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Bittersweet Memories

The Life Story of an Immigrant Daughter

By Barbara Hussmann Long

Overview

When the young daughter of a German scientist is transplanted to America, her new life is fraught with painful circumstances. With fear as her constant companion, carried by forces within and beyond herself, she survives and eventually thrives. This is her story.

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Description

Loneliness, divorce, and mental illness impact the formative years of an immigrant daughter. From the devastation of war to the challenge of life in a new country, she encounters both the best and worst of human nature, bittersweet. Through it all, she comes to realize that everyone struggles, but can choose their own path. She keeps going in the belief that she'll become stronger and wiser. It is hoped that in her story, others may find encouragement and support to cope through difficult times.

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About The Author

Barbara Hussmann Long was born in Bad Homburg, Germany, and grew up near State College, Pennsylvania. She has two married daughters, five granddaughters, and lives with her husband on Long Island Sound. She worked in sales and management, and is involved in community and civic projects. She can be found on Facebook at Bittersweet Memories and at https://www.bittersweetmemories.net. 

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Book details

  • Genre:biography & autobiography
  • Sub-genre:Personal Memoirs
  • Language:English
  • Pages:180
  • eBook ISBN:9781543975888
  • Paperback ISBN:9781543975871

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Book Reviews

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Janice
Bittersweet Memories This memoir is the story of a child loyal to a mother with mental issues, who loses her father to divorce. Her survival of childhood is one of grit and forbearance with words of scripture, poetry, and music of peace to give her solace. Finding her father's family, connecting with them, as an adult, she was able to learn who her father had been and that he had loved her. This book is for anyone who has lost faith that the future can be brighter. Read more
Barbara
Bittersweet Memories "Bittersweet Memories" describes Barbara Long's difficult journey from that of a trouble child to that of a happy, successful adult. Her early childhood experiences could have defeated some, and did have that effect on her brother, but Barbara's positive attitude and unwillingness to give up brought her through all of her early trials and tribulations to a place of peace and happiness in later life. It is a story of inspiration and hope. Read more
Joseph
Bittersweet Memories Barbara Hussmann Long’s life has been successful but far from easy. Her father, mother, and young brother endured the collapse of Hitler’s Germany from the inside. She was born in Germany during the postwar chaos. Her father, an expert diesel engineer, was brought to the United States by our government to participate in the research necessary to secure American advantage in the rapidly developing cold war. Eighteen months after Dr. Hussmann arrived here, his family was permitted to join him. Unfortunately, WW II and its painful aftermath had already taken a devasting toll on the young family. Barbara’s mother, Lottie, began presenting symptoms of the mental illness that would blight her family’s life, becoming irrationally suspicious of her husband and her son, Klaus. Not long after the family bought an isolated home on a forested slope of a mountain near Penn State, where Dr. Hussmann had an academic appointment, the travails of the past began to stain the present. First, Lottie’s insecurities forced Dr. Hussmann to move out. Next, she attempted to curtail her children’s contact with their father. Barbara accepted her mother’s demands, but Klaus did not. Each child suffered in their own way. Bittersweet Memories traces the tragic story of a fractured family through decades of suffering. Of the four emigres who came to our country after the War only Barbara found the American Dream. She achieved her success in an almost Horatio Alger fashion by selling World Book encyclopedias and rising in the company hierarchy. The sole survivor of an ill-fated clan, Barbara found love and produced a happy, well-adjusted family. Her story is distinctive, inspiring and well worth reading about. Read more
Maureen
5 Stars for Bittersweet Memories The chaos inflicted upon those living under the umbrella of war can be so unfair and feel so unnecessary. And when the war is over it is never really “over” in one's psyche. In its wake are broken bridges, broken homes, and broken spirits. And the damage inflicted is never uniformly distributed. In this game of life, we are all given a set of cards to play. But even within a family, each hand can be quite different. We humans — and our relationships — can be both fragile and resilient, and that balance is never the same for each of us. Like war, mental instability, which clearly can be a casualty of war, is difficult to reconcile with what is fair, or right, or just. Barbara Hussmann Long’s parents (who were both good-looking, talented intellectuals) were married on the eve of WWII and Barbara and her brother were born in wartime Germany. In her memoir, Barbara examines the understandably fragmented memories of her childhood — for what it was and for what it might have been. Barbara writes with honesty and with her heart on her sleeve, and she manages to bring so much wisdom to this little book. I thoroughly enjoyed all her quotes… how she took them to heart and used them as guiding lights on her often challenging path. Her mother was a principled war resister but could be cruel to her own children. Her brother was an affable fellow with a brilliant mind but was unable to support himself as an adult. Barbara and her father both longed for a normal father-daughter relationship but were never able to manifest one. Through all the disappointments and ironic twists of fate, Barbara emerges compassionate toward her family of origin. She is keenly aware of the importance of a cohesive, loving family — perhaps more so than most of us. So much so, it is with an almost militant philosophical seriousness that she advocates for parents to be kindhearted and nurturing. Long’s Bittersweet Memories stirred both my emotions and my thinking and for this reason it deserves 5 stars. Read more
Kathy
Bittersweet Memories "Bittersweet Memories" describes the extraordinary, courageous, enduring, and hopeful journey of a determined, relentlessly focused, and loving woman from her birth in post-war Nazi Germany to present day. The story is beautifully told with the backdrop of history, countries, and cultures as she survives a troubled childhood and ultimately creates her own life as wife, mother, and grandmother. It is a memoir that brings hope to us all. Read more