Nina Willner
ebook | Pages: 416 pages Rating: 4.35 | 5143 Users | 812 Reviews
Describe Based On Books Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall
| Title | : | Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall |
| Author | : | Nina Willner |
| Book Format | : | ebook |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 416 pages |
| Published | : | October 4th 2016 by William Morrow |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. History. Autobiography. Memoir. Cultural. Germany. Biography |
Ilustration In Favor Of Books Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall
In this illuminating and deeply moving memoir, a former American military intelligence officer goes beyond traditional Cold War espionage tales to tell the true story of her family—of five women separated by the Iron Curtain for more than forty years, and their miraculous reunion after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Forty Autumns makes visceral the pain and longing of one family forced to live apart in a world divided by two. At twenty, Hanna escaped from East to West Germany. But the price of freedom—leaving behind her parents, eight siblings, and family home—was heartbreaking. Uprooted, Hanna eventually moved to America, where she settled down with her husband and had children of her own. Growing up near Washington, D.C., Hanna’s daughter, Nina Willner became the first female Army Intelligence Officer to lead sensitive intelligence operations in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War. Though only a few miles separated American Nina and her German relatives—grandmother Oma, Aunt Heidi, and cousin, Cordula, a member of the East German Olympic training team—a bitter political war kept them apart. In Forty Autumns, Nina recounts her family’s story—five ordinary lives buffeted by circumstances beyond their control. She takes us deep into the tumultuous and terrifying world of East Germany under Communist rule, revealing both the cruel reality her relatives endured and her own experiences as an intelligence officer, running secret operations behind the Berlin Wall that put her life at risk. A personal look at a tenuous era that divided a city and a nation, and continues to haunt us, Forty Autumns is an intimate and beautifully written story of courage, resilience, and love—of five women whose spirits could not be broken, and who fought to preserve what matters most: family. Forty Autumns is illustrated with dozens of black-and-white and color photographs.Mention Books Supposing Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall
| Original Title: | Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall |
| ISBN: | 0062410334 (ISBN13: 9780062410337) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Berlin(Germany) East Germany |
Rating Based On Books Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall
Ratings: 4.35 From 5143 Users | 812 ReviewsColumn Based On Books Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall
"What will become of a country when a mother cannot even trust her own children, and they, in turn cannot trust their own families?"Oma Apart from a documentary I saw a few years ago about East Germany doping innocent athletes in the 80s, I knew relatively nothing about East Germany or about how the infamous wall came into existence. This book was so enlightening! On quite a few occasions I was moved to tears at the utter waste associated with the 40 year regime. Overnight freedom didn'tAs soon as I finished reading this 'wonderful' epic family memoir .....I wanted to know a little more about the author: *Nina Willner*. I wasn't expecting her to be absolutely gorgeous ... physically stunning! Gifted author --and beautiful -- I'm trying to imagine what it 'feels' like for Nina Willner to have written this book --for the world to read -- about HER MOTHER.... a very personal story. What a gift she is passing to 'her' children. Oh... and speaking of children: there are several
4 high stars. I listened to Forty Autumns as an audiobook. I loved listening to this mix of memoir and history about East Germany. Author Nina Willner's mother Hannah defected from East Germany when she was 20 years old, leaving behind her parents and seven siblings. Willner recounts the story of her family on both sides of the wall, adding in a heavy dose of historical information. I loved the mix of personal and political history. Willner really conveys the emotional and personal impact that
This book is really interesting because it focuses mostly on actual East Germany, not just East Berlin, which never seems to happen. I learned a lot about parts of Germany I had never heard of. The author is ex-military from a military family, so it has a big bias but she even mentions that this is her story, and everyone's story is different. I appreciated that even if she gives Ronald Reagan way too much credit. It was also cool to read about a woman leading these spy missions during a time
Interesting look at a family's story that is divided by the Berlin Wall. I learned so much about East and West Germany at this time and I'm glad I learned it through the eyes of this family. It's heartbreaking to think that some of the siblings and their parents had little to no connection with each other, some for almost 40 years. This was written by a granddaughter so it had a similar feel/story to "We Were the Lucky Ones" but told in a non-fiction standpoint instead of historical fiction. At
Those interested in how it was to live in East Germany during the Cold War will enjoy this book. It is both biography and history lesson. The author writes of her family, with the greatest emphasis upon her maternal grandparents, great-grandparents, mother along with her mother's eight siblings and the author's cousin named Cordula. It is a large family. By observing the whole family we come to understand the earnings and sorrows and triumphs of not just one but people of different
How embarrassing to be blubbering like a big crybaby over my cappuccino in Starbucks . . . but this story is told so well, I forgot I was even in the U.S. until, from across the table, my husband said, "are you okay?" I could not put this book down! It's part memoir, part family history with such detail and interesting insight into life on both sides of the wall for those separated by it. It's one thing to learn of the "iron curtain" in history class and quite another to see, feel and experience
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.