A Night Divided

The main character of the book, Gerta ages four years over the span of the novel. She begins as a member of a happy family, shocked by the creation of the Berlin Wall. After the separation from her father and brother, she gradually becomes more critical of the government. She senses the danger of dissent but cannot fully grasp the magnitude of the government’s corruption and malevolence until she sees it herself.

Gerta’s older brother becomes her closest friend and confidante. In a Western setting, they might enjoy only a normal brother-sister bond, but in their restricted environment, they become fellow dissenters and plot their rebellion together. Though they disagree at times, Gerta is admiring of her older brother and he is protective of her. By the novel’s end, Fritz parts ways with his love interest, who does not want to come to West Germany, and barely avoids compulsory East German military service. 

Gerta’s brother, Dominic, is in West Germany, with her father. He is a different person when they see each other again. They are no longer taunting siblings. They are glad to be reunited and do not take each other for granted any longer.