Award-Winning Author G.J. Berger Honors Mother's Heroism in To Steal a Moment's Time, a Gripping WWII Memoir of Survival, Courage, and Unbreakable Maternal Love

In To Steal a Moment's Time, G.J. Berger brings his mother Katharina Berger's wartime journals to life, offering an intimate glimpse of courage, maternal love, and resilience amid the horrors of WWII.
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G.J. Berger is an award-winning author whose adventurous life, spanning continents, cargo ships, and courtrooms, infuses his writing with authenticity and heart. A former trial lawyer turned novelist, Berger brings the past vividly to life in his acclaimed historical works South of Burnt Rocks-West of the Moon and Four Nails, both winners of the San Diego Book Award for Best Historical Fiction. His legal thriller Chasing Justice earned comparisons to Grisham and Baldacci.

To Steal a Moment's Time, a memoir based on his mother's wartime journals, was praised by Kirkus Reviews. " This work is a rare feat, a seamless amalgam of an unflinching literary realism with an unsentimental affirmation of life. A beautiful war account-both unsettling and inspiring. "

He lives in San Diego with his wife, an English professor and tango partner, and continues to explore the timeless struggles and triumphs that define the human spirit.

This one-on-one interview shares Berger's background and experience leading to TO STEAL A MOMENT'S TIME.

Tell us about TO STEAL A MOMENT'S TIME.

On the brink of World War II, my mother, Katharina Berger, was Germany's most celebrated stage and film actress. While many of her friends and colleagues fled Hitler's madness, she chose to stay, and in 1944, gave birth to me in a world torn apart by war. As bombs fell and food grew scarce, she risked everything: helping Jews escape, evading Nazi fanatics, and searching for my missing father. Through it all, she wrote, capturing our struggle, her fears, and the fragile thread of hope that kept us alive.

To Steal a Moment's Time is her and my translation from the original manuscript she wrote after the war based on secret wartime journals: a rare, first-hand account of courage, defiance, and maternal love amid unimaginable devastation. More than a memoir of survival, it is the story of a woman who refused to surrender her humanity when the world around her lost its own.

What inspired you to write TO STEAL A MOMENT'S TIME?

I am the son of the remarkable and heroic author, Katharina Berger, whose story fills these pages. Years after World War II, she and I translated her original manuscript. It was based on my mother's handwritten journals of the chaos around her when she could "steal a moment's time". What struck me most wasn't just the history, but her voice: clear, unsentimental, and profoundly human.

Getting this memoir to a publisher and out to the world became a journey of connection across time; a son finally able to show not only the celebrated actress Germany once adored, but also a mother facing the unthinkable with quiet grace. The memoir not only honors her courage but gives readers a view of the resilience of people caught in extraordinarily challenging times.

How did your background and experience influence your writing?

My background and experiences have shaped my writing in ways both deliberate and serendipitous. I've published award-winning books, I review titles for the Historical Novel Society and collaborate with bestselling authors to help refine their work. However, my fascination with history began long ago.

As a young boy, my mother would tell me stories of ancient history. She told me of the African general who attacked Rome with an elephant army. I asked her what happened to him. She did not know, but that sparked my own historical novel of Hannibal's elephant driver. While I worked aboard a tramp steamer in the Mediterranean: a shepherd girl in the hills of Turkey led me to what looked like a simple hole in the ground, later identified as the opening to a concealed storage hold used by armies thousands of years ago. Experiences like that reinforce a lifelong passion to explore and bring the past vividly to life in my writing.

What is one message you would like readers to remember?

If there's one message I hope readers take from this book, it's summed up in the dedication penned by my mother:

"If all mothers had a voice, war would cease."

It's a reminder of the power, wisdom, and compassion of mothers-and the hope that their voices might guide the world toward peace.

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Purchasing the Book

TO STEAL A MOMENT'S TIME has received positive reviews from well-known literary organizations, authors, and reviewers around the world. Book Excellence writes, " An unforgettable portrait of courage and motherhood in the face of unthinkable horror, this extraordinary memoir transforms one woman's wartime struggle into a timeless testament to love, resilience, and the will to endure ." In addition, BookLife writes, " The writing is powerful and evocative, propelling readers to sympathize with this fiercely determined woman as she tries to protect and provide for her son in devastating circumstances ."

The book is available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Nook, Google Play, and other online bookstores. Readers are encouraged to purchase their copy today: https://www.amazon.com/Steal-Moments-Time-Katharina-Berger/dp/B0CPBX6LGV

To connect with Berger and learn more about his other books, visit: https://gjberger.com. You can also find him on Goodreads and Facebook and can reach him at gjberger@hotmail.com.

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