The Hidden Storyteller - Mandy Robotham - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Mandy Robotham

GENRE: Historical Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: February 29, 2024

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical crime fiction set in Germany in the years after WWII. Outstanding in the historical content, good in the crime parts. Has a returning character from another book, but can be read as a standalone. Much recommended to historical fiction lovers, even those tired of WWII fiction.

Plot Preview:

1946. Hamburg. After seven years, freelance reporter Georgie Young is back in Hamburg. Now thirty-four, she has been sent to find stories that show the post-war horrors of the city and the positive impact of the British occupiers in setting things right for their erstwhile enemies. But her personal agenda is to report the truth about Hamburg and its denizens, both actual and immigrant, without any bias. When she learns of a serious crime – a young woman murdered and found nude with a word carved into her skin, Georgie teams up with Inspektor Harri Schroder to solve the case. This investigation leads to the tumbling out of several unsavoury secrets, and forced Georgie to confront her past as well as ponder over her future.

The story comes to us in the third-person perspectives of Georgie, Harri, and Meta – a teenaged street-dwelling thief who wants to live life on her own terms.

This book wasn’t on my radar until a few weeks ago. When I received the ARC of ‘A Dangerous Game’, I discovered some of its reviews stating that it has a returning character from this book. That’s why I placed a hold for this title with my library. On finally getting the copy, I discovered, thanks to the author’s introductory note, that this book ALSO has a returning character from yet another work, ‘The Berlin Girl’, which is coincidentally on my TBR. But as I had to return this novel to the library, I broke the series order and went for the second book first – a rarity for me as I am a series freak and read in series order as far as possible.

However, I didn’t have any major issues comprehending this story as the author has detailed her characters wonderfully. Even when past incidents are referred to, she provides just enough details to fill us in without any break in the current flow. The only gap I felt was in getting a better understanding of Georgie’s conflicted feelings over her husband Max.

Note that the books are officially standalone and not part of a series. Georgie Young is the main character common to ‘The Berlin Girl’ and ‘The Hidden Storyteller’. Harri Schroder is the main character common to ‘The Hidden Storyteller’ and ‘A Dangerous Game.’ (Georgie has a cameo appearance in the third book.)

Bookish Yays:

🎖️ Love the author's introductory note that clearly reminds us of how V-E day didn't mean that the next day onwards, things were bright and shiny in the war-affected regions. Restoration to normalcy after something so devastating takes ages, and even the “normalcy” isn't necessarily the old normal. The story brings this point out excellently.

🎖️ The prologue in the first-person perspective of an unknown character – suitably mysterious and creepy.

🎖️ Georgie – an ethical journalist who uses her head and her heart in equal measure. At the same time, she isn't portrayed as the flawless braveheart, and that makes her arc even more realistic.

🎖️ Harri Schroder, the Kriminapolitzei (Kripo) Inspektor who does his best to serve his city despite the bureaucratic hassles, post-war restrictions, and forced interference from the British occupiers. Except for one thing (mentioned in the Nays), I found no issues with his character. I especially loved his respectful attitude towards his female colleagues. A pleasure to see a fictional police officer not be patronising towards women.

🎖️ Meta, who is a part of the trümmerkinder (the rubble kids.) She is only sixteen but her bravery and gutsiness adds a great punch to the story. Probably my favourite character of this book. I also liked Harri’s companion officer Paula and British sergeant Dawson.

🎖️ Though written in third person, the writing lets us know the inner feelings of each character intimately. There’s never too much rambling. Some might not like the frequent perspective shifts, but I love how well the three POVs worked in unison. The shift in POV happens only at the start of each chapter, so no midway muddles.

🎖️ Appreciate the clear dates given for each chapter. It's so much easier to keep track of the number of days passing by if complete dates are provided at the start of every chapter.

🎖️ Love the time period! The Post-WWII period is hardly ever explored in historical fiction. Most WWII stories stop in 1945. This novel offers an excellent glimpse at what happens AFTER a war.

🎖️ The setting of Hamburg is perfect for the story, depicting a city shattered by war and internal politics and yet forced to play host to the British, the “winners” of the war. I love how well the book captures the ethos and pathos of Hamburg in those years. I definitely didn’t expect to see swing dance parties in such a story! The author's research is evident.

🎖️ The impartiality of the storytelling deserves separate credit. This isn’t a typical British-good-Germans-bad narrative. No side is portrayed as having a moral high ground. The story also highlights the insensitive attitude of the British occupiers in Germany.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

⚔️ This might partly be due to my unfamiliarity with Georgie and Max’s relationship in the earlier book, but their strained relationship didn’t come out convincingly. I couldn’t understand why Georgie was so bent on ignoring Max’s contact attempts. Perhaps reading the earlier book would offer more clarity on this.

⚔️ The build-up to the serial killer arc was outstanding but that subplot comes only in spurts. The reveal left me with mixed feelings – great confrontation, but infodump confession.

⚔️ The main plot is more historical fiction than police procedural. Actually, it has elements of crime, suspense, action thriller, and police procedural, but all of this stays firmly in the background for most of the story. So the book works much better if read as historical fiction than historical crime.

Bookish Nays:

💣 Harri’s slightly repetitive sentiments of how good it was to enjoy the company of a woman again. Also, the overuse of the word ‘waif’ in the plot. (It pops up nineteen times!)

💣 The story gets a bit too straightforward in the final section, with too many conveniently coincidental interactions between characters.

All in all, despite a couple of issues, I enjoyed reading this book a lot. The writing captures the psychology of the characters, the struggles of post-war Hamburg, and the superior mentality of the occupiers realistically.

I had burnt myself out on WWII fiction a few years ago and hence, the minute I saw a book blurb mention any year ranging from the mid-1930s to 1945, I didn’t even read the rest of the blurb and just moved on. This closemindedness resulted in my having missed this novel when it first came out. I am so glad it entered my life in an indirect way. Though I already know what happens to Georgie Young in 1946, I am still keen to try ‘The Berlin Girl’ and know more about her life in 1938 Hamburg. I have a feeling that a relationship will be written for Harri’s arc in the next book. I just hope romance doesn’t overpower that story.

Definitely recommended to all historical fiction readers, even those who are fed up of seeing WWII stories. The unusual time and place setting and the serial killer angle make this book stand out in the WWII crowd.

This was a library read. Moving on to Book Three: “A Dangerous Game”! Let’s hope it matches this experience, or perhaps, even goes beyond!