No Way Home
One War, Two Sisters
The book tells the true story of Christa-Maria and her sister Ursula during the final months of WW2 and its aftermath, focusing on their individual journeys as refugees in their defeated homeland.
*For shipping outside UK and Europe please contact the author
About the book
The Story of Two Sisters
November 1944 in war-torn Germany, seventeer-year-old Christa-Maria begins her compulsory service at a work camp in Wahrenbruck. Hundreds of miles from her home in Gleiwitz, unaware the Russian Army has invaded and occupied the town, she is cut off from her family. When the camp is closed in April 1945, Christa-Maria is left to fend for herself, not knowing what has happened to her family since the Russian invasion. Now a refugee, her journey through the chaos of war begins; surviving long enough to find her family is all that matters.
Faced with an impossible decision, she begin her life-changing journey of uncertainty, hardship and endurance through the aftermath of WW2.
Meanwhile, her older sister, Ursula, and their parents are in Gleiwitz. Now occupied by Russians, they live with the daily terror of bombings, rampaging Russian soldiers and utter devastation. Whilst trying to hold onto what remains of their previous life, their Vater strikes a black market deal to escape, in the desperate hope of finding Christa-Maria and avoiding imposed Polish citizenship.
This compelling true story weaves together the sisters’ individual journeys, fleeing as refugee, throught the turmoil of their defeated homeland.
Where it happened
My Journey
Through their diaries
Although not a physical journey, I have been to many places of differing emotion as ‘No Way Home’ came to life in my hands – disbelief, shock, sadness, understanding, pride, joy and an unfulfilled longing to talk to my mum and my aunt. Finding these diaries after almost eighty years and, tragically, only after they had died, was an emotional place to start. Finding a way to weave their stories together in a cohesive way, to give you an enjoyable read, was also a challenging place to start.So,I started at the beginning, at the very beginning – a very good place to start – and began by translating, A,,B,C, first Ursula’s, then my mother’s diary.. And it was like that! Working out each letter, using a magnifying glass to look at the direction and pressure of pen strokes, line after line, across the page.Was it an ‘m’ ‘n’ ‘u’ or ‘r’ ?
I found the handwritten entries impossible to read and used internet resources, which helped me recognise the letters.
Over time, the patterns and shapes on the page took the form of words I recognised from speaking German with my mother, as a child.
The translation of their diaries was a long labour of love, revealing the origin of the many themes from my childhood – My aunt’s love of travel and Italy, in particular, why my mother never threw any food away and was always grateful to have a roof over her head and a bed to sleep in.
It has been a revelation to read and recognise the significance of what is written here and the impact the experiences had on their lives.
* For shipping outside UK and Europe please contact the author
About the Author….
Hello and thanks for visiting my website.
I’m 63 yrs old and this is my first book.
What have I been doing all these years?
I’ve been growing into myself via all the versions I’ve been along the way. Couldn’t have got here without them.
I’ve been daughtering and sistering, schooling and studying, travelling, girlfriending and wifing, nursing and mothering, grieving and midwifing, medical repping, divorcing and grieving again, moving out and moving on, downsizing and narrowboating, photographing and posting, translating, writing and editing, living, loving, learning and growing.
And now, I’m here. Being.
Not many words to describe a life, is it?
I’ve a box full of poems, too,
That have never seen the light.
Maybe, one day, I’ll share those with you.
I’ve lived on a narrowboat, ChristaBella, for 2.5 years, travelling around England on the canal and river network with my husband Jim. I love taking photos – I’m drawn to colour, shapes and light – boats, bridges and lock gates are a rich source of inspiration as well as Mother Nature’s seasonal abundance providing opportunities for creative, abstract photographs every day.
Maybe, I’ll share some of those,too.
What Readers Say About The Book
Blog
Short Stories and Videos
Waterstones
Big moment for me! Big Moment!Massive! 😄🎉
I had an email earlier this week to say my book ‘No Way Home’ was in Waterstones! My actual book in a real high street bookshop!
So,I just had to go and see for myself and sure enough….there it was and is; signed by yours truly and on the shelf!
I don’t know if the penny has dropped or something but this feels a little bit special-the cherry on top 🍒
I am so grateful to everyone who helped me get to this point and to all the people who have bought and read a copy.
Thank you,thank you,thank you. 🙏🏻😊
No Diary
’No Diary’ is my response to the surprise find of a the drab, brown notebook, the back cover missing, in the bottom of mum’s wardrobe.I was clearing mum’s house with my siblings when it came to light and was almost discarded there and then! Imagine! Flicking through...
No Way Home Launch
A fantastic afternoon in St. Peter’s Hall, Leamington Spa for the live launch of ‘No Way Home’. Friends and family enjoyed hearing some historical context, watching video clips of restored 1939 cine film, listening to excerpts from the book and some poems I’d been...
Tagebuch
“My German aunt’s diary (Tagebuch) decorated by hand and full of postcards,letters, cuttings, maps, and travel permits, written in handwriting impossible to read, was the inspiration for ‘No Way Home’. My mum’s diary, on the other hand, was a drab, brown notebook detailing her experiences during 1945, written in tiny writing on days when there were moments of calm. The translation of these diaries forms the basis of the book.”
Birthday Card
“Precious finds within diary pages – A birthday card for my mum’s 18th birthday, November 1944, made by my Tante Ursula, using pressed flowers, ribbon and calligraphy. At the time, my mum was away from home, already at the Wahrenbrück work camp, and the postal service, all but non-existent, so this thoughtfully crafted card was never sent.”
Hand to hold
“The focus and discipline needed to make progress in my writing journey was overwhelming at times.Ironically, I wrote this poem, ‘Hand to Hold’ whilst feeling emotional and stuck, having struggled with the translation of several pages in my aunt’s diary.”
Lines
“I wrote this poem over several months, beginning by recording my thoughts on how often ‘lines’ appear as part of our everyday lives, whilst on a walk. When writing ‘No Way Home’, the theme of ‘lines’ occurred again; this time in conflict and war. As you can hear, the poem ‘Lines’ moves from the innocent, everyday observation about aging to something much darker and troubling.”
Storytelling
“Story telling is so important. Towards the end of writing ‘No Way Home’, my brother sent me a voice recording of my mum talking to his son about her experiences in 1945. It was done as part of a school history project about WW2. As you can imagine, it was very emotional, hearing mum speak of the very thing I was writing about, as I translated her diaries.”