We travel from present-day Italy and back to the 1930’s during Hitler’s regime in Germany.

In Nazi Germany, we are introduced to Ada as she masterfully plays her violin solos. In Italy we come across a land dispute that may or may not have Ada Baumgaurten, famous violinist in the Berlin Philharmonic, involved.

The land dispute has Liam and Catherine flying to Italy to the beautiful villa of Senora Vincenzo, aunt of a close friend in Chicago.

Catherine has the task of trying to dispute the fact that Senora does own the land and the home she is living in contrary to the Italian attorneys who say she is not the owner. The claim the Italian attorneys had seemed pretty suspicious.

We also gets a glimpse into beautiful Tuscany - its food, its people, and its landscapes.

I enjoyed the back and forth from the 1930’s to 2017. The connection between the two time periods set in Germany at the beginning of WWII then moving to present-day Italy was a manuscript that Ada had written about her life and the life of a famous violinist. Senora Ada Vincenzo insisted that Catherine read the manuscript for the background because she just couldn’t bring herself to tell the details.

THE GIRL FROM BERLIN is a very absorbing dual-timeline that will immediately capture your interest with detailed descriptions of the characters and events.

Mr. Balson has written another beautiful, well researched book that opens up our eyes to the life the European people were living at that time to today’s lifestyle in Italy. The present-day story line has secrets being revealed about Ada’s and Senora Vincenzo’s claim on the land.

Historical fiction fans, opera fans, and fans of Mr. Balson’s books definitely will not be disappointed in his newest beauty.

THE GIRL FROM BERLIN is outstanding, unforgettable, and well written.

Magnificent, marvelous, heart wrenching, and should be given high praise are perfect descriptions of THE GIRL FROM BERLIN. 5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. . All opinions are my own.