The Berlin Zookeeper by Anna Stuart - Book Review

Books

AD-gifted: I received a copy of The Berlin Zookeeper in exchange for this post. Affiliate links are marked with a *

It’s my stop on the book tour for *The Berlin Zookeeper by Anna Stuart today. An unforgettable and heart-wrenching novel of a brave orphan girl and a shocking wartime secret. Inspired by a true WW2 story.

Book Description

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?

What I Thought

There are many World War II stories out there, but The Berlin Zookeeper is different. It’s set at Berlin Zoo. It focuses on the animals and their keepers. I’m sure there are many of us that didn’t even think about the zoo animals during the war. You will read about the struggle of the “zoo family” to keep the animals protected and fed, and the terrible living conditions they were in. The arrival of the Russians in Berlin was terrifying to these people.

I do love a good dual timeline story and The Berlin Zookeeper is just that! Right from the start, it had me hooked on the stories of the two main women characters, Bethan and Katharina. They are both strong characters and determined. Bethan in 2019has got a vet job at Berlin Zoo, leaving behind her self-absorbed boyfriend in the UK. She is eager to find out more about the secrets surrounding her mother and the connection with Berlin Zoo. Then we have Katharina back in the 1940s who will do anything to protect her Zoo and the children around her. The Berlin Zookeeper will tug on your heartstrings and you will be eager to read it to the very last page.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and highly recommend.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my copy.

Author Bio

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.