A funny and touching book about three strong women for anyone who loves (real) family stories
Three sisters, three lives, three loves – and the portrait of an entire century. Anne Gesthuysen has written a stirring book about her fascinating great-aunts, who reached a combined age of 298 years.
Katty, Paula and Gertrud meet for Gertrud’s 100th birthday. They want to plan their future, but first they must clear up the past. Gertrud’s eyes are still good, but she neither can nor wants to hear. Paula can barely see anymore, but always has an open ear to lend her sisters. And Katty, the baby of the family, now 84 years old, still wants to celebrate every chance she gets – just like she used to, when she was already a master of PR, though it wasn’t called that until much later. They all share the same stubbornness, humor and congenital circulatory problems, which they self-medicate with exorbitantly strong coffee and good schnapps – even now, at the Tellemannshof, where memories lurk in every nook and cranny…
Anne Gesthuysen vividly weaves together present and past, setting off a fireworks display of stories spanning the entire 20th century. We hear about Katty, a charming mover and shaker who idolizes Adenauer and is in love with a charismatic large-scale farmer. About Gertrud’s fateful engagement and the spy she harbored. About Paula, who lost her husband to other men, but never lost her love of life. About a chicken traded for a Rembrandt; a defamation trial that the entire region followed with bated breath; and three strong women with the courage to embrace independence. Sweeping life stories merge with wonderful anecdotes, world affairs with life in the country.
