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It's 1922 Berlin, Germany has been defeated in the First World War and almost brought to its knees. There's unemployment, political unrest and the government can't handle all the anger that the people feel. People are just managing to survive and the many political parties are all vying and using their influence to try to take over power. Esther Solonomova, a horribly scarred Russian Jew and immigrant to Berlin, works as a secretary for fake Russian nobleman Prince Nikolai Potrovskov, the owner of several Russian-themed Berlin nightclubs. Always looking for a way to make money, Nick finds a woman in a mental asylum who is said to be Anastasia, the escaped last living member of the assassinated Russian royal family. He sets up the woman in an apartment with Esther as her companion and teacher, getting her ready to lay claim to her title. But a mystery man, a very large man, is looking to kill her and starts to murder anyone who might have information on her whereabouts. Esther is the first one to put together the clues and goes to Berlin Police Inspector Schmidt who begins to investigate the case. As he investigates, with Esther's help, he finds that the politics of the time and the rise of the Nazi party is changing everything about his country, including the search for justice. CITY OF SHADOWS is a powerful and well-written book. The author, Ariana Franklin, has managed to create a story filled with the emotions of the period along with how an individual living through those times would feel. Worries about political backstabbing along with the ever-growing fear of the violent Nazi party makes the reader's hair stand on end. Franklin has masterfully combined all the factors together with a rock-solid mystery to create a superb book. Spanning the Berlin of the 1920s to the beginnings of the Second World War in the 30s, CITY OF SHADOWS is a book not to be missed.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, March 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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