The Spring of Kasper Meier

Kasper Meier #1

by Ben Fergusson

Watch everyone. Trust no one.

The war is over, but Berlin is a desolate sea of rubble. There is a shortage of everything: food, clothing, tobacco. The local population is scrabbling to get by. Kasper Meier is one of these Germans, and his solution is to trade on the black market to feed himself and his elderly father. He can find anything that people need, for the right price. Even other people.

When a young woman, Eva, arrives at Kasper's door seeking the whereabouts of a British pilot, he feels a reluctant sympathy for her but won't interfere in military affairs. But Eva is prepared for this. Kasper has secrets, she knows them, and she'll use them to get what she wants. As the threats against him mount, Kasper is drawn into a world of intrigue he could never have anticipated. Why is Eva so insistent that he find the pilot? Who is the shadowy Frau Beckmann and what is her hold over Eva?

Under constant surveillance, Kasper navigates the dangerous streets and secrets of a city still reeling from the horrors of war and defeat. As a net of deceit, lies and betrayal falls around him, Kasper begins to understand that the seemingly random killings of members of the occupying forces are connected to his own situation. He must work out who is behind Eva's demands, and why - while at the same time trying to save himself, his father and Eva.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Germany, Mystery, Crime, Book Club

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2014

About the author

Ben Fergusson is an award-winning writer and translator. He was born in Southampton in 1980 and grew up near Didcot in Oxfordshire. He studied English Literature at Warwick University and Modern Languages at Bristol University and has worked as an editor, translator and publisher in London and Berlin. He currently teaches creative writing in Berlin and is a doctoral researcher at the University of East Anglia.

​Ben's debut novel, The Spring of Kasper Meier, won the 2015 Betty Trask Prize for an outstanding debut novel by a writer under 35 and the HWA Debut Crown 2015 for the best historical fiction debut of the year. It was also shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and longlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, while being selected for the Waterstone’s Book Club, WHSmith Fresh Talent and the BBC Radio 2 Book Club.

The second and third books in Ben's Berlin trilogy are The Other Hoffmann Sister, published in 2017, and An Honest Man, published in 2019, which was selected by The Sunday Times, the TLS and the Financial Times as one of the best books of the year. In 2022, he will publish his first book of non-fiction, Tales from the Fatherland, an exploration of same-sex parenthood.

Ben's short fiction has been twice longlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award and twice shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and in 2020 he won the Seán O'Faoláin International Short Story Prize for his story 'A Navigable River'. He has translated numerous essays, poems and short stories from German for publishers internationally, including texts by Daniel Kehlmann, Alain Claude Sulzer, Byung-Chul Han and Antja Wagner and in 2020 won a Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation.

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spring Of Kasper Meier is a heartbreaking novel. The story is set in post-WW 2. Buildings left in ruins, with twisted metal shapes, strange skeletons of rusted iron, mattress, with the stuffing burnt away even a bent frame of a bicycle.

The disturbing secenes of all the shapes everywhere that would look distored and ugly. In the Buildings that collapsed as an outsider you would be able to see walls covered in wallpaper, paintings, mirrors,and all peoples processions.

Kasper Meier a black-market trader has a visit from Eva Hirsch. Eva had heard that Kasper was good at finding people. Eva is looking for a pilot for a friend of hers who had an affair with the pilot and is now pregnant.

