That Summer in Berlin by Lecia Cornwall ~ Book Review

Viviane Alden is from an aristocratic family in England.  All her mother's goals and dreams involve marrying off her daughters well in order to keep her status amongst the aristocracy.  When Vivianne breaks her engagement to her titled fiance, it puts her mother into high gear finding her a suitable husband before Vivianne becomes "too old".  As Germany is building up their country, debutantes such as Viviane and her sister are considered to be marriageable to German men to strengthen political bonds.  With the 1936 Olympics being held in Berlin, Hitler is doing everything possible to show off his county in the best possible light to the world.  Viviane and her sister have been invited by an old family friend to come and stay with them in Germany and attend the highly anticipated event. Viviane has  no intention of finding anyone to be involved with but she is excited to bring her camera along and photograph the events she will be attending.   But before she leaves for Germany,  Viviane meets Tom Graham, a journalist,  through a friend and his thoughts on Germany's intentions are more complicated.  When he finds out she is a photographer he convinces her to get photographic evidence that tells the truth, that Berlin's Olympics are a facade and Germany is actually weaponizing behind the scenes.  As Germany is flooded with tourists being presented with goodwill and hospitality, Viviane and Tom are risking everything to show the truth.  Tom is very aware of the risks involved but Viviane seems to be taking the danger a little to lightly for Tom's liking and is taking risks that could get them both caught. 

I loved this unique take on a WWII story of debutantes who were sent from England in the '30's in the hopes that the forming of social connections between the two countries would make war impossible.  There were those who fully bought into the propoganda put out by Germany but there were a handful of citizens and those in British government who were suspicious of Hitler's intentions.  Placing journalists and photographers into Berlin to get proof was a very risky game but one that could produce the proof they needed to show the world that Germany had ulterior motives in hosting the games.  I have to admit this was a total cover buy for me though the description did sound intriguing when I bought the book. The writing turned out to be really good and pulled me in right from the beginning and kept me interested throughout.  The short chapters kept the story moving along quickly.  The twists I did not see coming and were woven into the story well with an ending I didn't guess.  I think this book is not getting near enough "talk".  Bonus was that I found out the author is local to Southern Alberta. 

This quote really stood out to me:

"Look around you.  See how happy the tourists are?  

The Nazi's have done an excellent job of creating peace and perfection and justifying such extremes of patriotism.  

How can anyone believe in war or violence or hatred when there is music and flowers and a spectacle to divert their attention, soothe their worries, amuse them?"

pg. 270  That Summer in Berlin

by Lecia Cornwall

Definitely a page turning cautionary tale of the purposes and effects of propaganda interwoven into a story of courage, love and intrigue.

I gave it a 10/10 rating