Bea Setton’s Berlin is about a young woman who’s fled London leaving a trail of emotional fallout behind her, planning a fresh start in a city that seems to promise so much.

Daphne lands in Berlin with nowhere to live and only the most tenuous of contacts. After a couple of false starts, she rents a flat and enrols herself on a German course. Daphne’s never far from a drama: she’s stalked by a man she meets at a party despite, apparently, giving him no encouragement; a brick is thrown through her apartment window forcing her to move out; she collapses in the local corner shop and is taken to hospital.

Daphne tells her story in her own slightly snarky, superior, increasingly paranoid voice. There’s some sly humour to enjoy and it’s clear before too long that she’s a deeply unreliable narrator who reminds us many times that she’s an habitual liar. The narrative becomes increasingly dark as small details gradually emerge to reveal the extent of Daphne’s problems. A compelling debut, smartly delivered.

Berlin by Bea Setton is an impressive debut novel. A flawed narrator struggling with self-esteem issues and constantly trying to reinvent herself.

I was very impressed with this debut novel due to its careful depiction of the female experience in a European capital, with all its fears and challenges. Dark and fascinating!

Setton's "Berlin" gives the reader a very "My Year of Rest and Relaxation"-esque vibe; the heroine is not only unreliable but unlikable, completely and unredeemably self-absorbed, and yet she grows on you, she feels familiar and intriguing.

Berlin is a novel about a woman who moves to Berlin, but finds herself paranoid and unable to settle, not living either the wild party lifestyle or getting a proper job. Daphne arrives in Berlin after having run away from her friends and job in London for a fresh start, determined to learn German and make friends. But the people from her language class don't quite make it to friendship, and her dating in German doesn't go as she wants, and she finds herself lonely, moving between flats, eating little, and unable to deal when a brick comes through her window.

I picked up this book for the Berlin setting, and it does well in immersing you in Daphne's version of Berlin, with her narrative voice revelling in setting out how she sees the city. You start to realise that this is very much a picture she is painting from little comments she makes, and as the novel goes on, it becomes clear that Daphne can't help but lie, for many different reasons, and that sometimes includes to the reader. Her compulsive lying, which near the end she categorises, is clearly a problem, but as she starts to acknowledge more by the end, it is her privilege and upbringing that means it rarely causes issues for her, and in general she is protected by the fact she can always call her parents for more money and a flight home.

In general, I think I enjoyed this book more with a step back, reflecting on this presentation of a privileged young woman who wishes people would call her out on her issues but lies to them so they won't, and how there's people like Daphne probably in many major cities. Whilst reading, Daphne was unlikeable at times, prone to stereotyping and being self absorbed to the point of not thinking about anyone else, and that suited this image of someone who believes they're a protagonist without actually wanting to commit to doing anything. I'm not sure if you're meant to find Daphne relatable rather than annoying, but I think the book worked with the latter regardless. The narrative comes to a predictable conclusion (in the eyes of anyone who isn't Daphne, at least) and there's a sense that none of it may have mattered.

Despite liking the city, I'm not sure I'm quite the target audience for the novel, so I enjoyed it less for the observations and relatability than for the presentation of a privileged unreliable narrator protected from actual harm whilst also needing to get help from people.