As occupying soldiers begin to be killed in mysterious circumstances, Kasper and Eva are confronted by their troubled past and their fragile lives begin to spiral out of control.
If you like reading post war novels I recommend City Of Woman by David Gillham.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The strength of The Spring of Kasper Meier is the post-war desolate atmosphere of Berlin, the sense of place, and the details concerning how ordinary people seek to survive amongst the rubble on meagre rations. Kasper Meier is interesting character, complex, brusque, tough, yet compassionate, who has long lived a secret life, managing to survive in Nazi Germany. Eva is more open and friendly, a little naive, but with an edge hardened survivor mentality. Their somewhat awkward relationship is nicely portrayed. The plot, centring round find a British pilot and supposed revenge killings is an interesting idea, but its telling is not always convincing and often a little drawn out. The plot hinges on a threat of blackmail that, for me at least, didn’t seem strong enough and the fear exerted by two omnipresent twelve year old twins that did not feel credible, regardless of how feral they’re portrayed. And for someone who has managed to survive, specialises in sourcing information and trading on the black market, and possesses a gun and physical strength, Meier doesn’t always act in line with personality and circumstance. The result was the story felt a little uneven and contrived at times. Overall then, an engaging and atmospheric, but sometimes patchy, story of survival and struggle in the ruins of Berlin.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This evocative novel will catapult you in post war Berlin. It is spring, 1946, and Berlin is a city of rubble, with inhabitants on the verge of starvation and soldiers everywhere – British, American, French and, of course, Russian. Kasper Meier lives in a fifth floor apartment with his elderly father and does his best to get by. He has survived the bombings, the occupation and the animosity of his neighbours and now he spends his days trading on the black market. However, one day a young woman arrives on his doorstep. Eva Hirsch has heard that he is good at finding people and has been sent by the elusive Frau Beckmann to ask him to discover the whereabouts of a British pilot. Kasper is not keen to get involved, but he has a secret and Eva has been told to resort to blackmail...

This is a novel with a very real sense of time and place. Berlin is very much a ruined city and those still alive are half relieved and half afraid of what is to come. Rubble women work at clearing the bomb sites, while ducking out of sight if soldiers appear. The real sense of fear after the abuses of many soldiers during the occupation is apparent. Children are described almost as feral, combing the streets for food or throwing stones; exposed to such horrors that their childhood is blighted. Among the best characters that haunt this book are Frau Beckmann’s twins – the terrifying Hans and Lena. As well as having to discover the whereabouts of the pilot, Kasper has to deal with threats and violence. Yet, to add to the level of unease on the streets, members of the military are being killed. Afraid for himself, and for Eva, Kasper must discover what is really beneath the request he has been given.

I found this a very moving novel. Kasper is a vulnerable and yet very strong character; whose paternal feelings for Eva were realistically portrayed. The vision of post-war Berlin is one that will stay with me for a long time. This would make an ideal book for reading groups, with much to discuss. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, for review.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The fine powder and the sloping, broken buildings, made Kasper feel as if he was walking down the bed of a long since dried up river, with traces of a dead empire littering the banks.” P207.

Berlin, 1946. “Windscheidstraße was still littered with a few strips of intact apartment blocks. The plaster on their frontages was cracked and peppered with scars from bullets and shrapnel and the glass was often missing from the doors.”

And so opens The Spring of Kasper Meier, debut novel by Ben Fergusson. This is a sobering read that places post WW2 Berlin front and centre in the aftermath of one of the greatest human tragedies of all time. The residents of Berlin caught in a surreal landscape of ruins and death, eking out an existence using whatever means available. This is the harsh reality that Fergusson illuminates and quite frankly left me stunned and speechless in many ways. I’ve read so much about WW2, visited Berlin and walked the path of the wall, but Fergusson transported me to 1946 in every one of the 388 pages of this book as I walked with Kasper and got some sense of the hopelessness that must have faced so many having witnessed such devastation and loss.

Kasper Meier just manages to get by each day. Trading in the black market to survive, he lives with his aging father in accommodation that by rights should be shared with multiple others. He harbours his own sorrows, grief and secrets (which actually aren’t so secret) but cause him to be ostracised and prejudiced against. As a queer man in Nazi Germany, Kasper knows what is like to live in hiding. I remember walking through Dachau back in 2002 when I visited and being devastated at the sheer horror of the holocaust. I hadn’t realised at that point that there were so many groups of people imprisoned or worse just for being themselves. Kasper lives with this and Fergusson gives us glimpses of this fear and hatred and love that has been lost.

Eva Hirsch darkens on his doorstep and before we know it, Kasper has entered a world of blackmail as he undertakes to find a particular British soldier, just one of the many (British, American, Russian) soldiers who raped and abused German women during this time of occupation of the city. Unbeknownst to him are the plans for this soldier, as he descends into a night mare of blackmail and betrayal.

This is a story of love and loss, family and grief. It’s a story of survival, retribution and loneliness as a city comes to terms collectively with what has happened, what it’s become and what the future holds. So much loss and devastation. Fergusson puts the human face into this space so poignantly and respectfully.

