Forty Autumns: A Family’s Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner
- Publisher: William Morrow, 2016
- Genre: History, Biography
- Format: Ebook
- Page Count: 391 pages
- My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
This book is amazing! Written as a memoir and unlike historic textbooks, Nina gave her readers an insight of what life in East Germany was like with an intimate approach. We follow her family story as her mother, Hanna, fled East Germany in hopes of being free, and how Oma and the others dealt with their life behind the Iron Curtains. The book is very sad and depressing but has a happy ending. I cannot recall how many times I’ve cried reading on subways, in coffee shops, and once on a plane over East China Sea. Forty Autumns is emotionally compelling and very enthralling. All the personal stories of Nina’s family members were all very dramatic, making the book even more interesting than plain memoirs.
Throughout the book, I couldn’t help but love and respect Oma for insisting that the family stayed together no matter what. In an age where no one was trustworthy, Oma tried very hard to make her home a safe place for her family. Being granted much freedom from birth, I was astounded by that less than 30 years ago, pursuing freedom was life gambling in East Germany. Less than 30 years ago!
From what I read in this book, I could understand why so many people risked their lives to escape the East for a presumably better life in the West. I guess I would have done the same, despite all the odds. The sufferings were unimaginable. Teenagers became middle-aged people when freedom was granted again, and families were separated by the wall, or possibly worse, by death. Some never lived to see the destruction of the Berlin Wall either from natural death or being killed by border guards or died trying to flee.
My heart goes out to those who have been affected or have suffered from those times. I hope tragic events would never happen on a scale like this again. Thank you, Nina, for bringing both history and your family story to the world. This book is very valuable. [7 Jul 2018]
