City of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense
by Ariana Franklin
Published by William Morrow (An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)
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Reviewed by Andrea Sisco
It's 1922 Berlin and Germany is reeling with inflation, anti-Semitism is on the rise, the population is experiencing unemployment of grand proportions, the citizens are literally starving and Adolph Hitler has begun his methodical rise to power.
Esther Solonomova, a Jew, is given a job as secretary to the owner of several Berlin nightclubs. Prince Nick is a fake but with all the troubles Germany is experiencing, who cares? Nick is always looking for a way to make money. He learns of an inmate in a local insane asylum who maintains that she is the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the only surviving member of the Russian royal family.
Nick takes the woman from the asylum and names her Anna Anderson. With the help of Esther and another of his employees, he begins the preparation that will ultimately have Anna lay claim to the Russian throne as the only surviving heir.
But a mysterious man attempts, once every six weeks, to murder Anna. This Nazi murderer continues to fail, but over a span of years people surrounding Anna begin to die. It is up to Esther and Inspector Schmidt to solve the mystery.
Ariana Franklin's City of Shadows is a gripping story, based on fact. The writing is taut, the storyline is fascinating and the tension is perfect (building slowing but surely to a surprising end). I felt as if I had been transported to the Berlin of the 1920s and 1930s. City of Shadows is a magnificent novel.
Armchair Interviews says: City of Shadows is one of the best reads of 2006.