Going Over (26 page)

When I traveled to Berlin in the summer of 2011 I discovered a city palpably alive, brilliant with color. I stood before memorials. I cried inside museums. I touched pieces of the old graffiti wall and imagined the ache of being separated from people I loved, from landscapes I yearned to see. I hung out with artists and talked to jewelers and stood at the Brandenburg Gate past midnight in a wash of rain. I heard the great Berliner Dom swell with the sound of a cappella song, and watched the clouds, and got lost in Kreuzberg and didn't mind for a second. I was interviewed—an impromptu moment—by schoolchildren who wanted to know what I saw in their city and what had drawn me to it. I used my hands in an attempt to explain. Words were not enough.

I did not go to Berlin in search of a novel. I went in search of understanding. It wasn't until several months later that Tamra Tuller, my editor, began a conversation with me
that resulted, finally, in this book. Tamra had gone to Berlin, too. She had recognized the city's power. She had wondered what might happen to a story set in Berlin, and she shared that wonder with me. I began to read, furiously. I began to dream.

The brave escape of Michael Becker and Holger Bethke inspired one fraction of this story. So did the memoirs of Eloise Schindler, the wife of Reverend Martin Schindler, who did indeed lead St. Thomas Church in the early 1980s, sanction its day care, manage its notoriously mercurial (and talented) Herr Palinski, form a community with Felice and the Köpi, and make a caring difference among Kreuzberg squatters, foreigners, and artists. The scholarship of many, including that of my friend, Paul Steege, provided answers and insights.

Still, this is a work of fiction. The historical facts of Becker, Bethke, the reverend, Herr Palinski, the day care children, the Turkish immigrants, the political agitators, and Felice were all but starting places.
Going Over
is, in the end, imagination set against the very real backdrop of a stunning era. It's what might have been, and who could have been, inspired by men and women of integrity and courage.

I hope that my selected source list will lead you toward a greater understanding of a city, a people, a time.

Now, most essentially, some words of thanks. First, Tamra Tuller. This book simply would not exist without her. She invited me into a conversation. She shared stories of her own Berlin travels. She asked questions, but she never pressed.
She said things—quietly, as is her way—that strengthened my resolve to find this story's proper center. I loved every minute of working on this book. I loved writing it for Tamra.

Second, Heather Mussari. Heather knows a little something about art, and a little something more about graffiti. She knows about pink hair, girl power, acts of courage, and beauty. Ada gets her light from Heather's soul. It's hard to explain. It just happened.

Third, Annika Duesberg. Annika is German, born and bred. She brought her big heart and impeccable English to my country more than eleven years ago, and we have shared a love of dance and gardens. Annika read a late draft of this book to help safeguard me from errors. She was insightful. She was thorough. She was essential, and I am grateful. Any errors that persist are mine alone.

My agent Amy Rennert is integral to my writing life, and for her care through the years and her enthusiasm for this book, I am grateful. To Ginee Seo, Kim Lauber, Lara Starr, Ann Spradlin, Jennifer Tolo Pierce, Wendy Thorpe, Claire Fletcher, and Johan Almqvist, deepest thanks for believing so deeply in me and in this story. Sincerest thanks to Michael Green and Jessica Shoffel of Philomel for the conversations and blessings.

Great gratitude to my generous father, who helped make our trip to Berlin possible, and who keeps reminding me to live right now. Deepest thanks and love to my husband, Bill, who traveled with me to Berlin, who gave me room to cry, and who agreed to stand out in the rain at midnight, trying to
capture that city with a camera's eye. And forever love to our son, Jeremy, who was in London when we were in Berlin, making another city his own. Jeremy's encouragement, intelligence, consistent kindness, and unwavering interest in the work that I do is bedrock. When I don't think that I can see something through, he reminds me that I can.

Anonymous.
A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City, A Diary
. Translated by Philip Boehm. New York: Picador, 2005.

Ash, Timothy Garton.
The File: A Personal History
. New York: Vintage, 1998.

Buckley, William F., Jr.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2004.

Funder, Anna.
Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
. New York: Harper Perennial, 2003.

Gay, Nick.
Berlin Then and Now
. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2005.

Hensel, Jana.
After the Wall: Confessions from an East German Childhood and the Life That Came Next
. Translated by Jefferson Chase. New York: Public Affairs, 2004.

Kúnos, Ignácz, comp. and transl.
Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales
. Illustrated by Willy Pogány. London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1913.

Mai, Markus, and Thomas Wiczak, eds.
Writing the Memory of the City
. Årsta: Dokument Press, 2007.

Major, Patrick.
Behind the Berlin Wall: East Germany and the Frontiers of Power
. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Martinez, Scape.
Graff: The Art and Technique of Graffiti
. Cincinnati, OH: Impact Books, 2009.

McElvoy, Anne.
The Saddled Cow: East Germany's Life and Legacy
. London: Faber and Faber, 1992.

Rice, Leland.
Up Against It: Photographs of the Berlin Wall
. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991.

Rottman, Gordon L.
The Berlin Wall and the Intra-German Border 1961–89
. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008.

Schindler, Eloise.
West Berlin Journal: Stories of Culture, the Cold War, and the Kreuzberg Kiez
. Lexington, KY: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011.

Schneider, Peter.
The Wall Jumper: A Berlin Story
. Translated by Leigh Hafrey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983.

Steege, Paul.
Black Market, Cold War: Everyday Life in Berlin, 1946–1949
. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Taylor, Frederick.
The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961–1989
. New York: Harper Perennial, 2007.

Yurdakul, Gökçe.
From Guest Workers into Muslims: The Transformation of Turkish Immigrant Associations in Germany
. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008.

The following magazine stories, films, and Web resources were critical to my research:

Berlin Wall Memorial
http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/the-memorial-12.html
(accessed 04/01/13)

Busting the Berlin Wall: Amazing Escape Stories
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/2009/berlinwall/
interactive.html#/START
(accessed 04/01/13)

Chronik Der Mauer
http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Start/Detail/id/1453512/page/1
(accessed 04/01/13)

Dornberg, John. “Daring High-Wire Ride to Freedom.” Illustrated by Michael Dudash.
Popular Mechanics
, November 1983, 78–81, 119.

Newmuseum: Berlin Wall
http://www.newmuseum.org/berlinwall/riseandfall/trying.htm
(accessed 04/01/13)

“Swoops Across Wall: Family Makes Daring Escape,” Berlin AP,
The Spokesman-Review
, July 30, 1965, 3.

Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall
: History Channel Documentary, produced by ZDF Enterprises, 2009, A&E Television Networks.

The Story of the Berlin Wall by Thierry Noir
http://www.galerie-noir.de/ArchivesEnglish/walleng.html
(accessed 04/01/13)

         
BETH KEPHART
fell hard for Berlin when she traveled there in the summer of 2011. Behind the graffiti walls, in the new museums, in the artist studios, a story of another time was told—a story that she began to wholeheartedly pursue. Kephart is the award-winning author of more than fifteen books for both adults and young readers, including
Undercover, You Are My Only, Small Damages, and Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir. Going Over
is her first novel with Chronicle Books.