“I don’t know anyone outside of Berlin,” he shrugged and rubbed the side of his face. “I mean, I barely know anyone in Berlin anymore.
“Because it’s gone - our Berlin. Why cling to ruins?” P 237.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a stunning debut from Ben Fergusson who has revisited in this book, the ruined city of Berlin after the defeat of Hitler's Germany.
It is a brave novel in terms of what has gone before and a courageous account with regard to his broken hero and black market fixer. In addition it steers clear of the early political infighting to divide up the spoils among the victorious allies and centres on the fight and struggle to survive for the German people; mainly elderly men, women and children. I particularly liked the two-paced reconstruction that demonstrated the enduring problem at the time. Women tackle the rubble in the poorer parts still pulling out bodies by hand; it is not a rescue mission, streets change as another building collapses and debris is moved from one side of the road to another. This is just an aside of the book, although the plight of these Berliners and refugees is ever to the fore as the ruins of the once great city are mentioned and become of themselves a main character in the piece.
There are two main plots which slowly and seamlessly come together. In the first instance there is the humble life of Kasper Meier who to date has managed to survive and provide for his Father through black market deals and a skill of finding things others want including information. Meanwhile service personnel are being murdered without any obvious investigation taking place. This doesn't interest the author it appears and the readers' mind is trying to work in the link; it seems more obvious when Meier is blackmailed into looking for an American pilot and in the process meets Eva a rubble clearing worker.
This is quite a marvellous story about the depth of the human spirt and the determination to fashion a life when disease and destruction are all around you. It also indirectly offers hope in war torn present day conflicts that lives and cities can be rebuilt with aid and support. Berlin in 1946 relies on a black market and the drive of women to knuckle down and carry-on. However the conquering army are present and the story involves them in the racketeering and brings some to account for their conduct. A fascinating read with grey words reflecting the bombed out streets and hidden homes but written with bright and engaging language that creates a story you want to see to the end. It reminds us of the victims of war, the value of a life and that its people and the land are raped and plundered. It recalls that not only Jews were displaced, imprisoned and sent to death camps and that values sometimes are kept when all but one's dignity is lost. Above all it is a love story which promotes human beings above all other animals. I marvel at the values, some of the characters hold dear and their sense of worth which is perhaps contradicted by their reality. Perhaps the stench of death still inhabits these streets, one's life expectancy and reasons to live blurred, but to wake on a new day is a clear achievement. Amid the ruined monuments and broken lives we long that Kasper and Eva may survive and have a future for them beyond the everyday reality. It would be easier to give up but this book demonstrates a few possibilities that bind us to these characters and have us rooting for them when all around them are broken masonry like stacked tombstones bearing testimony to all who have died the innocent and the guilty alike.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard an interview with Ben Fergusson on Radio 2, and since it sounded like exactly the sort of book I'd enjoy, and Simon Mayo and the other people on his show were raving about the book, I thought I'd give it a try. In the end, it fell a bit flat for me. I enjoyed learning about post-war Berlin, but I wasn't keen on the story. I'm not sure if it was the pace, which I found incredibly slow, with a rushed conclusion, or the characters I struggled to care very much about.

[Jamie J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never read anything quite like this — powerful in the way in conjures the feel of a unique place and time, well-observed and very smoothly written. The atmospheric mood never overwhelms — partly due to the short and incisive chapters — and builds to a page-turning climax.

I’m very curious to see what Fergusson does next!

[Ben Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up by chance in a bookshop and really liked the look of it. I read it in only a week or so, which for me, these days, is a marvel. Small children etc. etc.

This is an astonishing read, beautifully written, and with wonderful, wonderful descriptive detail. It's uncommon for an historical fiction novel to conjure such realistic atmosphere - I could see and feel the grime, the destruction of the city, the people's degradation and despair. I take my hat off to Ben Fergusson, and I look forward with great anticipation to his next book.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spring of Kasper Meier – Excellent Debut Novel

The Spring of Kasper Meier is the stunning debut from English writer Ben Fergusson written with an atmospheric panache where the prose breathes the imagery from the page to your brain. This is a stylistic masterpiece from the debut novelist whose writing is clear and crisp dealing with the shattered lives of those living in Berlin and the evocation of those shattered lives trying to survive. To me this reminded me of Alone in Berlin which dealt with the fear and suspicion in wartime Berlin this deals with the aftermath of war and the death of Hitler did not mean fear and suspicion had disappeared.

