Beginning at midnight on Sunday August 13, 1961 the German Democratic Republic, communist East Germany, ran coils of barbed wire fencing through the center of Berlin. By morning, East Berlin was completely cut off from West Berlin. After the wire came the wall and the Stasi – the East German state security service, one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies to ever have existed.
Now it’s 1983. Little has changed. West Berliners can apply for visas to make day visits on the East Berlin side, but the East Berliners are still watched and restricted. Some have tried to cross the wall. At least 136 have not made it. There is no second chance.
Ada and Stefan are in love. They have known each other practically since they were born. Their grandmothers are best friends, having survived the horrors of WWII together; two old ladies living on opposite sides of the wall. Ada’s grandmother purchases day visits to cross into East Berlin four times a year and she always takes Ada with her. Ada is fearless and a little wild. She has bright pink hair and is a daycare worker by day, a graffiti artist by night. She graffs stories onto the wall – stories of those affected by this cement monster. Stefan is a plumber in East Berlin. He lost his mother and grandfather to the wall. One made it, one didn’t – but he’s never seen either of them again. Ada wants Stefan to cross. She needs him to cross. She sees all the successes. Stefan lives with the losses.
I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about a time period in history that I knew little about. So much is written about Germany during World War II and immediately after, but this is a fresh perspective on lives that are being affected by the war on a daily basis, 35 or 40 years later. Going Over is well written with characters that I truly cared about.