Bertha - Shine Like the Dawn - Book Review

A historical biography, Bertha, Shine like the Dawn by Lisa M. Hutchison, reads like a well-constructed novel. The author’s research into her German great-grandmother’s history in the mid-1800s produced a story of gritty survival and eternal love.
Bertha Hoffmann was born into a wealthy family but was orphaned and raised by both sets of grandparents. Raped at age 17 by her uncle and pregnant, she was hastily married off to Karl, a commoner, who was paid to raise the child as his own. Social status and rank were very important during this period of history as shown in a restaurant scene. Karl has no idea how to use the different cutleries, keeps his elbows on the table, slurps his soup and becomes drunk, embarrassing Bertha. He later reminds Bertha that he is not only her husband but her legal guardian until she is 21. Bertha states, “I live with a crude and hostile husband, in a tiny house… have to lug buckets of water each day, trot through hot and cold weather to an outhouse and am now expecting another child.” At age 21 with three children and pregnant with her fourth, she leaves her abusive husband to live with her grandmother Anna in Berlin.
She is at her grandmother’s mercy since she is a single woman with no skills, no wealth and four children. Oma Anna tells her that women are not on this earth for their own enjoyment but to work hard, raise children and make the most of the situation. Oma Anna is a loving woman who tries to help Bertha and her four children survive.
Bertha becomes involved in an unexpected and unusual love affair that directs the rest of her life through the turn of the century. Life seems to be circular as birth order, social class and deaths of loved ones entangle with her love story.
She endures repeated hardships during the sinking of the Titanic, World War I, the Spanish flu, the Great Depression and World War II. With passion and courage, she accepts life’s trials as her family dies around her.
The author’s understanding of history is expressed as Leo rants concerning society in 1924: loss of law and order, the government powerless and the population insecure. “It is no wonder people are seeking comfort in frenzied, unbridled, indecent behavior. One day it will all come crashing down.” Life then improved for most people for many years. The working class found new prosperity. Later he stated, “Satisfied and contented people do not pose a challenge for dictatorial governments, and by the time everyone realized the depth of deceit, it was already too late.” And it was: WWII.
The reader will discover Bertha’s biography is an entangled love story set during an exciting yet traumatic time in history.