Birth of a Tumbleweed

Memoirs of Growing Up in Post-Nazi Germany

by Inge Perreault


Formats

Hardcover
$25.45
Softcover
$17.50
$16.50
Hardcover
$25.45

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 10/10/2002

Format : Hardcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 260
ISBN : 9781403311719
Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 260
ISBN : 9781403311702

About the Book

I met Inge in the autumn of 1969, shortly after she arrived in New York. Introduced by a mutual friend, we fell in love and got married a year and a half later. She was the first German I got to know and she did not resemble the "ugly German" stereotype so many Americans were raised hearing about. Born after the war ended, and out of wedlock, she was innocent of any wrongdoing but had to endure being raised among the rubble and anguish which follows all wars. Living in a shack without electricity or running water her family survived by growing what they could and struggled until slowly life began to improve, but her resolve to leave Germany was already firmly in place. Those terrible memories plus growing up in a dysfunctional environment were the motivation for her extensive travel throughout Europe during her teens. Today, over fifty years after the end of that terrible war, she is still on occasion the victim of anti-German bias, every bit as ugly as racism or anti-Semitism. Millions of people of that generation have carried a burden they shouldn’t have. This story had to be told and I am proud of her determination for doing so. Hopefully, this book will make people remember that children are not responsible for the sins of their Fathers.


About the Author

Inge Perreault is a writer who shows great diversity in her work. Poetry or prose, short stories based on fact or fiction, newspaper commentaries with a keen sense of humor and social criticism, in all her writing an intense passion for the relevant subjects find expression.

She has written for various national publications, periodicals and newspapers, leading to the publishing of her first book Duck Soup – Vignettes of Country Life. Encouraged by the response from readers she chose to demonstrate her diversity in releasing Birth of a Tumbleweed. Almost two years in the making, this book shows a side of her life few people are familiar with. The author embarks on the painful journey back into her childhood, growing up amidst the rubble and destruction after the Second World War in her country of birth, Germany. While she emerges from the experience deeply scarred, the title of the book shows us the face of a true survivor. Through sheer determination and persistence she overcomes one hurdle after another; never forgetting where she comes from and what she learned about the human condition.

Since this is a very personal disclosure of her experiences, Inge Perreault has chosen to act as her own editor, in the attempt to be as truthful and authentic as possible. While the actual Tumbleweed breaks off and is blown about by the wind, doing so it leaves behind precious seeds. It is the author’s greatest hope that she too leaves behind in her work "seeds" for better understanding, tolerance and acceptance of each other. This book is especially relevant after the events on September 11, 2001.

Inge Perreault lives in New Jersey with her husband Roland Perreault. She raised two sons, Marc and Eric Perreault whom she considers to be her greatest accomplishments.