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?

My Thoughts:

Upon reading the blurb of this book, I knew it was something I was going to enjoy, Berlin zoo in 1943 a young girl and her baby sister are caught up in the bombings with devastating consequences, after fleeing to the Zoo they are looked after by one of the zoo keepers who happens to know the girls, I really felt for the girls and shed a few tears for them too, I could never imagine what they had to go through. Through the book we also see what is going on in Berlin zoo in 2019 where Bethan is working, she notices an elderly woman sitting on a bench all alone and decides to talk to her, what she uncovers will surprise us all. I loved reading all about the zoo in that era back then and also liked how the two stories intertwined together, I didn’t want the story to end as I was completely entranced by it.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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