The author grew up in Germany during the postwar era, when the United States evolved from a military occupation force to a peacetime cultural power, wielding vast influence in the world through its example as a country aspiring to great ideals, like freedom, equality, inclusion, acceptance of diversity, and generosity. This book tells the personal story of how the image of America shaped the author's youthful ideas about the world she wanted to live in, as she struggled to make sense of her complicated heritage as the daughter of a Jewish father and a Christian mother, and as an adolescent inheriting the aftermath of the Nazi reign of terror. "I applaud Ms. Laird for raising not only awareness for her personal experiences through and post war, but doing it in such a way that she tempers her pen throughout with a sublime tone of: 'pay attention' this affected me. I am grateful and honored to have read this book. It is one that sheds insurmountable enlightenment and at the same time, frightening familiarity toward today's world climate." Diane Lunsford, Feathered Quill . "If only one book were to be chosen to represent this era and its challenges, The Frankfurt Kitchen should be that book. Literary, historical, and social inspections combine in a lively personal survey that brings Germany's events and people to life in a manner seldom seen in most other coverages of the country and its people." D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review Heidi Laird is a retired psychologist, having specialized in childhood trauma and its effects on family functioning. Her own childhood in post-World War II West-Germany was shaped by the spectacle of bombed-out cities and their gradual reconstruction by a population which didn't want to think about what had led to their country's destruction. She emigrated to the United States and settled in Tucson, AZ, where she raised her two young children. She attended the University of Arizona and later the University of California at Riverside and studied psychology, history, and literature. Although her Ph.D. had prepared her for a teaching career, she found herself drawn more to the personal engagement of clinical work, and it is this personal engagement with people which is at the core of her writing. It informs her clinical yet compassionate observation of human behavior with all its struggles and sorrows.  Heidi lives in Southern California. She loves camping and hiking in the mountains and canyons of the American Southwest, and painting the landscapes which she has closely studied over the years. Her reading tends to focus on 19th and 20th century European and American history, and historical fiction, in which key events come alive through the introduction of imagined individuals before a background depicted with strict historical accuracy. One of Heidi's favorite quotes: "Every arrival is also a departure." (Advertising poster at the Frankfurt Airport). Favorite movies: "Enemies: A Love Story", "Baghdad Café", "Nebraska", "Avalon", "High Noon", "Driving Miss Daisy". Some of Heidi's favorite books: William Styron:  "Sophie's Choice",  Stefan Zweig: "The World of Yesterday",  Günther Grass: "The Tin Drum",  Barry Lopez: "Horizon",  Edward Abbey: "Desert Solitaire". Heidi loves Jazz, the contemporary compositions of Steve Reich and  Phillip Glass, and she reveres the music of J.S. Bach.