Voices in the Past

From the mountains of Bavaria to the coast of Denmark, “Voices in the Past” traces how the author’s German ancestors came to America, through many hardships, and how the family lines eventually met in the 19th century frontier town of Houston, Texas. By using a time-travel motif, she sends two 21st century teens into the minds and lives of their ancestors to learn what they actually experienced as immigrants to America, including the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, and the prejudice against Germans during World War I, which is now little remembered. By using modern characters within the story, sepia-toned photos come to life for modern readers, and the time-travelers learn lessons that apply to their own modern lives. Sometimes it’s not a bad thing that, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

Author’s Note: This is my first historical fiction book, inspired by stories my father and his relatives told about their ancestors. Since my father’s family has long been based in Texas, some of the settings are there, but the history also goes back to tales I learned of his German ancestry from his cousins and a diary I was given, written by his great-great-grandmother in the late 1800s. It also progresses into my father’s own life as a child and an adult, and there’s a time-travel twist at the end that may take some people by surprise.