A mother is running from her past in Hitler’s Germany. Her daughter is running towards it…
Monique’s mother, Inge, was a half-Jewish German and a Holocaust survivor who chose to deny her heritage until her death. Inge was a gifted and capable individual with a charismatic yet exasperating personality who continually transformed herself throughout her life.
She was forced to leave Nazi Germany and ended up in the souks of Meknes. From there, she fled a cold attic in war-torn Brussels to settle in a council estate in Birkenhead. London provided her with a fresh beginning, but her past caught up with her. Triumph finally came in France where nobody knew who she was – least of all the friends who adored her.
Led by emotions she could barely understand, let alone control, Inge divided, and often she conquered. Following her death, profound revelations were exposed. Inge’s daughters were aware that she had always misled others, but they were unaware that they, as well, might be collateral damage.
Compelling, frank, and witty, this memoir is part detective story, part daughterly fury. Drawn to embrace the identity her mother could not bear, Monique Charlesworth has dug deep into Inge’s story, unveiling tragedy, passion, heartbreak and, finally, the truth.
Monique Charlesworth was born in Birkenhead, England, and has lived in France and Germany. A graduate of the National Film and Television School, she has written television dramas for the BBC.
She is the author of four novels, including the highly acclaimed The Children’s War, which was partly a fictionalised story of her mother’s escape from Germany during the War.
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