Blog Tour: The Wall Between Us
Anja and Monika live on opposite sides of a street in Berlin. They see each other every day and are not just cousins, but best friends, sharing everything, including Otto, Anja’s cat. One night, they wake to find soldiers erecting a huge barbed wire fence down the middle of the street. Horrified, the girls realise they are to be permanently separated and the wire is replaced by a brick wall.
For Monika, life on the East side of the wall quickly becomes frightening, with spies and secret police everywhere. But Anja finds a way for them to communicate and then discovers a way to slip across the wall to see her cousin. When she finds herself trapped on the wrong side, what seemed like a harmless adventure becomes terrifying real…
I remember when the wall fell and have visited Berlin, seeing the remains and some of the memorial sites associated with the division of a city which lasted for almost thirty years; however, I am ashamed to say that prior to visiting, I knew little of the events which led to the building of the wall or the impact it had on its citizens. Actually seeing how the city was sliced, it was evident how families and friends had been ripped apart and lives changed forever- a dark and terrifying time when many lives were needlessly lost. Dan Smith has taken this very significant historical event and has used it as the back drop for an accessible and gripping story, which allows readers to discover more about this time.
And what a story it is! Through the use of ‘official documents’, newspaper cuttings, Anja’s diary and letters from Monika, Dan Smith skilfully builds a story in which the reader understands this could have happened to anyone. The girls are very ‘normal’ children, living very normal lives- lives separated by twenty-three paces from each side of the street- and yet lives altered so drastically by this event. Twenty-three paces into the East and Monika’s life has taken a far darker turn, allowing the experiences of those living on each side of the wall to be contrasted.
By using a range of sources to tell the story, the reader feels as if they are piecing the events together much as an historian does as they build a picture of the past. The sense of tension is palpable in places, evoking feelings of the hostile presence of soldiers, the threat of faceless spies, the ominous sensation that your every move is being watched. Dan Smith does not shy away from the harsh realities of the period yet the story is perfectly pitched for its target audience.
This is historical fiction at its best where meticulous historical research, clever storytelling and compelling characters come together to engross the reader, pulling them deep into the lives of others. It may well encourage children to discover more, it might help to bring to life something being studied at school, it might inspire a trip to Berlin… Above all, it offers an excellent, satisfying read.
The Wall Between Us Dan Smith
Chicken House ISBN: 978-1912626762
You can read my review of ‘Nisha’s War’ here.
