It's No Secret Anymore
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Preview 1
A week later there was a terrifying daylight bombing raid. Ursula was separated from her mother as they ran for safety to an air raid shelter. As the sirens sounded, they joined the throng of people pushing, shoving, and fighting their way to find shelter. Together, they started running for the city hall which had a deep basement. As the bombs began to fall, a huge explosion knocked Ursula down and showered her with rubble. By the time she forced herself to get up and look around, her mother was nowhere to be seen!
Frantically, Ursula fought her way to the air-raid shelter, hoping to meet her mother there. When she arrived, the place was packed with terrified people and she couldn't see because there were no lights. With heart pounding, and the sour taste of fear in her mouth, she waited for over an hour before the all-clear signal alerted them that it was safe to come out.
Standing outside of the city hall, Ursula watched anxiously as the people left, but as the last ones struggled out of the shelter her heart dropped. Refusing to believe something had happened to her mother, she searched the city for the rest of the day. She looked everywhere, and stared into the faces of everyone she passed. Finally, she had gave up in despair.
That had been two days ago. Now Ursula shivered as she sat in her darkened house, praying her mother was alive and would come home. But she couldn't wait any longer. The fighting was so close that the house shook and dust gently wafted down from the ceiling whenever the artillery guns fired. There was no electricity and the water hadn't worked in days.
Preview 2
Her only chance of survival might be to resist as little as possible. Just then a hand reached down and jerked Ursula painfully to her knees by her long, blond hair, causing her to scream out involuntarily. Reaching up with her hands, she tried desperately to push the hand in her hair away, but one of the soldiers struck her on the side of the head.
Semi-conscious and with blood streaming from the side of her head and mouth, pain dulled her senses. She could no longer struggle. Swaying unsteadily on her knees, she was held up only by the hand clutching her hair. From behind, the jacket and sweater were yanked off, leaving her totally exposed from the waist up in the freezing air. Feebly, she tried to cover her breasts with her hands, but they were roughly pulled away.
Quickly, her hands were pulled behind her back and for the first time she saw the soldiers. They were filthy, disheveled, and had not showered or bathed in months. She closed her eyes as one of the soldiers stepped up to her. For a moment he just stared appreciatively at her big bare breasts, the nipples turgid from the icy air.
Slowly, the soldier reached out and cupped each breast in turn, as if weighing them. A huge grin appeared on his face as Ursula flinched and moaned at the same time. Then he groped her in a more intimate fashion. This action elicited a squeal of pain from Ursula, and all of the soldiers laughed sadistically. Bending down, he sucked a mouthful of flesh into his mouth. Ursula screamed in agony, writhing and twisting in pain, unable to escape the soldier who held her arms.
Preview 3
IN 1967 URSULA'S MOTHER CALLED WITH news of Heinz Gruber. He had been engaged to Ursula when she was 18 years old and was presumed killed in the war. "Urshi, Heinz has turned up and he was asking after you. He would like to see you." Mrs. Weiss had never liked Jack. She blamed him for taking her daughter away from her and she took great pleasure in finding a reason to separate her Urshi from Jack and bring her back to Germany.
Ursula contacted Heinz and they carried on like they had never been apart. He asked her to come back to him. He had missed her with all his heart. The thought of her had helped him keep his body and soul together during his time as a P.O.W.
Heinz convinced her to come to Germany and see him. It did not take much effort on his part to get her to agree to the offer. She missed Heinz and wanted to be with someone who would care for her. It would be tremendously exciting to be with him again. It would almost be like old times.
One evening, after Jack had finished his dinner, Ursula told him that her mother had taken ill. "She's not a young woman, Jack. If I am unable to get back to her, I may never see her again."
Jack offered to go back to Germany with her, but Ursula would not hear of it. "Who do you trust to run the business while you are gone? You have too many jobs going on that need your supervision. Everything would go up in smoke if you left someone else in charge. No, you should stay here and make sure we still have a business to come back to."
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About the Book
Ursula Kanel, a women who experienced life, first at it’s best, then at it’s worst. Ursula found it difficult to overcome the horrors of the past and enjoy the fruits of her future. A woman seeking happiness, but alienating those wanting to help her find it. Ursula, a beautiful German woman, introduced to important German men, only to have World War II interrupt her idealistic life. She fled her home in front of the Russian invasion, losing contact with her past. This book follows Ursula from her youth in Europe through her marriage(s) and her arrival in America. Her dreams were fulfilled, becoming a wealthy woman, however she had difficulty finding happiness in any lasting form. Peggy Love is a woman who has also had losses and changes in her life, but unlike Ursula, found happiness and thrived on it. She has led a full life with her husband, four children, many grandchildren, and lots of friends. Peggy did not have to run for her life during the war, but she was forced to change schools, move to a different state, and endure her mother suffering from tuberculosis during her childhood. Peggy did grow up with lots of love and never wanted to live in the past, but move on to the future. Peggy and Ursula’s stories are very different, yet the reader will find common ground. They both lost loved ones and sacrificed part of their youths, Peggy for her mother and Ursula for her father. This book chronicles these two lives to the point, where as fate would have it, they begin a strange relationship that lasts until Ursula’s death. It’s No Secret Anymore is based on fact. Peggy tells her own story. Ursula’s story is from letters, albums, and journals she hid away that were found after her death. She also confided parts of her life to a few people, including Peggy. By putting all this information together, a clear picture of the secret life Ursula lived finally emerged and many questions were answered at last.
About the Author
Peggy Love, the author, is a housewife, former business owner/operator, world traveler, Bridge Life – Master, and mother of four. She has recently turned her talents to writing. Although this is her first book, she is already working on her second. Peggy loves to tell stories of her life and her book reflects this. She lives with her husband of fifty years, Vic, in Diamond Bar, California. It’s No Secret Anymore is a story from a modern day Margaret Mitchell . . . . . this author was born, Peggy Love Mitchell. She is from rural Kentucky and attended a one-room schoolhouse for much of her grade school education. The family moved to Owensboro, Kentucky and then to Phoenix, Arizona for her mother’s health. Peggy graduated from Phoenix Union High School in 1948 and then returned to Kentucky and attended Georgetown College. After falling in love in 1950, she married Vic Anderson and had four children. Peggy and Vic’s loves are family, friends, traveling, and playing bridge. Peggy’s many friends from her busy life included Ursula Kanel, a German born woman. Ursula lived an exciting life in a World War II background. She was involved in a savage gang rape by Russian soldiers. She then dedicated the rest of her life to self-preservation and her own satisfaction, no matter how much she hurt the people she knew. Peggy’s first writing effort is a result of a long "friendship" with Ursula and five years of research and hard work.