The Banned Books of Berlin

By: Daisy Wood

Narrated by: Lizzie Schenk

An unforgettable story, tying together past and present, from the bestselling author of The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris and The Royal Librarian

Berlin, 1933. The night skies are burning bright with huge bonfires of banned books. The Nazi party is swelling in number and Berlin is no longer a safe place for young Freya.

She can only watch on, horrified, as her beloved city falls to fascism – and the usually law-abiding Freya is forced to make a choice: continue being a bystander, or sacrifice herself to save the lives of others…

Los Angeles, present day. Maddie commutes home to her family to reset. Struggling to fully turn off from her work, she is surprised to come across a pre-war German diary amongst her Grandpa’s things. And when she starts to dig into the diary, Maddie’s shocked by what she finds.

And so begins a journey that will take Maddie beyond America as she searches for the truth about Freya, and how she changed people’s lives across the globe…

A sweeping tale of bravery and betrayal, perfect for fans of Barbara Davis and Madeline Martin.

©2025 Daisy Wood (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

Narrator distraction

The American English portion (present day) was awful. In America we articulate and pronounce numbers clearly. It’s been annoying to hear “nine’een” instead of nineteen. I’m not sure why the narrator didn’t do a better job with the pronunciation. It was a distraction. Also, the character Sharon is awful. I was really interested in the story but it didn’t compare to The Forgotten Bookshop of Paris - a truly beloved book.

absolutely riveting!

this book was absolutely riveting! I have read a lot of books about World War II and Nazi Germany. this one is by far one of my favorites! the storyline between the present and the past kept me wanting to continue listening to this book. as the story unfolds you can almost picture yourself in Nazi Germany and going through what Freya went through during her life there. it had me Spellbound until the ending! and the twist at the end was a perfect way to finish the story!