Remembrance: Stories of a Boy and His Country

One old man's memories. One young woman's tribute. One grave reminder for all.A serendipitous meeting between Heinz, a World War II veteran, and Rachael, a lonely waitress, leads to an unlikely friendship-and the ultimate penning of this memoir-turned-novel.Each chapter based on a memory, Remembrance follows Heinz during his coming of age in Germany under the rise of Adolf Hitler. Even as he faces the trials and tribulations of youth-an authoritarian father, thwarted independence, the pangs of first love-the Nazis demand from him still more: to stand by while his best friend's rights are revoked, to bend to the regime's threats for conformity, and to surrender his body-and possibly his soul-as a conscript on the Russian front.At once gripping and yet tender, Remembrance is a cautionary tale about the consequences of choices made, for they are our very becoming. As Goethe warned: "Choose well. Your choice is brief, and yet endless."