"This memoir is an astonishing chronicle of recent German history seen through the eyes of a girl born in the East and brought up in the West. This is a landscape where Nazi, post-Nazi, Communist and post-Communist worlds elide.

”The most striking parts of the story are when Franck shares the misery of the daily routine of maternal abandonment.  The picture she gives us of the mother’s preoccupation with her own desires for sex, cigarettes and alcohol, and her inability to nourish or clothe her children, is compelling. The road from bourgeois respectability to anti-bourgeois defiance is realised with an acuity that makes this book hard to put down.

"Overall Franck is served well by Imogen Taylor’s translation which is seamless. It conveys the original German in a natural and original English."

“It’s one of the most bizarre life stories I have ever come across, but also one that’s remarkably closely intertwined with the strands of German history.

“This is one of those books that involves you both intellectually and emotionally .. Franck’s story, fractured and often unsettling, mirrors the emotional and psychological mess of Germany’s twentieth century in striking and revealing ways. The book’s themes of family, inheritence and the reverberating impact of history on individuals will resonate far beyond a German context.

"Despite its difficult subject matter, the book is not without warmth or lightness. Franck allows moments of humour, curiosity and desire to surface. At times, I laughed out loud, such as when she describes herself and her twin getting up to no good, adding that the sisters, of course, sometimes have qualms about their misdeeds – just rarely at the same time.

“Ultimately, Worlds Apart is compelling because it shows how a single life can illuminate a broader historical reality. Franck’s story is unusual, even wild and extreme, yet it feels recognisable in its exploration of trauma, displacement and the search for belonging. In tracing the fault lines of her own past, she reveals how deeply personal lives remain entangled with history long after the events themselves have passed.”

"This is a captivating trawl through generations of one family that offers a valuable insight into political and historical events that shaped the world, all seen largely through the prism of the female members’ lives.

"It is quite a big book, in terms of both themes and structure, and is certainly an insightful read for any Germanophile who wants to get under the skin of the country. This has been well translated by Imogen Taylor, who offers an interesting insight into her endeavours at the end of the book."