a Smile in One Eye: a Tear in the Other

"One of the best reads I have had in a long time!"
- Fran, What We're Reading, Bookish

Near the edge of the Baltic Sea, in a small East Prussian town, lives a happy and prosperous family. They are patriotic Germans with three daughters and a son: chatty Trude, fearless Lotte, careful Ilse, and precocious Gerhard. The decade-older sisters treat their young brother as their little prince. He is the apple of his father’s eye. Then suddenly, one day in 1933, their world is turned upside down. They have been identified as Jews, a heritage never denied, but a religion never embraced.

Follow this chilling true story as they struggle to survive a Nazi regime intent on their extermination. Even those that manage to flee will find themselves without a home or country to call their own.

From Edinburgh to Shanghai, they will travel the world in search of a place where they belong. Author and historical chronicler Ralph Webster deftly connects their story and survival to the struggles modern refugees face every day. A Smile in One Eye: A Tear in the Other is not only a fascinating piece of history, it is a passionate call to protect and help the world’s refugees.

A 2016 Goodreads Readers Choice Award Nominee for Best Memoir/Autobiography...