What a beautiful story of love and loss. Swapping between Lisette and the war and Elly and the Wall. I was gripped to their tale, urging them on. You don't often hear of the German's side of WW2, the women left at home and what they had to deal with was heart breaking, and the men who were forced to fight on Hitler's side! A wonderfully written book full of awful truths. Had me in tears.

Absolutely loved this book! From page one I was hooked and couldn’t wait to pick the book back up. Can’t wait to read more by this author.
Such a beautiful story that will stick with me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, but it all seemed overly simplistic. It reads like a Young Adult book, but it isn't described as such. A good story though.

Absolutely love this book. A great take on what life was like during the Berlin Wall years. Emotional. Really put a different perspective on life during those times.

The Silence In Between is a beautifully written book set in Berlin during World War 2 and in the 1960's when the Berlin Wall was dividing the country. It was very interesting to read a book set in Germany during the war as the majority of historical fiction I have read previously have been set outside this region. This book does a excellent job of highlighting the consequences of war on civilians and in particular the story many women of war suffer through which is not always immediately recognised. I love a book that is based on true stories and once I was finished i found myself researching more about this time line and impact on those who lived through it. This book is clearly well researched and I thought the difficult content was managed excellently. Its an emotional historical fiction that I will be thinking about for long after finishing. Highly recommend!

3. 5 stars.
This was a wonderfully heartbreaking story and I enjoyed it so much. I adore historical fiction novels and Josie Ferguson write this so well. Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this novel in return for an honest review.

A tense historical novel set in East Berlin at two critical periods: the end of the Second World War and the building of the Berlin Wall. The book gives a great insight into these difficult times, especially for women. Highly recommended but not always easy reading.

For the first 100 pages of this book I wasn't sure. As a plot driven reader I couldn't see how the timelines would be relevant to one another... but as we found out how the two were related this book had my heart gripped! The history... the emotion... I felt for these characters on a personal level.

I can see why Josie Ferguson was nominated for the Waterstones debut fiction prize. This book was very well thought out, and beautifully written.

I'm not sure that this book is for everyone; but if you like historical fiction, and you're emotionally in a good place then I would highly recommend giving this a read.

‘Evil demanded little of me - it merely asked me to remain silent, to do nothing. And I complied.’

Lisette, under instruction and reassurance from her doctors goes home to rest, leaving her newborn baby boy in hospital care, but the next day, 13th August 1961, a wall is built slicing Germany in two and preventing her from returning to her son.

Told from two perspectives, in two time zones, we see the impact of trauma pass through generations. Elly, Lisette’s daughter, witnesses her mother’s pain as she is torn from her newborn baby, and we travel back in time with Lisette and see her suffering in the events that led to her daughter’s birth.

Told through first person, you become so invested in the characters you keep the pages turning. I absolutely adored the characters in this book. This book explores the power of bonds formed through love and in friendship, and does it so beautifully.

This is honestly such a stunning debut novel and one of the best historical fictions I’ve read in a while. Thank you so much netgalley for an advanced copy of this book, I loved it so much I bought the hardback. Highly highly recommended.

TW: mental and physical abuse including sexual assault and rape

Wow - what a book!
This is the third book I've read this year with a Cold War Berlin setting and it is by the far best, and most emotional.
I knew that families had been separated when the border (later the Wall) in Berlin went up over night but it never occurred to me that the system was so intransigent that children/babies in hospitals were separated from their parents nor that the state was so unfeeling that they wouldn't let a parent cross to be with the child.

I was more aware of the portion of the story set in 1945, but when retold in fiction it seems to be even more hard hitting than any history book or documentary.

While I also knew about the various escape route from East to West Berlin, and that people in the West tried to help those fleeing the East it had never occurred to me that there were some people who would want to go the other way.

This book packed a real emotional punch, and will stay with me for a long time. Certainly one for a reread in the future - and to be on my best of 2024 list in December.

This novel is based on a young girl from East Berlin, who’s family is torn apart by the closing of the wall.

The book moves between WWII and the divided Berlin. An emotionally charged book, focusing on the experiences of the German women left behind whilst their husbands, fathers and sons were taken for the war, the horrors they faced at the hand of the Russian soldiers. The story is told from the POV of Lisette, a teenager when the war starts; and Elly, who risks her life to collect her younger brother, who is caught up on the other side of the wall, and bring him home.

What brought this closer to home is that my grandmother, who left East Berlin when the Russians came after war, never got to see her brother again, as he remained in East Berlin.

Although I was aware that the Berlin Wall went up overnight, reading about the reality of this was still shocking: people being separated from friends and family and no longer allowed any access to the West. This was a really well researched and written book that I'll be recommending it to other people to read.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. This is an excellent debut for Jodie Ferguson. She has carried out excellent research on the life of German women in Berlin during the 2nd World War and in 1961 when the wall was put up between East and West Berlin. I've not read any stories that have portrayed their personal difficulties. The characters Lisette and Elly are very well written and it is easy to feel sympathy towards them and anger towards others.
A recommended must read for everyone. This history shouldn't be forgotten.

I knew very little about the history of the Berlin Wall, especially not that it literally appeared over night. This book was brilliantly written and left me heartbroken for the characters. Thank you for the opportunity to read it in advance.

The Silence In Between is a great work of historical fiction. It's clearly well researched but the information is only used to build storylines and character development, compared to some novels that feel they have to shoe-horn in every fact they've ever read on the period. I also felt that the era chosen - the building of the Berlin Wall was really fascinating. It is hard to believe that such a thing was allowed to happen in such recent history.

