Sunday, March 11, 2018
January 2018: Book Club Outing
Thanks to Becky, we got to enjoy a wonderful Escape Room during our
January meet-up! We did the Investigation of Miss Treedcath and figured
it out! THANK YOU!! It was so much fun!
April 2018: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Julie's pick for us in April 2018 is "Orphan Train: A Novel" by Christina Baker Kline.
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE BOOK
The #1 New York Times Bestseller
Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train is an unforgettable story of friendship and second chances that highlights a little-known but historically significant movement in America’s past—and it includes a special PS section for book clubs featuring insights, interviews, and more.
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse...
As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life—answers that will ultimately free them both.
Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christina Baker Kline is the author of instant New York Times bestseller A Piece of the World (2017), about the relationship between the artist Andrew Wyeth and the subject of his best-known painting, Christina’s World. Kline has written six other novels -- Orphan Train, Orphan Train Girl, The Way Life Should Be, Sweet Water, Bird in Hand, and Desire Lines -- and written or edited five works of nonfiction. Her 2013 novel Orphan Train spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list, including five weeks at # 1, and was published in 40 countries. More than 100 communities and colleges have chosen it as a “One Book, One Read” selection. Her adaptation of Orphan Train for young readers is Orphan Train Girl.
In addition to her novels, Kline has commissioned and edited two widely praised collections of original essays on the first year of parenthood and raising young children, Child of Mine and Room to Grow, and edited a book on grieving, Always Too Soon. She is coeditor, with Anne Burt, of a collection of personal essays called About Face: Women Write About What They See When They Look in the Mirror, and is co-author, with her mother, Christina Looper Baker, of a book on feminist mothers and daughters, The Conversation Begins. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Money, More, and Psychology Today, among other places.
Kline was born in Cambridge, England, and raised there as well as in the American South and Maine. She is a graduate of Yale, Cambridge, and the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow in Fiction Writing. She has taught fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, English literature, literary theory, and women’s studies at Yale, NYU, and Drew University, and served as Writer-in-Residence at Fordham University for four years. She is a recipient of several Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Fellowships and Writer-in-Residence Fellowships at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is on the advisory board of Roots & Wings, a foster-care organization in NJ; The Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor, ME; and the Montclair Animal Shelter, and supports a number of libraries and other associations.
Kline lives in an old house in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband, David Kline, and three sons, Hayden, Will, and Eli. She spends as much time as possible in an even older house in Southwest Harbor, Maine.
Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train is an unforgettable story of friendship and second chances that highlights a little-known but historically significant movement in America’s past—and it includes a special PS section for book clubs featuring insights, interviews, and more.
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse...
As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life—answers that will ultimately free them both.
Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.
From Booklist
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christina Baker Kline is the author of instant New York Times bestseller A Piece of the World (2017), about the relationship between the artist Andrew Wyeth and the subject of his best-known painting, Christina’s World. Kline has written six other novels -- Orphan Train, Orphan Train Girl, The Way Life Should Be, Sweet Water, Bird in Hand, and Desire Lines -- and written or edited five works of nonfiction. Her 2013 novel Orphan Train spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list, including five weeks at # 1, and was published in 40 countries. More than 100 communities and colleges have chosen it as a “One Book, One Read” selection. Her adaptation of Orphan Train for young readers is Orphan Train Girl.
In addition to her novels, Kline has commissioned and edited two widely praised collections of original essays on the first year of parenthood and raising young children, Child of Mine and Room to Grow, and edited a book on grieving, Always Too Soon. She is coeditor, with Anne Burt, of a collection of personal essays called About Face: Women Write About What They See When They Look in the Mirror, and is co-author, with her mother, Christina Looper Baker, of a book on feminist mothers and daughters, The Conversation Begins. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Money, More, and Psychology Today, among other places.
Kline was born in Cambridge, England, and raised there as well as in the American South and Maine. She is a graduate of Yale, Cambridge, and the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow in Fiction Writing. She has taught fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, English literature, literary theory, and women’s studies at Yale, NYU, and Drew University, and served as Writer-in-Residence at Fordham University for four years. She is a recipient of several Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Fellowships and Writer-in-Residence Fellowships at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is on the advisory board of Roots & Wings, a foster-care organization in NJ; The Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor, ME; and the Montclair Animal Shelter, and supports a number of libraries and other associations.
Kline lives in an old house in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband, David Kline, and three sons, Hayden, Will, and Eli. She spends as much time as possible in an even older house in Southwest Harbor, Maine.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
March 2018: Burial Rites
Andrea has picked "Burial Rites" by Hannah Kent as our second book in 2018.
ABOUT THE BOOK
*Soon to be a major motion picture starring Jennifer Lawrence*
A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829.
Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.
Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.
Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
An Amazon Best Book of the Month, September 2013: Exploring the final months of an Icelander maid charged with murder and condemned to execution in 1829 is hardly a reader-friendly subject for a novel. But in her mesmerizing debut, Hannah Kent offers a retelling of actual historical events that makes it impossible not to become invested in understanding the guilt--or innocence--of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person to be executed in Iceland. Kent seamlessly shifts between historical documents and different characters’ perspectives with a lyricism that makes every tortured thought and charged interaction echo in the silence of Iceland’s stark landscape. As details of Agnes’s involvement in the crime come to light, this thoroughly researched debut novel asks us to examine the significance of stories--both the ones that others tell about us and the ones that we tell about ourselves--ultimately offering Agnes a chance at a more compassionate story than the one history has given her. --Heather Hunt
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hannah Kent was born in Adelaide in 1985. Her first novel, the international bestseller, Burial Rites (2013),
was translated into 28 languages and was shortlisted for the Baileys
Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) and the Guardian
First Book Award. It won the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the
Indie Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year and the Victorian Premier's
People's Choice Award, and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC
Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, The Good People will be published in 2016 (ANZ) and 2017 (UK and North America).
Hannah is also the co-founder and publishing director of Australian literary publication Kill Your Darlings.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829.
Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.
Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.
Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
An Amazon Best Book of the Month, September 2013: Exploring the final months of an Icelander maid charged with murder and condemned to execution in 1829 is hardly a reader-friendly subject for a novel. But in her mesmerizing debut, Hannah Kent offers a retelling of actual historical events that makes it impossible not to become invested in understanding the guilt--or innocence--of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person to be executed in Iceland. Kent seamlessly shifts between historical documents and different characters’ perspectives with a lyricism that makes every tortured thought and charged interaction echo in the silence of Iceland’s stark landscape. As details of Agnes’s involvement in the crime come to light, this thoroughly researched debut novel asks us to examine the significance of stories--both the ones that others tell about us and the ones that we tell about ourselves--ultimately offering Agnes a chance at a more compassionate story than the one history has given her. --Heather Hunt
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hannah is also the co-founder and publishing director of Australian literary publication Kill Your Darlings.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
February 2018: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
For our first book in 2018, Cass has picked "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. *Note - We changed the month to February to make enough time for our Book Club Escape Room Excursion.*
ABOUT THE BOOK
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
With a foreword by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the PEN/Malamud Award for Short Fiction, a PEN/Hemingway Citation for Best First Fiction, and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Sherman Alexie is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and performer.
He has published 26 books including his recently released memoir, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, his first picture book, Thunder Boy Jr, and young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, all from Little, Brown Books; What I've Stolen, What I've Earned, a book of poetry, from Hanging Loose Press; and Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories, from Grove Press.
He has also published the 20th Anniversary edition of his classic book of stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
Smoke Signals, the movie he wrote and co-produced, won the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.
A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie grew up in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation.
Alexie has been an urban Indian since 1994 and lives in Seattle with his family.
ABOUT THE BOOKBestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
With a foreword by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the PEN/Malamud Award for Short Fiction, a PEN/Hemingway Citation for Best First Fiction, and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Sherman Alexie is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and performer.
He has published 26 books including his recently released memoir, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, his first picture book, Thunder Boy Jr, and young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, all from Little, Brown Books; What I've Stolen, What I've Earned, a book of poetry, from Hanging Loose Press; and Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories, from Grove Press.
He has also published the 20th Anniversary edition of his classic book of stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
Smoke Signals, the movie he wrote and co-produced, won the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.
A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie grew up in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation.
Alexie has been an urban Indian since 1994 and lives in Seattle with his family.
Friday, October 27, 2017
December 2018: 'The Couple Next Door' by Shari Lapena
Becky has picked The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena as our December 2018 read.
ABOUT THE BOOK
It all started at a dinner party. . .
A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .
Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.
Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years.
What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Shari Lapena’s new thriller, A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE, is available now from Viking Books!
“The twists come as fast [as] you can turn the pages.” —People
“Provocative and shocking.” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Find Her
“I read this novel at one sitting, absolutely riveted by the storyline. The suspense was beautifully rendered and unrelenting!” —Sue Grafton, New York Times bestselling author of X
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shari Lapena is a Canadian author, born in 1960. She previously worked as a lawyer and an English teacher. Her novels include Things Go Flying (2008), Happiness Economics (2011), and The Couple Next Door (2016).
ABOUT THE BOOK
It all started at a dinner party. . .
A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .
Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.
Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years.
What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Shari Lapena’s new thriller, A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE, is available now from Viking Books!
