Popular European Memoir Books
Find memoir books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (135)
1.
A Guest in My Own Country: A Hungarian Life by George Konrad EN
HungaryDescription:
Winner of the 2007 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Biography, Autobiography & Memoir A powerful memoir of war, politics, literature, and family life by one of Europe's leading intellectuals. When George Konrad was a child of eleven, he, his sister, and two cousins managed to flee to Budapest from the Hungarian countryside the day before deportations swept through his home town. Ultimately, they were the only Jewish children of the town to survive the Holocaust. A Guest in My Own Country recalls the life of one of Eastern Europe's most accomplished modern writers, beginning with h... continue
2.
A Monk Swimming : A Memoir by Malachy McCourt EN
IrelandDescription:
The memoirs of Malachy McCourt who left a childhood of poverty in Ireland to live in New York where he carved out a colourful career as a writer and actor - The story of his early life was told in Angela's ashes, by his brother Frank McCourt.
3.
A Stranger in My Own Country : The 1944 Prison Diary by Hans Fallada EN
GermanyDescription:
“I lived the same life as everyone else, the life of ordinary people, the masses.” Sitting in a prison cell in the autumn of 1944, the German author Hans Fallada sums up his life under the National Socialist dictatorship, the time of “inward emigration”. Under conditions of close confinement, in constant fear of discovery, he writes himself free from the nightmare of the Nazi years. He records his thoughts about spying and denunciation, about the threat to his livelihood and his literary work and about the fate of many friends and contemporaries. The confessional mode did not come naturally to... continue
4.
A Woman in Berlin : Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Marta Hillers EN
Description:
For eight weeks in 1945, as Berlin fell to the Russian army, a young woman kept a daily record of life in her apartment building and among its residents. She tells of the shameful indignities to which women in a conquered city are always subject.
5.
A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter EN
Country: Europe / 
Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Description:
“An epic story, elegantly told and full of mystery.” — Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle A rediscovered classic memoir - the mesmerizingly beautiful account of one woman's year spent living in a remote hut in the Arctic This rediscovered classic memoir tells the incredible tale of a woman defying society's expectations to find freedom and peace in the adventure of a lifetime. In 1934, the painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable life in Austria and travels to the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, to spend a year there with her husband. She thinks it will be a relaxing trip, a... continue
6.
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle EN
Country: Europe / 
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.... continue
7.
Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
When Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he was about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan's history? Abroad in Japan charts a decade of living in a foreign land and the chaos and culture clash that comes with it. Packed with hilarious and fascinating stories, this book seeks out to unravel one the world's most mysterious and impenetrable cultures.
8.
After the Roundup : Escape and Survival in Hitler's France by Joseph Weismann EN
FranceDescription:
Cover -- Contents -- Translator's Foreword -- 1. Fall 1940 -- 2. The Star -- 3. July 16, 1942 -- 4. Beaune-la-Rolande -- 5. Escape -- 6. Parisian Wanderings -- 7. Three "Misérables"--8. The Americans -- 9. The Castle of Méhoncourt -- 10. Becoming French -- 11. Return to the Past -- Epilogue: Bearing Witness
9.
Algeria Is Beautiful like America by Olivia Burton EN
Description:
Algeria the Beautiful explores the rich heritage and tumultuous modern history of Algeria and its connections to Europe and colonialism. Olivia had always heard stories about Algeria from her maternal grandmother, a Black Foot (a “Pied-Noir,” the French term for Christian and Jewish settlers of French Algeria who emigrated to France after the Algerian War of Independence). After her grandmother’s death, Olivia found some of her grandmother’s journals and letters describing her homeland. Now, ten years later, she resolves to travel to Algeria and experience the country for herself; she arrives ... continue
10.
All that Remains : A Life in Death by Sue Black EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
Professor Dame Sue Black discusses the subject she grapples with every day - death - bringing her unique perspective to the multitudinous circumstances in which life is lost. From the painful grieving process after losing a loved one, to violence, murder, criminal dismemberment, missing persons, war (such as Kosovo), natural disasters (such as a tsunami), unidentified bodies, historical remains -- involving investigative agencies, lawyers, justice, criminal sentences, and always sadness and pain, she takes us on a scientific and reflective journey explaining the genetic DNA traits that develop... continue