When A Night Divided opens, it is August 1961, and a German family is fighting with each other over whether or not they should flee East Berlin. Uncertain that the risks are real enough to justify leaving everything for the unknown, Gerta’s parents go back and forth debating what to do for their family.

The next morning, Gerta’s father and one of her brothers leave for the West in the hopes of securing employment and housing. They had planned to return in a few days. But, before they return, the East German military erect a barrier between the East and the West and it is clear that anyone who tries to flee will be shot on sight. Over the next four years, Gerta, her brother Fritz, and her mother attempt to live in harmony with the East German police. But, Gerta’s father had a file. And so do Fritz and Gerta. Nothing they do will ever be good enough for the Stasi. Their future in East Germany is certain: ostracization, punishment, and poverty. They must find a way out.

This 2015 middle-grade novel by Jennifer A. Nielsen tells the story of a family divided by the Berlin Wall during the Cold War. It is the second historical fiction novel by Nielsen that I have read, and I am glad to have this one in my lending library. It moves at a different pace than that of Words on Fire and is less exciting, but it offers readers young and old a compelling tale of life inside the wall. Nielsen does an excellent job of helping us to understand why so few tried to escape East Germany – because of the danger, because of retribution to the loved ones who stayed behind, and because of uncertainty that the West was really any better. But the realities of life inside the wall are chilling. 

Nearly a decade before this story begins, Fritz and Gerta’s father participated in the East German Uprising of 1953. Since that time, the East German secret police (Stasi) have kept a file on Herr Lowe but the family seems to be unaffected by it. When the wall goes up and the family is divided, the Stasi keep close tabs on the Lowe family inside the wall. At one point they bug the Lowe apartment and listen to everything the family says and does. This kind of scrutiny makes it hard for the family to keep respectable jobs and to live their lives normally. As the story evolves and friends are killed by the Stasi, Fritz resolves to escape no matter how devastating the consequences. Two things keep him from trying to swim the Spree river: Gerta spotting her father on the other side of the wall, and the knowledge that Gerta and their mother would pay dearly for his escape attempt. Instead, they piece together a coded message from their father and form a different plan for escape. 

One of the things that I loved about Words on Fire was the strength of the adult characters. This story has good adult characters but they are a bit weaker and less developed. There is a touch too much of the story being carried by twelve-year-old Gerta and seventeen-year-old Fritz. That said, it was one that I had a hard time putting down. It is clean, wholesome, has strong family values, and every chapter begins with incredible quotes from famous people. The moral of this story is absolutely on point and the resolution is just right. 

This is a topic that is often overlooked. The historical value of this novel is great and would make it a wonderful free read for anyone studying 1900s world history. I did not love the narrator for Words on Fire, but this one is actually quite enjoyable to listen to.