A Leaf in the Wind

by Kay Henning Danley

Overview

In May of 1939 Ruth Schwarz, a young woman of 19, left her family in Berlin and alone boarded a ship for England. Germany was no longer safe for Jews. Ruth was lucky to get out; her family remained behind, firm in the belief that the difficulties with Hitler at the helm of the Nazi government would blow over and the Germany they knew to be decent and cultured would prevail.

Little did Ruth know that she would never see her family again.

So began a ten-year odyssey that would take Ruth around the globe in search of a home and meaning in a world that often seemed indifferent to her plight.

Through interviews, excerpts of family letters, and Ruth's journals, Ruth's daughter, Kay Danley has pieced together an exploration of her mother's character and the events and relationships that shaped it. Danley shares her mother's experiences through a filter of her personal perspective as a child of a first-generation immigrant. This story raises universal questions and reflections about our collective humanity—how we are shaped by loss, the rippling of trauma through generations, and its impact on our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781663585516
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date:	10/18/2020
Pages:	244
Sales rank:	196,875
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Kay Henning Danley is a painter living in Portland, Oregon with her husband, Mark Danley. This is her first full-length, written work. It has been a labor of love, a long time in coming.

In this project, Kay hopes to honor her mother, her grandparents, and the family members who lived through the strange and perilous decades before, during, and after World War II. Kay’s artwork, can be viewed on her website here:
http://www.kaydanley.com/

Editorial Reviews

Many parts of the book were very moving. One was the way you described Käthe and Ilse, through their stories but also their letters. You model for your children, grandchildren, and their children why the telling of these stories is so important . . . your openness to discovering and internalizing their lives, so distant and different in many ways from your own, opens the way towards love, compassion, and gratitude.

Personal - Ellen Keck Stauder