Kasper Meier and his father have somehow survived not only survived through the Third Reich but the Battle for Berlin and the Russians entering their City and taking it the battle to every street and every home. Kasper had survived the Third Reich even though he practised what was called ‘deviant’ behaviour, because he was gay, when many of his friends had been killed by the state. He was now surviving on his wits by trading on the black market for goods or information he could trade on and at the same time get a little food to survive for his father and himself.

One day Eva Hirsch comes knocking on Kasper’s door and she requests his help in searching for a British pilot but he is not interested in getting involved with any of the military affairs of any of the victorious countries running Berlin. But the mysterious Frau Beckmann has prepared Eva for this and she knows his secret of him being gay and how that could get him killed still, even after the Third Reich.

Slowly Kasper is drawn in to a world he had no idea that existed and that was very dangerous especially when you always under constant surveillance by friend and foe. He tries to find out who Frau Beckmann is and how she is controlling so many girls, what hold has she got. The more he digs in to Beckmann the threats against him increase as does the violence. At the same time he realised the most of the women Beckmann has power over have been raped by the invading armies and specifically the Russians.

With the devastation of the war and the horrors that it brought to the citizens of Berlin and their final defeat there is still a net of lies and deceit that is round every corner of the Berlin Streets. Nothing is as it seems and Kasper needs to work this out if he wishes to survive and keep Eva safe. As Kasper realises that the random killings of members of the occupied forces are connected to what he is doing he really needs to find Frau Beckmann.

He really needs to work out who is behind the blackmailing of both him and Eva at first he didn’t realise how much that would cost him. Will he survive at times he is not too sure it is as if not only the defeat of Germany is hurting him but the memories of those who didn’t survive.

As he works out who is behind the various killings it becomes a race against Frau Beckmann to survive and escape her evil clutches and at the same time avoid the attention of the occupying forces. He knows that this may cost him his life but he wants to keep Eva and his father alive.

This is an atmospheric and gripping mystery in what was the ‘wild east’ as Berlin had become once it had fallen to the Russians. The terrifying world of post-war Berlin where the women had suffered, and had been raped at the hands of the Russians. The population of Berlin are struggling to survive women are the majority of the German population as many of the men are in POW camps in the east and the men that are left are not the most dynamic bunch of survivors.

Post-war Berlin was a wild and evil place to be after the war if you were German and female there was so little disregard for life because of what had happened during the war years. This novel based on life as it had been after the war and the struggle to survive at the hands of the victors is well researched and shows understand of the fears of those that had managed to survive.

Ben Fergusson’s prose is wonderful and gives a powerful and atmospheric evocation of post-war Berlin and the devastation comes through strongly. The imagery that Fergusson’s prose gives brings the City and its survivors to life and you can feel their fear and their daily battles to survive. This is a stunning debut that draws you in and you feel at the centre of everything that is happening.

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The publisher kindly sent me a proof copy of this book to review, and I thought this was a good, well written novel with a remarkable evocation of post-war Berlin, but I did have my reservations.

The story is set in the spring of 1946. Berlin is still shattered and occupied by Allied troops. People scrape by as best they can amid the rubble and ruined lives. Kasper Meier is one man scraping by, dealing, bartering and "finding" things and information for people. He is approached and effectively blackmailed into finding an RAF pilot, and begins to be drawn into some very dark and sinister dealings. To say more would be to give away more than I would like to have known before reading the book, but it's a bleak tale set in a cold, ruined and feral city, redeemed by a couple of affectionate relationships and a slight sense of hope.

Ben Fergusson writes very well, in clear, readable and unaffected prose. The evocation of Berlin at the time is remarkable, and he manages a Hitchcock-esque building of tension by suggestion and hints of menace rather than lots of action and violence. I found the characters generally believable and well-painted and he makes important points about oppression and persecution of gays well and without bombast.

The trouble for me was that there was an awful lot of rubble, cold, insufficient food and barter with people we don't know, but not much else for long periods. It did get a bit much, especially in the first 120 pages or so. Even when the pace began to pick up a bit, I found it all a little sluggish - I'd really, really got the point and was thinking "enough with the rubble and the deals" - and it was a bit of a slog in parts, to be honest. I know it is important to build realism and atmosphere, but it is possible to overdo these things. It also meant that there had been so much dark, sinister background that when the genuinely dark, sinister truth was revealed it didn't seem all that dark and sinister in the context.

