What Remains is Hope, Excerpt by Bonnie Suchman

Beginning in 1930s Germany and based on their real lives, four cousins as close as siblings—Bettina, Trudi, Gustav, and Gertrud—share the experiences of the young, including first loves, marriages, and children.

Bettina, the oldest, struggles to help her parents with their failing business. Trudi dresses in the latest fashions and tries to make everything look beautiful. Gustav is an artist at heart and hopes to one day open a tailoring shop. Gertrud, the youngest, is forced by her parents to keep secrets, but that doesn’t stop her from chasing boys. However, over their seemingly ordinary lives hangs one critical truth—they’re Jewish—putting them increasingly at risk.

When World War II breaks out, the four are still in Germany or German-occupied lands, unable or unwilling to leave. How will these cousins avoid the horrors of the Nazi regime, a regime that wants them dead? Will they be able to avoid the deportations and concentration camps that have claimed their fellow Jews? Danger is their constant companion, and it will take hope and more to survive.

Excerpt

Frankfurt
October 1938

Gustav was losing feeling in his left arm, but he didn’t want to disturb Gretel. He always loved listening to her snore. She denied she snored, but he knew better. It wasn’t particularly loud, but occasionally, she would snort, which always made him laugh. He sometimes wondered if he would ever be able to sleep through the night with her snoring. He assumed he would get used to it once they were able to spend the night together, after they were married. He looked over at the clock. It was nearly 10:00. He needed to get up before Gretel’s parents came home. They had gone to the opera and then to dinner at friends. That usually involved some after-dinner drinking, which usually meant they would be home late. Gustav had never met anyone who drank like Gretel’s parents. His family never really drank, and neither did his friends. Gustav pulled his arm out from under her head, careful not to wake Gretel.

He got up from the bed, walked over to the chair, and sat down. Looking over at Gretel, he knew he had to sketch her. It might have been the light streaming in through the window or the way her golden curls rested across her face. But at that moment, she looked perfect to him. He found a pencil on her dresser and a piece of scrap paper and began to sketch. After a few minutes, Gretel began to stir. Gustav stopped sketching.

“Hello, sleeping beauty. Did you have a nice nap?”

“I did. What time is it?”

“It’s a little after ten. I need to get dressed and out of the apartment before you parents get home.”

“Don’t worry about them. They’re out with the Strausses. Once my father and Herr Strauss start drinking, there’s no stopping them. Why don’t you come back to bed for another snuggle.”

“You know I would like nothing more than another snuggle. But it’s late, and I want to avoid seeing your parents on the way out. Plus, a Jew walking the streets at ten p.m. is different than a Jew walking the streets at midnight. We still need to be careful. After all, you and I are breaking the law. In fact, I never even jaywalked before I met you. My cousins always teased me that I was such a rule follower. And now I could go to prison for years. You’re a terrible influence on me, bringing me into a life of crime.”

“Yes, your shiksa girlfriend corrupting you. How can I ever forgive myself?”

Gustav looked over at Gretel. She really was beautiful. It was all he could do not to return to her. But he really needed to go, to keep them both safe. “There’s nothing I would like to do more than to stay with you tonight and every night. But we both know I need to leave. But remember, we’re having dinner tomorrow night at my friend Leo’s apartment. I’m cooking, so maybe you’ll want to eat something before you get there.”

“Remind me – have you ever cooked in your life?” She giggled, then said, “But don’t worry. I’ll bring plenty of dessert.”

Gustav gave her the sketch and a quick kiss. He knew a longer kiss would cause him staying longer and he really needed to leave.

“When did you do this? While I was sleeping? It’s beautiful.”

“You are beautiful.”

“Gustav, you are so talented. Just a pencil and a scrap of paper and you did this.”

Gustav said nothing in response, but simply smiled at Gretel.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mvJNLV

This book is available to read on #KindleUnlimited

Meet Bonnie Suchman

Bonnie Suchman has been a practicing attorney for forty years. Using her legal skills, she researched her husband’s 250-year family history in Germany, publishing the award-winning, non-fiction book, Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany, as a result.

Those compelling stories became Suchman’s Heppenheimer Family Holocaust Saga. The first in the series, Stumbling Stones, was a Finalist for the 2024 Hawthorne Prize for Fiction, and recently, her family traveled to Frankfurt, Germany, to install stumbling stones for her husband’s Great Aunt Alice and her husband Alfred, the real-life characters in the book.

What Remains is Hope is the second novel in the saga. In her free time, Bonnie is a runner and a golfer. She and her husband reside in Potomac, Maryland.