Forty Autumns

Nina Willner's memoir features her mother, who escaped to West Berlin, leaving her family behind the Iron Curtain. At 20, Hanna embraces her newfound freedom but is filled with worry about her family. Cassandra Campbell's narration depicts the period of the Cold War well and conveys a deep longing that mirrors Hanna's pain and loss. News of her family through the years gives Hanna assurances that her family remains close and is thriving in spite of the Communist regime. Campbell's portrayal of Hanna's emotional arc reflects a deep understanding of self-preservation and love of family. E.B. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

August 29, 2016
Willner’s epic memoir traverses three generations of mothers, recounting the tragedy, estrangement, and overwhelming courage of a family torn apart by the ideological division of Germany during the Cold War. Willner, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, weaves familial legends of escape from farmsteads guarded by roving East German border patrols, with tales of international espionage at the 1958 World’s Fair. Her interrogative and unabashed voice explores the painful intersection of national duty and familial responsibilities, as when she describes the first encounter of her maternal grandfather and her father in 1959: “The two shook hands: the tall East German and onetime soldier in the Third Reich meeting his new son-in-law, an Auschwitz and Buchenwald survivor and now a U.S. Army intelligence officer.” Faced with government-sanctioned propaganda and manipulation, readers follow a family of educators led by their daughters as they attempt to navigate “the fabric of East German society began to fray under the yoke of an Orwellian climate of oppression.” Willner’s depiction of the brutal East German regime and the fight of one family to unite is a thrilling and relevant read for historians and casual readers alike.

Starred review from September 15, 2016

Written by the first female U.S. Army intelligence officer during Cold War operations, this gripping book details Willner's family's experience during the post-World War II conflict. As a little girl, Willner's mother, Hanna, would explain that her grandparents lived behind a "curtain" in East Berlin. Telling Hanna's story, the author describes how a shove by her grandmother Oma literally landed 17-year-old Hanna in the arms of an American sergeant, presenting her with a chance to escape East Berlin. On her third attempt, Hanna safely landed in West Berlin, where she met and ultimately married a U.S. Army intelligence officer. Leaving her family behind, Hanna moved to the United States at age 20, suffering extended periods when she was unable to communicate with her loved ones because her escape deemed them "politically unreliable." Willner's book follows her East Berlin family up to the destruction of the wall in 1989 and their reconciliation with Hanna. Throughout, Willner intersperses historical fact, which adds a brutal realism to the story. VERDICT An excellent and intriguing account of the impact of the Cold War on families and their lives on either side of the Berlin Wall. [See Prepub Alert, 4/25/16.]--Rebecca Hill, Zionsville, IN

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2016

Willner became the first female U.S. Army intelligence officer to lead sensitive intelligence operations in East Germany during the Cold War, but here she gives us a much bigger story. When the Iron Curtain slammed down, her mother, Hanna, escaped from East to West Germany and eventually came to America, leaving behind her family--including Willner's grandmother Oma, aunt Heidi, and cousin Cordula, an East German Olympic athlete. Here, Willner shows us oppressive Communist East Germany, where she ran risky operations, and celebrates the reunion of all five women when the wall finally fell. With a 150,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

A former U.S. Army intelligence officer's story of her East German mother's flight to the West and of the family she left behind.Willner was just 5 years old when she first learned that her mother Hanna's parents lived "behind a curtain" in East Germany. But it would not be until several years later that she would understand that this "curtain" was really a symbol of their political oppression and that Hanna had barely escaped entrapment herself. Her own mother, Oma, had literally pushed her into the arms of the departing American soldiers who had been occupying their hometown. The 17-year-old Hanna soon returned out of concern for her family. But when, after fleeing and returning a second time, she saw how communist ideology was changing her father and destroying the freedom, happiness, and security she had once known, she left, this time barely escaping with her life. Piecing together the story of Hanna's family from relatives encountered only after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Willner re-creates an at times painful account of how her aunts, uncles, and especially her grandparents survived a brutal East German dictatorship. Though marked as "politically unreliable" due to Hanna's defection, they never gave up hope that one day they would be reunited. However, the price they paid was high. Willner's grandfather became a target of communist officials, who banished him, his wife, and youngest daughter, born after Hanna's third and final escape, to a tiny farming community to prevent the spread of possible dissent and then forced him to undergo "intensive reeducation training" at a mental hospital. Yet through all the suffering, the family managed to stay together and survive by building a "Family Wall" of love and loyalty against the powerful outside forces they could not control. Thoughtful and informative, Willner's book not only offers a personal view of the traumatic effects of German partition. It also celebrates the enduring resilience of the human spirit. A poignant and engrossing, occasionally harrowing, family memoir. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 15, 2016
A former U.S. Army intelligence officers story of her East German mothers flight to the West and of the family she left behind.Willner was just 5 years old when she first learned that her mother Hannas parents lived behind a curtain in East Germany. But it would not be until several years later that she would understand that this curtain was really a symbol of their political oppression and that Hanna had barely escaped entrapment herself. Her own mother, Oma, had literally pushed her into the arms of the departing American soldiers who had been occupying their hometown. The 17-year-old Hanna soon returned out of concern for her family. But when, after fleeing and returning a second time, she saw how communist ideology was changing her father and destroying the freedom, happiness, and security she had once known, she left, this time barely escaping with her life. Piecing together the story of Hannas family from relatives encountered only after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Willner re-creates an at times painful account of how her aunts, uncles, and especially her grandparents survived a brutal East German dictatorship. Though marked as politically unreliable due to Hanna's defection, they never gave up hope that one day they would be reunited. However, the price they paid was high. Willner's grandfather became a target of communist officials, who banished him, his wife, and youngest daughter, born after Hanna's third and final escape, to a tiny farming community to prevent the spread of possible dissent and then forced him to undergo intensive reeducation training at a mental hospital. Yet through all the suffering, the family managed to stay together and survive by building a Family Wall of love and loyalty against the powerful outside forces they could not control. Thoughtful and informative, Willners book not only offers a personal view of the traumatic effects of German partition. It also celebrates the enduring resilience of the human spirit. A poignant and engrossing, occasionally harrowing, family memoir.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 15, 2016
Willner's mother, Hanna, just 20 years old, escaped from East Germany into West Germany at nearly the last possible moment. His telling of her story quickly becomes a page-turner about a loving family facing East Germany's hardships, restrictions, and fears under the oppressive communist regime and the manipulative secret police. Young Hanna eventually lands in America, but she leaves her beloved family behindOma, Opa, and many others, but especially her younger sister Heidi. Hanna and daughter Nina's tale spins unexpectedly when Nina is commissioned in the U.S. Army as an intelligence officerand stationed in 1983 in Berlin, just miles from the family members she has never met. Not just the author's storytelling skill but also the many photos touchingly portray this charming, divided family. Plenty of backgroundboth heartbreaking (would-be escapees shot at the wall) and fascinating (President Kennedy's Berlin speech, preceded by his peeking over the wall)is woven neatly in. A multigenerational tale that brings the Cold War and the iron curtain to tragic, memorable life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)