"This book is the life story of Marlena Berlin. Only the names have been changed (including her own). Otherwise, every word is true."] Before Marlena is born, her eventual father, Werner, fights for six years in Hitler's Waffen-SS.
Following the war, he becomes a successful businessman in the primarily German-speaking region of northern Italy where he grew up. He eventually marries Nina - Marlena's future mother - a beautiful vivacious woman 16 years his junior.
After numerous breakups and reconciliations, Nina abandons Werner and settles in America, leaving Marlena behind when she is only 5.
Now without a wife, Werner makes Marlena his "SS Princess." The price Marlena pays for the privileges this entails is emotional, physical, and sexual abuse by Werner the whole time she is growing up.
In her teen years, Marlena becomes a heroin addict to numb her pain. Werner dies when she is in her early 20's, leaving her with an estate worth a few million dollars.
Together with her lover, Fabio (who is also an addict, and the father of their two sons), Marlena burns through all of the money in under 3 years.
Her mother, Nina, then gets legal custody of both of Marlena's sons, and takes them to America. Utterly broken and still addicted to heroin, Marlena follows her mother to America - with only an 8th grade education, and without hope for the future. In spite of enormous struggles in her financial and personal life, through hard work and a lot of therapy Marlena slowly overcomes the damage done by her upbringing.
And yet, through it all, Marlena continues to love her father deeply and, psychologically, has never stopped searching for him. Aside from her children, Werner is the only person who never betrayed her. No matter how much trouble her rebelliousness caused him, he was always there when she needed his help. Always.
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34 photographs; 1 drawing.