SuitabookOranges for Christmas
Margarita Morris
- Reading
- Read alongside a simple map or timeline of Berlin in 1961, pausing when the viewpoint changes. Discuss which details are historical and which belong to the fictional family after finishing, to avoid interrupting suspense.
- Themes
- Life under political control: The story places a family in Communist East Berlin, where lessons promote socialist ideals and escape is linked with the Stasi. The book takes a critical view of this.
- Division and belonging: Sabine lives in East Berlin while her older brother Dieter lives in West Berlin, and the novel alternates between their first-person perspectives. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- History through fiction: Sabine and Dieter each witness a real-life escape from East Berlin, including Conrad Schumann’s jump and Frieda Schulze’s escape, within the fictional narrative. The novel uses fictional observers to connect a family story with documented Cold War events, potentially encouraging attention to how history is remembered.
- Worth knowing
- Some readers may want preparation for oppressive political control, secret-police involvement, barbed wire and dangerous escape attempts. The quoted material also refers to a shoot-to-kill policy, though the extent of depicted violence is unclear.