Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall

Written by the first female U.S. Army intelligence officer during Cold War operations, this gripping book details Willner's family's experience during the post-World War II conflict. As a little girl, Willner's mother, Hanna, would explain that her grandparents lived behind a "curtain" in East Berlin. Telling Hanna's story, the author describes how a shove by her grandmother Oma literally landed 17-year-old Hanna in the arms of an American sergeant, presenting her with a chance to escape East Berlin. On her third attempt, Hanna safely landed in West Berlin, where she met and ultimately married a U.S. Army intelligence officer. Leaving her family behind, Hanna moved to the United States at age 20, suffering extended periods when she was unable to communicate with her loved ones because her escape deemed them "politically unreliable." Willner's book follows her East Berlin family up to the destruction of the wall in 1989 and their reconciliation with Hanna. Throughout, Willner intersperses historical fact, which adds a brutal realism to the story.