The book is almost 400 pages long, and I think it might have been better at nearer 300. It's still well worth reading and I'll certainly give Ben Fergusson's next book a go, but I hope he brings a little more of the tautness to it which this one needed. Three stars would be very churlish, but it's four stars with reservations, really.

[Marjolein · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me some time to really get into this book. Looking back, that probably had something to do with the writing style. There were perspective changes in the middle of a paragraph, which doesn't make it easier to follow what exactly was going on.
That is probably the reason why I needed to warm up to the characters, but I actually liked the development from especially Kasper from a bit dodgy figure to a warm, caring and loveable character in the end. I liked his relations with Eva and where it lead to. Something I also really liked was the insight of the gay scene before the war and what the war and the gay persecution did to wipe out that entire scene and what it did to the people in it. I don't think the book was what I expected it to be, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting

[Cathy Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Berlin in post war 1946, with everything in extremely short supply, Kasper Meier trades information and deals in goods for the black market in order to keep himself and his elderly, sick father alive. He lives in one room in a half bombed out building where he secretes anything and everything that might be even remotely saleable. Kasper is despised for being homosexual, still illegal at the time, and tries to be as inconspicuous as possible. But when he is visited by one of the rubble women, Eva, a young girl who wants help finding information about a British pilot, he is drawn into a deadly web of intrigue.

Berlin is a devastated, rubble strewn and dangerous city where the inhabitants struggle to survive, living by their wits. Some work clearing the rubble, others trade their bodies. Corruption is rife, lawlessness prevalent and soldiers thought guilt of rape are being found murdered.

Frau Beckmann, a shadowy and elusive figure, who seems to control many of the girls, including Eva Hirsch, knows Kasper’s secret and is blackmailing him into finding the information she seeks. Despite fearing for his own life, Kasper feels afraid and sorry for Eva, and determines to find out what he can about Frau Beckmann and what her hold over the girls is. The more Kasper digs, the more sinister things appear. Nothing is as it seems and Kasper is drawn ever deeper into Beckmann’s machinations and the ensuing menace.

Initially, Kasper Meier seems to be a cold, unlikable and austere character, the description of a tall, lanky and bony man with an ‘unsettling thickness of his straight, white hair, that despite brushing and trimming, stuck up in heavy tufts, yellowing slightly at the fringe, where the smoke from his cigarette curled up after staining the parts of his fingers that weren’t already blackened.’ Not to mention ‘his right eye, which was milky white and immobile. What had once been a shining black pupil, surrounded by a bright green iris, was now a faded blue stain beneath a smooth misty blue layer, like cooked egg white.’

As the story progresses however, the complexity and compassion of Kasper’s character begins to emerge, along with insights into the suffering and horror of his past life. There are ever deeper glimpses of the sad, hurting and kind-hearted man underneath the veneer. This is an intensely graphic and atmospheric account of life in a very bleak and war-torn Berlin, the desolation, the desperation and hopelessness of half-starved people who will do whatever it takes to survive, extremely apparent in Ben Fergusson’s very descriptive writing.

Being slightly critical, I did feel the story was perhaps a little too drawn out and quite hard to follow in the first part of the book, and overall could maybe have done with slightly fewer than it’s almost 400 pages. After that, though, the pace and storyline pick up and with it the tension and emotion. There’s no compromise in the harrowing depiction of life and atrocities of a city destroyed and its people broken by war. It’s a very moving story, quite compelling, encompassing what must have been a huge amount of extensive historical research.

[Maya Panika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berlin, 1946: a devastated city crawling with half-starved inhabitants, struggling to live on meagre rations and the black market; where everyone is trying to achieve normality amidst total destruction, total brutality. Everyone has needs and most have something to sell. The young and attractive have their bodies, of course. Others barter what little they have; mostly grave goods - a watch, a ring, a pair of shoes, a tin of ham, some old boot polish. A lucky few have the most valuable commodity of all: information.

