Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

West of the Wall

By Marcia Preston

A brilliant story that follows the progress of Trudy as she tries to get her son back from 'the other side of the wall'. It follows her relationship with a friend of her husband a member of the Volkspolizei .A good read but harrowing in places
****

The writer gives a clear and harrowing account of life behind the wall in East Berlin in the early 1960s.An exciting story of betrayal escape and killings. The sequence of events taking Trudy to America and her adventure there did not merge well with the rest of the book. However it added to the easy read factor
***

East Berlin 1962, the story centres around Trudy wife to Rolf an activist who must breach the wall to save his life and mother to Stefan. When Trudy's life is threatened she too must follow her husband to the west leaving behind her child. The story centres on her attempts to be reunited with Stefan. Trudy is depicted as a woman of extraordinary courage and greatness who remains fuelled by the hope of seeing Stefan again. The story is played out against the backdrop of real world events
****

The characters took quite a while to imprint on my mind before I became interested in them enough to carry on with the storyline. I very much liked the descriptions of Stefan as a young child. Trudy's love showed through.
*

The book is well written and unsurprisingly tugs at the heartstrings. A chilling reminder of the not too distant past
****

The storyline deals with a mothers efforts to be reunited with her son and there are a number of interesting twists in the tale. It also focuses on the choices some people had to make in order to survive. I thought the author captured and described the time and events very well and I liked this book a lot. A good read.
*****

I think the section concerning contact with Mr Kennedy would have been better left out. The latter part of the story was good, leading to a fitting ending"
***

"Love and retribution are both well documented in Marcia Preston's novel, while the drabness of East Berlin creates an accurate picture
***

Having read several books on the Cold War and escapes from behind the Iron Curtain, I found parts of this story lacking in realism. I liked the joyous atmosphere at the end of the story where Stefan, now a fully grown man celebrates the demise of the wall and all it stood for. A warm human story which will make readers glad that it concluded happily
***

This is a story based on fact and it tells of what people were prepared to do to escape a life of misery in East Berlin. Because it was of my era, I enjoyed reading this romantic tale and must admit I didn't know of what was going on behind the wall to ordinary people like myself
****

A Cold War thriller that captures the harsh conditions of both work and homelike and the regime that groomed their existence - grim reading. I enjoyed the first and last part of the novel but felt that the middle part in America lacked credibility