In the memoir From Rubble to Champagne, author Vivianne Knebel tells us the story of her life. Vivianne’s early life was full of hardships. As an illegitimate child in Nazi Germany she realized very early on how cruel life could be. Dealing with poverty, her family had to figure out how to keep afloat amidst war-torn Germany, as many other Germans had to do during that period of time. This is an impassioned story of survival and love: through Vivianne’s narration we can see vividly the life of a child that starts with tragedy but that, with time and with the right attitude, flourishes and becomes something awe-inspiring and incredibly beautiful.

The book is splendidly written, Vivianne tells her story in such a way that one can both learn about a relevant and dark part of human history, and also feel inspired by the beauty of human life and its resilience. Moreover, this book showcases a story that many times is not told and gets ignored in our history, and that’s the story of the Germans that saw themselves affected by all this conflict, just wanting and trying to survive and save their families from poverty and from the war. Vivianne mirrors this point of view by sharing with us the story of her mother, who as a single mom had to deal with poverty and many times needed to search for shelter to protect both of her young daughters from the constant bombings that were so common during that period. Reading this story, one can not help but feel empathy and total support for Vivianne’s journey: despite the terrible realities of what she had to endure from a very young age, she finds a way to build a new life for herself, dealing with immigration and walking the long path of self-discovery and self-fulfillment, ending the story with a relevant reflection about the importance of love, family and gratitude.

It was a pleasure to read this book and I feel honored to be given the opportunity to learn about Vivianne’s story and her teachings. Her entire life is a demonstration of what we, as humans, are capable of going through and building for ourselves. It is a story about the hard, terrible realities of human life, but also of the beauty that’s always awaiting all of us, of love and of happiness. There’s always something better for all of us and Vivianne does an excellent job portraying this to her readers.

Through her book, Vivianne guides us and helps us reflect about our own lives. From Rubble to Champagne is an inspiring story about survival and resilience, filled with important teachings that pushes us to live, work hard, better ourselves and find beauty in even the most adverse situations.

Pages: 208 | ASIN: B08NFMSJYV