A Secret Life

By Lee Carver

Description:

The German Army of World War II rips Karl Von Steuben from his family and privileged life, forcing him to conceal his American sympathies and Jewish heritage. Stripped of every tie to his home country, he determines to escape. As he crawls to the Siegfried Line, only he knows the hiding place of gold ingots melted from the jewelry of death camp prisoners. Wounded after assuming the identity of a fallen American soldier, Karl briefly deceives even himself. Discharged and shipped to America, he discovers God's unmerited favor in a beautiful Atlanta nurse. But he must return to Germany or relinquish his family fortune and rear children under the name of another man. Will Grace forgive his duplicity and accept him as an American?

Book Takeaway:

Love requires forgiveness, and both God and people are able to give the unmerited gift of grace.

Why the author wrote this book:

While "A Secret Life" is fictional, it represents the crises in the lives of Germans caught in Hitler's insane domination. What if a German had dual citizenship with America because of his mother's origin? And what if she were Jewish, now converted to Christianity before marrying a German and moving to Germany? They would all be killed in a moment if their secrets became known.