The themes and era covered were incredibly similar to Circus of Mirrors by Julie Owen Moylan, and I enjoyed both. However, I would say that The Silence In Between is more harrowing and dark and I did feel it to be slightly too depressing in tone at times. But, having said that, it seems to be gaining great accolades so I'm sure that is very much to do with my taste.

1945 and as the war comes closer to Berlin, the women of the city are terrified about the approaching forces. Lisette is forced to become the mistress of a cruel Russian General and is left pregnant. The return from war of her childhood sweetheart allows her some solace and the ability to form a family. 16 years later and Lisette has travelled across Berlin to get treatment for her sick newborn, she leaves him at the hospital and overnight the Wall is constructed separating Lisette from her son. Elly, Lisette's older daughter is determined to rescue her brother but requires the help of both sides to make it happen.
This book is based on true tales of the Fall of Berlin and the building of the Wall in 1961 but is a fictional amalgamation of them. It is a really emotive book and quite harrowing in places, yet it comes across as quite general. The only jarring note for me was the addition of the two strands about homosexuality, they felt like a couple of extras that added nothing and felt superfluous, but that is a minor quibble, it is a really good read.

Everyone should read this book! An incredible fictional story which is based heavily in factual history. The Silence In Between tells the story of Lisette and her daughter Elly, against the background of Berlin in the 1930s and 40s and the early 1960s. Both timelines illustrate the momentous historic events that occurred in Berlin during this time. Lisette's story tells of the rise and fall of the Nazi's- the persecution of the Jews and then the vengeance of the invading Russians. All told from the perspective of the German women living through these horrific events. And then Elly's story begins with the overnight appearance of the Berlin Wall and the segregation of East and West Berlin.
The authors writing really brings these characters to life and I found myself completely gripped by the stories of Lisette and Elly, I could not put the book down. The author's historical research and knowledge shines throughout the story- indeed the women's stories are based on the experiences of real people who lived during these times.
In a world where we appear to be becoming further distanced from each other, and walls are again being built to separate us, this novel has a lot to tell us about the reality of living in a world like that.
Highly recommended!

I was asked to review this book by NetGalley. I am really interested in Word War 2 and the events before, during and after the Berlin Wall went up, I remember the news footage in 1989 when the wall finally came down and people were reunited nealy 30 years later, and although this went up in 1961, the book delves into the second world war.

the author has weaved a dual timeline which is concerned around the Berlin Wall. The story begins in 1961 when Lisette is separated from her baby boy when the Wall is put up overnight. Her son ill in a hospital in West Berlin and she is in East Berlin having left the hospital to get some rest. This is so awful and I have thought briefly about this but not on a human perspective like this.

The story is told from 1961 to the Second World War, following Lisette's story in the earlier years. Will her daughter Elly beable to reunite them.

This is harrowing as civilians went through enough during the war, then later a wall goes up overnight separating friends, relatives and neighbours.

The author writes so well and she has really researched this subject well.

I read Anna Funder's incredible nonfiction book Stasiland last year and the story the broke me the most was that of Frau Paul, whose very ill baby was being treated in a West Berlin hospital when the wall went up and she was separated from her child.
The Silence in Between is a historical fiction novel which starts with this exact premise, Lisette wakes up to discover the Berlin Wall has gone up and her very sick baby Axel is getting medical treatment in a West Berlin hospital while she is trapped on the other side with her husband and teenage daughter Elly. Elly has always struggled to understand the distance between herself and her mother. They have never been close until the birth of Axel so she is driven with a burning desire to help her parents get him back.

The story takes a dual-narrative form moving seamlessly as we go back in time learning about Lisette’s life in Berlin as a young woman during the rise of fascism, then surviving through WW” as Germany goes to War and then as Berlin falls to the Russian army and the impacts it all has on the lives of women. We then flip over to life in 1961 Berlin, as we follow Elly on her quest to reunite her family.
Each story is so well told – we get insights into the lives of East German women as they deal with the impacts and traumas of the historical circumstances that they lived though. Each story was deeply immersive and I was on the each of my seat trying to see what was going to happen each of the characters next. I think what really brought it home to me was that the experiences of these women were so true to real women in history like Frau Paul in Stasiland.
Historical fiction is one of my absolute favourite genres and this debut novel is a brilliant new addition. I was reading way past my bedtime to get through this book and find out what was going to happen Lisette and Elly. I really didn’t have a favourite character, as I really found both of their stories equally moving.
I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves WW2 historical fiction like The Nightengale.

Josie Ferguson’s “The Silence in Between” is a historical fiction masterpiece that deserves a full five stars. The novel weaves together two timelines, transporting you to the heart of a family fractured by the Berlin Wall and its brutal history.

On one hand, we experience the harrowing realities of life in East Berlin, particularly for women, between 1939 and 1945. Ferguson paints a vivid picture of this tumultuous period, from the devastation of war to the complex power dynamics faced by women. The reader is drawn into Lisette’s story, a young woman whose life is forever altered by the events of the war.

The second timeline jumps forward to the chilling atmosphere of East Berlin after the Wall’s construction in 1961-62. Here, we meet Elly, Lisette’s daughter, grappling with the emotional distance between them and a past shrouded in silence. This intergenerational story explores the profound impact of trauma on a family, the unspoken secrets that fester in the absence of communication, and the desperate lengths one will go to for those they love.

Ferguson’s characters are beautifully crafted, each with their own struggles and complexities. We root for Elly as she embarks on a daring mission, and the tension builds as she navigates the dangers of a divided city. The mystery surrounding the family’s past adds another layer of intrigue, keeping you glued to the pages until the very satisfying conclusion.

“The Silence in Between” is more than just a historical novel; it’s a powerful exploration of resilience, the enduring strength of the human spirit, and the lengths we go to for family.