Book Review: A Child in Berlin

A Book Review and a Cuppa

You may remember from my previous book review that I’m neither a coffee drinker nor a tea drinker, but Paula’s blog tagline here at Between the Bookends–Books, Cuppas, Conversations, and Friendships–always makes me think of sitting down with something warm to sip while I read. So today I’m sharing my recipe for (sugar-free) Warm Citrus Spice Mix, a tangy, cinnamon-y mix you stir into warm water that you can enjoy while reading this beautiful book. Find the easy recipe at that link!

My Review of “A Child in Berlin”

I connected with author Rhonda Lauritzen quite a few years ago now because the business she and her friend Rachel Trotter run, evalogue.life, has such a sweet overlap with mine. They are in the business of life stories: teaching classes to help people tell their stories, along with offering life story-writing services including biographies, family histories, and memoirs, and one-on-one coaching.  They are regular presenters at the annual RootsTech conference, too.

I have quoted Rachel’s or Rhonda’s wisdom many a time over the last decade in blog posts such as

• The Power of Place and Family Traditions
• The Important Effects of Family Stories and Family History – with Storyboarding
• Why Your Family Needs its Stories
• Why Every Human Heart Needs His or Her Family History)

because while they focus on the telling of life stories, I focus on preserving our stories and memories with our photos.

As I said, it’s a sweet overlap!

So, when I saw that Rhonda published a book late last year called A Child in Berlin: the poignant story of Heidi Posnien and her mother during the fall of Germany, I knew it was a must-read before I even opened it.

I loved reading this book. As you know, I only recommend clean reads, so this is a safe-to-share and safe-to-recommend book. We all love a good hero story, and I found this book absolutely remarkable in that way. The courage both Heidi and her mother displayed throughout one of the most horrific times in history is absolutely heroic. It’s powerful, inspiring, and moving.

I will tell you, too, that I’m a sensitive soul (a Highly Sensitive Person, as Elaine Aron describes it), so I have a really hard time reading about/listening to/watching movies about traumatic things such as the atrocities of war. This book focuses more on Heidi’s (and Käthe’s) courage and resilience, and although it doesn’t gloss over the horrors, it’s a memoir of Heidi’s childhood experience told from her point of view as she lived it, so it was–to me–a manageable and sensitive way to read about the realities of World War II in Germany.

I highly recommend A Child in Berlin by Rhonda Lauritzen! I’ll be back next month with my next Personalized DIY Books post, so in the meantime, pick up this book now. I’m not kidding when I say: Don’t wait! It would make a great book club read, a lovely gift, and a beautiful way to inspire your own heart.

See this post In The News at evalogue.life.