But this crazy life has one thing to be said for it: one has so much to worry about that one ceases to worry at all.

I requested this book from NetGalley because I am always interested in reading about people who lived through WWII. This book stuck out for me because I hadn't yet read about an American living in Germany during the war. While this family did experience horrible hardships, this book doesn't really stand out from the other memoirs and biographies I've read because at times the book could be dry or very slow paced, it felt a bit disjointed with the excerpts of all the letters, and the ending felt rushed.

I really loved reading about Sigrid's mother and father's childhood. That, and the parts about Aimee taking care of the children in Germany, was one of the most interesting parts of the book. I did have a hard time with this book when it started to include more excerpts from Aimee and Heinrich's letters as the writing styles differed greatly between the letters and Sigrid's writing, so it felt a bit disjointed. The parts involving Heinrich serving during WWII could be very dry and very slow. It was hard to get through.

It was heartbreaking to read about what Aimee and her children went through after Heinrich's death. Those parts were fascinating and so well written that it felt like I was there with the family. Once they made it to America I felt like the ending came out of nowhere and felt rushed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the galley.

My gosh does this book drag on. The pace is slow and I am so bored. I feel like I should be done with this by now but I am only 46% of the way through. This started off interesting and has gotten less interesting the more I read it. This just might be the first book in a while that I don't finish.

I am a bit disappointed in this book right now. It started off really well with the author going in to the childhood and background of both of her parents. Now the author will talk about something for a paragraph and then share an excerpt from a letter that one of her parents wrote that expands upon the paragraph. It is a lot of excerpts from letters now. I am really understanding why the author said their wouldn't be a book without the letters because really right now that is pretty much all there is. While I feel like the letters are meant to enhance the book it is really breaking up the rhythm. You can tell the difference between the author's writing style and the writing style of whoever wrote the letters and it is kind of distracting.