BACK TO
BREMEN
CECELIA WILSON
ABOUT THE BOOK
Back to Bremen depicts the true, World War II story of Marta Röpke, a common mother who risks everything to see that her eight children might survive the war that has come to her doorstep. As Bremen’s ports and factories bear the brunt of payloads from RAF Wellingtons and Lancasters, the Röpke’s lives are defined by unrelenting Allied bombing raids, streets strewn with dead bodies, and the ever-present reminder to trust no one outside the family.
Seen through daughter Edith’s eyes as a child and through her memories as an adult seventy-five years after the war’s end, Back to Bremen lays bare the story of a child’s fear and the sheer determination of a mother risking it all so she and her children can return home. Through a decade that includes air raids, capture by the Soviet Red Army, and a nine-week walk back to Bremen, Marta's story is a vivid reminder that war creates countless victims, but a mother’s love can turn a common woman into a heroine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For more than a decade Cecelia Wilson has been the Feature Writer for Searcy Living Magazine. Over the years she has penned articles introducing readers to governors, senators, Grammy Award-winning musicians, and individuals from all walks of life. In addition to writing articles, books, and youth plays, Cecelia is a singer, pastor's wife, play director and acts in community theaters, commercials, film and television.
Born and raised in Batesville, Arkansas, Cecelia graduated from Batesville High School and earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Cecelia lives in Central Arkansas with her husband, Dennis, but manages to check in often with her grown son and daughter, Cody and Cheyenne.