. Recently divorced, she moves into Friedrichstrasse, to begin a new life. However, it is impossible not to hear the echoes of the secrets and lies, visions and misunderstandings, lost loves, and fatal mistakes, that have come before her.

Time-travelling between decades, through the interlocking lives of six people, Friedrichstrasse 19 relives the tumultuous experience of a city on the frontline of history.

Weight: 184g
Dimension: 197 x 130 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529376203