Secret, lies and love as the DDR collapses.

Book blurb

It is 1989, and in a small Baltic city in East Germany, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), three young people from vastly different backgrounds become friends.

Armando is a factory worker from Mozambique, Lolita is a medical student from India, and Theo is an East Berliner who dreams of being a writer. When Armando and Lolita make a grisly discovery, they find themselves caught up in the politics of Theo’s homeland more than ever before.

While a quiet revolution sweeps through Eastern Europe, and the Berlin Wall teeters, the three find themselves entangled in a poignant love triangle which threatens their futures. As the world order shifts, their three lives are bound together in a web of love, lies and fears, leaving each irrevocably changed.

My thoughts

A love triangle set against the backdrop of the DDR/GDR (the Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic, they are interchangeable, commonly referred to as East Germany), it’s 1989 and the wall is about to fall. But, wait, we are getting ahead of ourselves. None of our protagonists know this, so let’s get to the story.

Lolita is a medical student from India she is being taught at a hospital in a town near the Baltic coastline. A fellow student, Max, suggests a party in LK, on the outskirts of the town, and a bunch of them go. She meets Armando there. He lives in the compound of a printing factory where he works. He tells her about the Sonderbar a place he often goes. They are getting to know each other over time as they meet at the Sonderbar and then other places like the trip to the beach with Armando and his daughter Clara. Armando is a contract worker from Mozambique. Clara lives with her mother and Armando sees her on a weekly basis, he wants to be in her life as much as possible.

As time goes on they become more attracted to each other and want to be together. What with Lolita’s work, Armando’s work, his desire to stay in contact with Clara and the fact that they don’t often spend much time together alone. The trip to the beach happened after several months it was the first time they were to be together all day. Clara was with them. But it was on this trip that they saw a person in the sea, Armando went in to help but the young man he brought back was already dead. The police had taken over. The incident had shaken them bringing them too close to the reality of life in the DDR and with it the need to keep secrets.

Theo meets Lolita at the hospital he is immediately smitten with her. Theo is working as a mechanic, lives with his Grandfather and writes in his spare time. He pursues Lolita and since her relationship with Armando has for various reasons cooled somewhat his persistence seems to be working and they go on a few dates.

It is Theo’s story that brings home to the reader how the lives of East German citizens are controlled. He is from East Berlin where his parents still live. The reason for moving to live with his Grandfather, Rainer, all too clearly demonstrates how life is controlled by the authorities. His grandfather Rainer’s story is also interesting and gives further insight into what it was like in the DDR. Theo’s experience has left him disillusioned with the ideology of his homeland.

Lolita, Armando and Theo’s lives become tangled up. Lolita takes Theo to meet friends. They go to the Sonderbar together to an open mic evening when Theo reads some of his work and he meets Armando. The men recognise each other as rivals and yet there’s a sense that under different circumstances there might have been a friendship but would they have met otherwise, other than because of Lolita probably not.

As time goes on Armando becomes caught up with what he fears is a Stasi investigation. He is worried about losing access to Clara, of the possibility of being sent back to his war torn homeland of Mozambique.

Things begin to shift, borders are being opened, the wall is about to fall and the government collapse. Lolita and Theo go to East Berlin. Armando risks everything and follows. Everything changes.

What a stunning story Sheena Kalayil has written you cannot but become captivated by it and caught up in the lives of these three young people. The setting is fascinating and well drawn. As ever I go down a rabbit hole of my own as I learnt in this book, for example, about the contract workers. The main characters are lovable yet often annoying at the same time and other characters like Rainer, Joachim, the Micke’s and Petra. Petra, Clara’s mother, a journalist who suffers violent consequences of the badly handled aftermath of the collapse and desire for change.

How will it turn out? Will there be a happy ever after? We get a conclusion, yes, we also have the final section which I was delighted to find gives a glimpse into the future. However, this is a multi layered story of love, of life under a suppressive regime, of different cultures meeting, of fear, joy and the consequence of secrets. The story that Kalayil has written seeps into your heart and steals a little of it away.

Further reading – going down a rabbit hole!

“Contract worker” in the GDR (DOMiD)

Violence against Migrants in the GDR and the Lack of Epistemic Impact by Johannes Schütz (MigrantKnowledge.org)

‘Socialism Is the Best Prophylaxis’: The German Democratic Republic’s Health Care System

GDR–India Encounters before Diplomatic Recognition

20 Books of Summer 2025

The Others by Sheena Kalayil is the first of my reads for the 20 Books of Summer 2025 challenge.

Thanks: Many thanks to Fly on the Wall Press for providing an eARC for the purposes of reading and sharing my thoughts on The Others by Sheena Kalayil. All thoughts are my own.

Music track

Here’s a terrific list of songs which could accompany the reading of The Other by Sheena Kalayil.

Information

Published: Fly on the Wall Press | 19 June 2025 | 380 pp | ISBN PBK: 9781915789389 | EBOOK: 978191578939

@fly_press (X) @flyonthewallpress (Instagram) @flyonthewallpress (Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok) http://www.flyonthewallpress.co.uk

Join us for an unforgettable evening as we throw open the doors (and the bookshelves) to celebrate seven years of Fly on the Wall Press – a publishing house with a conscience, and a community powered by readers and writers like you.
Whether you’re a long-time supporter or new to our story, this is your chance to mingle with fellow book lovers, meet our authors, and enjoy live performances in a relaxed, celebratory atmosphere.

Fly on the Wall Press

Tickets:🎟️ fly-on-the-wall-press.eventcube.io

Buy The Others

Fly on the Wall Press | AmazonSmileUK | Hive | Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Your local bookshop | Your local library

Author

Sheena Kalayil is a critically acclaimed Manchester-based author and teacher. ‘The Others’ is Kalayil’s fourth novel, continuing her profound examination of untold stories from the crossroads of history and human experience. Her third book, ‘The Wild Wind’, drew inspiration from her own nomadic upbringing shuttling between India, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Kalayil’s debut novel, ‘The Bureau of Second Chances’, announced her as a major new literary talent, winning the prestigious Writers’ Guild Award for Best First Novel and being shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Prize for Fiction with a Sense of Place. With a lifetime of experiences teaching around the world, from Nepal and Mozambique to Tunisia and Venezuela, Kalayil brings a truly global perspective to her writing. Since 2002, she has called the UK home, now teaching at the University of Manchester while penning rich, immersive narratives that transcend borders.

Author Page: Amazon | Sheena on: Instagram | Dr Sheena Kalayil: University of Manchester

Books

The Beloved Country (2015)

The Bureau of Second Chances (2017) | The Inheritance (2018) | The Wild Wind (2019) | The Others (2025)

Academic studies

Second Generation South Asian Britons: Multilingualism, Heritage Languages and Diasporic Identity (2019)

Sheena Kalayil discusses her book

Buy Sheena’s books