When we first meet him, Kasper Meier seems a ruthless black market dealer with all manner of desirable commodities squirrelled away in his one-room home. Who knows how he came by them, he never tells; in Kasper's world, information is too valuable to give away for free. Unfortunately for Kasper, he knows things that are very valuable to other black marketeers - and a dangerous, blackmailable past that catches up with him in the form of Frau Beckmann and her poisonous children; black market dealers far more ruthless than Kasper, and much more dangerous. For Kasper is not at all the cold, hard, pitiless creature he plays for his trader audience; that's just a mask he puts on, armour against the everyday terrors of life in occupied, hungry, desperate Berlin. Inside, he is a sentimental, decent soul; kinder than he wants to believe, better than he thinks; tormented with guilt about his actions, regrets about his past. Kasper is quietly extraordinary: a brave and noble soul who has somehow held on to his humanity through two wars, disability, the Nazis, the death of his wife and child and the murder of his one true love.

On the surface, The Spring of Kasper Meier is a clever, well-schemed thriller about blackmail, murder and revenge, with a clever twist. Underneath the suspenseful veneer is the deeply touching story of a soft-hearted, half-broken man who wants to do good: care for his elderly father, defend old friends who escaped, or survived, the death camps; protect a vulnerable, damaged young girl from Frau Beckmann - and herself. A story of relationships: war-damaged friendships; family bonds mutilated by politics, war and the fight to survive; the grief of survivors who felt they could have done more to save their lost loved ones. Love lies over all, like the dust that coats the women who work the rubble: tainted love bought by lonely soldiers from desperate German girls; unwanted love; unrequited love; lost love; gay love - a dangerous pursuit in Nazi Germany, and still illegal under the Occupation.

This is a gripping, twisting thriller, an atmospheric mystery built from wonderfully real characters and about the best crafted, living, breathing world I've read in a historical novel. A tender, beautiful story: poignant, heart-warming, heartbreaking. I cried more than once, and I'm a hard-hearted reader; it takes a lot for a book to do that to me.

[Mr. Jason Bourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever I read ‘war books’ I wanted to read more and ‘know’ of those times, but this wasn’t the same ... the story is set in Germany and it didn’t feel like one .. like there is as no differentiating factor, say for e.g you are reading a Japanese story, by narration or by the theme though it had references lot of German streets etc. Felt it had too much bartering on cigarettes

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the same time a tense and eerie thriller that is impossible to put down, and a gripping portrait of the physical, moral, and material devastation that defined Germany at the end of WWII – and more especially the city of Berlin - this masterful novel is worth all the accolades it has been getting. In turns terrifically suspenseful, immensely atmospheric, and achingly heartbreaking, The Spring of Kaspar Meier is quite a bleak novel. But it’s also a vibrant one. The spectacle of Berlin reduced to black ruins covered in snow serves as the vivid, sometimes terrifying, backdrop to a story were desperation meets greed, where sadness collides with hatred, amidst people who are willing to do almost anything in order to survive. At its heart is a broken man with many secrets who refuses to give up, and yet has so little to hang on to. Kaspar, a tragic and very human anti-hero, wonderfully encapsulates the complex traumas that have shaken his country. As the narration unfolds, following an aptly convoluted plot full of surprises, many characters come and go, all of them more or less shadowy and unsavory, in a fashion which reminded me of the classic movie The Third Man. The greatness of this thriller is that, besides the superb writing, it’s a tale that allows us to glimpse, with a mix of empathy and horror, at the tragic state some parts of Europe were in, in the immediate post-war era. The Berlin in which Fergusson takes us, that he obliges us to look at without turning our eyes away, is a chaotic nightmare, and he’s found the right words to write about it realistically, but not without lyricism. What could have been a simple suspense novel therefore turns into something much deeper and more meaningful. Something infinitely haunting.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the war-ravaged Berlin of 1946, amongst the ruins, the hunger, the lawlessness and corruption, Kasper Meier ekes out a living by trading on the black market. One day a young woman comes to his door asking for his help in tracking down a British serviceman. What follows is an intricately plotted thriller and a gripping and haunting tale, a bleak story of survival and compassion in the worst of circumstances. This is an unusual and original novel, very well-written, cleverly paced, and with a cast of (mostly) believable and empathetic characters. The atmosphere of Berlin just after the war is brilliantly evoked, with some wonderfully descriptive passages. Kasper Meier himself is a compelling character who becomes more and more engaging as his adventure continues. It’s a novel that repays concentration as the plot is fairly complicated, but the rewards of a close reading are considerable. Not a reader of thrillers normally, this one captured my imagination from the start, and kept me gripped until the last page.