“The twists come as fast [as] you can turn the pages.” —People
“Provocative and shocking.” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Find Her
“I read this novel at one sitting, absolutely riveted by the storyline. The suspense was beautifully rendered and unrelenting!” —Sue Grafton, New York Times bestselling author of X
Shari Lapena is a Canadian author, born in 1960. She previously worked as a lawyer and an English teacher. Her novels include Things Go Flying (2008), Happiness Economics (2011), and The Couple Next Door (2016).
Monday, October 16, 2017
November 2017: Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People
Amy's book choice is "Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People"
by Nadia Bolz-Weber. There are lots of copies at the library. "Everybody
will probably find it offensive at some point or another, so I think
we'll have plenty to talk about," she said. :)
ABOUT THE BOOK
What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?
...And what if that's the point?
In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling author Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls “a religious but not-so-spiritual life.” Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people—a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.
As she lives and worships alongside these “accidental saints,” Nadia is swept into first-hand encounters with grace—a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are transformed in ways they couldn’t have been on their own.
In a time when many have rightly become disillusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints demonstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike.
Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nadia Bolz-Weber is the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People (Convergent, 2015), available in bookstores now. She’s also the author of Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television (Seabury 2008) and the New York Times bestselling theological memoir, Pastrix: the Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint (Jericho, 2013). Nadia has been featured in BBC World Service, The Washington Post, Bitch Magazine, NPR’s Morning Edition, Fresh Air, More Magazine, The Daily Beast and on CNN.
Nobody really believes she’s an ordained pastor in the ELCA. Maybe it’s the sleeve tattoos or the fact that she swears like a truck driver. Either way… she’s fine with it.
Nadia lives in Denver with her family of 4 where she can be found writing bios in the third person, lifting weights and walking her Great Dane, Zacchaeus.
“[Bolz-Weber] is a tatted-up, foul-mouthed champion to people sick of being belittled as not Christian enough for the right or too Jesus-y for the left.”
ABOUT THE BOOK
What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?
...And what if that's the point?
In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling author Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls “a religious but not-so-spiritual life.” Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people—a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.
As she lives and worships alongside these “accidental saints,” Nadia is swept into first-hand encounters with grace—a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are transformed in ways they couldn’t have been on their own.
In a time when many have rightly become disillusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints demonstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike.
Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.
Nadia Bolz-Weber is the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People (Convergent, 2015), available in bookstores now. She’s also the author of Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television (Seabury 2008) and the New York Times bestselling theological memoir, Pastrix: the Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint (Jericho, 2013). Nadia has been featured in BBC World Service, The Washington Post, Bitch Magazine, NPR’s Morning Edition, Fresh Air, More Magazine, The Daily Beast and on CNN.
Nobody really believes she’s an ordained pastor in the ELCA. Maybe it’s the sleeve tattoos or the fact that she swears like a truck driver. Either way… she’s fine with it.
Nadia lives in Denver with her family of 4 where she can be found writing bios in the third person, lifting weights and walking her Great Dane, Zacchaeus.
“[Bolz-Weber] is a tatted-up, foul-mouthed champion to people sick of being belittled as not Christian enough for the right or too Jesus-y for the left.”
—The Washington Post
“The amazing thing about Nadia Bolz-Weber is that she manages to take
her Christianity into corners of life where the church can be pretty
uncomfortable going.”
— The Daily Beast
Monday, September 18, 2017
October 2017: Don't Say Anything to Anybody
For October, I've picked our friend's book, "Don't Say Anything to Anybody." Anika Hanisch co-authored this memoir with a
woman who grew up in Germany during World War 2. Anika attended Bethel College with Julie, Amy and I.
As Amy mentioned earlier this year, Anika and her fellow author Brigitte Z. Yearman lauched a kickstarter campaign to get this book in print. Amy had the privilege of being
one of the beta readers. They had interest from publishers but nobody was willing to
sign on the dotted line. Among the comments they've received is that people are not interested in hearing a woman's story of WW2, The readers of WW2 memoirs are primarily men, and publishers are not willing to take the risk.
"This is the reason they've turned to a kickstarter campaign.They are telling a new story to a wider audience. This is a novel for everyone. It's a fresh story that hasn't been told before. It has a broader appeal than traditional audiences of WW2 memoirs. And it's appeal definitely goes beyond educational, historical, and therapeutic communities, though that's what you'll read about in the kickstarter. One of the things that I think it's important to note about this book is that it's written like a novel. It isn't a history book, not a textbook. It's beautifully written and draws the reader into the story, just like any good novel. Knowing that it is a true story makes it that much more powerful."
