A World Elsewhere: An American Woman in Wartime Germany

Drawing from a collection of letters and diary entries given to her by her mother, MacRae’s thought-provoking chronicle of her parents’ experiences during WWII offers the perspective of ordinary people as historic events tamper with their lives. MacRae gets to know her mother as a young woman, the father she never met, and her own place in history. Her mother, Aimée, born to a wealthy Connecticut family, forgoes college to travel the world, and she meets Heinrich, a penniless Russian baron exiled by the Bolsheviks, in 1920s Paris. A slew of letters reveals their blossoming romance and marriage, and the couple settle on a farm north of Berlin. But when the Great Depression hits and unforeseen troubles cause their resources to dwindle, Heinrich volunteers for the German army during WWII and is killed on Russian front. And so, even though leaving Germany is forbidden, Aimée and her six young children start a long and difficult journey to ghetto America. The letters and diary entries, MacRae finds, are full of youthful questions and hopes that turned to pensive fears and detailed descriptions of the horrors of war. While the substance of MacRae’s historical account is fascinating, many passages are overwritten.. Agent: Robin Straus, the Robin Straus Agency (Sept.)