[Angie Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was asked to review this book, and I have to say, it was brilliant,
It tells the story of Kasper a German who, is involved with the black market, Kasper can get anything, from tins of ham, to people!
He lives with his father, in two rooms,in a house with other people,
Along comes Eva, a youn German girl who wants him, to find a pilot, at first Kasper tells her no, but she has secrets, secrets about Kasper..
So he decides to help, and now he is trying to keep his father,Eva and himself safe, as Occupying German soldiers are being murdered,,
This is a debut, for Ben Fergussen, and wow! Cam't wait, for the next.
He writes in such away, you can taste the dust, kicked up, by Kasper has he walks the bombed streets of post war Berlin,,
A great book,,

[Studvet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looked promising-and there were some interesting bits (like with his father at the end) - but overall an over-written, over-described mess. I found myself virtually skimming some parts as were too melodramatic in tone and too long. Though the life was described well the writing was over-wrought, the overall structure lacked focus and really was like a gruesome episode of East Enders at times. Pity. Possibly a 2.5 at a struggle.

[Christine]

Oh dear, I've just given up on this book. It's something I try not to do, but I just couldn't get into it. I found it to be so flat and one dimensional and that included the characters. Big on detail after detail, but to no real end! The whole thing is just a big, boring road to nowhere. Off now to read "The Gift" by Louise Jensen.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absorbing mix of personal drama and investigative thriller dramatically against the well-drawn backdrop of a crumbling and desperate post-war Berlin. Atmospheric and featuring neatly drawn characters who don't immediately attract sympathy but make you care about their bleak predicament.

[Nicolas Chinardet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first instalment of a loose trilogy of books centred around the same building and covering roughly the second half of the 20th century. In this volume, the building, like its inhabitants and Berlin as a whole, is reeling in the aftermath of the Second World War. In a post-apocalyptic landscape of crumbled and crumbling façades, where death is still looming, human beings are trying to survive, while dealing more or less successfully with the emotional repercussions of what they have just been through and their older tragedies.

The titular character, Kasper Meier, an older gay man literally scarred by his past, exists in this Hobbesian dystopia, where a man is a wolf to another man, and knowledge is power, but has all but given up on living. However the teetering façade of his own dour self-protective persona is about crumble too, and, after a winter of the soul, he is about to know spring, literally and metaphorically, just as Berlin is about to experience some kind of renaissance.

Couched as a mystery, this is a story of unresolved grief, endurance, and platonic love that manages to keep the reader engrossed despite relatively little action. Fergusson is great at transcribing the protagonist's paranoid helplessness conjured up by the events he faces in the book and the deleterious anarchy of the bombed-out city. The short chapters describing the murders that interspersed within the narrative are particularly successful in their poignancy, and almost work as discrete short stories.

Despite its difficult themes and lugubrious atmosphere, this is, however, as its title implies, a broadly positive and hopeful novel, that is surprisingly enjoyable to read.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dystopian view of Berlin in the aftermath of the Second World War. Battling to survive are the German residents living in the ruins of their city and subjugated by the victors, Russians, Americans and British. Those in the story rely on the exchange and barter of food, clothing and services between themselves and the black marketeers from the armed forces to survive. The story focuses on the interactions between a small group of characters, several of whom were acquainted with each other before the war. The plot revolves around the main character, Kasper Meier, who commences an investigation into the who and why of a blackmail threat he has received.

The novel does portray the vicissitudes of survival in the destroyed city well. Much of the action takes place in ruins, in bad weather and quite often in the dark. Many of the characters are also dark, amongst them rapists and murderers. Whilst some have redeeming qualities, this is not a "joyous" read, but one that seems to dwell on the vindictive and malicious side of humanity.

Whilst the plot was absorbing initially, the story line did start to feel repetitive. A shortened version would have been better. It might then have been described as a taut thriller. Unfortunately its length was such that when the mystery was finally solved, it felt more of a relief than an exciting conclusion to the tale. In summary, an entertaining read but be prepared for a bit of a slog through to reach the end.

