The Remarkable Afghan Diaries of Jean Heringman Willacy Released for First Time in ‘The Keeper of Families’
DORCHESTER, England (PRWEB) May 08, 2019 -- “The Keeper of Families: Jean Heringman Willacy’s Afghan Diaries” (published by AuthorHouse UK) reveals the astonishing double life of an intrepid American woman, at retirement age, alternating a quiet existence in sleepy southern England, with her other life in vibrant and volatile Afghanistan. In a story never-before-told, “The Keeper of Families” is Willacy’s Afghan legacy of diaries, letters, and live tape recordings compiled and transcribed by her third daughter, Sue Heringman. The book is available for purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Keeper-Families-Heringman-Willacys-Diaries/dp/1728380642/.
“At about 5 a.m....there is a very big explosion...we see more tanks on the move...further up the street, the palace is on fire. We are right in the line of the bombing and strafing by the planes. It is the longest day imaginable.”
—An excerpt from “The Keeper of Families”
Travelling back and forth, exporting the then-fashionable Afghan coats to the hippy generation, Willacy is witness to a brutal military coup, a society forcibly changed, and a refugee crisis of global dimensions unleashed. Fearing for her many friends, Willacy is transformed from enterprising businesswoman to staunch ally of an ever-growing number of Afghan refugees — their “Keeper of Families” — as they strive together to overcome the horrors of the Soviet-Afghan War and its aftermath.
The book features:
- The shock of being an eyewitness to the communist coup, leading to the Soviet invasion
- The realities of living in a Soviet puppet state
- Stories from the refugee camps in Pakistan and from refugees in exile
- The different perspectives of women on Afghan life
- Willacy’s photographs and Afghan refugee children’s war drawings from a major art exhibition
Heringman notes that “The Keeper of Families” is a story that, tragically, remains all too relevant, as Afghanistan still makes headlines, and one refugee crisis follows another. She says, “I felt I owed it to my mother and her adoptive Afghan family to share all she had preserved of their life together, in her own narrative, that still resonates today.”
“The Keeper of Families”
By Sue Heringman
Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 372 pages | ISBN 9781728380636
Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 372 pages | ISBN 9781728380643
E-Book | 372 pages | ISBN 9781728380650
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Sue Heringman, the third daughter of Jean Heringman Willacy, was Director of the Instituto de Inglés and the Adult Education Program at the University of Southern California in Madrid. A Spanish-English teacher and translator, her literary translations include works by well-known contemporary Spanish authors and the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. The compiling and transcribing of her mother’s testimony is the dedicated work of many years. Heringman currently resides in Dorset, England, near Willacy’s U.K. home during the events described in the book. http://www.jeansafghandiaries.com
AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industry’s only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrated 15 years of service to authors in Sept. 2011.For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.com or call 0800 1974150. For the latest, follow @AuthorHouseUK on Twitter.
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