The book is not available in libraries yet, but you can order it online at Amazon by clicking here. Several of us also contributed to the Kickstarter campaign and have copies.
ABOUT THE BOOK
As Amy mentioned earlier this year, Anika and her fellow author Brigitte Z. Yearman lauched a kickstarter campaign to get this book in print. Amy had the privilege of being
one of the beta readers. They had interest from publishers but nobody was willing to
sign on the dotted line. Among the comments they've received is that people are not interested in hearing a woman's story of WW2, The readers of WW2 memoirs are primarily men, and publishers are not willing to take the risk. "This is the reason they've turned to a kickstarter campaign.They are telling a new story to a wider audience. This is a novel for everyone. It's a fresh story that hasn't been told before. It has a broader appeal than traditional audiences of WW2 memoirs. And it's appeal definitely goes beyond educational, historical, and therapeutic communities, though that's what you'll read about in the kickstarter. One of the things that I think it's important to note about this book is that it's written like a novel. It isn't a history book, not a textbook. It's beautifully written and draws the reader into the story, just like any good novel. Knowing that it is a true story makes it that much more powerful."
The book is not available in libraries yet, but you can order it online at Amazon by clicking here. Several of us also contributed to the Kickstarter campaign and have copies.
Countless World War II memoirs have been
written, but few offer the German civilian perspective. Brigitte Z.
Yearman’s evocative survival memoir provides that fresh voice.
Young Brigitte knows nothing of the politics of war. All she knows is that the conflict has separated her from her family and taken her father away to fight. When her hometown becomes a bombing target, Brigitte is transported to the rural town of Seidel. Her foster family openly opposes the Nazi regime, but when the war ends, that isn’t enough to save them from new troubles brought by Allied troops. Russian soldiers and Polish settlers occupy Seidel, and Brigitte and her foster family are forced to leave.
As refugees they embark on a harrowing life-or-death journey to safety in West Germany. Brigitte is determined to find and restore whatever is left of her biological family. That quest will forever change her understanding of home, peace, and personal identity.
This tale of courage and compassion tells a poignant story about a resilient and resourceful girl coming of age during extremely troubled times. Along the way, she must learn to balance her longing for restoration with an acknowledgment that some wounds never heal.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
As a German child, Brigitte Yearman survived World War II, Russian military occupation, the refugee experience, and harsh reconstruction years. Her memoir recounts her journey of survival and how she came to learn about the Holocaust and the frightening realities in her country’s recent history.
Later as a young woman, Brigitte met and married an American soldier. They moved to the United States where they raised four daughters. After her husband passed away in 2006, Brigitte moved to Montana to be closer to one of her adult daughters. She still lives in Montana with her partner, Frank, who encouraged her throughout the memoir-writing process.
Anika Hanisch has worked as a freelance writer, ghostwriter, editor, and author coach for over fifteen years. She co-writes both instructional and narrative non-fiction and also coaches fiction authors. Her own writing has appeared in several national and regional magazines including Guideposts and Montana Quarterly.
Young Brigitte knows nothing of the politics of war. All she knows is that the conflict has separated her from her family and taken her father away to fight. When her hometown becomes a bombing target, Brigitte is transported to the rural town of Seidel. Her foster family openly opposes the Nazi regime, but when the war ends, that isn’t enough to save them from new troubles brought by Allied troops. Russian soldiers and Polish settlers occupy Seidel, and Brigitte and her foster family are forced to leave.
As refugees they embark on a harrowing life-or-death journey to safety in West Germany. Brigitte is determined to find and restore whatever is left of her biological family. That quest will forever change her understanding of home, peace, and personal identity.
This tale of courage and compassion tells a poignant story about a resilient and resourceful girl coming of age during extremely troubled times. Along the way, she must learn to balance her longing for restoration with an acknowledgment that some wounds never heal.
 |
| Anika and Brigitte in Germany to fact-check in 2012. |
As a German child, Brigitte Yearman survived World War II, Russian military occupation, the refugee experience, and harsh reconstruction years. Her memoir recounts her journey of survival and how she came to learn about the Holocaust and the frightening realities in her country’s recent history.
Later as a young woman, Brigitte met and married an American soldier. They moved to the United States where they raised four daughters. After her husband passed away in 2006, Brigitte moved to Montana to be closer to one of her adult daughters. She still lives in Montana with her partner, Frank, who encouraged her throughout the memoir-writing process.
Anika Hanisch has worked as a freelance writer, ghostwriter, editor, and author coach for over fifteen years. She co-writes both instructional and narrative non-fiction and also coaches fiction authors. Her own writing has appeared in several national and regional magazines including Guideposts and Montana Quarterly.
 |
| Brigitte as a child. |
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