[Amelia Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Spring of Kasper Meier has to be one of my favourite books I’ve read all year. I’m a huge fan of historical fiction set in Germany but this book has made me think I need to broaden my reading horizons and get into more mysteries.

At it’s heart The Spring of Kasper Meier is a murder mystery mixed with black market shenanigans. All the characters have secrets and discovering those secrets is always a rewarding payoff. I wasn’t ever disappointed. The relationship between Eva and Kasper was an interesting one and makes a change from the romantic dynamic usually used in similar situations. That being said, fans of romantic subplots will not be disappointed. Throughout the novel readers are given snippets of a prior relationship of Kasper’s. I don’t want to give any spoilers but those memories are written so beautifully, it had me hoping for a twist happy ending I knew was impossible given the timeline of the novel.

One of its most interesting aspects is the way it shows the fallout from living under the Nazis in such a matter of fact way. From the acknowledgement of neighbours who disappeared, the loss of Kasper’s pre-Hitler career, the tattoos that expose those that were in camps and the discussion of Kasper’s friend who remains in prison post liberation.

Basically I loved this book a lot and would definitely read a book by Fergusson again.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd book that I found in my bookshelves and decided to tackle. From the price tag on the back of the book, I can see I bought it at the Dubai airport in 2013! In any case, it is a mystery in a way and an historical story in another way about a group of characters thrust together in Berlin right after the liberation of Germany by Russian, British and American troops. I think the reason I persevered to finish the book is that it described in painful detail the devastation and corruption faced by the Germans left behind as their "liberators" sacked and decimated the city. There are a group of women called "rubble women" who go from block to block savaging anything from the wreckage. It made you think about both sides of the war and the story is told from the perspective of a victim of the Nazis. However, the story is confusing and the writing is contrived so cannot say I would recommend this.

[Neil Spark · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual friendship Kasper Meier is at the centre of this pager turner. The novel is set in Berlin in 1946; you can see, hear and smell the city of rubble, ruin and wretchedness. Kasper is a former gay nightclub owner, now a black marketeer who lives with his ill father.

Kasper's world is upended when Eva Hirsch turns up with a request to find a British pilot. Kasper finds the pilot but also a racket that exemplifies a society in which respect for the law and other people is non existent.

Kasper's growing platonic affection for Eva evolves along with the increasing tension that culminates in an ending I didn't see coming.

This book is the first of three in which the protagonist lives in the same Berlin apartment block. I've read A Handsome Man, which I also highly recommend.

[Pam Bromley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me some time and a lot of reading sessions to get into the complex plot, but somehow the book kept drawing me back and in the end I could not put it down. Superb portrayal of various characters, full of human faults and foibles, trying to survive the crazy, chaotic, desperate and dark conditions in Berlin immediately after WW2. I don't know how realistic the characters are and the finale for the main characters was a surprise, but the story had me engrossed. I stayed in Charlottenburg some years ago, so it was particularly interesting to see how the descriptions matched up with places I recognised.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and deep look into Berlin just after the Second World War. It is reminiscent of American noir books, with the city and society both in complete ruin and no-one either worthy of nor able to trust. Let down a little by a slight lack of clear characterisation: some of the women blur into one, and the characters of Kaspar and Eva are a little straightforward. It is also slightly overlong, meaning that the plot loses a bit of impact. Nonetheless, a very well written and evocative novel that I loved at times.

[Nicky Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

Evocative sense of time and place but the plot was naive, somewhat anorexic and lacked authenticity.

Fascinating to learn of how folks in post-war Berlin survived such ghastly circumstances, but the characters just weren’t believable. Their actions and motivations didn’t hold water and were inconsistent and confusing. There were moments when I started to care but sadly they were unsustained.

The story became a tad tedious and treacly - slow to progress and somewhat repetitive in places.

Another read that could have ended 100 pages earlier.

[Geraldine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction/thriller set in Berlin immediately after the war. I'm not fond of either genre but found this novel really interesting, firstly because this is a period not so often found in English novels, secondly the protagonist, Kasper, is a complex character. The book also brilliantly describes the atmosphere and condition of the city at that time. My main criticism was some repetition, but I'm definitely keen to read more by this author.