ALWAYS ALMOST is an explosive first-person narrative which unmasks the difficult life of common citizens in World War II-ravaged Germany. Giselle’s diaries, lost for decades, re-discovered in 2013, and translated by the octogenarian author, lift the curtain on a country’s darkest historical past . . . showing how propaganda, diabolically hidden social plans, and the relentless Nazi war machine unhinged a proud, compassionate, and industrious people, and shattered relationships . . . between friends, neighbors, and families. ALWAYS ALMOST reveals the author’s terror when Allied bombings, targeting nearby industrial facilities, killed thousands of innocent civilians and destroyed 90 percent of her home town of Mannheim; her fear that her father’s clandestine anti-Nazi activities would be discovered; and her apprehension when she discovered that her uncle was sending her young cousins to sneak Jews out of Germany. Life-changing betrayals traumatize her and fracture her family; yet, she continues her search for love; relies on the strength of friendships; and struggles to survive the suffering and corruption that continue after the war. ALWAYS ALMOST is a story about the strength of the human spirit and an intimate insight into the joys, disappointments, frustrations, and triumphs of a young girl growing into womanhood as the world around her broke. Born in Mannheim, Germany, Giselle Diehm grew up as a single child. The diary she received for her thirteenth birthday proved to be a refuge from her "only-child" loneliness. World War II broke out two months later, Giselle's writings became a six-year documentary about the horror of living in a city bombed over 150 times and destroyed by more than 90 percent . . . and a story about the years beyond that as the burned out city began to "rise from the ashes." Diligently, Giselle continued to write in her diary, sharing her fears, her dreams, and her disappointments. When the bombings in Mannheim became too overwhelming and also destroyed her school in September 1943, all students of "Hans Thoma School" were evacuated to the Black Forest. Three different resort hotels served as the school, they were several miles apart. The upper classes stayed at "Wiedenfelsen," a beautiful hotel. By December 1944, all students were sent home. The girls in the upper classes were recruited to work in makeshift factories, mostly producing ammunition. Giselle was lucky; she pulled a straw which sent her to work for a gastroenterologist as a "do-it-all" helper. This job ended when the entire four story building was totally demolished during a daytime bombing. The war for Mannheim was over when the American troops occupied it in March of 1945: the war actually ended worldwide on May 8, 1945. Postwar, Giselle worked for a new small business owned by Herbert Uth, a Jewish man who miraculously survived the war living in Mannheim. He sold and rented conveyor belts. Later she earned a degree in English from the University of Heidelberg and used her English skills to work for the U.S. Army and Air Force until she left for the USA. In March of 1953, Giselle received her immigration papers and packed two suitcases with clothing, memorabilia including family photographs and her various diaries, and the restricted forty dollars emigrants were allowed to bring to start their new lives. She was finally fulfilling the only childhood dream World War II had not destroyed. In the years that followed, she married, raised a family, and moved nine times. In 2013, as she prepared to again relocate, she found the long lost diaries, translated them, and created her first book, always Almost. Today, Giselle lives in University Village in Tampa, Florida.